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we confess we have reached. But the Holy Spirit is called truth just as the Father and the Son, since it is of the same one Godhead, having nothing divided or discordant. The Son testifies concerning the Father and himself, saying: “Father, your word is truth,” and again: “I am the life and the truth,” and concerning the Holy Spirit, as was said before. 6.15v That no one knows the things of God, except the Holy Spirit, and that because of its equality with the Father, conversely God knows the things of the Holy Spirit. Creation does not know the things of God; for it transcends it, and nothing dares to rush to such knowledge, even if it be of the most esteemed; since to know the things of God is completely impossible for that which is not of the same nature and does not possess the same knowledge as God, as the Savior taught, saying in John: “The servant does not know what his master is doing,” and as Peter wrote: “things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.” But that the Holy Spirit knows as consubstantial God, the apostle wrote to the Corinthians, as has been said before. And again, demonstrating the majesty of the Spirit and its equality with the Father, he writes what is of equal weight to that: “But he who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit.” For just as when saying something great about the Father, he said that He knows the mind of the Spirit, so demonstrating the communion of nature and will with him and the equality of worth and power of the Holy Spirit, he wrote that it alone knows the things of the Father and searches his depths and his unknown thoughts, which it must reveal to the worthy when it is necessary. But that Peter, as was said before, wrote: the Spirit was sent from heaven; let it be understood in the way that this is understood: the Son was sent. For as that one was sent as Word, so this was sent as utterance and Spirit of God. And because of knowing that the things said by Christ or by the Holy Spirit are also said by the Father because of the one will, such sayings are found. For it neither is ignorant nor is sent as a servant, nor does it speak or do or come from itself as if opposed to God. 6.16v That no one sees God the Father, except the Son alone and the Holy Spirit, and to those who say: Is it not written then, he says, that the angels see the face of the Father? Creation does not see God the Father as he is; for to a different nature this is incomprehensible and unbearable; and to it is addressed: “No one shall see my face and live.” But the scriptures say that sometimes only the Son, and sometimes only the Holy Spirit sees or knows God the Father, since the Trinity is in a monad of Godhead, as when the Savior says in John: “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.” And the Son is from God by nature by way of generation, and the Holy Spirit by way of procession; and again: “for no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him,” and as when specifically concerning the Holy Spirit, as was said before, Paul writes to the Corinthians, and as Isaiah prophesies: “a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of knowledge and piety.” Is it not written then, he says, in Matthew from the Savior: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven?” Yes; but they see, not how great and what sort of being God is, but insofar as they themselves are capable. But the Only-Begotten and the Holy Spirit, because of the identity of Godhead, see him as he is, the God without magnitude and without form. 6.17v That the Holy Spirit deems creation worthy of adoption; but it itself proceeds from the hypostasis of God. Rational creation, when it becomes worthy of renewal and adoption, is deemed worthy of these things by the all-powerful grace of the Holy Spirit, since it is not a creature, but exists as God, such as the one who created in the beginning. 6.18v That it does not sing hymns as the rest of creation does; since it is itself among those who are hymned. creation
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ἐφήκειν ὁμολογοῦμεν. τὸ δὲ ἅγιον πνεῦμα ἀλήθεια προσηγόρευται καθὰ ὁ πατὴρ καὶ ὁ υἱός, ἐπειδὴ τῆς αὐτῆς μιᾶς ἐστιν θεότητος, οὐδὲν ἔχον πολυσχιδὲς ἢ διαφωνοῦν. μαρτυρεῖ δὲ περὶ μὲν τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ ἑαυτοῦ ὁ υἱὸς λέγων· «πάτερ, ὁ λόγος ὁ σὸς ἀλήθειά ἐστιν,» καὶ πάλιν· «ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ζωὴ καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια,» περὶ δὲ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, ὡς προελέχθη. 6.15ν ὅτι οὐδεὶς οἶδεν τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, εἰ μὴ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, καὶ ὅτι διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα ἰσότητα, τὸ ἀνάπαλιν ὁ θεὸς οἶδεν τὰ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος. ἡ κτίσις οὐκ οἶδεν τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ· ὑπερβαίνει γὰρ αὐτήν, καὶ οὐδὲν πρὸς τοιαύτην εἴδησιν ὁρμῆσαι τολμᾷ, κἂν ᾖ τῶν εὐδοκίμων· ἐπειδὴ γνῶναι τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς πάμπαν ἀδύνατον τῇ μὴ οὔσῃ τῆς αὐτῆς φύσεως καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν γνῶσιν τῷ θεῷ κεκτημένῃ, ὡς ἐδίδαξεν ὁ σωτὴρ εἰπὼν ἐν Ἰωάννῃ· «ὁ δοῦλος οὐκ οἶδεν τί ποιεῖ ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ,» καὶ ὡς ἔγραψεν Πέτρος· «ἔστιν ἃ νῦν ἀναγγέλλει ὑμῖν διὰ τῶν εὐαγγελισαμένων ὑμᾶς πνεύματι ἁγίῳ ἀποσταλέντι ἀπὸ οὐρανοῦ, εἰς ἃ ἐπιθυμοῦσιν ἄγγελοι παρακῦψαι.» τὸ δὲ ἅγιον πνεῦμα ὅτι ἐπίσταται ὡς ὁμοούσιος θεός, ὁ ἀπόστολος Κορινθίοις ἐπέστειλεν, ὡς προείρηται. καὶ πάλιν τὴν μεγαλειότητα τοῦ πνεύματος καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα ἰσότητα παριστῶν, ἰσόρροπον ἐκείνῳ γράφει· «ὁ δὲ ἐρευνῶν τὰς καρδίας οἶδεν, τί τὸ φρόνημα τοῦ πνεύματος.» καθὰ γὰρ μέγα τι λέγων περὶ τοῦ πατρὸς, εἶπεν εἰδέναι αὐτὸν τοῦ πνεύματος τὸ φρόνημα, οὕτω τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν κοινωνίαν τῆς φύσεως καὶ θελήσεως καὶ τὴν ἰσότητα τῆς ἀξίας καὶ δυνάμεως τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος παριστῶν, ἔγραψεν μόνον αὐτὸ εἰδέναι τὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τὰ βάθη αὐτοῦ ἐρευνᾶν καὶ τὰς ἀγνώστους ἐκείνου νοήσεις, ἃς χρὴ καὶ ἡνίκα δεῖ τοῖς ἀξίοις ἐκφαίνειν. τὸν δὲ Πέτρον, ὡς προείρηται, γράψαι· ἀπεστάλη ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ τὸ πνεῦμα· νοείσθω, ᾧ τρόπῳ νοεῖται τό· ἀπεστάλη ὁ υἱός. ὡς λόγος γὰρ ἐκεῖνος, καὶ τοῦτο ὡς ῥῆμα καὶ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ ἀπεστάλη. καὶ διὰ τὸ εἰδέναι, ὅτι τὰ παρὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἢ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος λεγόμενα λέγεται καὶ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς διὰ τὸ ἓν θέλημα, τὰ τοιαῦτα κεῖται ῥήματα. οὔτε γὰρ ἀγνοεῖ ἢ πέμπεται ὡς δοῦλον, οὔτε ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ λαλεῖ ἢ ποιεῖ ἢ ἔρχεται ὡς ἀντίθεον. 6.16ν ὅτι οὐδεὶς ὁρᾷ τὸν θεὸν καὶ πατέρα, εἰ μὴ μόνος ὁ υἱὸς καὶ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας· οὐ γέγραπται οὖν, φησίν, ὅτι οἱ ἄγγελοι βλέπουσιν τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ πατρός; ἡ κτίσις οὐχ ὁρᾷ τὸν θεὸν καὶ πατέρα οὕτως, ὡς ἔστιν· ἑτέρᾳ γὰρ φύσει τοῦτο ἀχώρητον καὶ ἀβάστακτον ὑπάρχει· καὶ πρὸς αὐτήν ἐστιν τό· «οὐδεὶς ὄψεταί μου τὸ πρόσωπον καὶ ζήσεται.» αἱ δὲ γραφαὶ λέγουσιν, ποτὲ μὲν τὸν υἱὸν μόνον, ποτὲ δὲ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα μόνον ὁρᾶν ἢ εἰδέναι τὸν θεὸν πατέρα, ἐπειδὴ ἐν μονάδι θεότητος ἡ τριάς, ὡς ἡνίκα ὁ σωτὴρ παρὰ Ἰωάννῃ λέγει· «οὐχ ὅτι τὸν πατέρα τις ἑόρακεν, εἰ μὴ ὁ ὢν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ· οὗτος ἑόρακεν τὸν πατέρα.» ἔστιν δὲ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ κατὰ φύσιν ὁ υἱὸς γεννητικῶς, καὶ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα ἐκπορευτικῶς· καὶ πάλιν· «οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸν πατέρα τις ἐπιγινώσκει, εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱός, καὶ ᾧ ἐὰν ὁ υἱὸς ἀποκαλύψῃ,» καὶ ὡς ὅταν ἰδικῶς περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, ὡς προελέχθη, Παῦλος Κορινθίοις γράφει, καὶ ὡς Ἠσαῖας προφητεύει· «πνεῦμα σοφίας καὶ συνέσεως, πνεῦμα γνώσεως καὶ εὐσεβείας.» οὐ γέγραπται οὖν, φησίν, Ματθαίῳ ἀπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος· «ὁρᾶτε, μὴ καταφρονήσητε ἑνὸς τῶν μικρῶν τούτων· λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν, ὅτι οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς διὰ παντὸς βλέπουσιν τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς;» ναί· ἀλλὰ βλέπουσιν, οὐχ ὅσος καὶ οἷός ἐστιν ὁ θεός, ἀλλὰ καθ' ὅσον αὐτοὶ χωροῦσιν. ὁ δὲ μονογενὴς καὶ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα διὰ τὸ ταὐτὸν τῆς θεότητος ὁρῶσιν οὕτως, ὡς ἔστιν ὁ ἀμεγέθης καὶ ἀνείδεος θεός. 6.17ν ὅτι τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα τὴν κτίσιν υἱοθεσίας ἀξιοῖ· αὐτὸ δὲ ἐκ τῆς ὑποστάσεως τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκπορεύεται. ἡ κτίσις ἡ λογική, ὅταν ἀξία γένηται ἀνακαινισμοῦ καὶ υἱοθεσίας, ὑπὸ τῆς πανδυνάμου χάριτος τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος τούτων ἀξιοῦται, ἐπειδὴ οὐ κτίσμα, ἀλλὰ θεὸς ὑπάρχει, οἷος ὁ κτίσας τὸ πρῶτον. 6.18ν ὅτι οὐχ ὑμνεῖ ὡς ἡ ἄλλη κτίσις· ἐπειδὴ αὐτὸ τῶν ὑμνημένων ἐστι. ἡ κτίσις