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

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 Son himself said to the apostles: ‘Go ye, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ He spoke thus that by means of things we know we may understand the matters of which we have been speaking. Just as we would not call our fathers makers, but begetters, and as no one would call us their creatures, but sons by nature and one in essence with them: so, if God be Father, he must be Father of one who is by nature a Son and one in essence with him. Abraham did not create Isaac, he begat him. Bezalel and Eliab did not beget but made all the works in the Tabernacle. The shipwright and the housebuilder do not beget the things they make; they work, the one on the ship, the other on the house. Isaac does not make Jacob; he begets him by nature, a son. And likewise Jacob, Judah and his brethren. Just as one would be mad to say that the house is one in essence with the builder, and the ship with the shipwright, so it is correct to say that every son is one in essence with his own father. If then there is Father and Son, the Son must be Son by nature and in truth. But this is to be one in essence with the Father, as we have shown from many instances. Thus of the things that are made it is written: ‘He spoke, and they came to be; he commanded and they were created.’ But of the Son: ‘My heart hath uttered a good Word.’ Daniel knew the Son of God and he knew the works of God. The Son he saw quench the furnace; of the works he said, ‘O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord’, and then he enumerated each of the creatures. But he did not number the Son with them, for he knew that he is not a work. It is through him that the works came into being; while he in the Father is praised and exalted. As then through him God is revealed to them that know him, so through him, ‘blessing and praise and glory and power’ are ascribed to the Father—through him and in him, that this ascription may, in the words of Scripture, be ‘acceptable’. From these sayings, therefore, among many, we have shown, and we now show, that he is impious who says that the Word of God is a creature.

Καὶ οὕτω δ' ἄν τις διελέγξειε τὴν ἀσέβειαν τῶν λεγόντων κτίσμα εἶναι τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον. Ἡ πίστις ἡμῶν εἰς Πατέρα καὶ Υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμά ἐστι, λέγοντος αὐτοῦ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῖς ἀποστόλοις· «Πορευθέντες, μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος.» Εἶπε δὲ οὕτως, ἵνα ἐξ ὧν οἴδαμεν, ἀπὸ τούτων νοῶμεν καὶ περὶ τῶν προειρημένων. Ὥσπερ οὖν οὐκ ἂν εἴποιμεν τοὺς πατέρας ποιητὰς, ἀλλὰ γεννήτορας, καὶ αὐτοὺς δὲ ἡμᾶς οὐκ ἂν εἴποι τις κτίσμα πατέρων, ἀλλὰ υἱοὺς φύσει, καὶ ὁμοουσίους τῶν πατέρων· οὕτως, εἰ Πατὴρ ὁ Θεὸς, πάντως Υἱοῦ φύσει καὶ ὁμοουσίου ἐστὶ Πατήρ. Ἀβραὰμ γοῦν οὐκ ἔκτισε τὸν Ἰσαὰκ, ἀλλ' ἐγέννησε· Βεσελεὴλ δὲ καὶ Ἐλιὰβ οὐκ ἐγέννησαν, ἀλλ' ἐποίησαν πάντα τὰ ἔργα τὰ ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ. Καὶ ναυ πηγὸς δὲ καὶ οἰκοδόμος οὐ γεννῶσιν ἃ ποιοῦσιν, ἀλλ' ἕκαστος ἐργάζεται, ὁ μὲν τὸ σκάφος, ὁ δὲ τὴν οἰκίαν. Ὁ μέντοι Ἰσαὰκ οὐ ποιεῖ, ἀλλὰ γεννᾷ φύσει καὶ ὁμοούσιον τὸν Ἰακώβ· καὶ ὁ Ἰακὼβ δὲ οὕτως τὸν Ἰούδαν καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ. Ὥσπερ οὖν μαίνοιτ' ἄν τις λέγων τὴν οἰκίαν ὁμοούσιον τοῦ οἰκο δόμου, καὶ τὸ σκάφος τοῦ ναυπηγοῦ, οὕτως πρεπόν τως ἄν τις εἴποι πάντα Υἱὸν ὁμοούσιον εἶναι τοῦ ἑαυ τοῦ Πατρός. Εἰ τοίνυν Πατήρ ἐστι καὶ Υἱὸς, ἀνάγκη τὸν Υἱὸν φύσει καὶ ἀληθείᾳ εἶναι Υἱόν. Τοῦτο δέ ἐστι τὸ ὁμοούσιον εἶναι τῷ Πατρὶ, ὡς ἐκ πολλῶν ἐδείχθη. Ἀμέλει περὶ μὲν τῶν ποιημάτων· «Αὐτὸς εἶπε, καὶ ἐγενήθησαν· αὐτὸς ἐνετείλατο, καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν.» Περὶ δὲ τοῦ Υἱοῦ· «Ἐξηρεύξατο ἡ καρδία μου Λόγον ἀγαθόν.» Ὁ δὲ ∆ανιὴλ οἶδεν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, οἶδε καὶ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ τὸν μὲν Υἱὸν εἶδε δροσίζοντα τὴν κάμινον· περὶ δὲ τῶν ἔργων εἰρηκὼς, «Εὐλογεῖτε, πάντα τὰ ἔργα Κυρίου, τὸν Κύριον,» ἕκαστον μὲν τῶν κτισμάτων κατέλεξε· τὸν δὲ Υἱὸν οὐ συνηρίθμησε τούτοις, εἰδὼς, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἔργον, ἀλλὰ δι' αὐτοῦ γέγονε μὲν τὰ ἔργα, ἐν Πατρὶ δὲ ὑμνούμενος καὶ ὑπερυψούμενός ἐστιν. Ὥσπερ οὖν δι' αὐτοῦ ἀποκαλύπτεται ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς γινώσκουσιν, οὕτως δι' αὐτοῦ ἡ εὐλογία, καὶ ὁ ὕμνος, καὶ ἡ δόξα, καὶ τὸ κράτος ὁμολογεῖται τῷ Πατρὶ δι' αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ, ἵνα καὶ εὐπρόσδεκτος ἡ τοιαύτη ὁμολογία γένηται, ὡς αἱ Γραφαὶ λέγουσιν. Ἐκ πολλῶν μὲν οὖν καὶ ἐκ τούτων δέδεικται καὶ δείκνυται ἀσε βὴς ὁ λέγων κτίσμα εἶναι τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον.