О Духе Святом

1) You will be surprised, perhaps, when you see that when I was ordered to truncate and briefly present my message about the Holy Spirit, I left the word about the Spirit and wrote against those who wickedly teach about the Son of God and claim that He is a creation. But I know very well that if you know the reason, you will not blame me; and even your reverence will approve of it, seeing the validity of the reason, Because, as the Lord Himself said, the Comforter “does not have the verb from Himself... but He will receive from Mine and proclaim it to you” (John 16:13, 15): and He blew from Himself and gave the Spirit to the disciples (John 20:22), and thus, according to what is written, the Father poured It out “on all flesh” (Joel 2:28); Therefore, it is right that I said and wrote first about the Son of God, so that, having knowledge about the Son, we could acquire good knowledge about the Spirit. For whatever property we have recognized in the Son with the Father, the same property we find that the Spirit has with the Son. As the Son says: “All that the Father has is Mine” (John 16:15); so we will find that all this is through the Son and in the Spirit. As the Father showed the Son, saying: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17): so the Spirit is the Spirit of the Son. For the Apostle says: “God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying: Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6). And to the surprise, how the Son says: what is Mine is the Father’s (John 17:10); so the Holy Spirit, called the Spirit of the Son, is the Spirit of the Father. For the Son himself says: “When... the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of Me” (John 15:26). Paul writes: “No one knows... even in a person, exactly the spirit of a person living in him? In the same way, no one knows God’s message, but the Spirit of God who is in God. We have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit that is from God, that we know that which is given to us by God” (1 Cor. 2:11, 12). And in all divine Scripture you will find that the Holy Spirit, being called the Spirit of the Son, is also called the Spirit of God; and we wrote about this in the previous message. And if the Son, by His nature with the Father, and because He is the own birth of the Father’s essence, is not a creature, but is consubstantial with the Father; then the Holy Spirit, according to His property with the Son, and because it is given to everyone from the Son, and what He has belongs to the Son, there will be no creation. And he is wicked who claims this. 2) And this is enough for everyone, no matter how stubborn he may be, to be convinced to no longer call the creation of God the One who is in God, experiences the depths of God, and is given from the Father through the Son. For otherwise, he will be forced to also name the creature and the Son, the Word, Wisdom, Image, Radiance - the One in Whom everyone sees the Father, and finally hear: “Cast away the Son, lest you have the Father” (1 John 2:23); because he, like a madman, will soon say: “There is no God” (Ps. 13:1). However, in order to have more evidence to expose the wicked, it is good to prove in the same way that the Son is not a creature that the Spirit is not a creature. Creatures come from nothing and have a beginning of existence. For “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and what is in them” (Gen. 1:1; Ps. 146:6) The Holy Spirit, as the Apostle said, is and is spoken of by God. If the Son, because He is not one of non-existents, but from God, in all justice is not a creature; then it is necessary for the Holy Spirit not to be a creature, because He too is confessed to come from God, and creatures come from nothing. 3) And one more thing - the Spirit is there and the anointing and seal have an effect. For John writes: “And you have received the anointing of Him, and abides in you, and do not demand that anyone teach you: but because... His anointing, His Spirit, teaches you in all things” (1 John 2:27). And the Prophet Isaiah wrote: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for the sake of My anointing” (Is. 61:1). And Paul writes: “He received a sign in Him and believed” (Eph. 1:13); and again: “Do not offend the Holy Spirit... By whom you are marked on the day of deliverance” (Eph. 4:30). Creatures are anointed and sealed with the Spirit. But if creatures are anointed and sealed with Him, then the Spirit is not a creature; because the anointing is not like those who are anointed. This anointing is the breath of the Son; why does he who has the Spirit in himself say: “The fragrance is of Christ” (2 Cor. 2:15). And this seal imprints the Son; why, the imprinted one has the image of Christ, as the Apostle says: “My children, in the image of my illness, until Christ is imagined in you” (Gal. 4:19). If the Spirit is the fragrance and image of the Son, then it is clear that the Spirit is not a creature; because the Son, who exists in the image of the Father, is not a creature. As “seeing the