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39.753 CHAP. XXVII. But we must listen—for nothing difficult comes from this, but rather something beneficial—also to verses from the Greeks, who have received a moderate understanding concerning the arrangement of the Son, the Word, and the Spirit in relation to God the Father, and who have considered these names to be fitting and true; and how the all-powerful Holy Spirit is not separated, not in nature, not in power, not in glory from God the Father, just as the Only-Begotten is not; but also proceeds from Him not in a more measured way, and remains with Him, filling all things with its own supreme and immense grace and power, according to the good will common to it with the Father and the Son. And the verses of an oracle are thus: The Spirit is the procession of the immortal God the Father; From thence, from where it came, it remains steadfast, not divided; But remaining in the sacred bosom of the Word of God, It accomplishes all that the divine, primeval mind devises; And to all creation it brings grace, by which all 39.756 The works of God live, and have obtained eternal help. And again: So that the Trinity may hold all things together, measuring all things. Of Orpheus, the first theologian among the Greeks: For all things men accomplish under the great help of immortal God, under the wise impulse of the Spirit. Of Plato the Comic Poet, who eloquently in the iambics written below describes the deity monadically extended into a Trinity, from which all things have come to be and are saved. For God is one, the supreme Father; With the Word and Spirit most wisely establishing all things that were slipping, and from the depth of error drawing them up to the light out of long disorder. From Hermes Trismegistus, from the three discourses to Asclepius. When someone asked the good daimon concerning the thrice-holy Spirit, he prophesied thus: "If there were not a certain providence of the Lord of all, so as to reveal this word to me, neither would such a desire 39.757 have possessed you, that you should inquire about this. Now then, hear the rest of the discourse. Of this Spirit, of which I have often spoken before, all things have need. For upholding all things, it gives life and nourishes all things according to their worth, and it is dependent on the holy fount, a helper to spirits, and existing always as life for all, being one, fertile." Again, subjecting the many, who are not precise in their knowledge, to the nobler understanding—for the sake of the unblemished, immeasurable, ineffable, and ever and likewise existing, self-perfect Trinity, concerning which no one is so great-minded, nor is any man so high-minded, that he is able to contemplate anything worthy of its so great excellence—he utters the following: "For it is not possible to impart such mysteries to the uninitiated; but listen with the mind: There was only one intelligible light before the intelligible light, and there is always a luminous mind of mind; and there was nothing else, than the unity of this. Always being in itself, it always 39.760 with its own mind and light and spirit contains all things." And among other things he adds: "Besides this there is no God, no angel, no daimon, no other substance. For it is Lord and Father of all, and God, and fount, and life, and power, and light, and mind, and Spirit, and all things are in it and under it." Mind from mind, and intelligible light from intelligible light, and moreover also Spirit, by which it contains all things: it indicates God the Father, and the Only-Begotten, and His one Holy Spirit; as Wisdom says: "The Spirit of the Lord has filled the world." And angels and daimons, and those called gods by the Greeks, though not being truly gods, and all nature, are under this indivisible authority, the one creative principle of all. And Porphyry also, although not at all being of sound mind concerning what is truly divine, but bilious, so to speak, nevertheless setting forth the opinion of Plato, and having been somehow compelled by the truth, or perhaps also out of respect for Plato, was disposed to say this: "For Plato said that the substance of the divine proceeded as far as three hypostases; and that there is, first, the highest God and the good, and after him and second, the Creator, and third, the soul of the world; for as far as the soul the divinity

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39.753 ΚΕΦ. ΚΖʹ. Ἀκουστέον δὲ χαλεπὸν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἐκ τούτου, ἀλλὰ καὶ

ἐπωφελὲς καὶ στίχων τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι, μετρίαν περὶ τῆς πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν Πατέρα συντάξεως τοῦ Υἱοῦ Λόγου καὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος συναίσθησιν δεξαμένων, καὶ πρόσφορα καὶ ἀληθῆ θεωρησάντων εἶναι τὰ ὀνόματα ταῦτα· καὶ ὡς οὐ διέζευκται τὸ παγκρατὲς ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, οὐ φύσει, οὐ δυνάμει, οὐ δόξῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς, ὡς οὐδὲ ὁ Μονογενής· ἀλλὰ καὶ πρόεισιν ἐξ αὐτοῦ οὐ συμμετρότερον, καὶ παρ' αὐτῷ μένει, πληροῦν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ὑπερτάτῃ καὶ ἀπλέτῳ χάριτι καὶ δυνάμει ἅπαντα, κατὰ τὸ κοινὸν αὐτῷ τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἀγαθὸν βούλημα. Εἰσὶν δὲ οἱ στίχοι χρησμοῦ οὕτως· Πνεῦμα μὲν ἀθανάτοιο Θεοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκπροπόρευμα· Αὐτόθεν, ἔνθεν ἔβη, μένον ἔμπεδον, οὔτι μεριστόν· Ἀλλὰ Θεοῖο Λόγοιο μένον ζαθέοις ὑπὸ κόλποις, Πάντα τελεῖ, ἅτε θεῖος ἃ μήδεται ἀρχέγονος φρήν· Κτίσμασι δὲ ξύμπασι φέρει χάριν, ἧι ὕπο πάντα 39.756 Ἔργα Θεοῦ ζώει, καὶ ἀΐδιον ἔλλαχ' ἀρωγήν. Καὶ πάλιν· Ὄφρα τὰ πάντα Τριὰς συνέχῃ, κατὰ πάντα μετροῦσα. Ὀρφέως τοῦ παρ' Ἕλλησι πρώτου θεολόγου· Πάντα γὰρ ἀθανάτοιο Θεοῦ μεγάλῃ ὑπ' ἀρωγῆι Ἄνθρωποι τελέουσι, σοφῆι ὑπὸ Πνεύματος ὁρμῆι. Πλάτωνος τοῦ Κωμικοῦ, ὃς ἀνθηρῶς ἐν τοῖς ὑπογεγραμμένοις ἰάμβοις θεότητα μοναδικῶς ἐκτεινομένην εἰς Τριάδα, ἀφ' ἧς τὰ ὅλα γέγονέ τε καὶ σώζεται. Θεὸς γάρ ἐστιν εἷς Πατὴρ ὑπέρτατος· Λόγῳ τὰ πάντα πανσόφως καὶ Πνεύματι Στήσας ὀλισθαίνοντα, κἀκ βυθοῦ πλάνης Εἰς φῶς ἀνέλκων ἐκ μακρᾶς ἀταξίας. Ἑρμοῦ Τρισμεγίστου ἐκ τῶν πρὸς τὸν Ἀσκληπιὸν λόγων τριῶν. Ἐρομένου τινὸς τὸν ἀγαθὸν δαίμονα, περὶ τοῦ τρισαγίου Πνεύματος ἔχρησεν οὕτως· "Εἰ μὴ πρόνοιά τις ἦν τοῦ πάντων Κυρίου, ὥστε μοι τὸν λόγον τοῦτον ἀποκαλύψαι, οὐδὲ ὑμᾶς τοι 39.757 οῦτος ἔρως κατεῖχεν, ἵνα περὶ τούτου ζητήσητε. Νῦν δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ τοῦ λόγου ἀκούετε. Τούτου τοῦ Πνεύματος, οὗ πολλάκις προεῖπον, πάντα χρῄζει. Τὰ πάντα γὰρ βαστάζον, κατ' ἀξίαν τὰ πάντα ζωο ποιεῖ καὶ τρέφει, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἁγίας πηγῆς ἐξήρ τηται, ἐπίκουρον πνεύμασι, καὶ ζωῆς ἅπασιν ἀεὶ ὑπάρχον, γόνιμον ἓν ὄν." Αὖθίς τε τῇ εὐγενεστέρᾳ γνώμῃ καθυποτάττων τοὺς πολλοὺς, καὶ οὐκ ἀκριβεῖς περὶ τὴν γνῶσιν, τὴν ἕνεκα τῆς ἀχράντως, ἀμετρήτως, ἀφάτως, καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ ὡσαύτως ἐχούσης αὐτοτελοῦς Τριάδος, περὶ ἧς οὐδεὶς οὕτως μεγαλοφρονέστατος, οὐδὲ ὑψηλονούστατος ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶν, ὃς ἄξιόν τι τῆς τοσαύτης ὑπεροχῆς αὐτῆς θεωρῆσαι δύναται, ἀποφθέγγεται τοιάδε· "Οὐ γὰρ ἐφικτόν ἐστιν εἰς ἀμυήτους τοιαῦτα μυ στήρια παρέχεσθαι· ἀλλὰ τῷ νῷ ἀκούσατε· Ἓν μόνον ἦν φῶς νοερὸν πρὸ φωτὸς νοεροῦ, καὶ ἔστιν ἀεὶ νοῦς νοὸς φωτεινός· καὶ οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἦν, ἢ ἡ τούτου ἑνότης. Ἀεὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ὢν, ἀεὶ τῷ 39.760 ἑαυτοῦ νοῒ καὶ φωτὶ καὶ πνεύματι πάντα περι έχει." Καὶ μεταξὺ ἄλλων ἐπάγει· "Ἐκτὸς τούτου οὐ Θεὸς, οὐκ ἄγγελος, οὐ δαίμων, οὐκ οὐσία τις ἄλλη. Πάντων γάρ ἐστι Κύριος καὶ Πατὴρ, καὶ Θεὸς, καὶ πηγὴ, καὶ ζωὴ, καὶ δύνα μις, καὶ φῶς, καὶ νοῦς, καὶ Πνεῦμα, καὶ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ ὑπ' αὐτόν ἐστι." Νοῦν ἐκ νοῦ, καὶ φῶς νοερὸν ἐκ φωτὸς νοεροῦ, ἔτι δὲ καὶ Πνεῦμα, ᾧ πάντα περιέχει· τὸν Θεὸν Πατέρα, καὶ τὸν Μονογενῆ, καὶ τὸ ἓν αὐτοῦ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα δηλοῖ· ὡς ἡ Σοφία λέγει· "Πνεῦμα Κυρίου πεπλήρωκε τὴν οἰκουμένην." Ἀγγέλους δὲ καὶ δαίμονας, καὶ τοὺς λεχθέντας μὲν ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων, οὐκ ὄντας δὲ ἀληθῶς θεοὺς, καὶ πᾶσαν φύσιν, ὑπὸ ταύτην εἶναι τὴν ἀδιαίρετον ἐξουσίαν, τὴν μίαν πάντων δημιουργικὴν ἀρχήν. Καὶ Πορφύριος δὲ, καίτοι τὸ παράπαν οὐ σωφρονῶν περὶ τὸ ὄντως θεῖον, ἀλλ' αὐτοχολωτῶν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ὅμως Πλάτωνος ἐκτιθέμενος δόξαν, καί πώς ποτε συνελαθεὶς, ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας, ἢ τάχα καὶ τὸν Πλάτωνα αἰδεσθεὶς, φάναι διενοήθη ταυτί· "Ἄχρι γὰρ τριῶν ὑποστάσεων ἔφη Πλάτων τὴν τοῦ θείου προελθεῖν οὐσίαν· εἶναι δὲ, τὸν μὲν ἀνω τάτω Θεόν τ' ἀγαθὸν, μετ' αὐτὸν δὲ καὶ δεύτερον τὸν ∆ημιουργὸν, τρίτην δὲ καὶ τὴν τοῦ κόσμου ψυ χήν· ἄχρι γὰρ ψυχῆς τὴν θειότητα