ON THE TRINITY. CHAPTER I.
A That God greatly esteems the salvation of men. For the sake of this, the Savior of all sent the holy choir of Apostles into the whole world, so that they might illuminate with the rays of divine knowledge those who had been nourished in the darkness of ignorance; that they might gather and diligently shepherd the sheep that were scattered and exposed to wolves; that they might change the wild olive into a cultivated one by the art of the Spirit; and that they might fish out with the word of doctrine those who were submerged in the abyss of impiety. Since, therefore, the salvation of men is most pleasing to the Creator of all men, and since it seems to be the law of nature that we should provide care for a neighbor who is in need, let us also deposit the talent of knowledge given to us by the Lord with the B money-changers, lest we be condemned along with that slothful servant. We shall, therefore, set forth the teaching of the divine dogmas, both for the remembrance of those who know and for the instruction of those who are ignorant.
II. What the character of ecclesiastical discourse should be.
Our discourse should preach the evangelical faith simply and didactically, not dialectically or contentiously, but in a manner becoming to the Church of God—to contrition, not to ostentation; to instruction, not to contention. It should be devoid of artifice, abound in theology, not investigate inaccessible things, not search out things beyond understanding, not attempt to encompass with mind and word things that are incomprehensible, not subject the supreme Architect to artificial methods, and not reject faith while demanding proof. Our discourse should follow the fishermen, trace the steps of the tanner, be led by the tax-collector, be illuminated by the prophetic lamp, be enlightened by the evangelical sun, mix in nothing of its own reasoning, and weave together only the teachings of the all-holy Spirit; for this is the definition of divine teaching.
III. That this instruction is to be given to the orthodox.
We have already refuted the heretical blasphemies in other writings, dealing with each one separately, stripping away the veil of deception, and showing the impiety naked. Now, however, C God willing, we shall set forth those things which are divinely granted by the Church to the foster-children of the faith, neither imposing a satiety upon those who encounter them by the length of the discourse, nor corrupting the precision by brevity, but holding to the mean between both extremes; so that we may neither be burdensome to the listeners by excess, nor fail to provide a clear instruction in divine knowledge. I shall begin from above, running toward the very fountain of good things. D
IV. What opinions are to be held concerning God the Father.
We, the lovers, adorers, and proclaimers of the Trinity, with a loud voice and sublime conception of mind, believe in one God the Father, without beginning, unbegotten, who has always existed as Father, and has not attained this quality afterward; for there was no time when He was not, but He was Father from before. Nor was He first Son and then Father, as the sequence of bodies requires; but from the time He exists, He always exists, and is and is called Father. A
V. What is to be thought concerning the Son.
We believe in one Son, coeternal with Him who begat Him, who had no beginning of existence, but always is, and has been with the Father. For from the time the Father is, and He is always Father, from Him is the Son; for these are inseparably related to one another, both the names and the realities. But if the Son did not always exist, but there was a time when He was not, then neither was the Father always, for He has this name from the time He begat. Now if God always existed as Father (for it would be blasphemy indeed to subject the Creator of times to times, and to declare the timeless and super-temporal generation younger by a temporal interval), then the Son always existed, begotten ineffably from the Father, yet always existing with the Father, and known with the Father. B
VI. That the Scriptures teach that the Son is coeternal with the Father.
"In the beginning," he says, "was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." What therefore was in the beginning, when was it not? For he did not say that it was made in the beginning, but that it was in the beginning. However much we may try by our thinking to exceed the phrase "was," we shall not be able to cross beyond the beginning. All things are secondary to that which is in the beginning, namely time, and age, and any other temporal interval that can be conceived. If, therefore, the Son had not always existed with God the Father, but had been made afterward, necessarily time and age would be interposed between the Father and the Son. But if anyone concedes this, the thing made will be found to be anterior to the maker. "For all things," says the evangelist, "were made through the Son, and without him was nothing made." Now, one thing out of this totality is the age also or time, which is to be accounted for. But the blessed Paul says: "In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the ages." C But if the ages are the works of the Son, they do not precede Him who made them; and the ages not existing, it is investigated that not even time existed, which days and nights create and measure. D
the Word, by the good pleasure of the Father, created by His word. And they are measured: for day and night are made by the rising and setting of light—a light which was indeed made after heaven and earth and air. All these things, furthermore, and whatever is in them, God the Word, by the good pleasure of the Father, created by a word.
Since, therefore, times and ages, with all other things, were created by the Word, there is nothing between the Father and the Son, but the Father was always God, and the Son was always with the Father. Wherefore the evangelist also cries out, A “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1). And the apostle Paul says, “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person” (Heb. 1:3). And elsewhere, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God” (Phil. 2:6). And neither that one (John) by the word “was,” nor this one (Paul) by the words “being” and “existing,” implies this; since they proclaim the One who always is. For which reason, a little later, the evangelist says, “The life was, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). And again, “There was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9). And again, “The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father” (John 1:18). B And in the Epistle, “That which was, he says, from the beginning” (1 John 1:1). In this way, those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word were taught by the divine Spirit to speak about the only begotten Word of God. For this reason, they did not count the Creator with the creation; they did not place the Maker in the order of the things made; nowhere did they call the venerable offspring of God a creature; nowhere did they join the phrase “it was made” to the Divinity. But the one said, “In the beginning was the Word;” but not, “In the beginning the Word was made.” And the other: “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person.” He did not say, “It was made C brightness and image.” And again: “Who, being in the form of God,” not “having become the form of God,” but “Being in the form of God.” And elsewhere, “Who is the image of the invisible God,” he did not say, “who became the image of the invisible God,” but, “who is.”
