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Against the Macedonians concerning the Holy Spirit

OF GREGORY BISHOP OF NYSSA CONCERNING THE HOLY SPIRIT AGAINST THE MACEDONIANS, THE SPIRIT-FIGHTERS

Perhaps it is not even fitting to answer vain words; for the wise command of Solomon seems to bear on this, which orders not to answer a fool according to his folly. But since there is a danger that through our silence falsehood may prevail over the truth, and this putrefying gangrene of heresy, having taken much pasture against the truth, may corrupt the sound doctrine of the faith, it seemed necessary to me not to answer according to their folly those who propose such things against piety, but for the correction of their wicked opinions. For indeed the proverbial command seems to me to recommend not silence, but the correction of those who are foolish, as our answers ought not to run along with the folly of their opinions, but rather to overthrow their senseless and deceived opinions concerning the doctrines.

What then is it that they bring against us? They accuse of impiety those who hold magnificent opinions concerning the Holy Spirit; and whatever we, following the doctrines of the fathers, confess concerning the Spirit, taking these things as it seems to them, they provide for themselves a pretext for an accusation of impiety against us. For we confess that the Holy Spirit is ranked with the Father and the Son, so that there is no variation in anything piously understood and named concerning the divine nature, except that the Holy Spirit is uniquely contemplated according to hypostasis, because it is from God 3,1.90 and is of Christ, as it is written; being confused neither with the Father in being unbegotten, nor with the Son in being only-begotten, but is contemplated in itself with certain excellent properties, while we confess that in all other things, as I said, it possesses what is conjoined and invariable; our opponents say that it is alienated from the Father and the Son in natural communion, and because of the difference of its nature it is subordinate and diminished in all things, in power and glory and dignity and, in a word, in all divinely fitting names and concepts; and for this reason they say it is without a share of glory, and unworthy of the same honor as the Father and the Son; and that it partakes of power only so much as is sufficient for it for certain appointed and partial activities, but stands completely outside of creative strength. And since this opinion prevails among them, it is consequently constructed by them that the Spirit has in itself none of the things piously said and understood concerning the divine nature. What then is our argument? We shall answer nothing new nor from ourselves to those who provoke us with such things, but we shall make full use of the testimony of the divine scripture concerning the Holy Spirit, through which we have learned that the Holy Spirit is and is called divine. If, therefore, they too agree with this and do not oppose the divinely inspired words, let them say, those who are ready for war against us, for what reason do they fight not against the scripture, but against us? For we say nothing other than this. And confessing that <the Spirit is> of a divine nature, we recognize no difference in this very thing, neither from the teaching of the scriptures nor from common notions; so that the divine and transcendent nature is divided against itself through some intensity 3,1.91 or remission, differing from itself by more or less. For since it is believed to be simple and uniform and uncompounded, and no combination and synthesis of dissimilar things is contemplated concerning it, for this reason, whenever once divine

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Adversus Macedonianos de spiritu sancto

ΓΡΗΓΟΡΙΟΥ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΝΥΣΣΗΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΟΥ ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΟΣ ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΚΕ∆ΟΝΙΑΝΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΟΜΑΧΩΝ

Τάχα οὐδὲ ἀποκρίνασθαι προσήκει τοῖς ματαίοις τῶν λόγων· τὸ γὰρ σοφὸν

τοῦ Σολομῶντος παράγγελμα πρὸς τοῦτο ἔοικε φέρειν τὸ διακελευόμενον μὴ ἀποκρίνεσθαι ἄφρονι κατὰ τὴν ἀφροσύνην αὐτοῦ. ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ κίνδυνός ἐστι μὴ διὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας σιγῆς κατισχύσῃ τῆς ἀληθείας τὸ ψεῦδος καὶ πολλὴν ἡ σηπεδονώδης αὕτη τῆς αἱρέσεως γάγγραινα νομὴν κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας λαβοῦσα τὸν ὑγιαίνοντα τῆς πίστεως λόγον διαλωβήσηται, ἀναγκαῖον ἐφάνη μοι μὴ κατὰ τὴν ἀφροσύνην αὐτῶν ἀποκρίνασθαι τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα κατὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας προτεινομένων, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ διορθώσει τῶν μοχθηρῶν ὑπολήψεων. καὶ γὰρ τὸ παροιμιῶδες παράγγελμα δοκεῖ μοι μὴ σιγήν, ἀλλὰ διόρθωσιν τῶν ἀφραινόντων παρεγγυᾶν ὡς δεῖν τὰς ἀποκρίσεις μὴ συντρέχειν τῇ ἀφροσύνῃ τῶν ὑπολήψεων, ἀνατρέπειν δὲ μᾶλλον τὰς ἀνοήτους αὐτῶν καὶ ἠπατημένας περὶ τῶν δογμάτων δόξας.

