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Testimonia adversus Judaeos

OF THE HOLY GREGORY BISHOP OF NYSSA, SELECTIONS OF TESTIMONIES AGAINST THE JEWS FROM THE OLD [TESTAMENT]

With some detailed explanation concerning the holy Trinity; that God has a Word and a Spirit, according to the Scriptures; a Word subsistent and living, and a Spirit likewise. David says in the thirty-second psalm: "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made firm, and by the Spirit of his mouth all their power." The Word is not, therefore, a meaningful impression of air uttered through the organs of speech, nor is the Spirit of the mouth a vapor, expelled from the respiratory parts, but the Word is the one who was in the beginning with God, and was God; and the Spirit of the mouth of God, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father. Understand, therefore, three: the commanding Lord, the creating Word, the one who makes firm, that is, the Spirit; for by making firm, he meant sanctification and completion. But so that you may learn that he does not speak of this spoken [word], but of the subsistent one, the same says elsewhere: "He shall send forth his Word, and melt them; his Spirit shall blow, and the waters shall flow." But a non-subsistent word is not sent forth. And again: "He sent his Word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." 46.196 And again: "You will send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created, and you will renew the face of the earth." "Who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, and seen his Word?" But the word of man is not seen. You see, that he speaks not of an audible, but a visible Word, clearly the subsistent one, since according to probable reasoning, the concept of a non-subsistent word has no place in God. For the Creator adorned us with speech, for our interactions with one another, and so that we might know each other's thoughts through speech. And breath contributes to the constitution of our body, by being taken in and then expelled again; but in the case of God, who alone is incorporeal, it is not possible to suppose these things. "You accomplish years, O God, by your power. But Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom of God." From the person of Wisdom, that is, of the Son, "When he prepared the heaven, I was present with him; and I was she in whom he delighted; daily I rejoiced in his presence." What place, then, have these things, if there were not a subsistent person? For there is no other, with whom he might converse; "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor?" But his will alone sufficed for the creation of all things. For it is said: "And the Spirit of God was moving over the waters." with Scripture showing the subsistent nature of the Holy Spirit, warming and giving life to all things for their future birth. These things being so, the demonstration of the holy Trinity, I mean of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is clear. This holy and consubstantial Trinity indeed [said] to itself, "Let us make man in our image and after our likeness." And God made man; in the image of God he made him." For we are formed intellectually according to the image of the Only-begotten.

And again: "Behold, Adam has become as one of us." And that God created all things through the Word is clear from what is written concerning each of the created things, "And God said, 'Let there be,' " Scripture signifying the creation through the Word; for if this were not so, it would have been sufficient to say: And God made heaven, and earth, and the rest; and again: At the command of God the firmament came into being; and again, God divided. And whenever you hear, "God said," immediately bring together in thought the one who heard the one who spoke; "And God said, 'Let there be lights.' And God made the lights." Who spoke, and who heard? And in many places of the

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Testimonia adversus Judaeos

ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΓΡΗΓΟΡΙΟΥ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΝΥΣΣΗΣ ΕΚΛΟΓΑΙ ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΩΝ ΠΡΟΣ ΙΟΥ∆ΑΙΟΥΣ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΣ ΠΑΛΑΙΑΣ

Μετά τινος ἐπεξεργασίας περὶ τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος· ὅτι Λόγον, καὶ Πνεῦμα ἔχει

ὁ Θεὸς, κατὰ τὰς Γραφάς· Λόγον ἐνυπόστατον καὶ ζῶντα, καὶ Πνεῦμα ὡσαύτως. Λέγει ∆αβὶδ ἐν δευτέρῳ καὶ τριακοστῷ ψαλμῷ· «Τῷ Λόγῳ Κυρίου οἱ οὐρανοὶ

ἐστερεώθησαν, καὶ τῷ Πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις αὐ τῶν.» Οὐ Λόγος οὖν ὑπάρχει ἀέρος τύπωσις σημαντικὴ διὰ φωνητικῶν ὀργάνων ἐκφερομένη, οὔτε Πνεῦμα στόματος ἀτμὸς, ἐκ τῶν ἀναπνευστικῶν μερῶν ἐξωθούμενος, ἀλλὰ Λόγος μὲν ὁ πρὸς Θεὸν ἐν ἀρχῇ, καὶ Θεὸς ὤν· Πνεῦμα δὲ στόματος Θεοῦ, τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὃ παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκπορεύεται. Τρία τοίνυν νόει, τὸν προστάττοντα Κύριον, τὸν δημιουργοῦντα Λόγον, τὸν στερεοῦντα, τουτέστι τὸ Πνεῦμα· τὴν γὰρ στερέωσιν, τὸν ἁγιασμὸν εἶπε καὶ τὴν συμπλήρωσιν. Ἵνα δὲ μάθῃς ὅτι οὐ τούτῳ λέγει τῷ προφορικῷ, ἀλλὰ τῷ ἐνυποστάτῳ, ὁ αὐτὸς ἀλλα χοῦ λέγει· «Ἀποστελεῖ τὸν Λόγον αὐτοῦ, καὶ τήξει αὐτά· πνεύσει τὸ Πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ῥυήσεται ὕδατα.» Λόγος δὲ ἀνυπόστατος οὐκ ἀποστέλλεται. Καὶ πάλιν· «Ἀπέστειλε τὸν Λόγον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἰάσατο αὐ τοὺς, καὶ ἐῤῥύσατο αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν διαφθορῶν αὐτῶν.» 46.196 Καὶ πάλιν· «Ἐξαποστελεῖς τὸ Πνεῦμά σου, καὶ κτισθήσονται, καὶ ἀνακαινιεῖς τὸ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς.» «Τίς ἔστη ἐν ὑποστηρίγματι Κυρίου, καὶ εἶδε τὸν Λόγον αὐτοῦ;» Λόγος δὲ ἀνθρώπου οὐ θεωρεῖται. Ὁρᾷς, ὅτι οὐκ ἀκουστὸν, ἀλλ' ὁρατὸν Λόγον λέγει, δῆλον τὸν ἐνυπόστατον, ὁπότε κατὰ τὸν εἰκότα λογι σμὸν, οὐδὲ χώραν ἔχει ἐπὶ Θεοῦ τὸ τοῦ ἀνυποστάτου λόγου. Ἡμᾶς γὰρ ἐκόσμησεν ὁ ∆ημιουργὸς λόγῳ, διὰ τὰς πρὸς ἀλλήλους συνουσίας, καὶ τὸ γινώσκειν ἡμᾶς τὰ ἀλλήλων διὰ τοῦ λόγου. Συντελεῖ δὲ ἡμῖν καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα πρὸς τὴν τοῦ σώματος σύστασιν, διὰ τὸ προσίεσθαι, καὶ πάλιν ἀπωθεῖσθαι αὐτό· ἐπὶ δὲ Θεοῦ, τοῦ καὶ μόνου ἀσωμάτου, οὐ δυνατὸν ὑπολαβεῖν ταῦτα. «Ἔτη τελεῖς, ὁ Θεὸς, τῇ δυνάμει σου. Χριστὸς δὲ Θεοῦ δύναμις, καὶ Θεοῦ σοφία.» Ἐκ προσώπου τῆς Σοφίας, τουτέστι τοῦ Υἱοῦ, «Ἡνίκα ἡτοίμαζε τὸν οὐρανὸν, συμπαρήμην αὐτῷ· καὶ ἐγὼ ἤμην, ᾗ ἔχαιρε· καθ' ἡμέραν ηὐφραινόμην τῷ προσώπῳ αὐτοῦ.» Ποίαν οὖν ἔχει χώραν ταῦτα, εἰ μὴ ἦν ἐνυπόστατον πρόσωπον; Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἄλλος, πρὸς ὃν διαλεχθῇ· «Τίς γὰρ ἔγνω νοῦν Κυρίου, ἢ τίς σύμβουλος αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο;» Ἀλλ' ἤρκεσεν αὐτῷ μόνη βούλησις εἰς τὴν τῶν πάντων δημιουργίαν. Εἴρηται γάρ· «Καὶ Πνεῦμα Θεοῦ ἐπεφέρετο ἐπάνω τῶν ὑδάτων.» Τὸ ἐνυπόστατον τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος θάλποντος καὶ ζωογονοῦντος εἰς τὴν μέλλουσαν γονὴν τὰ πάντα, τῆς Γραφῆς δηλούσης. Ὧν οὕτως ἐχόντων, σαφὴς ἡ τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος, Πα τρὸς, φημὶ, καὶ Υἱοῦ, καὶ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἀπόδειξις. Αὕτη γοῦν πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἡ ἁγία καὶ ὁμοούσιος Τριὰς τὸ, «Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν. Καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον· κατ' εἰκόνα Θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν.» Μεμορφώμεθα γὰρ νοητῶς πρὸς τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ Μονογενοῦς.

Καὶ πάλιν· «Ἰδοὺ Ἀδὰμ γέγονεν ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν.» Ὅτιδὲ διὰ τοῦ Λόγου τὰ πάντα ἐδημιούργησεν ὁ Θεὸς, σαφὲς ἀφ' ὧν ἐπὶ ἑκάστου τῶν δημιουργημάτων γέγραπται τὸ, «Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· Γενηθήτω,» τῆς Γραφῆς σημαινούσης τὴν διὰ τοῦ Λόγου δημιουργίαν· εἰ γὰρ μὴ τοῦτο ἦν, ἤρκει εἰπεῖν· Καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς οὐρανὸν, καὶ γῆν, καὶ τὰ λοιπά· καὶ πάλιν· Προστάξαντος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐγενήθη τὸ στερέωμα· καὶ πάλιν, ∆ιεχώρισεν ὁ Θεός. Καὶ ὅταν ἀκούσῃς τὸ, «Εἶπεν ὁ Θεὸς,» εὐθὺς τῇ ἐννοίᾳ σύναγε τὸν ἀκούσαντα τοῦ εἰπόντος· «Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· Γενηθήτωσαν φωστῆρες. Καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς φωστῆρας.» Τίς εἶπε, καὶ τίς ἤκουσε; Καὶ ἐπὶ πλείοσι τόποις τῆς