VII. Proof from the Old Testament that the Son is eternal.
Thus, in theological discourse, “was,” and “being,” and “existing,” and “is” are everywhere conjoined. Thus, God, speaking with the great Moses, named Himself, “I am who am” (Exod. 3:14). And again, “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: He who is hath sent me unto you.” Now, that these are the words D of the Son, the standard-bearers of blasphemy themselves witness, who, while saying the Father is incomprehensible, call the Son a medium between the Father and the creation, and say that He appeared to and conversed with the patriarchs and prophets. But God the Word Himself clearly teaches us through Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “In those days, and at that time, I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the days when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt” (Jer. 31:31). Let us ask, therefore, who it is that delivered the new covenant. Is it not manifest to all that the...
[Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum ejus esse datorem?] A Let us inquire, therefore, who gave the new testament. And is it not clear to all that the Lord Christ is the provider of this? For He Himself cries out in the holy Gospels: "It was said to those of old, You shall not kill; but I say to you, Everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause shall be liable to judgment. It was said to those of old, You shall not swear falsely; but I say to you, do not swear at all." And He sets forth other things similarly, that it was said thus, but I legislate in this way, not indeed subverting the existing law, but making the legislation more perfect and teaching the manner of its observance. The Lord Christ, therefore, has given the new testament to us. But the One who delivered this is the same who also gave the old [testament] to Israel after their departure from Egypt. And He who had given that one is the same who, in order to deliver them from the Egyptian servitude, had, of course, sent Moses to Pharaoh. He Himself said: "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: He Who Is has sent me to you." B And the prophet makes this manifest elsewhere: "For this," he says, "is our God; no other shall be accounted against Him. He has found out every way of knowledge and has given it to Jacob His servant and to Israel His beloved. After these things He was seen on earth and conversed with men."
Therefore, beginning from the foundation, let us investigate the prophetic meaning. Who is it that was seen on earth and conversed with men? It is clear, I think, to all who possess a mind, that it is the Word of God, who took on our nature, who did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. C This One, therefore, gave the way of knowledge to Jacob His servant and to Israel His beloved, proclaiming the old law in the desert through Moses. But the One who brought that law, before He delivered it, speaking with Moses, had said: "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: He Who Is has sent me to you." Therefore the prophet cried out: "This is our God, no other shall be accounted against Him," in which words He does not so much deny that He is less, as [He] affirms Him to be incomparable. Observe how the prophetic oracles harmonize with the evangelical sayings. Moses says "I am"; or rather, the Word of God Himself says "I am"; but Paul often says "He who is"; he also says "He exists"; which expressions have the same meaning. Similarly, John the theologian D inserts the word "He who is" many times in the narrative of the Gospels; and he adorns the very prologue with such words, not once or twice or three times, but many times proclaiming the "He was."
VIII. That some things befit the Word of God, and others the assumed nature.
Now truly, since the heralds of the truth have taught such things, who is so bold and reckless as to...
or not [was] to say? And instead of "being" A and "existing," to call a creature him who was begotten of the Father timelessly and impassibly, and who is established in the bosom of the Father? For he who is, is not founded; he who exists, is not created. For the words "it became" and "he took," and whatever similar things [exist], were stated by those who were entrusted with the mysteries of the knowledge of God, not as speaking of the theology of the Godhead, but as proclaiming the dispensation. And first the
A Word is called God, as participating in the Father’s nature, and as existing as the exact image of God who begat Him. He is the Only-Begotten, as the only one from the only one, and begotten in a unique manner; the Radiance of His glory, as showing the Father in Himself, and as always existing with Him who begat Him, just as the radiance is with the light; the Impress of His substance, so that you may not think the Word of God is a mere activity, but a living substance, showing the One who begat Him entirely within Himself. But the term "firstborn" is not a name of the divine nature, but of the dispensation. For how is it possible for the Word of God to be both Only-Begotten and firstborn? For these names are contradictory. For the Only-Begotten signifies the one who alone was begotten, while the firstborn signifies the one who was begotten before others, and who takes precedence over others by birth. Yet the Word of God B has no brother, seeing that He is the Only-Begotten. How, then, is He the firstborn, He who alone was begotten from the Father? It is therefore clear that "firstborn" is a term pertaining to the economy. And if anyone doubts this, let him learn from Paul, who cries out: "Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." Whose brothers by nature are the believers? Certainly not the brothers of the Word of God, but of the connatural humanity; for they are indeed conformed to this. And elsewhere he says: "Who will transform the body of our lowliness, that it may be made conformed to the body of His glory." Therefore, He is also the firstborn who has many brothers, concerning whom He says in the Psalms: "I will declare Thy name to My brethren." We do not say that the Only-Begotten is one C person and the firstborn another, but the same person, though not according to the same respect. For He is named Only-Begotten according to His birth from above, but He is called firstborn as having been the first to break the pangs of that birth which leads to life. For this reason He is also named the firstborn from the dead, as having been the first to rise and to have opened the gates of death; and the firstborn of all creation, as having been the first born in the new creation, which He renewed by being born, concerning which the blessed Paul says: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away, behold all things have become new." And if those who prefer D contention to persuasion still dispute about "firstborn of all creation" being said of the Word of God, we shall laugh at their ignorance; but we shall nevertheless indulge them, so that we may thus show that the truth abounds among us more than sufficiently. For He is called "firstborn," but not "first-created" of all creation; so that it is evident that He was begotten before all creation, and that nothing is older than the Son, but that He always existed with the Father, and existed before all creation. But the whole nature of created things is certainly posterior, inasmuch as it was brought into existence by Him. Therefore, nothing will be gained by the blasphemers from this.
