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Hear the forerunner of the Lord, who was deemed worthy to be called an angel, who from his mother's womb received the Holy Spirit and leaped at Mary's entrance to Elizabeth; who 2.394 knew while still existing in the womb the entrance of his own master and he leaped; to whom was given the message of the proclamation and the preparation of the way of the Lord; be persuaded by him, and you would not fall away from the aim of the truth. For behold, he himself testifies, saying first, having recognized his own master, that "I have need of you, and you come to me," and the savior saying "Let it be so now, that all righteousness may be fulfilled," and he having been baptized by him, as the divine gospel says, that "John testified, saying that the heavens were opened, and I have seen the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descending and coming upon him. And a voice from heaven, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The Father was above, O contentious one, the voice came from above. If, therefore, the voice is from above, explain to me your counterfeit thought. To whom did the Father say "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased"? And who was this one? And why did it come down in the form of a dove, though it did not wear a body, the Spirit? For the Only-begotten alone put on a body and was perfectly made man from Mary the ever-virgin through the Holy Spirit, not from the seed of a man, but the architect, the Word, having refashioned for himself a body from Mary and the human soul and mind and whatever a man is, having received all things perfectly and having united them to his own divinity, not as dwelling in a man, may it not be, but the holy Word himself, God the Word having become man. 6. But the Spirit, for what reason does it appear in the form of a dove? But that it might persuade you not to blaspheme, O you who wish to be wise and who think nothing right, so that you might not think the Spirit to be a mixture with the Father or the Son. For this reason, although the Holy Spirit itself did not wear a body, it is formed in the likeness of a dove, so that it might show you and convict you of your error, that the Spirit is hypostatic in itself, and the Father is hypostatic and the Only-begotten is hypostatic, but with the divinity not being divided nor having been demoted from its own glory. And do you see how the Trinity 2.395 is numbered, with the Father crying from above, and the Son being baptized in the Jordan, and the Holy Spirit visiting in the form of a dove? And tell me who it is that said "Behold, my beloved servant shall understand, in whom I am well pleased, whom my soul has chosen; I will put my spirit upon him and he will announce judgment to the nations; he will not strive nor cry out, nor will his voice be heard in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings forth judgment to victory" and what follows. Are these things not able to have an indication of the Trinity, O contentious one? Did the Father then about himself relate so many things in the prophet? And who is it about whom it is written, "The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand"? And he did not say, "Enter into me." Or again, how does the Gospel say, "And he ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of the Father and is coming to judge the living and the dead"? Or again, how did they not persuade you, the two men who appeared in white garments, saying to the disciples, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him being taken up"? And whom did the blessed Stephen see, when he said, "Behold, I see the heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God?" But you, O unlearned in all things, not understanding the voice of the holy scriptures, have harmed yourself rather, and those who obeyed you, having fallen from the holy faith of the truth of God. 7. For he said truly, "I am the first and I am the one after these things, and besides me there is no other." For truly there are not many gods, but one God, the first and the one after these things, Father

