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of God and be called back to the better and first state of life? For this is also indicated by the very mention of it, as the apostle exclaimed concerning those who were expected to be perfected from regeneration and to enjoy the greatest of all achievements: “that you may be in the image of him who created you?” And David prophesies in the 101st psalm: “a people that is being created will praise the Lord.” If he did not have communion of substance and lordship and activity with the Father and with the Son “through whom all things were made,” he would not renew and sanctify. Therefore, with the all-holy Spirit, Christ after the resurrection, recreating and sanctifying the man corrupted by disobedience, breathed into the faces of the disciples and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit;” fulfilling the prophecy of Nahum, which, due to an unrestrainable desire for the immeasurable good of the matter, related what was to come as if it were already happening: “He who breathes into your face has come up from the earth, and delivering you from affliction.” That to create is also to sanctify, which the divine Spirit is by nature able to do, David testifies, singing: “Create in me a clean heart, O God,” that is: sanctify me, that I might be renewed, having been corrupted by sin; for how could another heart be created for him? And he adds in concert with this: “and renew a right spirit within me,” instead of: grant me your all-surpassing, venerable Spirit, so that, he says, appearing pure by its sanctification, I may become a worthy temple for it. For from the oversight of it and of your Son alone, you yourself, O Master, seal us and we receive a cure for all evils and are in firm hope of every eternal good. For it is clear to us that David asks for it to be renewed in him; for how could the Spirit that was already in him be renewed as if just now coming upon him? But Scripture, knowing that to sanctify is greater and more necessary than to create, said concerning the pitiful Judas who lost his sanctification: “it were good for him, if that man had not been born,” because, he says, he did the most disadvantageous thing of all and betrayed the Master for no evil and exchanged life for pieces of silver. And indeed concerning the form of a servant in the ineffable economy, about which John says: “and the Word was made flesh,” and Paul: “he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant,” Solomon said: “Wisdom has built her house,” and Matthew, because of the identity of the divine nature and activity, set it forth thus: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.” And the archangel said: “For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit,” and again: “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born shall be called the Son of the Highest.” It must be remembered, therefore, that because of the heretical prattlings the evangelist placed genesis before the incarnation, then birth. For deriding our scriptural proofs, they say interrogatively in hypocrisy: Is Christ therefore the son of the Spirit? not hearing these things faithfully, nor what was said by him to the apostles: “You know not what manner of spirit the Son of man is of.” If, therefore, since the Father is true God, for this reason his activity is also divine in every way and in all respects; since the activity of the Holy Spirit appears equal and similar to this, for this reason it too is true God. And it would be fitting to say the same concerning the Son likewise. For if the activity of the Father is not better than that of the Son or of the Spirit, what indeed did the Spirit or the Son work in us at all? even though bringing a lesser power, if indeed they are dissimilar, as the heretics say? But if indeed the fulfillment of the Son and of the Spirit is useful and salvific, in no way will the Son or the Spirit be dissimilar. For neither would the Most High and rich in mercy by the lesser

