О Святом Духе

1) I also read the now written message of your reverence, and having marveled greatly at the shamelessness of heretics, I see that the most appropriate thing to do is to apply to them the Apostolic commandment: “Deny a person who is a heretic according to the first and second punishment, knowing that he has become corrupt, and sins, and is self-condemned” (Tit. 3:10, 11). The heretic, having a depraved mind, asks not in order to be convinced by listening and learn to repent, but so that if he remains silent, he will not be condemned by those who have been deceived by him. What was said before was enough for the heretics, having heard so much evidence, to stop blaspheming the Holy Spirit; but they were not satisfied, and again they are shameless, wanting to show that, having learned to debate words and finally becoming Doukhobors, they are ready to die in their foolishness. And indeed, if anyone begins to answer their current questions; then, despite all this, they will remain the inventors of evils, so that only by searching they will not find out, or after listening they will not understand. What are their wise questions? “If the Holy Spirit is not a creature; then does it not follow, they say, that He is the Son, and there are two brothers, the Word and the Spirit? Then, as you write, they add: “if the Spirit receives from the Son, and is given by the Son (and so it is written, they immediately add); then doesn’t it follow that the Father is His grandfather, and the Spirit is His grandson”? 2) Who, hearing this, still recognizes them as Christians, and not rather pagans? For likewise the pagans reason among themselves to reproach us. Who would want to respond to such recklessness? And I thought a lot and looked for a suitable answer to them, but I did not find one except that given to the Pharisees of that time. As when they asked maliciously, the Savior answered with a question, so that they would feel their evilness; So, since these heretics also propose such questions, let them themselves tell us, or better yet, let them themselves give an answer to questions similar to their questions. because when they speak for themselves, they do not understand their inventions; then, perhaps, when they begin to listen, they will realize their folly. If the Holy Spirit is not a creature, as was previously proven, but He is in God and is given from God; then does it follow that the Spirit is the Son, and that there are two brothers, the Spirit and the Son? And if the Spirit is the Spirit of the Son, and the Spirit receives everything from the Son, as the Son Himself said, and breathed on Him and gave it to His disciples (for you also confess this); then does it follow that the Father is the grandfather, and the Spirit is His grandson? For what you demand an answer from us about the same thing, and on the same basis, it is fair for us to ask you. So, if you deny what is written, then you can no longer be called Christians; and it is fair for you to ask us, as Christians. And if you are reading the same thing as us, then you need to hear from us such questions about the same. Therefore, speak and do not hesitate: is the Spirit really the Son, and the Father the grandfather? But perhaps, as the Jews of that time did, you, on reflection, will say to yourself: “If you answer us that He is the Son; then they will ask: where is this written? and if we say that he is not the Son, we are afraid that they will tell us: how is it written: “We... have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is from God” (1 Cor. 2:12)? If, struggling in this way with yourself, you say: “we do not know” (Matthew 21:27): then the one who receives such a question from you must remain silent, believing the one who said: “Do not answer a fool according to his madness, lest you become like him; but answer a fool according to his foolishness, lest a wise man appear to himself” (Prov. 26:4, 5). Before you, so that you realize your ignorance, the most decent answer is silence. 3) And again, based on your own reasoning, it is fair for us to ask you this: since the Prophets speak by the Spirit of God, and, as proven in the previous one, the Holy Spirit prophesies in Isaiah; then does it follow that the Spirit is the Word of God, and that there are two Words, the Spirit and the Son; because the prophets then prophesied when the Word of God came to them? And moreover, since “all things were” by the Word, and “without Him nothing was made” (John 1:3) and God “founded the earth with wisdom” (Proverbs 3:19), and “he created all things with wisdom” (Ps. 103:24); and, according to the above, it is also written: “follow Your Spirit, and they will be created” (Ps. 103:30); then does it follow that the Spirit is the Word? Or did God create everything by both, Wisdom and Spirit? And why does Paul say: “there is one God... of whom all things are worthless... and one Lord... of whom are all things” (1 Cor. 8:6)? And also, since the Son is the “image of the invisible” Father (Col. 1:15), and the Spirit is the image of the Son; for it is written: “whom... he foreknew... and ordained to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29); then does it follow from this that the Father is the grandfather? And since the Son came in the name of the Father and the Holy Spirit, says the Son, “the Father will follow in My name” (Jn. 14:26); then does it follow from this that the Father is the grandfather? What do you say to this, you who solve everything without difficulty? What are you talking to yourself about? Or, seeing yourself in difficulty, do you discourage such questions? But judge yourselves first; because you are usually asked questions like this. Believe the Scriptures, and finding it difficult to say for yourself, finally learn that in the Scriptures the Spirit is not called the Son, but the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of God. And just as the Spirit is not called the Son, so it is not written about the Son that He is the Holy Spirit. Really, since the Spirit is not called the