3. О Святом Духе и о Божественных именах

Therefore we have learned that the Holy Spirit comes from God the Father; but in the form of origin it is not similar to creation, because the All-Holy Spirit was not created, nor to the Only Begotten Son, because none of the God-bearing people called the origin of God’s Spirit birth. Sacred words teach us that the Holy Spirit is from God and divine. This is what the Lord Christ says about Him: “You are not here, but I am coming. If I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you” (John 16:7); and again: “When the Comforter comes,... the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father” (John 15:26), “will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). Having said: “it comes from the Father,” he showed that the Father is the source of the Spirit; he does not say: he will come out, but: “he comes out,” showing the identity of nature, the inseparability and indifference of essence and the unity of the Hypostases. For what comes out is inseparable from the one from whom it comes. The Divine Apostle said the following about the Spirit: “The Spirit tests all things, even the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:10). And so that the test would not be considered by anyone to be a consequence of knowledge, he added: “For what is the message of man, even in man, even the spirit of man living in him: likewise is the message of God, even the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:11). Thus, having testified in the knowledge of the Spirit, he shows where He comes from. For he said: “We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God” (1 Cor. 2:12). He never ceases to compare Him with the Father and the Son, but never compared Him with creation; for he did not recognize Him as a part of creation, nor does he call Him the first creation, as Arius, Eunomius and Macedonius blasphemed. On the contrary, indicating the gifts of divine grace, the Apostle said this: “divisions of ministries are, and the same is the Lord: and divisions of actions are, and the same is God, who acts all in all” (1 Cor. 12:5-6). Then, showing that the gifts are distributed to the tuna, he added: “But all these things work in one and the same Spirit, dividing power to each as he wills” (1 Cor. 12:11), that is, the All-Holy Spirit does not serve slavishly, but has sovereign dignity, does not serve, but assists and acts sovereignly. So at the end of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle composes the following blessing: “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, amen” (2 Cor. 13:13). And in the First Epistle he put the Spirit in first place, and here in last place, teaching thereby that the order of names does not make a difference in merit. And in this place he presented the Son to the Father, not perverting the order that the Lord had decreed, but showing the equality of the Trinity. And the Spirit descended upon the Apostles in a magnificent manner. For first he shook the house, making it clear that God was present; because the Prophet says about the God of all: “look upon the earth, and make it shake” (Ps. 103:32). And then, in the form of tongues of fire, he sat on the Apostles, just as once upon a time, according to Moses, God appeared in a bush. And just as the burning bush was not destroyed, so the tongues of the Apostles did not experience the burning power. And the divine Peter, having learned this, not in word, but in deed, when exposing Ananias’ theft, called the Spirit God. For having said: “Because Satan has deceived your heart, lie” to the All-Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3), he added: “You have not lied to man, but to God” (Acts 5:4). In accordance with this, the wise Paul also said about the Spirit: because he called those who believed, in whom the grace of the Spirit dwelt, churches of God. “Do you not know,” he says, “that you are the church of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you” (1 Cor. 3:16)? And again: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you, which you have from God” (1 Cor. 6:19)? And this directly shows that the All-Holy Spirit is of God’s nature. For if those who believe are called God’s church because they have received the grace of the Spirit, then the Holy Spirit is from God; because those in whom grace has infused are called the church of God. But the Lord shows us the dignity of the Spirit more clearly. For, teaching the sacrament of baptism, he said to his disciples: “Go and teach all tongues, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). And if the Son or the All-Holy Spirit had a created nature, then They would not be numbered among the God who created; because the words of God accuse those who serve the creation more than the Creator. This is why the Only Begotten became man, to save people from this delusion and to teach the difference between God and creation. Having destroyed the worship of creation, He would not have commanded the worship of created nature again. For it is most inappropriate to distract people from non-existent gods and again lead them to the service of creatures. Therefore, it is clear that both the Son and the All-Holy Spirit have a non-created nature. That is why we learn to believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and we are baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. since the first man was created not only by the Father, but also by the Son and the Holy Spirit, for he said: “Let us make man in our image and likeness” (Gen. 1:26), then during the re-creation, during the completion of a new creation, it is right with the Father for both the Son and the All-Holy Spirit to have participation; and the invocation of the Trinity renews each of those who are baptized. But I wrote three words about the Holy Spirit against heretics, deprived of the grace of the Spirit, and I consider it unnecessary to expand here, because the remaining chapters require that the word be addressed to them. Therefore, I will move on to them, presenting the interpretation of the divine names. Since foolish people, not knowing the meaning of Hebrew names, thought that Adonai, Eloi, and Hosts were different gods, then, I think, it would be useful to show those who do not know what each of these names means in our language. So, the name Eloith is interpreted as God, and Eloi is my God. And the name: Il, pronounced without aspiration, also means God, and with aspiration, it means Mighty God. And Adonai means Lord, and the Lord of hosts is interpreted as the Lord of hosts, or the Lord of armies: because among the Hellenes the ranks of warriors are called strength. And Shaddai means sufficient and powerful, and Aio means existence. This name was unpronounceable among the Jews; The Samaritans pronounce it to Jave, not knowing the power of this saying. Not understanding these names, the less intelligent took them for the names of different gods. We will move on to the rest of the essay. You might be interested in: