EPISTLE ONE

 1. Your sacred Kindness’s letter was delivered to me in the desert. Though the persecution directed against us was indeed bitter, and a great search m

 2. To the Arians indeed this way of thinking is not strange. Having once denied the Word of God, they naturally say the same evil things against his S

 3. Where then do you find excuse for such audacity, so that you do not fear that which was spoken by the Lord, ‘Whosoever shall blaspheme against the

 4. Tell us, then, is there any passage in the divine Scripture where the Holy Spirit is found simply referred to as ‘spirit’ without the addition of ‘

 5. But do you answer the question which has been put to you whether anywhere in the divine Scripture you have found the Holy Spirit called simply ‘spi

 6. But inquire also about the contents of the Gospels and the writings of the Apostles, and you will hear how there also, inasmuch as there is a great

 7. See how the Holy Spirit is denoted in all divine Scripture ! Did you, then, notice anything of this kind in the prophet? The ‘spirit’ of which the

 8. Read the sacred Scriptures, and you will find ‘spirit’ used of the meaning which is in the divine words, as Paul writes: ‘Who also made us sufficie

 9. ‘But’, say they, ‘since the text makes mention of Christ, to be consistent we must take the spirit it speaks of to be none other than the Holy Spir

 10. Accordingly, if created spirit bears this meaning, we can appropriately take the thunder which is established to be the sure word and unshakable l

 11. What is this mighty folly of theirs? Once again, where in the Scriptures have they found the Spirit referred to as an angel? I am obliged to repea

 12. Moses too knew that the angels are creatures and that the Holy Spirit is united with the Son and the Father. For when God said to him, ‘Depart, go

 13. ‘But granting this,’ they say, ‘why did the Apostle after Christ make mention not of the Holy Spirit but of the elect angels?’ In like manner we m

 14. What will they say if they hear also the Lord saying: ‘There was in a certain place a judge who feared not God and regarded not man’? Because, aft

 15. Such, it seems to me, is the meaning of the divine oracles and it refutes the evil which these irrational men speak against the Spirit. But they,

 16. We ought therefore, as I said before, to be silent on these matters and to disregard these people. But lest our silence should furnish an excuse f

 17. For this reason too, it is madness to call him a creature. If he were a creature, he would not be ranked with the Triad. For the whole Triad is on

 18. Let them presume to tell us, as they have a glib answer to everything, how the heavens were formed, and from what material, and what is their comp

 19. Since, therefore, such an attempt is futile madness, nay, more than madness !, let no one ask such questions any more, or else let him learn only

 20. But if there is such co-ordination and unity within the holy Triad, who can separate either the Son from the Father, or the Spirit from the Son or

 21. But if, in regard to order and nature, the Spirit bears the same relation to the Son as the Son to the Father, will not he who calls the Spirit a

 22. The creatures came from nothing, having a beginning from which they came into being. For, ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth’

 23. He, therefore, who is not sanctified by another, nor a partaker of sanctification, but who is himself partaken, and in whom all the creatures are

 24. Further it is through the Spirit that we are all said to be partakers of God. For it says: ‘Know ye not that ye are a temple of God and that the S

 25. The Spirit, therefore, is distinct from the creatures, and is shown rather to be proper to the Son and not alien from God. As for that wise questi

 26. That the Spirit is above the creation, distinct in nature from things originated, and proper to the Godhead, can be seen from the following consid

 27. From what follows, also, we may see how the Holy Spirit is partaken and does not partake. (We must not mind repeating ourselves.) For, ‘It is impo

 28. But, beyond these sayings, let us look at the very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning, which the Lord gave,

 29. Since then the Church has this foundation of faith, let these men tell us once again and let them make answer, Is God triad or dyad? If he is dyad

 30. Such absurdities meet you if you say God is dyad. But if he is triad, as indeed he is and if the Triad has been shown to be indivisible and consi

 31. This consideration also shows that the activity of the Triad is one. The Apostle does not mean that the things which are given are given different

 32. The divine Scriptures, then, consistently show that the Holy Spirit is not a creature, but is proper to the Word and to the Godhead of the Father.

 33. Dwelling as I do in a desert place, yet, because of their effrontery who have turned away from the truth, I have not heeded those who will be glad

 EPISTLE TWO—THREE

 2. This opinion of the Arians is indeed mortal and corruptible. But the argument of truth, which even they ought to ponder, runs like this: If God is

 3. When these points are thus proved, he is impious who says that the Son is a creature. For he will be compelled also to give the name of creature to

 4. Again, all things originate were not and have come into being. For, ‘He made the earth as nothing’ and, ‘Who calleth the things that are not as th

 5. Since these things are true and are written in Scripture, who does not recognize that, inasmuch as the Son has no likeness to the creatures but has

 6. In this way too we can refute the impiety of those who say that the Word of God is a creature. Our faith is in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as the

 7. But as they plead the passage in Proverbs, ‘The Lord created me, a beginning of his ways, for his works’, adding, ‘See, “He created” He is a creatu

 8. This character [of our faith] is from the Apostles through the Fathers. It remains that he who reads Scripture should examine and judge when it spe

 9. Then too there is that other saying, which is indeed well said, but by them ill understood—I mean: ‘Of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not ev

 Letter III. 1. Perhaps you will wonder why, when I was charged to abridge and briefly to explain the letter I had written concerning the Holy Spirit,

 2. These considerations are sufficient to dissuade anyone, be he never so contentious, from continuing to call the Spirit of God a creature, who is in

 3. Again, the Holy Spirit is called, and is, unction and seal. For John writes: ‘And as for you, the unction which ye received of him abideth in you,

 4. This the Apostle knows when he says: ‘All these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally, even as he will’ and a little

 5. As it is thus written, it is clear that the Spirit is not a creature, but takes part in the act of creation. The Father creates all things through

 6. Assuredly, when he prayed for the Corinthians, he prayed in the Triad, saying: ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the comm

 7. In these terms the Catholic faith is expressed. But as for those who speak evil of the Spirit and call him a creature, if what we have said does no

 Epistle Four

 2. Who, when he hears these things, will still regard them as Christians, and not rather as pagans? For such things the pagans say against us in conve

 3. Once again, in the following way also, it is just for you to be questioned from the questions you ask. If the prophets speak in the Spirit of God,

 4. Thus the Spirit is not a creature but proper to the essence of the Word and proper to God in whom he is said to be. Once more, we must not shrink f

 5. These things being thus proved, he must be mad who asks, Is the Spirit also a son? But neither let any man, because this is not written, separate h

 6. For if you ask, Is the Spirit then a son?, since by our showing he is not a creature so must you ask, Is the Son then a father?, for you have

 7. These things are sufficient to refute your foolish speech. Mock no more at the Godhead. For it is the part of those who mock to ask the questions w

4. Again, all things originate were not and have come into being. For, ‘He made the earth as nothing’; and, ‘Who calleth the things that are not as though they were’; and they are also ‘works’ and ‘creatures’. Therefore they have a beginning from which they come to be. For ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth’, and all that in them is; and again: ‘All these things hath mine hand made.’ But the Son, like the Father, is ‘One that is’ and ‘God over all things’, as we have shown. He is not made, he makes; he is not created, but creates and makes the works of the Father. Through him ‘the ages’ came to be; and, ‘All things have come to be through him, and without him has not anything come to be’. And, as the Apostle has expounded the contents of the Psalm, he himself at the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of his hands. Again, none of the creatures is by nature God. Each thing that comes into being has been called whatever it has come to be: one heaven, another earth; some planets, others stars; yet others seas, depths, fourfooted things; and finally, man. And previous to these, angels and archangels, cherubim, virtues, principalities, powers, dominions, paradise. And so each remains. But if some have been called gods,u they are not so by nature, but by participation in the Son. Thus he himself said, ‘If he called them gods, unto whom the Word of God came . . .’ Hence, because they are not gods by nature, there comes a time when some of them suffer a change and hear him say: ‘I said, Ye are gods and sons of the Most High. Nevertheless, ye die like men.’ Such was he who heard God say: ‘Thou art a man and not god.’ But the Son, like the Father, is true God. For he is in him, and the Father in the Son. John wrote it, as we have shown; and David sings: ‘Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom.’ And the prophet Isaiah cries: ‘Egypt was overwhelmed and the commerce of the Ethiopians; and the Sabaeans, men of stature, shall come over to thee, and they shall follow behind thee bound with fetters, and they shall worship thee, because God is in thee. For thou art the God of Israel, and we knew thee not.’ Who is this God in whom God is, except the Son who said: ‘I am in the Father and the Father in me’?