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θεοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον καὶ πρῶτον ἀνακαλεῖσθαι σχῆμα τοῦ βίου; τοῦτο γὰρ δηλοῖ καὶ τὸ συμμνημονεύεσθαι αὐτό, ὡς τὸν ἀπόστολον περὶ τῶν ἐκ παλιγγενεσίας ἀρτίων γενέσθαι καὶ τοῦ παρὰ πάντα μεγίστου κατορθώματος ἀπολαῦσαι προσδοκωμένων ἀναφωνεῖν· «ὅπως γένησθε κατ' εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος ὑμᾶς;» προφητεύειν δὲ καὶ τὸν ∆αυὶδ ἐν ραʹ ψαλμῷ· «λαὸς ὁ κτιζόμενος αἰνέσει τὸν κύριον.» εἰ μηδὲ κοινωνίαν οὐσίας καὶ κυριότητος καὶ ἐνεργείας εἶχεν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ πρὸς τὸν· «δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο» υἱόν, οὐκ ἂν ἀνακαίνιζεν καὶ ἡγίαζεν. διὸ σὺν τῷ παναγίῳ πνεύματι ὁ Χριστὸς μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν τὸν φθαρέντα τῇ παρακοῇ ἄνθρωπον ἀνακτίζων καὶ ἁγιάζων ἐνέφυσα εἰς τὰ πρόσωπα τῶν μαθητῶν καὶ ἔλεγεν· «λάβετε πνεῦμα ἅγιον·» πληρῶν τοῦ Ναοὺμ προφητείαν τὴν ὑπὸ ἀκατασχέτου πόθου τοῦ πρὸς τὸ ἄμετρον καλὸν τοῦ πράγματος τὸ γενησόμενον ὡς ἤδη πραττόμενον διηγουμένην· «ἀνέβη ἐκ τῆς γῆς ὁ ἐμφυσῶν εἰς τὸ πρόσωπόν σου, καὶ ἐξαιρούμενός σε ἐκ θλίψεως.» ὅτι δὲ κτίσαι ἐστὶν καὶ τὸ ἁγιάσαι, ὅπερ ποιεῖν πέφυκεν τὸ θεϊκὸν πνεῦμα, ∆αυὶδ μαρτυρεῖ, ψάλλων· «καρδίαν καθαρὰν κτίσον ἐν ἐμοί, ὁ θεός,» τουτέστιν· ἁγίασόν με, ἵν' ἀνακαινισθείην, καταφθαρεὶς τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ· ἐπεὶ πῶς ἂν αὐτῷ ἑτέρα ἐκτίσθη καρδία; συμφράζει τε τούτῳ· «καὶ πνεῦμα εὐθὲς ἐγκαίνισον ἐν τοῖς ἐγκάτοις μου,» ἀντὶ τοῦ· τὸ πάντα ὑπερφέρον σεβάσμιόν σου πνεῦμα παράσχου μοι, ἵνα, φησίν, τῷ ἁγιασμῷ αὐτοῦ καθαρὸς ἀναφανείς, γένωμαι ναὸς αὐτοῦ ἄξιος. ἐκ γὰρ δὴ μόνης τῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ σου ἐπιστασίας καὶ αὐτός, δέσποτα, κατασημαίνῃ ἡμῖν καὶ πάντων ἄκος δεχόμεθα κακῶν καὶ ἐν ἐλπίσιν βεβαίαις παντὸς αἰωνίου γινόμεθα ἀγαθοῦ. ἐμφανὲς γὰρ ἡμῖν, ὅτι ∆αυὶδ αὐτὸ ἐξαιτεῖ ἐγκαινισθῆναι αὐτῷ· ἐπεὶ πῶς ἂν τὸ ἤδη ὂν αὐτῷ πνεῦμα ὡς ἄρτι ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἐρχόμενον ἐνεκαινίζετο; ἀλλὰ καὶ μεῖζον καὶ ἀναγκαιότερον τὸ ἁγιάσαι τοῦ δημιουργῆσαι εἰδυῖα ἡ γραφὴ περὶ τοῦ ἀπολέσαντος τὸν ἁγιασμὸν ἐλεεινοῦ Ἰούδα εἶπεν· «καλὸν ἦν αὐτῷ, εἰ οὐκ ἐγεννήθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος,» ἐπειδή, φησίν, ἁπάντων ἀσυμφορώτατον ἔπραξεν καὶ τὸν δεσπότην ἀντ' οὐδενὸς κακοῦ ἀπέδοτο καὶ τὴν ζωὴν ἀργυρίων ἠλλάξατο. καὶ δὴ καὶ περὶ τῆς ἐν τῇ ἀρρήτῳ οἰκονομίᾳ δουλικῆς μορφῆς, περὶ ἧς λέγει Ἰωάννης μέν· «καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο,» Παῦλος δέ· «ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν, μορφὴν δούλου λαβών,» ὁ μὲν Σολομὼν εἶπεν· «ἡ σοφία ᾠκοδόμησεν ἑαυτῇ οἶκον» ὁ δὲ Ματθαῖος διὰ τὸ ταὐτὸν τῆς θεϊκῆς φύσεως καὶ ἐνεργείας ἐξέθετο ὡδί· «τοῦ δὲ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἡ γέννησις οὕτως ἦν· μνηστευθείσης τῆς μη τρὸς αὐτοῦ Μαρίας τῷ Ἰωσήφ, πρὶν ἢ συνελθεῖν αὐτούς, εὑρέθη ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχουσα ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου.» καὶ ὁ ἀρχάγγελος δὲ ἔφη· «τὸ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ γεννηθὲν ἐκ πνεύματός ἐστιν ἁγίου,» καὶ πάλιν· «πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐλεύσεται ἐπὶ σέ, καὶ δύναμις ὑψίστου ἑπισκιάσει σοι· διὸ καὶ τὸ γεννώμενον ἅγιον υἱὸς ὑψίστου κληθήσεται.» μνημονευτέον οὖν, ὅτι διὰ τὰς αἱρετικὰς ἀδολεσχίας γένεσιν προανέταξεν τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως ὁ εὐαγγελίστης, εἶτα γέννησιν. διασυρόντες γὰρ ἡμῶν τὰς γραφικὰς ἀποδείξεις, λέγουσιν πευστικῶς καθ' ὑπόκρισιν· υἱὸς οὖν τοῦ πνεύματός ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός; πιστῶς οὐδὲ ταῦτα ἀκούοντες οὐδὲ τὸ παρ' αὐτοῦ τοῖς ἀποστόλοις εἰρημένον· «οὐκ οἴδατε, οἵου πνεύματός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.» εἰ οὖν, ἐπειδὴ ὁ πατὴρ θεὸς ἀληθινός, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡ ἐνέργεια αὐτοῦ θεῖά ἐστιν πάντη τε καὶ πάντως· ἐπειδὴ ταύτῃ ἴση καὶ ὁμοία ἡ ἐνέργεια τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος φαίνεται, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ αὐτὸ θεὸς ἀληθινὸς τυγχάνει. πρέποι δὲ ἂν καὶ περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ ὡσαύτως εἰπεῖν. ἐπεὶ μή γε εἰ ἡ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐνέργεια τῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ ἢ τοῦ πνεύματος ἀμείνων, τί γὰρ καὶ ὅλως ἐνήργει τὸ πνεῦμα ἢ ὁ υἱὸς εἰς ἡμᾶς; καίτοι τὴν χείρω ἐπάγοντες δύναμιν, εἴπερ ἀνομοίως ἔχουσιν, ὡς οἱ αἱρετικοί φασιν; εἰ δὲ δὴ χρήσιμος καὶ σωτηριώδης ἡ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος πλήρωσις, κατ' οὐδὲν ἔσται ἀνόμοιος ὁ υἱὸς ἢ τὸ πνεῦμα. οὔτε γὰρ ἂν ὁ ὑπέρτατος καὶ πλούσιος ἐν ἐλέει παρὰ τοῦ χείρονος