Son, seeing the Father;” Thus, he who has the Holy Spirit in himself has the Son in Himself, and, having Him, the church is God’s, about which Paul writes: “Do you not know that you are the church of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16). And John says: “We understand this, because we abide in God, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit to eat” (1 John 4:13). If, however, it is confessed about the Son, who is in the Father and in whom the Father is, that He is not a creature; then by all necessity it follows that the Spirit is not a creature; because the Son is in Him, and He in the Son; why the one who receives the Spirit is called the church of God. But this can also be clearly seen from the following. If the Son is God's Word, then He is one, like the Father. For “there is one God, from whom are all things: and one Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 8:6); why it is said and written that He is the only begotten Son. There are many creatures, and they are different: Angels, Archangels, Cherubim, Principalities, Powers, and others, as was said about this. If, however, since the Son is not one of many, but is one, just as the Father is one, then He is not a creature; without a doubt (since the knowledge of the Spirit must also be borrowed from the Son) the Spirit is not a creature, because He is not one of many, but is one. 4) The Apostle also knew this when he said: “But all these things work in one and the same Spirit, dividing power as He wills” (1 Cor. 12:11); and a little lower: “we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body... and we were all drunk on one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). And again, since knowledge about the Spirit must be taken from the Son, it would be appropriate to take evidence from Him. So, the Son is everywhere; because He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. The Son possesses everything and contains everything; and it is written that “in Him all things are constituted,” whether visible or invisible: “And He is before all” (Col. 1:17). The creatures are in their assigned places: the sun, the moon and other luminaries in the firmament; angels in heaven and people on earth. But if the Son, not in the places assigned to Him, but existing in the Father, is everywhere, and dwells outside of everything, is not a creature; then it follows that the Spirit is not a creature, not existing in the places assigned to Him, but filling everything and abiding outside everything. For it is thus written: “The Spirit of the Lord fill the world” (Wis. 1:7); and David sings: “Where shall I go from Thy Spirit?” (Ps. 139:7), because the Spirit is not limited by place, but He is outside everything, and abides in the Son, as the Son in the Father. And therefore, as this has been proven, He is not a creature. In addition to all this, the following will further serve to condemn the Arian heresy, and also to acquire knowledge of the Spirit from the Son. The Son, like the Father, is the Creator. For he says: whatever I see the Father doing, that I also do (John 5:19). Why, “all things came into being, and without Him nothing came into existence” (John 1:3). But if the Son, being, like the Father, the Creator, is not a creature, and if, by the very fact that everything is created by Him, He Himself is not among those created; it is clear that the Holy Spirit is not a creature; because it is written about Him in the hundred and third psalm: “Quiet their spirit, and they will disappear and return to their dust: when you have poured out Your Spirit, they will be created, and you will renew the face of the earth” (Ps. 103:29, 30). 5) From these words it is clear that the Spirit is not a creature, but Himself participates in the work of creation. The Father creates all things by the Word in the Spirit; for where the Word is, there the Spirit is also. And what is created by the Word, through the Word from the Spirit, has the power of being; for this is what is written in the thirty-second psalm: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the Spirit of His mouth was all their strength” (Ps. 32:6). And indeed, the Spirit is so inseparable from the Son that after what has been said there is no room for doubt. When the Word came to the Prophet, then the Prophet, inspired by the Word, preached in the Spirit. That's what it says. Peter says in Acts: “Men and brethren, it is fitting that you should finish this Scripture, which the Holy Spirit spoke” (Acts 1:16). And in Zechariah, when the Word came to him, it was written: “Besides you accept My words and My laws, as I commanded in My Spirit... the Prophet” (Zechariah 1:6); and a little lower, complaining about the people, God said: “You have made your heart disobedient; But Christ also spoke in Paul, as Paul himself said: “Do you seek temptation, Christ speaking in me” (2 Cor. 13:3)? Nevertheless, Paul also had the Spirit, giving him what to say. For this is what he himself writes: “by the giving of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” in me (Phil. 1:19), and also, when Christ spoke in him, he said: “Even as the Holy Spirit throughout all the cities bears witness to me, saying that chains and tribulation await me” (Acts 20:23). For the Spirit is not outside the Word, but, being in the Word, through Him abides in God; so that the gifts are given in the Trinity. And in the division of gifts, as the Apostle writes to the Corinthians, “the same is the Spirit, and the same is the Lord, and the same is God, working all in all” (1 Cor. 12:4-6); because the Father himself acts and distributes everything through the Word in the Spirit. 