XI. That no one knows the Son, except the Father; and no one knows the Father, except the Son.
A And that we may demonstrate the equality of the Father and the Son, let us come to the Lord’s own teaching: "No one," He says, "knows the Son, except the Father; and no one knows the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." What could be clearer than these words? Our knowledge, He says, is equal; for I know the Father, being known by Him, and the Father knows Me, being known in turn by Me. But the entire body of created things is excluded from our knowledge. For how could that which does not share in our nature participate in our knowledge? Yet some do partake of a small measure of contemplation; for I reveal, as far as is permitted and as I will, the knowledge of the Father, as in a mirror and in a riddle. We have learned these things from the Lord’s teachings. What room is there here for "greater" and "lesser"? What creature knows the Creator as it itself is known by the Creator? What created thing maintains equality with its Maker? Or B are we ignorant of how the Divine Scripture speaks concerning created things? Let us call to mind the words of the Prophet: "In the beginning Thou, O Lord, didst found the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands; they shall perish, but Thou remainest; and all shall grow old like a garment, and as a vesture Thou shalt fold them, and they shall be changed; but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail." And again: "Who makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire." This is the difference between the creature and the Creator. C Where, therefore, there is equality, there is no longer creature and Creator, but Father and Son; and for this reason He set forth these names, that from the names themselves we might learn the identity of substance. "For no one," He says, "knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son." By saying "no one," He indicated the creature; and by casting out the creature, He points to Him who remains, superior to created things, and naturally conjoined to the One who begot Him. "No one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."
Let the enemies of the truth say how one ought to read the Divine Scripture: whether to cling to the letter or to search out the meaning. If they say the latter, let them learn from what they say to apply this principle to their own propositions, and to seek the true interpretation of things. But if they say that the letter suffices for accurate instruction, I shall refute their own sense from the words set before us. For on their view, the Son would be found incomprehensible, while the Father would be comprehensible; the former beyond thought, the latter visible. For since the Lord Christ said of Himself, "No one knows the Son except the Father," He did not add, "and to whom the Father wills to reveal Him." But when He said, "nor does anyone know the Father except the Son," He immediately added, "and to him to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." And He has not only made the Father knowable, but by making this depend upon His own power, D
knowledge. Moreover, even if they should wish ten thousand times to act impiously against the Son, as is their habit, we will not endure to accept a blasphemous conception concerning God the Father. For we believe that the God of the universe is A invisible and inconceivable. For how could the Son be incomprehensible if He belongs to One who can be comprehended? Therefore, we declare the Father as well as the Son to be unintelligible, inaccessible, and incomprehensible. We believe, however, that knowledge of the Son is revealed by the Father to the vision of the mind and to the contemplation of faith. "No one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son." And in another place: "As the Father knows Me, so I know the Father." For indeed it is not that the one knows more and the other less, but just as I know, so also am I known.
XII. That the power of the Father and the Son is equal.
Therefore, those whose knowledge is equal, their power is also B equal. And those whose power is equal, their substance is evidently also one. Now that the power of the Father and the Son is equal, the Savior Himself has taught us again by saying: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, who gave them Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one." Observe how He did not simply put: "I and the Father are one," foreseeing the heretical malice, C lest they should interpret this saying regarding intent and will. But having first established the equality of power, He then added the aforementioned statement. For to the sheep, He says, that follow Me, I give eternal life, so that none of them may perish forever. For who is so great as to be able to snatch from My hand that which is pastored by Me? For just as it is impossible for anyone to get the better of the right hand of the Father, who is greater than all, so it is impossible for anyone to be snatched away who is guarded by Me. "For I and the Father are one." Where, therefore, is the greater and the lesser? For if, likewise, D no one can snatch from the hand of the Son, nor from the hand of the Father, there is no room for "the greater." And since the Father is greater than all, and no one can snatch from His hand, it follows that the Son is also greater than all, since likewise no one can snatch from His hand. Therefore He added: "I and the Father are one." For if we follow the letter again, we shall see the Son placed first: for He said, "I and the Father," not "The Father and I." And having demonstrated the duality of the persons, He proclaimed the unity of the nature. For by saying, "I and the Father," He signified the number of the hypostases; but by adding, "are one," He declared the unchangeable [m] nature of the power. Therefore, of those whose knowledge is equal, their power and will are also
of whom there is knowledge, and power, and volition, of these, it is evident, the nature also is one, even if those who utter blasphemies should act shamelessly.