Τί οὖν ἐστιν ὃ προφέρουσιν ἡμῖν; ἀσεβεῖν αἰτιῶνται τοὺς περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος μεγαλοπρεπεῖς ἔχοντας ὑπολήψεις· καὶ ὅσα τοῖς τῶν πατέρων ἑπόμενοι δόγμασιν ὁμολογοῦμεν περὶ τοῦ πνεύματος, ταῦτα πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν ἐκλαμβάνοντες ἀφορμὴν ἑαυτοῖς παρέχουσι καθ' ἡμῶν εἰς ἀσεβείας γραφήν. ἡμῶν γὰρ συντετάχθαι τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῷ υἱῷ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ὁμολογούντων ὡς μηδεμίαν εἶναι παραλλαγὴν ἐν μηδενὶ τῶν εὐσεβῶς περὶ τὴν θείαν φύσιν νοουμένων τε καὶ ὀνομαζομένων ἐκτὸς τοῦ καθ' ὑπόστασιν ἰδιαζόντως θεωρεῖσθαι τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ 3,1.90 ἐστι καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐστι, καθὼς γέγραπται· οὔτε κατὰ τὸ ἀγέννητον τῷ πατρὶ οὔτε κατὰ τὸ μονογενὲς τῷ υἱῷ συνχεό μενον ἀλλά τισιν ἐξαιρέτοις ἰδιώμασιν ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ θεωρού μενον ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις πᾶσι καθάπερ ἔφην τὸ συνημμένον καὶ ἀπαράλλακτον ἔχειν ὁμολογούντων· οἱ ὑπεναντίοι φασὶν ἀπεξενῶσθαι μὲν αὐτὸ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὸν υἱὸν τῆς φυσικῆς κοινωνίας καὶ διὰ τὸ τῆς φύσεως διαλλάττον ὑπο βεβηκέναι καὶ ἠλαττῶσθαι τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐν δυνάμει καὶ δόξῃ καὶ ἀξιώματι καὶ πᾶσιν ἅπαξ τοῖς θεοπρεπῶς λεγομένοις ὀνόμασί τε καὶ νοήμασι· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο δόξης μὲν ἀμέτοχον, ἀνάξιον δὲ τῆς πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν ὁμοτιμίας φασίν· δυνάμεως δὲ τοσοῦτον μετέχειν, ὅσον ἐπαρκεῖν αὐτῷ πρὸς ἀποτεταγμένας τινὰς καὶ μερικὰς ἐνεργείας, τῆς δὲ δημιουργικῆς ἰσχύος ἔξω παντάπασιν καθεστάναι. ταύτης δὲ κρα τούσης παρ' αὐτοῖς τῆς ὑπολήψεως ἐκ τοῦ ἀκολούθου κατασκευάζεται παρ' αὐτῶν τὸ μηδὲν ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὸ πνεῦμα τῶν περὶ τὴν θείαν φύσιν εὐσεβῶς λεγομένων τε καὶ νοου μένων. Τί οὖν ὁ ἡμέτερος λόγος; οὐδὲν καινὸν ἡμεῖς οὐδὲ παρ' ἡμῶν αὐτῶν τοῖς τὰ τοιαῦτα προκαλουμένοις ἀποκρινούμεθα, ἀλλὰ ἀποχρησόμεθα τῇ τῆς θείας γραφῆς περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος μαρτυρίᾳ, δι' ἧς θεῖον τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον εἶναί τε καὶ λέγεσθαι μεμαθήκαμεν. εἰ οὖν συντίθενται καὶ αὐτοὶ τούτῳ καὶ μὴ ἀντιβαίνουσι ταῖς θεοπνεύστοις φωναῖς, εἰ πάτωσαν οἱ πρὸς τὸν καθ' ἡμῶν πόλεμον ἕτοιμοι, τίνος ἕνεκεν οὐ πρὸς τὴν γραφήν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἡμᾶς διαμάχονται; οὐδὲ γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἄλλο τι παρὰ τοῦτό φαμεν. θείας δὲ φύσεως <εἶναι τὸ πνεῦμα> ὁμολογοῦντες οὐδεμίαν ἐπιγινώσκομεν οὔτε ἐκ τῆς τῶν γραφῶν διδασκαλίας οὔτε ἐκ τῶν κοινῶν ἐννοιῶν κατ' αὐτὸ τοῦτο διαφοράν· ὥστε μεμερίσθαι πρὸς ἑαυτὴν τὴν θείαν τε καὶ ὑπερέχουσαν φύσιν διά τινος ἐπιτά 3,1.91 σεως ἢ ὑφέσεως παρὰ τὸ πλέον τε καὶ ἔλαττον αὐτὴν πρὸς ἑαυτὴν διαλλάττουσαν. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἁπλῆ καὶ μονοειδὴς καὶ ἀσύνθετος εἶναι πεπίστευται καὶ οὐδεμία πλοκὴ καὶ σύνθεσις ἐξ ἀνομοίων περὶ αὐτὴν θεωρεῖται, διὰ τοῦτο, ἐπειδὰν ἅπαξ θείαν