6) And indeed, the Apostle, expressing his good will to the Corinthians, asked the Trinity for benefits, saying: “The grace of the Lord... Jesus Christ, and the love of God... and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:13). For by partaking of the Spirit, we have the grace of the Word, and in Him the love of the Father. But just as the grace of the Trinity is one, so the Trinity is inseparable. Others may see this in Saint Mary herself. For the Angel Gabriel, sent to announce the descent of the Word on Her, said: “The Holy Spirit will come upon You”; and knowing that the Spirit was in the Word, he immediately added: “and the Power of the Most High will overshadow You” (Luke 1:35). For “Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24). since the Spirit is in the Word, it is clear that just as the Spirit was in God through the Word, so when the Spirit is in us, the Son and Father will come and make an abode in us. For the Trinity is inseparable, and Its Divinity is one. “One God... over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:6). This is the faith of the universal Church. The Lord founded and rooted it in the Trinity, telling the disciples: “Going... teach all languages, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). If the Spirit were a creature, then the Lord would not have numbered Him with the Father, so that the Trinity, by adding something extraneous and alien to It, would not be dissimilar to Itself. For what was lacking to God, so that it became necessary to perceive and glorify with Him what is foreign? Let this not happen! This is impossible. He Himself said: “I am complete” (Is. 1:11). Therefore, the Lord himself added the Spirit to the name of the Father, showing that the Holy Trinity is not made up of different things, that is, not from the Creator and creatures, but on the contrary, Its Divinity is one. Having learned this, Paul taught that the grace given in the Trinity is one, saying: “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:5). Just as baptism is one, so faith is one. For he who believes in the Father knows that the Son is in the Father and the Spirit is not outside the Son, and therefore believes in both the Son and the Holy Spirit; because there is one Divinity of the Trinity, cognizable from the one Father. 7) Therefore, this is the distinctive feature of the universal faith. But those who blaspheme the Spirit and claim that He is a creature, if they do not understand what has been said, then let them be put to shame, being put to shame by the following. If there is a Trinity, and faith in the Trinity; then let them say: is She always a Trinity, or was there a time when she was not a Trinity? And if the Trinity is eternal; then the Spirit, eternally coexistent with the Word and abiding in Him, is not a creature; because there once were no creatures. If the Spirit is a creature, and creatures are from nothing; it is clear what happened when there was not Trinity, but Duality. And who can say anything more evil than this? Heretics claim that the Trinity is formed through transformation and continuation, and is itself a Duality, and awaits the origin of creation, so that the creation would be united with the Father and the Son, and then the Trinity would already occur. Oh, yes, something like that doesn’t even occur to a Christian! As the Son who always exists is not a creature; so, since there is always a Trinity, there is nothing created in It; therefore the Spirit is not a creature. As the Trinity has always been, so it is now; and as She is now, so the Trinity has always been and is; and in the Trinity the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And “one God the Father, who is above all and through all and in all, blessed forever, amen” (Eph. 4:6; Rom. 9:5). And so, as you expressed your desire, having written this briefly, I send it to you; and you, as a prudent person, if something is missing in what is written, deign to fill it in, and read it to those close to you in faith, and rebuke the stubborn blasphemers. Perhaps, although it is too late, they will come to their senses and put aside the evil that has entered their souls. For, according to what is written, it is good for them to flee from this, and not to delay, lest otherwise, remaining in their evil mind, they would not hear what the Lord said: “Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the next” (Matthew 12:32). You might be interested in: