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energy, which is the binding and loosing of the sins of men, not the very hypostasis of the all-holy Spirit? For this can be received from no one. But the gifts of the Spirit, the natural powers and energies, being in no way separated from him, are received by the worthy to be worked by the Spirit, who, through being united to this and being anointed by its energy (for Christ alone was wholly anointed by the Anointer, according to the one who said, Christ, because of the divinity, not by a sanctifying energy like the other anointed ones, but by the presence of the whole Anointer); therefore by being united through the divine energy from there and being named instruments of the Spirit, and manifesting it through themselves, they are said to receive and to be given to them through the Son, and if you wish, also from the Son, the Holy Spirit. And this the Lord showed when he breathed on and said to the disciples, "Receive the Holy Spirit," as the divine Damascene also taught us; for having said, "that we do not say the Spirit is *from* the Son, but we call him the Spirit *of* the Son and we confess that he is manifested and imparted to us *through* the Son," he immediately added: "For he breathed on and said to the disciples, Receive the Holy Spirit." Is it not then perfectly clear that the Damascene Father understood and proved from this breathing on that the Holy Spirit is not also from the Son, but is only manifested and imparted through him?

(202) But the Latins, in a deranged manner, think and dogmatize in opposition to him; for they do not comprehend that these gifts and energies, by which the Holy Spirit is bestowed through the Son, are given not from the Son alone, but also from the Father Most High himself. "For every," he says, "perfect gift is from above, from the Father of lights." And what is more perfect than the authority to forgive and retain sins? And not from the Father and the Son alone, but also through him and from the Holy Spirit himself; "For I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh," God said through Joel; of which outpouring certainly is also the Spirit given by Christ to the disciples through his breathing; and "to one," he says, "through the Spirit is given the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge," and all the subsequent gifts enumerated by the chosen vessel, Paul, who had also been blessed with an abundance of revelations through the Spirit; wherefore he also says, "but to us God has revealed through his Spirit," not only things not known to the fathers famous for virtue and piety, but even knowledge surpassing that of the angels; "and we know these things," says the most theological of the apostles, John, "from the Spirit whom we have received from him." And simply, every bestowal of good things upon creation flows from him; and "there is no gift at all," says Basil the Great, "which comes to creation without the Holy Spirit"; who also, having enumerated all, both the gifts and the graces and the energies of the Spirit, then says, "the Holy Spirit has all these things eternally, but that which proceeds from God is hypostatic, while those things which proceed from him are his energies." Does the Holy Spirit, then, also proceed from himself, since from (204) him and through him is every bestowal of good things, in which is certainly also the authority to loose and bind, which the Lord granted to the disciples through his breathing? Away with the absurdity; but the giving is common to the three hypostases, as the apostle also testifies; "For there are," he says, "varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and varieties of service, but the same Lord; and varieties of activities, but the same God."

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ἐνέργειαν, ἥτις τό τάς ἁμαρτίας τῶν ἀνθρώπων δεσμεῖν καί λύειν ἐστίν, οὐκ αὐτήν τήν ὑπόστασιν τοῦ παναγίου Πνεύματος; Παρ᾿ οὐδενός γάρ αὕτη λαμβάνεσθαι δύναται. Τά δέ χαρίσματα τοῦ Πνεύματος, αἱ φυσικαί δυνάμεις καί ἐνέργειαι, μηδαμῶς αὐτοῦ χωριζόμεναι, λαμβάνονται μέν παρά τῶν ἀξίων ἐνεργεῖσθαι παρά τοῦ Πνεύματος, οἱ διά τό ἡνῶσθαι τούτῳ καί τῇ τούτου ἐνεργείᾳ χρισθῆναι (μόνος γάρ ὁ μόνος Χριστός ὅλῳ ἐχρίσθη τῷ χρίοντι, κατά τόν εἰπόντα, Χριστός διά τήν θεότητα, οὐκ ἐνεργείᾳ κατά τούς ἄλλους χριστούς ἁγιάζουσαν, παρουσίᾳ δέ ὅλου τοῦ χρίοντος)˙ τῷ γοῦν ἡνῶσθαι διά τῆς ἐκεῖθεν θείας ἐνεργείας καί χρηματίσαι τοῦ Πνεύματος ὄργανα, και δι᾿ ἑαυτῶν αὐτό φανεροῦν λαβεῖν λέγονται καί πρός αὐτούς δίδοσθαι διά τοῦ Υἱοῦ, εἰ δέ βούλει καί παρά τοῦ Υἱοῦ, τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον. Καί τοῦτ᾿ ἔδειξεν ὁ Κύριος ἐμφυσήσας καί εἰπών τοῖς μαθηταῖς, «λάβετε Πνεῦμα ἅγιον», ὡς καί ∆αμασκηνός ὁ θεῖος ἡμᾶς ἐδίδαξεν˙ εἰπών γάρ, «ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τό Πνεῦμα οὐ λέγομεν, Πνεῦμα δέ Υἱοῦ ὀνομάζομεν καί δι᾿ Υἱοῦ πεφανερῶσθαι καί μεταδίδοσθαι ἡμῖν ὁμολογοῦμεν», εὐθύς ἑπήνεγκεν˙ «ἐνεφύσησε γάρ καί εἶπε τοῖς μαθηταῖς, λάβετε Πνεῦμα ἅγιον». Ἆρ᾿ οὐ κατάδηλον, ὡς ὁ δαμασκηνός Πατήρ ἀπό τοῦ ἐμφυσήματος τούτου μή εἶναι καί ἐκ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, ἀλλά φανεροῦσθαι μόνον καί μεταδίδοσθαι δι᾿ αὐτοῦ τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον ἐνόησε καί ἀπέδειξε;

(202) Λατῖνοι δέ φρενοβλαβῶς ἀντιθετικῶς ἐκείνῳ νοοῦσι καί δογματίζουσιν˙ οὐ γάρ συνορῶσιν ὡς τά χαρίσματα ταῦτα καί αἱ ἐνέργειαι, καθ᾿ ἅς διά τοῦ Υἱοῦ χορηγεῖται τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον, οὐ παρά τοῦ Υἱοῦ μόνον, ἀλλά καί παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ δίδονται τοῦ ἀνωτάτω Πατρός. «Πᾶν γάρ», φησί, «δώρημα τέλειον ἄνωθέν ἐστι παρά τοῦ Πατρός τῶν φώτων». Τί δέ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀφιέναι καί κρατεῖν τά ἁμαρτήματα τελεώτερον; Καί οὐ παρά τοῦ Πατρός καί τοῦ Υἱοῦ μόνον, ἀλλά καί δι᾿ αὐτοῦ καί παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος˙ «ἐκχεῶ γάρ ἀπό τοῦ Πνεύματός μου ἐπί πᾶσαν σάρκα», διά τοῦ Ἰωήλ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός˙ ἧς ἐκχύσεώς ἐστι πάντως καί τό τοῖς μαθηταῖς παρά Χριστοῦ δεδομένον Πνεῦμα δι᾿ ἐμφυσήματος˙ καί «τῷ μέν», φησί, «διά τοῦ Πνεύματος δίδοται λόγος σοφίας, τῷ δέ λόγος γνώσεως», καί πάνθ᾿ ὅσα ἐφεξῆς τῷ ἐκλεκτῷ σκεύει τῶν χαρισμάτων ἀπηρίθμηται Παύλῳ, τῷ καί τῶν ἀποκαλύψεων τήν ὑπερβολήν διά τοῦ Πνεύματος ηὐμοιρηκότι˙ διό καί λέγοντι, «ἡμῖν δέ ἀπεκάλυψεν ὁ Θεός διά τοῦ Πνεύματος αὐτοῦ», οὐ μόνον τά μή ἐγνωσμένα τοῖς περιβοήτοις κατ᾿ ἀρετήν καί εὐσέβειαν πατράσιν, ἀλλά καί αὐτήν τήν τῶν ἀγγέλων ὑπερβαίνοντα γνῶσιν˙ «καί ταῦτα γινώσκομεν», φησίν ὁ τῶν ἀποστόλων θεολογικώτατος Ἰωάννης», ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος οὗ ἐλάβομεν παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ». Καί ἁπλῶς πᾶσα ἐπί τήν κτίσιν ἡ τῶν ἀγαθῶν χορηγία ἐξ αὐτοῦ πηγάζει˙ καί «οὐκ ἔστιν ὅλως δωρεάν», φησίν ὁ μέγας Βασίλειος, «ἄνευ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος εἰς τήν κτίσιν ἀφικνουμένη»˙ὅς καί πάντα ἀπαριθμησάμενος, τάς τε δωρεάς καί τά χαρίσματα καί τάς ἐνεργείας τοῦ Πνεύματος, εἶτα φησί, «πάντα ταῦτα ἀϊδίως ἔχει τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον, ἀλλά τό μέν ἐκ Θεοῦ πηγάζον ἐνυπόστατόν ἐστι, τά δέ ἐξ αὐτοῦ πηγάζοντα ἐνέργειαι αὐτοῦ εἰσιν». Ἆρ᾿ οὖν καί ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον ἐκπορεύεται, ἐπεί ἐξ (204) αὐτοῦ τε καί δι᾿ αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ τῶν ἀγαθῶν χορηγία, ἐν ᾗ πάντως καί ἡ τοῦ λύειν καί δεσμεῖν ἐξουσία, ἥν ὁ Κύριος δι᾿ ἐμφυσήματος τοῖς μαθηταῖς παρέσχεν; Ἄπαγε τῆς ἀτοπίας˙ ἀλλά τό μέν διδόναι τῶν τριῶν ἐστιν ὑποστάσεων κοινόν, ὡς καί ὁ ἀπόστολος συμμαρτυρεῖ˙ «διαιρέσεις γάρ», φησί, «χαρισμάτων εἰσί, τό δέ αὐτό Πνεῦμα˙ καί διαρέσεις διακονιῶν, ὁ δέ αὐτός Κύριος˙ καί διαιρέσεις ἐνεργημάτων, ὁ δέ αὐτός Θεός».