Basil of Caesarea, Against Those Who Through Calumny Say We Speak of Three Gods

twelve. What then is the madness of those who have a sharpened tongue against the truth? I am not fainthearted towards the refutation, but I await the tribunal of Christ. There those who devise this insolence will stand against me; “The Lord knows those who are His;” and, “He who slanders the poor provokes the one who made him.” If I impart the faith of the Fathers, why, passing by the Fathers, do you wage war on me? If I believe in the Father, if I confess the Son, if I do not set aside the Spirit. If one confessing the Trinity names three gods, he sets aside baptism, and fights against the faith. Why, making my person the pretext, do you fight against the Lord? Who left the command to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit? I, or the Master? Whose are the words? Of the herald, or of the one who sent him? Why, finding my person an easy target for slanders, do you fight against the truth through me? through me do you shake the fortress of the faith? I am indeed vulnerable to you; but the faith is unshakable. “One Lord,” learn from Paul who says this, not two, or three. And if I name the Son Lord, I have not divided the lordship into two lords, nor into many gods. The Father is Lord, the Son is Lord; “One faith,” since there is one Lord. One thing follows another; to one Lord one faith, to one faith “one baptism.” Thus one thing is confirmed from one through one. But if I do not set aside the Spirit, nor place it in the rank of a servant, for this reason I receive that slander. Do not say what I do not say, and let us see the plausibility of your slander. Why do you hide your own insolence? You lie, you cursed one, saying that three gods are proclaimed among us, and you do not say openly that we are the ones who anathematize those who call the Holy Spirit a creature. This accusation I accept. For this I endure fire and a sharp- ened sword. And if the wheel should dash me to pieces, if tortures should be set in motion against me, with the same full assurance I receive the tortures, in which the martyrs who lie here were also deemed worthy of their crowns. Accuse me of this, then, that I do not number the Holy Spirit among the creatures. And if you should say anything more, you will give an account to the judge. “When the Paraclete comes,” was just now being read; but you with your slan 31.1493 ders have made an occasion for insolence. Paraclete, he says, is the one who pleads for you. Through the ways he benefits you, through these you are ungrateful. You do not, then, accept the benefit of the Paraclete. Or did not the Lord legislate that this title was fitting for himself? “I will send you also another Paraclete.” Did not he who said “another” show himself to be before the other? If I speak from myself, do not listen to me; if