Son, and the Spirit is not the Son; then faith disagrees with the truth? Will this not happen? On the contrary, each signified all the more has its own meaning. For the Son is the own birth of the Father's essence and the Father's nature, and this is signified by the word: “Son”; and the Spirit, called the Spirit of God and existing in God, is not alien to the Son's nature and the Father's Divinity. Therefore, in the Trinity, in the Father, in the Son and in the Spirit himself, there is one Divinity, and in the same Trinity there is one baptism, and one faith. And indeed, when the Father sends the Spirit, then the Son, blowing, gives it to the disciples; because “all that the Father has” also belong to the Son (John 16:15). And when the Word was in the Prophets, they prophesied by the Spirit, as it is written and proven. “And by the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the Spirit of His mouth was all their strength” (Ps. 32:6). 4) So the Spirit is not a Creation, but it is said about Him that He is proper to the essence of the Word, is also proper to God, and abides in Him. For it is not lazy for us to repeat the same thing again and again. Although the Holy Spirit is not called the Son; however, He is not outside the Son, because He is called the Spirit of sonhood. And since Christ is God's power and God's Wisdom (1 Cor. 1:24); then, in accordance with this, it is said about the Spirit that He is the Spirit of power and the Spirit of wisdom (Is. 11:2). For, sharing the Spirit, we have the Son, and having the Son, we have the Spirit, as the Apostle said, “crying” in our hearts: “Abba Father” (Gal. 4:6)! But if on the basis that the Spirit is the Spirit of God and, according to Scripture, abides in God; for “No one knows the message of God, but the Spirit of God” who is in God (1 Cor. 2:11); and the Son said: “I am in the Father, and the Father in Me” (John 14:10), they ask: “why do they not have the same name, but One is the Son, and the other is the Spirit? - then the one who proposes such a question is clearly crazy, exploring the unexplored, and not obeying the Apostle, who says: “Who understands the mind of the Lord, or who is His adviser?” (Rom. 11:34)? Given that God named it, who would dare to rename it, and even give names to creatures after they have already been named? Let them say: since creation is brought into being by one and the same wave, why is there one thing the sun, and another the sky, the earth, the sea, the air? If this is also impossible for the foolish, because every creature, as it came into being, remains; especially since it is above creation, it has eternal existence and in no other way, but in such a way that the Father is the Father, and not the grandfather, and the Son is the Son of God, and not the Father of the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit, and not the grandson of the Father, and not the brother of the Son. 5) since this has been proven, then anyone who asks: is not the Son the Spirit? And on the basis that this is not written, let no one exclude the Spirit from God’s nature and properties; on the contrary, let him believe as it is written, and not say: why is it written this way and not otherwise? Otherwise, reasoning in this way, he will reflect and say: where is God? how does He exist? and finally it will be said to him: “The fool says in his heart: there is no God” (Ps. 13:1). What is given to faith is not an object of inquisitive knowledge. The disciples, having heard: “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19), did not become curious: why secondly the Son, and thirdly the Spirit, or why the Trinity in general? But what they heard, they believed, and did not ask, as you do, “Is the Son the Spirit?” And when the Lord named the Spirit after the Son, they did not ask the question: is the Father the grandfather? For they heard: not in the name of the grandfather, but in the name of the Father, and they preached this faith, rightfully reasoning, everywhere. For he should not have called anything other than what the Savior called Himself, the Son, and the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. It was not permissible to change the order in which they were compared among themselves and in relation to the Father. For as of the Father it is impossible to say anything other than that He is the Father; so it is impious to ask: is not the Son the Spirit, or is not the Spirit the Son? Therefore, Sabellius, having dared to say about the Father: Son, and about the Son to use the name of the Father, was recognized as alien to the Church. After this, will anyone dare to hear the names of the Son and the Spirit and say: therefore, the Father is the grandfather, or the Spirit is the Son? Yes, Eunomius, Eudoxius and Eusebius will dare to say this; because, having once become defenders of the Arian heresy, they will not restrain their tongue from evil. Who gave it to them? Who taught them? – None of the divine Scriptures; but from the abundance of their hearts their recklessness arose. 6) If, due to the fact that the Spirit is not a creature, as has been proven, you ask: is not the Son the Spirit? then it remains for you, having realized that the Son is not a creature (for by Him all created things were created), ask: is not the Father the Son? Or this: is not the Son the Spirit, and the Son himself is not the Holy Spirit? But, reasoning in this way, they will fall away from the Holy Trinity and will be recognized as godless; because they transform the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, transfer it as they want, name their grandchildren and grandfathers in the likeness of human existence, and invent for themselves a pagan genealogy of the gods. This is not the faith of the Church, but, as the Savior said, It is in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit - in the Father, Who cannot be called grandfather, in the Son, Who cannot be called Father, and in the Holy Spirit, not otherwise, but by this name alone. This faith cannot be spoken of pervertedly. But the