95
will be called. The prophets and apostles, therefore, who spoke about the day of the Lord and about His glorious and awesome coming, that it is like a thief in the night and like birth pangs to a woman giving birth, and that it is revealed in fire, from where did they learn these things to say them? For certainly, they either heard it from someone, or they themselves became eyewitnesses of that day. For what they did not see, what they did not hear from another speaking, how could they have said it? If, then, they heard it, tell me from whom; for I do not yet say that they saw and spoke, but that they heard; tell me then, if you know, from where they have learned these things. But if you do not know what to say, listen and know that they learned these things from the Holy Spirit, just as the Lord also said to them: "But when the Comforter comes, the Holy Spirit whom the Father sends in my name, He will teach you all things and will remind you of all things that I have said to you." (220) And that the Holy Spirit, having come upon the apostles, taught and said also those things which Christ did not say to them, He Himself says: "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now; but when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will announce to you the things to come. He will glorify me, because He will take from what is mine and will announce it to you." You have learned from where they who wrote about that day and the appearance of the Lord and the things laid up and about to come upon the sinners and the just were taught. Thus also concerning all the rest of the things not seen by us, they themselves, having been enlightened by the Spirit, both saw and wrote.
But answer my question. What is the Holy Spirit? God, from true God, confessedly true God. You therefore, as you see, say that this is God, following the doctrines of the Church. Saying and thinking this, therefore, that He is true God proceeding from true God, you establish that those who have the Holy Spirit confessedly have God Himself abiding always with them, just as Christ said to the apostles: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments; and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever." Behold, then, you have been taught that He both abides and dwells for endless ages; for the saying, "that He may abide with you forever," signifies that He will be with them eternally and unendingly and be inseparable from them both in the present time and in the age to come. And that the divine apostles and as many as were deemed worthy to receive it also saw the Holy Spirit, hear what follows: "The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, (221) because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you." And so that you may know that those who love Him and keep His commandments also see Christ, hear the Lord Himself saying: "He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him."
Therefore, let it be known to all Christians that Christ is true and is true God, and He confessedly manifests Himself to those who show their love for Him through the keeping of His commandments, just as He Himself said; and He bestows upon them the Holy Spirit Himself through His manifestation, and again through the Holy Spirit, He and the Father abide inseparably with them. Such persons speak nothing from themselves; but he who says they speak anything from themselves, says it is possible for a man to know the things of man and likewise for men to know the things of God; but if not this, he calls them liars and myth-makers, as not being taught by Him, but teaching others from their own reasonings about things they have not seen or heard. But it is necessary to know that if these also utter things in harmony with the God-bearing fathers who preceded them, they also in the same Spirit
95
κληθήσεται. Οἱ οὖν εἰπόντες περί τῆς τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμέρας καί περί τῆς ἐνδόξου καί φρικτῆς αὐτοῦ παρουσίας προφῆται καί ἀπόστολοι, ὅτι ὡς κλέπτης ἐν νυκτί καί ὡς ὠδίν τῇ τικτούσῃ καί ὅτι ἐν πυρί ἀποκαλύπτεται, πόθεν μαθόντες ταῦτα εἰρήκασι; Πάντως γάρ, ἤ παρά τινος ἀκηκόασιν, ἤ αὐτόπται τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης ἐγένοντο. Ἐπεί ὅ οὐκ εἶδον, ὅ παρ᾿ ἑτέρου οὐκ ἤκουσαν λέγοντος, πῶς ἐκεῖνοι εἰρήκασιν; Εἰ οὖν ἤκουσαν, παρά τίνος εἰπέ· οὔπω γάρ τέως λέγω ὅτι εἶδον αὐτοί καί εἶπον, ἀλλ᾿ ὅτι ἤκουσαν· εἰπέ λοιπόν, εἰ οἶδας, πόθεν ταῦτα μεμαθήκασιν. Εἰ δέ τί εἰπεῖν οὐκ ἐπίστασαι, ἄκουσον καί γνῶθι ὅτι παρά τοῦ Ἁγίου ταῦτα μεμαθήκασι Πνεύματος, καθώς αὐτοῖς καί ὁ Κύριος ἔλεγεν· "Ὅταν δέ ἔλθῃ ὁ παράκλητος, τό Πνεῦμα τό Ἅγιον ὅ πέμπει ὁ Πατήρ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου, ἐκεῖνος ὑμᾶς διδάξει πάντα καί ὑπομνήσει ὑμᾶς πάντα ἅ εἶπον ὑμῖν". (220) Ὅτι δέ καί ἅ οὐκ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ Χριστός, ταῦτα τό Πνεῦμα τό Ἅγιον τοῖς ἀποστόλοις ἐπελθόν ἐδίδαξε καί εἶπε, φησίν ὁ αὐτός· "Ἔτι πολλά ἔχω λέγειν ὑμῖν, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ δύνασθε βαστάζειν ἄρτι· ὅταν δέ ἔλθῃ ἐκεῖνος, τό Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὁδηγήσει ὑμᾶς εἰς πᾶσαν τήν ἀλήθειαν· οὐ γάρ λαλήσει ἀφ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ, ἀλλ᾿ ὅσα ἄν ἀκούσῃ λαλήσει καί τά ἐρχόμενα ἀναγγελεῖ ὑμῖν. Ἐκεῖνος ἐμέ δοξάσει, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ ἐμοῦ λήψεται καί ἀναγγελεῖ ὑμῖν". Ἔμαθες πόθεν ἐδιδάχθησαν οἱ γράψαντες τά περί τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης καί τῆς τοῦ Κυρίου ἐπιφανείας καί τῶν ἀποκειμένων καί ἐπελθεῖν μελλόντων τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς καί δικαίοις. Οὕτω καί περί τῶν λοιπῶν πάντων τῶν μή βλεπομένων ἡμῖν αὐτοί φωτισθέντες διά τοῦ Πνεύματος εἶδον ἅμα καί ἔγραψαν.
Ἀλλ᾿ ἐρωτῶντί μοι ἀποκρίθητι. Τό Πνεῦμα τό Ἅγιον τί ἐστι; Θεός, ἐκ Θεοῦ ἀληθινοῦ ὁμολογουμένως Θεός ἀληθινός. Σύ οὖν, ὡς ὁρᾷς, λέγεις τοῦτο Θεόν, τοῖς δόγμασι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἑπόμενος. Τοῦτο τοίνυν λέγων τε καί φρονῶν Θεόν ἀληθινόν ἐκ Θεοῦ ἀληθινοῦ ἐκπορευόμενον, συνιστᾷς ὅτι οἱ τό Ἅγιον ἔχοντες Πνεῦμα αὐτόν ἐκεῖνον ὁμολογουμένως ἔχουσι τόν Θεόν μένοντα πάντοτε μεθ᾿ ἑαυτῶν, καθώς πρός τούς ἀποστόλους ὁ Χριστός ἔφη· "Ἐάν ἀγαπᾶτέ με, τάς ἐντολάς τάς ἐμάς τηρήσετε· καί ἐγώ ἐρωτήσω τόν Πατέρα καί ἄλλον παράκλητον δώσει ὑμῖν, ἵνα μένῃ μεθ᾿ ὑμῶν εἰς τόν αἰῶνα". Ἰδού οὖν ἐδιδάχθης ὅτι καί μένει καί κατοικεῖ εἰς ἀτελευτήτους αἰῶνας· τό γάρ εἰπεῖν "ἵνα μένῃ μεθ᾿ ὑμῶν εἰς τόν αἰῶνα" τό ἀϊδίως καί ἀτελευτήτως αὐτοῖς συνέσεσθαι καί εἶναι ἀχώριστον μετ᾿ αὐτῶν ἔν τε τῷ νῦν καιρῷ, ἔν τε τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι δηλοῖ. Ὅτι δέ καί ἑώρων τό Ἁγιον Πνεῦμα οἱ θεῖοι ἀπόστολοι καί ὅσοι τοῦτο λαβεῖν ἠξιώθησαν, ἄκουσον τό ἑπόμενον· "Τό Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας ὅ ὁ κόσμος οὐ δύναται λαβεῖν, (221) ὅτι οὐ θεωρεῖ αὐτό οὔτε γινώσκει αὐτό, ὑμεῖς δέ γινώσκετε αὐτό, ὅτι παρ᾿ ὑμῖν μένει". Ἵνα δέ γνῷς ὅτι καί τόν Χριστόν βλέπουσιν οἱ ἀγαπῶντες αὐτόν καί τάς ἐντολάς αὐτοῦ φυλάσσοντες, αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ἄκουσον λέγοντος· "Ὁ ἔχων τάς ἐντολάς μου καί τηρῶν αὐτάς, ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν ὁ ἀγαπῶν με· ὁ δέ ἀγαπῶν με ἀγαπηθήσεται ὑπό τοῦ πατρός μου, καί ἐγώ ἀγαπήσω αὐτόν καί ἐμφανίσω αὐτῷ ἐμαυτόν".
Γνωστόν τοιγαροῦν ἔστω πᾶσι χριστιανοῖς ὅτι ὁ Χριστός ἀψευδής καί Θεός ἀληθινός ἐστι καί τοῖς τήν πρός αὐτόν ἀγάπην διά τῆς τηρήσεως τῶν ἐντολῶν αὐτοῦ ἐνδεικνυμένοις ὁμολογουμένως ἐμφανίζεται, καθώς εἶπεν αὐτός· αὐτό τε τό Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα διά τῆς ἐμφανείας αὐτοῦ δωρεῖται αὐτοῖς καί διά τοῦ Ἁγίου πάλιν Πνεύματος αὐτός καί ὁ Πατήρ ἀχωρίστως μένουσιν μετ᾿ αὐτῶν. Οἱ δέ τοιοῦτοι ἀφ᾿ ἑαυτῶν λαλοῦσιν οὐδέν· ὁ δέ λέγων λαλεῖν αὐτούς τι ἀφ᾿ ἑαυτῶν, δυνατόν εἶναι λέγει εἰδέναι καί ἄνθρωπον τά τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καί ἀνθρώπους ὡσαύτως τά τοῦ Θεοῦ· εἰ δέ μή τοῦτο, ἀλλά ψεύστας καί μυθολόγους ἀποκαλεῖ, ὡς μή ἐξ αὐτοῦ διδασκομένους, ἀλλά περί ὧν οὐκ εἶδον ἤ ἤκουσαν ἀπό οἰκείων συλλογισμῶν ἑτέρους διδάσκοντας. Ἀλλά χρεών εἰδέναι, ὅτι, εἰ συνᾴδοντα καί οὗτοι τοῖς προλαβοῦσι θεοφόροις πατράσι φθέγγονται, ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ Πνεύματι καί αὐτοί