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Love is not accustomed to bear witness to an accurate examination; however, nothing prevents one from hearing that very sophistry. For thus they might be even more condemned. It is as follows: not if something is homonymously called eternal, can it be called God, but if someone is God, he is the maker of eternal things. For it is written: “God is the maker of times and ages;” and again: “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the ages.” For not if something is called eternal, must it be named God; there will be countless gods. For it is written: “and be lifted up, you everlasting gates,” and again: “the eternal years were remembered” and again: “like eternal sheep,” and: “these will rise to eternal punishment.” and elsewhere: “those in the dust of the earth will rise, some to eternal life, and some to eternal shame.” Are then punishment and shame gods? You see into what great absurdity and impiety the homonymy concerning 'eternal' falls, for in their thoughts and words, saltiness both abounds and is mixed in; but the following dissolves this: As we have just mentioned concerning the name 'eternal,' the other things, whatever they may be, happen to have it only by not being from a temporal beginning; but they also possess a corruption which is a change from their own will, and their 'eternal' is entirely unlike the divine 'eternal'; just as also one who is called holy, whether angel or man, is not this in a like and equal manner to the Holy of Holies, the Spirit; for He is Himself holiness and eternity in every way. Let them consider, then, with what loud proclamation 'eternal' has been declared of the Holy Spirit, and that to this was added that wonderful and most incomprehensible thing, I mean, that through the Holy Spirit He who fashioned the ages offered Himself to His own true Father on our behalf. And let them consider also that all the powers of the heavens are in the Holy Spirit, certainly because He is co-creator with the self-sufficient Creator; and that, concerning the eternal gates and sheep which the heretics mentioned not opportunely, but craftily, the oracles brought forward by us on this main point foretold the end. And let the difference be clear to them between that which is eternally without beginning and without change and that which is from time and changeable, and how this is not a small thing, nor is it merely another beauty concerning the essence, but something completely different. And let it be known also, that the Holy Spirit has the judgment concerning the eternal in relation to God the Father who strengthens all things and the Son, not in relation to created things; and having abandoned their worse opinion, let them choose the better; and let them marvel, instead of at the present things, at what is worthy of marvel; and let them act better in the time to come; for there is no envy; and from those things by which, making their arrogant complaint, they have harmed themselves, from these let them also carry away the benefit of repentance. For if this word was used concerning God the Father and the Son as indicating something befitting of God, it would be taken equally and in like manner concerning the Spirit of God. This is one point; and another is that none of the eternal things they mentioned is called divine, or a Holy Spirit proceeding from God, that is, something one, and not a multitude; nor is it ranked with the Father and the Son for divine initiation and a divine gift, nor has it been deemed worthy of any other honor—not to say many things—befitting the Godhead. Besides these things: God the Father was pleased that all things be created through his Son, the Word. And what reproach, as they dream, is it to His all-holy Spirit for not creating, if indeed, according to them, He is not ineffably a co-worker with the Creator as is the Father? But that every operation and gift of His only-begotten Son, the Word, and of the one Holy Spirit—creative, good, and perfect—is theirs in common, and all is referred back to the One, from whom and with whom these blessed hypostases ineffably appeared, one might most easily learn by making a quiet examination of the oracles full of wisdom, both those mentioned in various places in this book, and those in the one before it.