I read what is written, submit to the truth. The perfect is neither diminished, nor increased. One is the unbegotten God; one is His only-begotten Son and God. Just as there is not another co-unbegotten God, so also is there not another co-begotten Son? Just as the Father is not by word, so also the Son is not by word. The Father is God, the Son is God; the Father is perfect God; the Son is also perfect God. The Father is bodiless; the Son is bodiless, the character of the bodiless, and the image of the bodiless. Do you believe that He was begotten? Do not ask, How? For if it is possible to ask how the unbegotten is unbegotten, it is possible to ask also how the begotten was begotten; but if the unbegotten does not admit of inquiry how he is unbegotten, so also the begotten does not admit of inquiry how he was begotten. Do not seek the unfindable; for you will not find them. For if you seek, from whom can you learn? From the earth? It had not yet come into being. From the sea? It was not yet wet. From heaven? It had not been raised up. From the sun and moon and stars? They had not been created. But from the ages? Before the ages is the Only-begotten. Do not examine things that are not eternal about Him who is eternal. But if you are unwilling, but are contentious, I laugh at your folly, or rather, I weep for your audacity. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The “was” refutes the “was not;” and the “God” refutes the “not God.” Believe what is written, do not seek what is not written. This Word, the Son of God, became man for the sake of fallen man

δώδεκα. Τίς οὖν ἡ μανία τῶν ἠκονημένην γλῶσσαν ἐχόντων κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας; Οὐ μικροψυχῶ πρὸς τὸν ἔλεγχον, ἀλλ' ἐκδέχομαι τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ δικαστήριον. Ἐκεῖ ἀν τικαταστήσονταί μοι οἱ τὴν ἐπήρειαν ταύτην ῥάπτον τες· «Οἶδε Κύριος τοὺς ὄντας αὑτοῦ·» καὶ, «Ὁ συ κοφαντῶν πένητα παροξύνει τὸν ποιήσαντα αὐτόν.» Εἰ μεταδίδωμι τὴν πίστιν τῶν Πατέρων, τί, παρ εὶς τοὺς Πατέρας, ἐμοὶ πολεμεῖς; Εἰ πιστεύω εἰς Πατέρα, εἰ ὁμολογῶ τὸν Υἱὸν, εἰ μὴ ἀθετῶ τὸ Πνεῦμα. Εἰ ὁ Τριάδα ὁμολογῶν τρεῖς ὀνομάζει θεοὺς, ἀθετεῖ τὸ βάπτισμα, καὶ πολεμεῖ τῇ πίστει. Τί, τὸ ἐμὸν πρόσωπον ὑποθέμενος, πολεμεῖς τῷ Κυρίῳ; Τίς κατέλειπε βαπτίζειν εἰς ὄνομα Πατρὸς, καὶ Υἱοῦ, καὶ ἁγίου Πνεύματος; ἐγὼ, ἢ ∆εσπότης; Τίνος τὰ ῥήματα; κήρυκος, ἢ τοῦ ἀποστείλαντος; Τί, τὸ ἐμὸν πρόσωπον εὐεπίβατον ταῖς συκοφαντίαις εὑρὼν, δι' ἐμοῦ πολεμεῖς τῇ ἀληθείᾳ; δι' ἐμοῦ κατασείεις τὸ ὀχύρωμα τῆς πίστεως; Ἐγὼ μέν σοι εὐάλωτος· ἡ δὲ πίστις ἄσειστος. «Εἷς Κύριος,» μάνθανε τοῦ Παύλου λέγοντος, μὴ δύο, ἢ τρεῖς. Κἂν ὀνομάσω Κύριον τὸν Υἱὸν, οὐκ εἰς δύο κυρίους, οὐκ εἰς πολλοὺς θεοὺς διεῖλον τὴν κυριότητα. Κύριος ὁ Πατὴρ, Κύριος ὁ Υἱός· «Μία πίστις,» ἐπειδὴ εἷς Κύριος. Ἓν ἑνὶ ἀκολουθεῖ· ἑνὶ Κυρίῳ μία πίστις, μιᾷ πίστει «ἓν βάπτισμα.» Οὕτως ἓν ἐξ ἑνὸς δι' ἑνὸς βεβαιοῦται. Εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἀθετῶ τὸ Πνεῦμα, οὐδὲ ἐν τῇ δουλικῇ αὐτὸ τίθημι τάξει, διὰ τοῦτο τὴν συκοφαντίαν ἐκείνην ἐκδέχομαι. Μὴ λέγε ἃ μὴ λέγω, καὶ ἴδωμέν σου τῆς συκοφαντίας τὸ πιθανόν. Τί ὑποκρύπτεις σεαυτοῦ τὴν ἐπήρειαν; Ψεύδῃ, κατηραμένε, λέγων παρ' ἡμῖν τρεῖς θεοὺς καταγγέλλεσθαι, καὶ οὐ λέγεις ἐκ τοῦ προφανοῦς, ὅτι ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν οἱ τοὺς κτίσμα τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον λέγοντας ἀναθεματίζοντες. Ταύτην τὴν κατηγορίαν δέχομαι. Ἐπὶ τούτῳ πῦρ καὶ ξίφος ἠκονη- μένον ὑφίσταμαι. Κἂν ὁ τροχὸς καταῤῥάσσῃ, κἂν βασανιστήρια ἐπ' ἐμὲ κινῆται, ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ πληροφορίᾳ δέχομαι τὰ βασανιστήρια, ἐν ᾗ καὶ οἱ μάρτυρες οἱ ἐνταῦθα κείμενοι τῶν στεφάνων ἠξιώθησαν. Τοῦτο τοίνυν ἐγκάλει μοι, ὅτι μὴ ἐν τοῖς κτίσμασι συναριθμῶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον. Κἂν δέ τι περισσὸν λέγοις, τῷ κριτῇ λόγον δώσεις. «Ὅταν ἔλθῃ ὁ Παράκλητος,» νῦν ἀνεγινώσκετο· σὺ δὲ ταῖς συκοφαν 31.1493 τίαις ἀφορμὴν εἰς ἐπήρειαν τέθεικας. Παράκλητος, φησὶν, ὁ περὶ σοῦ παρακαλῶν. ∆ι' ὧν εὐεργετεῖ, διὰ τούτων ἀγνωμονεῖς. Οὐ δέχῃ τοίνυν τοῦ Παρακλήτου τὴν εὐεργεσίαν. Ἢ οὐχὶ ὁ Κύριος ἑαυτῷ ταύτην τὴν προσηγορίαν πρέπειν ἐνομοθέτησε; «Πέμψω ὑμῖν καὶ ἄλλον Παράκλητον.» Ὁ καὶ ἄλλον εἰπὼν οὐχ ἑαυτὸν ἔδειξε πρὸ τοῦ ἄλλου; Εἰ ἀπ' ἐμαυτοῦ λαλῶ, μὴ ἀκούετέ μου· εἰ τὰ γεγραμμένα ἀναγινώσκω, ὑπόκυψον τῇ ἀληθείᾳ. Ὁ τέλειος οὔτε μειοῦται, οὔτε αὔξεται. Εἷς ἀγέννητος ὁ Θεός· εἷς ὁ τούτου μονογενὴς ὁ Υἱὸς καὶ Θεός. Ὥσπερ οὐκ ἔνι συναγέννητος Θεὸς ἕτερος, οὕτως οὐδὲ συγγεγεννημένος Υἱὸς ἕτερος; Ὥσπερ οὐ λόγῳ ὁ Πατὴρ, οὕτως οὐδὲ λόγῳ ὁ Υἱός. Θεὸς ὁ Πατὴρ, Θεὸς ὁ Υἱός· Θεὸς τέλειος ὁ Πατήρ· Θεὸς τέλειος καὶ ὁ Υἱός. Ἀσώματος ὁ Πατήρ· ἀσώματος ὁ Υἱὸς, ἀσωμάτου χαρακτὴρ, καὶ εἰκὼν ἀσώματος. Πιστεύεις, ὅτι γεγέννηται; Μὴ ζήτει, Πῶς; Εἰ γὰρ ἐνδέχεται ζητεῖν, ὁ ἀγέννητος πῶς ἀγέννητος, ἐνδέχεται ζητεῖν, καὶ ὁ γεγεννημένος πῶς γεγέννηται· εἰ δὲ οὐ καταλείπει ζήτησιν ὁ ἀγέννητος, πῶς ἀγέννητος· οὕτως οὐδὲ ὁ γεγεννημένος καταλείπει ζητεῖν, πῶς γεγέννηται. Μὴ ζήτει τὰ ἀνεύρετα· οὐ γὰρ εὑρήσεις. Ἐὰν γὰρ ζητῇς, παρὰ τίνος ἔχεις μαθεῖν; Παρὰ γῆς; Οὐχ ὑφεστήκει. Παρὰ θαλάττης; Οὐκ ἦν ὑγρά. Παρ' οὐρανοῦ; Οὐκ ἦν ἐπαρθείς. Παρ' ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης καὶ ἄστρων; Οὐ δεδημιούργηντο. Ἀλλὰ παρ' αἰώνων; Πρὸ αἰώνων ὁ Μονογενής. Μὴ ἐξέταζε τὰ μὴ ἀεὶ ὄντα ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀεὶ ὄντος. Εἰ δὲ μὴ θέλεις, ἀλλὰ φιλονεικεῖς, καταγελῶ σου τῆς ἀνοίας, μᾶλλον δὲ κλαίω σου τὴν τόλμαν. «Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος.» Τὸ, «ἦν,» περιγράφει τὸ, «οὐκ ἦν·» καὶ τὸ «Θεὸς,» περιγράφει τὸ, «οὐ Θεός.» Τοῖς γεγραμμένοις πίστευε, τὰ μὴ γεγραμμένα μὴ ζήτει. Οὗτος ὁ Λόγος, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἄνθρωπος ἐγένετο διὰ τὸν ἐκπεσόντα ἄνθρωπον