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ἄκουε τοῦ προδρόμου κυρίου, τοῦ ἀγγέλου καταξιωθέντος ὀνομασθῆναι, τοῦ ἀπὸ κοιλίας μητρὸς λαβόντος πνεῦμα ἅγιον καὶ σκιρτήσαντος τῇ πρὸς Ἐλισάβετ εἰσόδῳ τῆς Μαρίας· ὃς 2.394 ἔγνω ἔτι ἐν κοιλίᾳ ὑπάρχων εἴσοδον τοῦ ἰδίου δεσπότου καὶ ἐσκίρτα· ᾧ ἐδόθη τὸ μήνυμα τοῦ προκηρύγματος καὶ ἡ ἑτοιμασία τῆς ὁδοῦ τοῦ κυρίου· πείσθητι αὐτῷ, καὶ οὐ διαπέσοις ἀπὸ τοῦ σκοποῦ τῆς ἀληθείας. ἰδοὺ γὰρ αὐτὸς μαρτυρεῖ λέγων πρῶτον μέν, τὸν δεσπότην ἑαυτοῦ ἐπιγνούς, ὅτι «ἐγὼ σοῦ χρείαν ἔχω καὶ σὺ ἔρχῃ πρός με», καὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος λέγοντος «ἄφες ἄρτι, ὅπως πληρωθῇ πᾶσα δικαιοσύνη», καὶ αὐτοῦ βαπτισθέντος ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, ὥς φησι τὸ θεῖον εὐαγγέλιον, ὅτι «ἐμαρτύρησεν Ἰωάννης λέγων ὅτι ἠνοίχθησαν οἱ οὐρανοί, καὶ τεθέαμαι τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς κατερχόμενον καὶ ἐρχόμενον ἐπ' αὐτόν. καὶ φωνὴ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐφ' ὃν ηὐδόκησα». ἄνω ἦν ὁ πατήρ, ὦ φιλόνεικε, ἄνωθεν ἡ φωνὴ ἤρχετο. εἰ τοίνυν ἄνωθεν ἡ φωνή, διάκρινόν μοι τὴν παραπεποιημένην σου διάνοιαν. τίνι ὁ πατὴρ ἔλεγεν «οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐφ' ὃν ηὐδόκησα»; καὶ τίς ἦν οὗτος; διὰ τί δὲ ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς κατελήλυθε, καίτοι γε σῶμα μὴ φορέσαν, τὸ πνεῦμα; ὁ γὰρ μονογενὴς μόνος σῶμα ἐνεδύσατο καὶ τελείως ἐνηνθρώπησεν ἀπὸ Μαρίας τῆς ἀειπαρθένου διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου, οὐκ ἀπὸ σπέρματος ἀνδρός, ἀλλὰ ἑαυτῷ ἀναπλασάμενος ὁ ἀρχιτέχνας λόγος σῶμα ἀπὸ Μαρίας καὶ ψυχὴν τὴν ἀνθρωπείαν καὶ νοῦν καὶ εἴ τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος, πάντα τελείως ἀναδεξάμενος καὶ συνενώσας τῇ ἑαυτοῦ θεότητι, οὐχ ὡς ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ οἰκήσας, μὴ γένοιτο, αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ ἅγιος Λόγος, θεὸς Λόγος ἐνανθρωπήσας. 6. Τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα τίνι τῷ λόγῳ ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς φαίνεται; ἀλλ' ὅπως πείσῃ σε μὴ βλασφημεῖν, ὦ ἐθελόσοφε καὶ μηδὲν ὀρθὸν διανοούμενε, ἵνα μὴ νομίσῃς τὸ πνεῦμα συναλοιφὴν εἶναι πατρὶ ἢ υἱῷ. διὰ τοῦτο, καίπερ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος σῶμα μὴ φορέσαντος, ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς σχηματίζεται, ὅπως δείξῃ σου καὶ ἐλέγξῃ σου τὴν πλάνην, ὅτι ἐνυπόστατόν ἐστι τὸ πνεῦμα καθ' ἑαυτὸ καὶ ἐνυπόστατος ὁ πατὴρ καὶ ἐνυπόστατος ὁ μονογενής, ἀλλ' οὐ διαιρουμένης τῆς θεότητος οὔτε ὑποβεβηκυίας τῆς ἑαυτῆς δόξης. καὶ ὁρᾷς πῶς ἡ τριὰς 2.395 ἀριθμεῖται, πατρὸς ἄνωθεν βοῶντος, υἱοῦ δὲ ἐν Ἰορδάνῃ βαπτιζομένου, πνεύματος δὲ ἁγίου ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς ἐπιφοιτῶντος; λέγε δέ μοι τίς ἐστιν ὁ εἰρηκώς «ἰδού, συνήσει ὁ παῖς μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐφ' ὃν ηὐδόκησα, ὃν ᾑρέτισεν ἡ ψυχή μου· θήσομαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐπ' αὐτὸν καὶ κρίσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἀπαγγελεῖ· οὐκ ἐρίσει οὐδὲ κραυγάσει οὐδὲ ἀκουσθήσεται ἐν πλατείαις ἡ φωνὴ αὐτοῦ· κάλαμον συντετριμμένον οὐ κατεάξει καὶ λίνον τυφόμενον οὐ σβέσει, ἕως ἂν ἐκβάλῃ εἰς νῖκος τὴν κρίσιν» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. μὴ δὴ ταῦτα δυνατὰ ἔχειν ἔμφασιν τριάδος, ὦ φιλόνεικε; ἆρα περὶ ἑαυτοῦ ὁ πατὴρ τὰ τοσαῦτα ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ διεξῆλθε; τίς δέ ἐστι περὶ οὗ γέγραπται «εἶπεν ὁ κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου, κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου»; καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν «εἴσελθε εἰς ἐμέ». ἢ πάλιν πῶς λέγει τὸ εὐαγγέλιον «καὶ ἀνῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ ἔρχεται κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς»; ἢ πάλιν πῶς οὐκ ἔπεισάν σε οἱ δύο ἄνδρες οἱ ἐν ἐσθήσεσι λευκαῖς πεφηνότες, πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς εἰπόντες «ἄνδρες Γαλιλαῖοι, τί ἑστήκατε εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀτενίζοντες; οὗτος ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὁ ἀφ' ὑμῶν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀναληφθεὶς οὕτως ἐλεύσεται ὡς αὐτὸν εἴδετε ἀναλαμβανόμενον»; τίνα δὲ ἔβλεπεν ὁ μακάριος Στέφανος, ὅτε ἔλεγεν «ἰδού, ὁρῶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνεῳγμένον καὶ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἑστῶτα ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ θεοῦ;» σὺ δέ, ὦ κατὰ πάντα ἰδιῶτα, μὴ νοήσας τὴν φωνὴν τῶν ἁγίων γραφῶν σεαυτὸν μᾶλλον ἔβλαψας καὶ τοὺς σοὶ ὑπακούσαντας, ἐκπεσὼν τῆς ἁγίας πίστεως τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ἀληθείας. 7. Ἔφη γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς «ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ μετὰ ταῦτα, καὶ πλὴν ἐμοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ἕτερος». ὡς ἀληθῶς γὰρ οὔκ εἰσι πολλοὶ θεοί, ἀλλὰ εἷς θεὸς ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ὁ μετὰ ταῦτα, πατὴρ