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ἔρως οὐκ εἴωθεν ἀκριβῆ μαρτυρεῖν ἐξέτασιν· ὅμως οὐδὲν οἷον κωλύει αὐτῆς ἐκείνης τῆς πιθανουργίας ἀκοῦσαι. οὕτω γὰρ ἂν ἔτι πλέον καταγνωσθείησαν. ἔχει οὖν ὧδε· οὐκ εἴ τι αἰώνιον ὁμωνύμως προσηγόρευται, θεὸς δύναται λέγεσθαι, ἀλλ' εἴ τις θεός, αἰωνίων ποιητής. γέγραπται γάρ· «χρόνων καὶ αἰώνων ποιητὴς ὁ θεός·» καὶ πάλιν· «Πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως πάλαι ὁ θεὸς λαλήσας ἐν τοῖς προφή ταις, ἐπ' ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν υἱῷ, ὃν ἔθετο κληρόνομον πάντων, δι' οὗ καὶ τοὺς αἰῶνας ἐποίησεν.» οὐ γὰρ εἴ τι αἰώνιον προσηγόρευται, θεὸς ὀφείλει ὀνομάζεσθαι· ἄπειροι θεοὶ ἔσονται. γέγραπται γάρ· «καὶ ἐπάρθητε, πύλαι αἰώνιοι,» καὶ πάλιν· «ἔτη αἰώνια ἐμνήσθησαν» καὶ αὖθις· «ὥσπερ πρόβατα αἰώνια,» καί· «ἀναστήσονται οὗτοι εἰς κόλασιν αἰώνιον.» καὶ ἑτέρωθι· «ἀναστήσονται οἱ ἐν χώματι γῆς, οἱ μὲν εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, οἱ δὲ εἰς αἰσχύνην αἰώνιον.» ἆρα οὖν καὶ ἡ κόλασις καὶ ἡ αἰσχύνη θεοί; ὁρᾶς, εἰς ὅσην ἀτοπίαν καὶ ἀσέβειαν ἡ κατὰ τὸ αἰώνιον ὁμωνυμία ἐκπίπτει, τοῖς μὲν οὖν ἐκείνων νοήμασι καὶ ῥήμασιν ἅλμη ἐπιπολάζει τε καὶ συμπέφυρται· ταύτην δὲ διαλύει τάδε· τοῦ αἰωνίου ὀνόματος ὡς ἄρτι ἐπεμνήσθημεν, τὰ ἄλλα κἂν ἔτυχεν, μόνον οὐκ ἀπὸ χρόνου ἔτυχεν· ἀλλὰ καὶ φθορὰν τὴν ἀπὸ γνώμης οἰκείας τροπὴν ἔχει, καὶ ἀνόμοιον παντάπασιν τῷ θείῳ αἰωνίῳ τὸ ἐκείνων αἰώνιόν ἐστιν· καθὰ οὐδὲ ὁ λεγόμενος ἅγιος, ἄγγελος ἢ ἄνθρωπος, ὁμοίως καὶ ἴσως τοῦτό ἐστιν τῷ ἁγίῳ τῶν ἁγίων πνεύματι· αὐτὸ γὰρ ἁγιότης καὶ αἰωνιότης τὸ πᾶν ὑπάρχει. πρόσχωσι τοίνυν, μετὰ ποίας μεγαλοφωνίας τὸ αἰώνιον ἐπὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἀνείρηται, καὶ ὅτι τούτῳ τὸ θαυμαστὸν ἐκεῖνο καὶ πᾶσιν ἀχωρητότατον προσεπέθηκεν, φημὶ τὸ διὰ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος τὸν κατασκευάσαντα τοὺς αἰῶνας ἑαυτὸν προσαγαγεῖν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ ἀληθινῷ πατρὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν. σκεψάσθωσαν δὲ καὶ ὅτι αἱ δυνάμεις πᾶσαι τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ πνεύματί εἰσιν, πάντως ὅτι ὡς συνδημιουργῶ τοῦ ἀνεπιδεοῦς δημιουργοῦ· καὶ ὅτι, ὧν οὐκ εὐκαίρως, ἀλλ' ἐνδιασκεύως