XIII. That it is possible to learn the equality of the Father and the Son from many sources.
That the Son can do the same things as the Father may be learned from other sources. For at one time He says: "My Father worketh until now, and I work," and at another: "As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son also quickeneth whom He will." "Whom He will," He said, not "whom He is commanded"; "whom He desires," not "whom He is ordered"—for the former is proper to mastery, the latter to servitude. And again from another place: "If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not; but if I do, even if you do not wish to believe Me, believe the works, and know that B the Father is in Me, and I in Him." See again from this the equality of the Father and the Son, for, He says, "The Father is in Me, and I in Him." But for this to be found in the greater and the lesser is absolutely impossible. And I shall now demonstrate this. Universal God encompasses in Himself all creation, both visible and invisible, or rather, He holds it in His hand: "For in His hand," it is said, "are all the ends of the earth." And again: "He who holds the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants as locusts." And elsewhere: "Who has measured the water with His hand, and the heaven with a span, and all the earth with a fist?" Therefore, as I said, the Creator of all things holds the whole of creation in His hand; but that He Himself should be encompassed by creation is impossible; therefore it is impossible for unequal things to contain one another. But if this is true, as it is indeed true, and the Son contains the Father, just as the Father contains the Son, the argument for inequality is clearly cast out, and equality is recognized in the Father and the Son.
XIV. Demonstration that the Son is of equal honor to the Father.
This again the Lord Christ Himself teaches us elsewhere, saying: "I am the door. No one comes to the Father except through Me." And from another place: "No one comes to Me, the Son, unless My heavenly Father draws him." And we are taught from this that the Son in like manner leads those who are being saved to the Father, and the Father to the Son. Where, then, is the servile liturgy of the heretics? Where is the worship befitting a creature? Where do they show the inequality of the Father's mastership and the Son's servitude? For we hear that now the Son leads those who desire salvation to the Father, and now the Father does this, and leads the nurslings of the faith to the Son.
XV. That the nature of the Father and the Son is one.
And we learn from this the equal honor of the Father and the Son; but this can also be learned from another source, when the Lord Himself is conversing with the Jews who are listening. For after having spoken of many things, He concluded: "Even if I C
A bear witness of myself, my testimony is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me. And it is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am One who bears witness of myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness of me." B The Jews therefore said to Him, "Where is your Father?" Jesus answered them, "You know neither me nor my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father also." Good heavens! How great is the insanity of the heretics! How great is the stupor under which those who are the heirs of the blasphemy of Arius and Eunomius labor! Besides their insanity, one can also see much impudence thriving in them; for they speak of the mission back and forth, and they say the sender is greater than the one who is sent. Such is their ignorance of the Scriptures! And they do not consider that Jacob, having been sent by Isaac into Mesopotamia, is not on that account, so far as his nature is concerned, lesser than the one who sent him. Likewise also, Joseph was sent by Jacob to check on his brothers, and yet no one would say that he did not share in his father's nature because he undertook the mission to be performed while obeying his father.
But they say perhaps: Even if, by reason of nature, these senders were not greater than those who were sent, at any rate they held the primacy of honor by paternal dignity. And yet we discover, O insane ones (for I am addressing you by name), that greater ones have also been sent by lesser ones, and we shall not for that reason strip those who were sent of their own honor. For Jonathan, the king’s son, was sent by David, a fugitive; and the co-ruler of his father was sent by one who dared not even appear in the rank of a servant. C Since, therefore, the one sent while the other sent, then, according to your reasoning, the one who was sent will no longer be king, and the one who sent will no longer be a fugitive; but the dignity of the one who was sent has passed over to David who sent him, and the misfortune of the one who sent has passed over to Jonathan who was sent. But in reality, these things are not so. But why do we recount human affairs? We find a God who was sent, and a man who sent. For he who had wrestled with Jacob said, "Let me go, for the dawn is rising." To whom Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me." What have these wise and ingenious teachers of the faith to oppose to this? D Moreover, from the Lord’s own words, we shall also know that the Father who sends is himself co-existent with the Son who is sent. "For I am not alone," He says, "but I and the Father who sent me." And in another place: "My Father has not left me alone." And elsewhere: "My Father who abides in me, he does the works." If, therefore, the One who sent was in Him and with Him, where is the lowliness? Furthermore, He who fills all things—whither or whence was He sent? For a mission implies a change of place. Now, if the Father and the Son contain all things, and the Father is not removed from those to whom He sent the Son, nor did the Son pass from one place to another [694m]
A it remains to be understood that it was the mission of the humanity that had been assumed.
But it is time to turn to the interpretation of the Lord's words. "In your law," He says, "it is written that the testimony of two men is true." Then He adds: "I am He who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me." Therefore, looking upon the image, let us understand the archetype: "The testimony of two men," He says, "is true." Now, that the nature of two men is one is clearly confessed by all; therefore, the essence of the Father and the Son is one, and it will be understood and confessed as one from the image. For just as there are two men there, so also here God and God, Father and Son, and by these very names they signify the identity of nature. For neither can He who is truly God be of a different nature from Him who is truly God, B nor can the Son be different from Him, since He is the Son of God. Having heard these things, the Jews asked Him: "Where is Your Father?" Jesus therefore answered: "You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also."
See again how the consubstantiality is demonstrated from this. For if you knew Me, He says, you would know My Father also. But from that which is different in nature, the other thing is not naturally recognized as different; for things that are of a different kind and foreign to each other do not signify one another, but things that share in the same nature are known through each other. Through one man, it is possible to see the whole nature of men; and through one sheep, the C whole genus of sheep; but one does not see lions through sheep, nor sheep through lions, nor angels through men, nor men through angels; for every animal is a demonstrative of its own nature. If, therefore, the only-begotten Word of God is a creature, and has been born from non-existent things and from some other nature, how does He, being believed in, demonstrate the Father in Himself? But if the Father is known through the Son, and he who knows the Son knows the Father also, let every blasphemous tongue be silenced, and, as the Prophet says, let it cleave to the throat. D We, however, the worshippers of the Trinity, receive from this the accurate knowledge of the consubstantiality, reasoning that the Father would not have been known in the Son in any other way unless He were of the same substance. And let us worship our Savior, awaiting the fruit of our worship, the giver of which is the Father Himself, according to the word of the Lord: "For if anyone," He says, "serves Me, My Father will honor him." And also the admirable John the theologian: "He who believes in the Son," he says, "has eternal life; but he who is disobedient to the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him."
Capitulum XVI. That the Lord taught in many places that his substance and the Father’s are one.
A But so that we may demonstrate their consubstantiality from another testimony as well, let us hear the Lord himself crying out and saying not only to the apostles, but also to the Jews: "He who believes in me, does not believe in me, but in him who sent me. And he who sees me, sees him who sent me. I have come as a light into the world, so that whoever believes in me might not remain in darkness." If, therefore, he who sees the Son believes in the B Father, where then is the "greater" and the "lesser"? For in the lesser, the greater is diminished and is not recognized. If, however, the Father is greater, how is he seen in the Son? But if he is seen in the Son, then clearly he is recognized as being in an equal. For things that are equal are demonstrative of each other. And again, after a few words, the Lord himself says to the apostles: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me; if you knew me, you would also know my Father, and from now on you know him and have seen him." Philip says to him: "Lord, show us your Father, and it is enough for us." Jesus says to him: "Have I been with you for so long a time, and you have not known me, Philip? He who sees me, sees also my Father; and how do you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words which I speak, I do not speak from myself; but the Father who remains in me, he himself does the works. Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me: otherwise, believe me because of the works themselves."
What is clearer than these words? What is more evident than this doctrine? But indeed, as it seems, the veil of the Jews has passed into the mind of the heretics. Because of this, they do not wish to behold things clearer than the sun, drawing upon themselves a voluntary cloud of ignorance. But let us hear the Lord saying: "If you had known me, you would also have known my Father; and from now on you know him, and have seen him." C He says this to Thomas, by whom it had been said to him, "We do not know where you are going, and how are we able to know the way?" And he teaches him and the rest of the apostles at the same time that a man who has believed in him, while he sees him thus with the eyes of the mind, becomes also a spectator of the Father, since the Father is recognized in the Son. Philip, not understanding these things, asks him, saying: "Show us your Father, and it is enough for us." Therefore he is not praised, because according to the heretics he seemed to desire to see something greater; but rather he is reproved, as one who had not seen the Father in the Son: "For I have been with you," he says, "for such a long time, and you have not yet known me, Philip?" And yet Philip desired to see not him, but the Father. Why, therefore, is he reproved because he did not know the Son? With the addition of this reproach, the Lord reveals the cause of the matter: "For he who sees me," he says, D sees the Father.
has seen the Father." A And how, then, do you say, "Show us the Father"? "I am another," he says, "according to person, not according to nature. I carry the whole Father within myself; for I am the indistinguishable seal of the One who begat, the image of the Father’s substance, a natural image coexisting with the One who begat. When, therefore, you wish to see Him, by looking at me you will see both. Yet you will see them not with the eyes of the body, but with those of faith; and with the eyes of faith only to the extent of knowing the operations, not the nature or the substance; for this comprehension exceeds every mind. Therefore he added: "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you, I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves." If, therefore, he speaks the same things as the Father, and the Father dwells in him and he in the Father, and he who has seen him has seen the Father, and he who knows him knows the Father, it is plain to all who have a mind that the nature of the Father and the Son is one, and that the Son possesses all things that are the Father's. For he would not have shown the Father in himself in any other way, unless he possessed everything that the Father has, except the fatherhood itself; for this is the property of the Father, just as sonship is the property of the Son.
XVII. Another demonstration that the Son is equal to the Father.
This equality can also be learned from another angle. For Jesus says: "Now the Son of man is glorified, and God is glorified in him; and God will glorify him in himself, and will glorify him at once." C And again: "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you." O the surpassing folly of the heretics! The one who glorifies, they say, is greater than the one who is glorified. And the Father, to be sure, glorifies, while the Son is glorified; therefore the Father is greater than the Son. But if the Son is not only glorified, but also glorified the one who glorified him, what room is left here for "greater" and "lesser"? Unless, perhaps, as would follow from the premises, the greater dignity passes to the one who glorifies, so that the Son becomes lesser when he is glorified, and greater when he glorifies. But to say such things is the height of madness and insanity. For we are not taught "greater" and "lesser" from these things, D but the equality of the Father and the Son. For we hear that the Son is glorified by the Father, and in turn the Father [is glorified] by the Son; and the Son is glorified by the Father, and he simultaneously glorifies the Father. For the one who has been glorified did not receive what he did not have, but [received] what he already had. This same thing he teaches us in the same place: "For glorify me," he says, "with yourself, O Father, with the glory which I had with you before the world was." If, then, even before the world was made, he possessed this glory, how does he ask to receive what he always had?
XVIII. That the dominion of the Father and the Son is one.
Then, having shown that he is not only glorified, but in turn also glorifies, he added: A "I have manifested your name to men." And a little later, stopping the mouths of the heretics: "All mine," he says, "are yours, and yours are mine." He is not, strictly speaking, dividing a common dominion, nor does he wish to show that some things pertain to him and others to the Father; but because those who omit no species of blasphemy against the Only-begotten say that he receives, but the Father gives, he demonstrates that he holds a dominion over all things equal to the Father. For "All mine," he says, "are yours, and yours are mine," teaching us not a division of dominion, but that the communion of dominion is one. B
But I feel that I have extended this discourse on the faith for a long time, even though I had promised at the beginning to contain its definition as if in a single chapter. For when I had undertaken to demonstrate the dignity of the Only-begotten from evangelical doctrine, I made the discourse longer than I had promised, although I studied brevity in the interpretations of the texts themselves. Therefore, having sent the pious Christians to the evangelical and prophetic books themselves, which all overflow with the theology of the Son, I will pursue the series of the argument concerning the Trinity that I have proposed.
XIX. Concerning the Holy Spirit.
We believe, therefore, as I have said, in God the Father without beginning, and in God the Son, coeternal by nature, C born of the Father, but existing always with the Father, according to the voice of the Gospels: "In the beginning," it says, "was the Word." We believe also in the Holy Spirit, the upright, the directing, the good, the Comforter, proceeding from God, not begotten; for the Only-begotten is one. Nor created; for nowhere in divine Scripture do we find him numbered among the created, but placed in the same order with the Father and the Son. We have heard, however, that he proceeds from the Father, but we do not curiously investigate how he proceeds, but are content with these boundaries which the theologians and blessed men have set for us.
XX. That the Spirit is placed in the same order with the Father and the Son.
For we have been taught by our Savior Jesus Christ himself that the Holy Spirit is the completion of the Trinity. D "Go therefore," he says, "teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Moreover, he whom we confess with the Father and the Son is superior to all that is created. Wherefore also blessed Paul preaches him in a continuous series with the Father and the Son: "For the grace," he says, "of our Lord
Jesus, and the love of God and the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. A
XXI. The dominion of the Holy Spirit is demonstrated.
And again, Paul says: "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord; and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all." And proclaiming His power, he cried out: "But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will," distributing B the gifts to those who believe. For through Him we have received the remission of sins; through Him we attain to liberty; through Him we enjoy the grace of adoption. "For we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear," says Paul, "but we have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." And elsewhere: "For the law of the Spirit of life hath made me free from the law of sin and death." And in another place: "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Now, He who sets others free is not a servant. For how could He grant to fellow-servants what He does not possess, what He is unable to attain, and what He would indeed wish to enjoy, C as is fitting, but cannot? But if He truly communicates liberty to those who believe and sets servants free, He is evidently not a servant, but a master, and with sovereign authority bestows liberty upon whom He wills. Wherefore also blessed Paul said, that "All these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." Wherefore the prophet in the Old Testament also, proclaiming His power, cried out: "The Lord hath sent me, and His Spirit." And God, reproving the Jews, says: "Ye have taken counsel, but not by me; and made agreements, but not by my Spirit," thus showing the Holy Spirit to be a sharer in sovereign authority. And finally elsewhere: "Therefore," He says, "I am with you, and my Spirit remaineth in the midst of you."
XXII. That the Paraclete is Creator.
Job also, believing Him to be Creator and Lord, and D not a minister nor a creature, says: "The divine Spirit, which hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty which teacheth me." But if He created human nature, He has the same substance with the Father and the Son; for in the creation of man God said: "Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness." But if the image is one, it is evident that their substance is also one.
XXIII. That the Holy Spirit is from God.
That the Holy Spirit exists of the divine substance,
A itself, God teaches us through the prophet, saying B Joel: "In the last days I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh." And the Lord Christ teaches us, saying to the disciples: "When they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you." And again Paul: "But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you." And a little later: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." And elsewhere: "But to us, he says, God has revealed them through His Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit who is from God." From these things it is excellently evident that the Holy Spirit is not of another nature nor of a diverse substance, but is in reality endowed with the divine nature. Wherefore he also knows the arcana of God, and knows whatever is of God, just as our soul knows the things that are its own. But if anyone perhaps thinks that the word "searches" denotes ignorance, he will find the same thing said of the Father also. "For he who searches hearts," he says, "knows what is the mind of the Spirit." C Since, then, the God of all does not search because He is ignorant, but knows all things perfectly before they come to pass; so also the holy Spirit of God does not search the deep things of God by reason of ignorance. For how would the cited words be consistent for one who is ignorant: that just as the spirit of a man knows the things that are in him, so also "no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God"? For knowledge is opposed to searching; but the soul does not search its own things, but knows them supremely. Therefore, the Holy Spirit has the accurate knowledge of God: and just as "no one knows the Father except the Son, and no one knows the Son except the Father," so, he says, "no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God." Therefore, from what has been said, we are taught the communion of nature.
But because the disciples of the blasphemy of Arius and Eunomius have exceeded all bounds of impudence, and (I speak of them) say that the Spirit of God is God Himself, the blessed Paul necessarily demonstrates the person of the Spirit: "For we," he says, "have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God; that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ."
Lord, who shall instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." Therefore, by saying, "We have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God," He taught that the Holy Spirit is not of the same nature as the world, but exists of the divine essence. And in addition to this, He taught that He is speaking not of God the Father, but of the Holy Spirit, whose grace those who believe receive. Wherefore He said the Spirit is "of God," teaching that He has existence from the Father, and exists of that same nature, not indeed by generation, but in that way which He alone knows who understands the Son, and He who alone knows the Father, and He who alone understands the Father and the Son; a thing which we have learned from God, but the mode of which we have not been taught. Therefore let us be content with the measure of knowledge given to us, and not ignorantly pry into things that are incomprehensible. B
XXIV. That the great Apostle knew that the Holy Spirit is God.
That the Holy Spirit is of God, Paul teaches us again, saying: "Ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God." For why are we called temples of God upon receiving the grace of the Spirit through baptism, if the Holy Spirit Himself is not God? And that the faithful are called temples of the Spirit, the same Apostle teaches us, saying: "Know ye not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, whom ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price." C Now, a temple proclaims the God who inhabits it. Wherefore he also said above: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." If, therefore, believers receive the grace of the Spirit through baptism, and having been deemed worthy of this gift, we are made the temple of God, then the Holy Spirit is God. For this reason, if those who enjoy the grace of the Spirit are and are called the habitation and temple of God, it is clear that the Holy Spirit is of the divine nature, and is consubstantial with the Father and the Son. But if He were a creature, D and of a different substance, those who obtain His gift would not rightly be called temples of God. But if those who enjoy some portion, however small, of His grace are called temples of God, we shall understand His fellowship from the appellation. The chief of the apostles also teaches this in the Acts, when he rebukes the theft of Ananias.
XXV. That the divine Peter also holds a consonant opinion regarding the Holy Spirit.
"Ananias," he says, "why hath Satan filled thine heart
to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to defraud [God] of the price of the field A?” And shortly after: “You have not lied to men, but to God.” For because he had thought to deceive the apostles, as being men, while he subtracted from the price of the property as much as he pleased, the prince of the apostles teaches him that those who possess the grace of the Spirit know clearly all things that have been done in secret. “You have not lied to us,” he says, “but to the Holy Spirit.” Therefore do not think that you have deceived men; for it is God who has been lied to by you; for you have not lied to men, but to God. Assuredly, you have not tricked us, but the Holy Spirit, who is God, having his subsistence from God, and being a sharer of the same nature. Luke also makes this clear in the Acts; for having said above that while the brethren at Antioch were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said:
XXVI. It is demonstrated in many ways that the Holy Spirit is God.
B“Separate for me Paul and Barnabas for the work to which I have called them.” He proceeds to say that they, sent by the Holy Spirit, departed to Seleucia. And when he has related how, traversing Cyprus, Lycia, Lycaonia, Pamphylia, and Bithynia, they preached the Gospel, he adds: “And sailing from there to Antioch, whence they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work which they had completed; when they had arrived there, and had gathered the Church, they reported how great things God had done with them.” And although he had mentioned the Spirit above, as the one who had chosen Paul and Barnabas for the work destined by Him, he names the Spirit again after their return, and twice attributes the name of God to Him: first, by saying C that they sailed to Antioch, whence they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work which they had actually finished; secondly, when he says that they reported to the gathered Church the things which God had done with them. Certainly, the gift of miracles was from the Holy Spirit; He himself supplied wisdom and prudence; He himself imparted strength to those preaching; He himself inspired in them the discourse of instruction. Whence also Paul was saying: “To one indeed is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another, the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another, faith in the same Spirit; to another, gifts of healing in one Spirit,” and the rest. Then, teaching that the Holy Spirit does not distribute these in the capacity D of a minister, but bestows them potently to whom He wills, he adds: “But all these things one and the same Spirit works, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” If, therefore, the Holy Spirit performed these things through the apostles according to His own will, while Paul and Barnabas reported to the gathered Church how great things God had done with them, the Holy Spirit is certainly God, according to the language of the apostles.
A This same thing happened at Jerusalem, as the most illustrious Luke relates: "The whole multitude kept silent, and heard Barnabas and Paul relating how many signs and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles through them." The Holy Spirit, therefore, is God, for it is the same One who miraculously performs signs and wonders. Hence also the Lord said in the Gospels: "But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." Again, in the Acts, Luke says that Paul, having chosen Silas, departed, having been commended to the grace of God by the brothers; here, by this phrasing, he calls the Holy Spirit—who through the brothers at Antioch had separated him for the work to which He had called him—God once again. B Furthermore, the blessed Paul says in the Epistle to the Corinthians: "Those whom God has placed in the Church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers and evangelists, for the perfecting of the saints." But taking leave of the brothers at Miletus, and calling to mind the grace that had been given, he says: "Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as bishops to shepherd the Church of the Lord, which He acquired with His own blood." C See once again from this, too, that the Holy Spirit is affirmed to be God. For since he had said there that God appointed shepherds, teachers, and evangelists, here he says of the Spirit: "In which the Holy Spirit has placed you as bishops to shepherd the Church," teaching, clearly, that the Holy Spirit is God, and that it is the same thing to say God and Spirit, because of the communion of nature. For the Son and the Holy Spirit cooperate in the works done by God the Father; and God the Father likewise gives His consent to the things accomplished by the Son and the Spirit. And elsewhere, again, the blessed Paul preaches that the Spirit is God: "For if," he says, "all prophesy, and an unbeliever or unlearned person enters, he is refuted by all, he is judged by all; the secrets of his heart become manifest; and so, falling on his face, he will worship God, announcing that God is truly in you." For because prophecy is a gift of the Spirit, and secrets of the heart are made manifest through the revelation of the Spirit, D and because it is the property of God to know the minds of men, necessarily the one who is refuted by prophecy and judged will worship God, announcing that God is truly in you. They had, however, the grace of the Spirit. If, then, God was in them because they enjoyed the grace of the Spirit, it follows that the Holy Spirit is God and from God.
...and therefore He is called eternal. A XXVII. That the Holy Spirit is from God, uncreated, and therefore called eternal.
The most illustrious Peter also says in his Catholic Epistles: "If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of power and of God rests upon you" (1 Pet. iv, 14). The blessed John also says in his Epistle: "In this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit" (1 John iv, 13). But that which is proclaimed to be from God is not a creature, but exists from the substance of God. Wherefore the blessed Paul also calls Him eternal, and He who has had no beginning: "For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who are defiled for the perfection of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself" (Heb. ix, 13, 14). If, therefore, the Holy Spirit is eternal, and God is also eternal, the conclusion is manifest. But the collection of all testimonies concerning the Holy Spirit, which proclaim Him to be both God and Lord, and rank Him in the same order with the Father and the Son, we leave to those who are studious: but we hasten to the end of this teaching. B
XXVIII. Summary of the Faith.
Therefore, we believe that the nature of the Trinity is one, one substance viewed in three persons, power indivisible, dominion undivided, one divinity and lordship. For thus both the unity is demonstrated in one and the same substance, and the Trinity is acknowledged, not in mere names, but in the hypostases. C For we do not say that there is one "trionymous" being, according to the contraction and confusion of Sabellius, Photinus, and Marcellus. Nor, again, do we posit three things mutually foreign and endowed with diverse substance, unequal and dissimilar, and one superior to another, which we might measure and weigh with mind and tongue, according to the division, diversity, and impious curiosity of Arius: but we confess three hypostases, yet one nature of the Trinity, incorporeal, unchangeable, immutable, having no end, immortal, infinite, incorruptible, uncircumscribed, illimitable, invisible, hidden, ineffable, indescribable, incomprehensible, impenetrable to touch and mind, living by its own nature, intellectual light, D fount of goods, treasure of wisdom, creator and governess of all things, the wisdom which guides the ship of the entire creation. This faith we hold; for we were taught this by men of theology. But to those who dispute by human reasoning, let us say: "That is your portion, that is your lot, but our portion is the Lord," following whom, the straight...