Καὶ πάλιν τὰ γενητὰ πάντα οὐκ ἦν, καὶ γέγονε. Τὴν γὰρ γῆν, ὡς οὐδὲν, ἐποίησε· καὶ, «ὁ καλῶν τὰ μὴ ὄντα ὡς ὄντα·» καὶ ποιήματα δέ ἐστι καὶ κτίσματα· διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἀρχὴν ἔχει τοῦ γενέσθαι. «Ἐν ἀρχῇ» γὰρ «ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν,» καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς· καὶ πάλιν· «Ἡ χείρ μου ἐποίησε ταῦτα πάντα.» Ὁ δὲ Υἱὸς ὤν ἐστι καὶ ἐπὶ πάντων Θεὸς, ὡς ὁ Πατήρ· καὶ τοῦτο οὕτω δέδεικται· καὶ οὐ ποιούμενός ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ ποιῶν· καὶ οὐ κτιζόμενος, ἀλλὰ κτίζων καὶ ποιῶν τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Πατρός. ∆ι' αὐτοῦ γὰρ οἱ αἰῶνες γεγόνασι· καὶ πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο· καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν· ὡς δὲ Ἀπόστολος ἐδίδαξε τὸ ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ, αὐτὸς κατ' ἀρχὰς τὴν γῆν ἐθεμε λίωσε, καὶ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ εἰσιν οἱ οὐρανοί. Καὶ πάλιν τῶν κτισμάτων οὐδέν ἐστι τῇ φύσει Θεός· ἀλλ' ἕκαστον τῶν γενομένων ὃ καὶ γέγονε, τοῦτο καὶ ἐκλήθη· τὸ μὲν οὐρανὸς, ἄλλο δὲ γῆ· καὶ οἱ μὲν φωστῆρες, τὰ δὲ ἄστρα· καὶ ἄλλα θάλασσα, καὶ ἄβυσσοι, καὶ τετράποδα· καὶ λοιπὸν, ἄνθρωπος· καὶ πρὸ τούτων ἄγγελοι, καὶ ἀρχάγγελοι, χερου βὶμ, σεραφὶμ, καὶ δυνάμεις, ἀρχαὶ, ἐξουσίαι, κυριότητες, παράδεισος· καὶ οὕτως ἕκαστον διαμένει. Εἰ δὲ καὶ θεοί τινες ἐκλήθησαν, ἀλλ' οὐ τῇ φύσει, ἀλλὰ τῇ μετουσίᾳ τοῦ Υἱοῦ. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς εἶπεν· «Εἰ ἐκείνους εἶπεν θεοὺς, πρὸς οὓς ὁ Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐγένετο.» ∆ιὸ, μὴ ὄντες τῇ φύσει θεοὶ, ἔστιν ὅτε τινὲς τρέπονται, ἀκούοντες· «Ἐγὼ εἶπα· Θεοί ἐστε καὶ υἱοὶ Ὑψίστου πάντες Ὑμεῖς δὲ, ὡς ἄνθρωποι, ἀποθνήσκετε.» Τοιοῦτος ἦν ὁ ἀκούσας· «Σὺ δὲ εἶ ἄνθρωπος, καὶ οὐ Θεός.» Ὁ δὲ Υἱὸς Θεὸς ἀλη θινός ἐστιν, ὡς ὁ Πατήρ. Ἐν αὐτῷ γάρ ἐστιν, καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐν τῷ Υἱῷ· καὶ ὁ μὲν Ἰωάννης ἔγραψεν, ὡς δέδεικται· ὁ δὲ ∆αβὶδ ψάλλει· «Ὁ θρόνος σου, ὁ Θεὸς, εἰς αἰῶνα αἰῶνος· ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου·» καὶ ὁ προφήτης δὲ Ἡσαΐας βοᾷ· «Ἐκοπίασεν Αἴγυπτος καὶ ἐμπορία Αἰθιόπων· καὶ οἱ Σαβαεὶμ ἄνδρες ὑψηλοὶ ἐπὶ σὲ διαβήσονται, καὶ ἀκολουθήσουσιν οἱ ὀπίσω σου δεδε μένοι χειροπέδαις, καὶ προσκυνήσουσί σοι, ὅτι ἐν σοὶ ὁ Θεός. Σὺ γὰρ εἶ ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ οὐκ ᾔδει μεν.» Τίς δή ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς, ἐν ᾧ ὁ Θεὸς, εἰ μὴ ὁ Υἱὸς ὁ λέγων· «Ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί ἐστιν;»