ἐμνημόνευσαν αἱρετικοὶ αἰωνίων πυλῶν καὶ προβάτων, τὸ τέλος τὰ εἰς τὸ κεφάλαιον τοῦτο προκομισθέντα πρὸς ἡμῶν λόγια προεῖπαν. καὶ ἔστω δῆλον αὐτοῖς τὸ διάφορον τοῦ τε ἀνάρχως καὶ ἀτρέπτως αἰωνίου τοῦ τε ἀπὸ χρόνου καὶ τρεπτοῦ, καὶ ὡς οὐ βραχὺ τοῦτο, οὐδὲ περὶ τὴν οὐσίαν καὶ ἄλλο κάλλος ἐστὶ μόνον, ἀλλὰ τὸ παντάπασιν ἐξηλλαγμένον. ἔστω δὲ γνώριμον καὶ τὸ, ὅτι τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα τὴν περὶ τὸ αἰώνιον κρίσιν πρὸς τὸν ἐνισχύσαντα τὰ σύμπαντα θεὸν πατέρα καὶ τὸν υἱὸν ἔχει, οὐ πρὸς τὰ κτίσματα· καὶ λύσαντες τὴν χείρω γνώμην, ἑλέσθωσαν τὴν βελτίονα· καὶ θαυμαζέτωσαν, ἀντὶ τῶν νῦν, ἃ θαυμάζειν ἄξιον· καὶ πραξάτωσαν βελτίω τὸν μετὰ ταῦτα χρόνον· φθόνος γὰρ οὐδείς· καὶ ἀφ' ὧν τὴν ἀλαζόνα μέμψιν ποιησάμενοι ἑαυτοὺς ἔβλαψαν, ἐντεῦθεν καὶ τὸ τῆς μεταμελείας ὄφελος ἀπενεγκάσθωσαν. εἰ γάρ, ὡς θεοπρεπές τι ἐνδεικνυμένη ἡ λέξις αὕτη ἐχρήσθη περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ, ἴσως καὶ ὁμοίως ἐκληφθείη ἂν περὶ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ θεοῦ. ἓν μὲν δὴ τοῦτο· ἕτερον δέ, ὅτι οὐδὲν, ὧν ἐμνήσθησαν αἰωνίων, προσηγόρευται θεῖον, ἢ πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκπορευθέν, ἤγουν ἕν τι, καὶ μὴ πλῆθος ὄν· οὐδὲ συντάττεται τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῷ υἱῷ εἰς θείαν μυσταγωγίαν καὶ θεϊκὴν δωρεάν, οὐδὲ ἄλλης τινός, ἵνα μὴ πολλὰ λέγω, θεότητι ἀνηκούσης τιμῆς ἠξίωται. ἄλλα πρὸς τούτοις· ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ εὐδόκησεν διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ λόγου πάντα δημιουργηθῆναι. καὶ ποία, ὡς ὀνειροπολοῦσιν, λοιδορία τῷ πνεύματι αὐτοῦ τῷ παναγίῳ ἐκ τοῦ μὴ δημιουργῆσαι, εἴ γε ἄρα, κατ' αὐτοὺς, μὴ ἀρρήτως συνεργόν ἐστι τῷ δημιουργῷ ὡς ὁ πατήρ; ὅτι δὲ τοῦ μονογενοῦς αὐτοῦ υἱοῦ λόγου καὶ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἁγίου πνεύματος πᾶσα ἐνέργεια καὶ δωρεά, δημιουργική τε, ἀγαθή τε καὶ τελεία, καὶ κοινὴ αὐτῶν ὑπάρχει, ἀνάγεται δὲ ὅλα εἰς τὸν ἕνα, ἐξ οὗ καὶ σὺν ᾧ ἀφράστως ἐξεφάνησαν αἱ μακαρίαι ὑποστάσεις αὗται ῥᾷστα ἂν καταμάθοι ὁ ἐξέτασίν τινα ἡσυχῖ ποιησάμενος τῶν σοφίας μεστῶν λογίων, τῶν τε ἐν διαφόροις τόποις τοῦδε τοῦ βιβλίου μνημονευθέντων, τῶν τε ἐν τῷ πρὸ αὐτοῦ.