Father is always the Father, and the Son is always the Son, and the Holy Spirit is always there and is called the Holy Spirit. This does not exist in human relations, although the Arians imagine it. As it is written: “God is not like a man” (Numbers 23:19); So we can say that people are not like God. Among people, a father is not always a father, and a son is not always a son. He who is a father to a son was himself the son of another, and the son of fathers, being a son, becomes the father of another. Abraham, being the son of Nahor, became the father of Isaac; and Isaac, being the son of Abraham, became the father of Jacob. Each, forming part of a clan, is born a son, but he himself becomes the father of another. But in the Divine it is not so; because “God is not like a man.” The Father is not of the Father; therefore, it does not give birth to a father who will give birth to another. The Son is not a part of the Father; therefore, it is not a birth that would itself give birth to a son. And therefore, in the one Godhead, the Father, being the Father in the proper sense and the only Father, is, and was, and will always be the Father; and the Son is in the proper sense the Son and the only Son. About them it is certain that the Father is and is always called the Father, and the Son is always the Son, and the Holy Spirit is always the Holy Spirit; and we believe that He is the Spirit of God, and is given through the Son from the Father. Thus, the Holy Trinity, cognizable in the one Divinity, remains unchanged. Therefore, who asks: is not the Son the Spirit? he imagines that the name can be changed, and drives himself into madness. And who asks: is not the Father the grandfather? he, inventing a name for the Father, is deceived in his heart. Therefore, although it is unsafe to respond to the shamelessness of heretics - for this means opposing the Apostolic Council - it is nevertheless good not to leave them without advice, which the Apostle himself also commanded (Titus 3:10). 7) This is enough to expose your bullshit. Do not mock the Divine any more; because it is common for those who mock to ask about things that are not in Scripture, and to say: Is not the Spirit the Son, and the Father the grandfather? This is how Caesarea and Scythopolis are mocked 4. It is enough for you to believe that the Spirit is not a creature, but is the Spirit of God, and in the Divinity there is the Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The name "Father" should not be used about the Son; It is impossible to say about the Spirit that He is the same as the Son, and about the Son that He is the same as the Holy Spirit. And it really is as it is said. There is one Divinity in this Trinity, and one faith, one baptism performed in the Trinity, one mystery in Christ Jesus our Lord. To them and together with Him to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory and power forever and ever! Amen. 8) As for the Gospel saying, which you pointed out in your letter; then, having a good conscience, forgive me, beloved. I was afraid to even touch it, believing that, having delved into it with my mind and begun to explore, I would not be able to extract the deep meaning contained in it. Therefore, I even had the intention of completely keeping silent about it and being content only with what was written above. But guessing that you would not fail to write about this another time, I forced myself to write the best understanding of this saying that I could acquire; and I hope that if I have achieved the goal, you will approve of it for the sake of the one who taught me, and if I have not achieved it, you will not reproach me, knowing my zeal and my weakness. This saying is as follows. When the Pharisees, after many former miracles described in the Gospel, said: “This one will not cast out demons except for Beelzebub, the prince of demons,” then the Lord, “knowing their thoughts, said to them: every kingdom divided among itself will be desolate”; and saying: “If I cast out demons because of the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God will come upon you,” and finally added: “For this reason I say to you: all sin and blasphemy will be forgiven you by man, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of man will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the age to come” (Matthew 12:24, 25, 28, 31, 32). And you ask: why is blasphemy against the Son forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit is not forgiven, neither in this age nor in the future? 9) The ancient men, the learned and hardworking Origen, as well as the wonderful and worthy of respect Theognostus (I read their writings about this when you wrote your letter), both write in agreement, calling it blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, when those who have been granted the gift of the Holy Spirit in baptism begin to sin again, and argue that such will not receive remission, as Paul says in the Epistle to Hebrews: “For it is impossible for those who have been enlightened by one thing, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have been partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the power of the age to come, and have fallen away, to be renewed again to repentance” (Heb. 6:4–6). But although this is their general thought, each of them adds his own understanding to this. 10) Origen presents this reason for the trial of such people. “God and the Father penetrates everything and contains everything, animate and inanimate, rational and irrational beings. The power of the Son extends to only rational beings, among whom are the catechumens and pagans who have not yet believed. And the Holy Spirit abides in those who have received Him in the gift of baptism. Therefore, when the catechumens and the pagans sin, then they sin against the Son, because the Son, as it is said, abides in them; but they can receive remission as soon as they are granted the gift of re-existence. When those who are baptized sin, then such iniquity, says Origen, concerns the Holy Spirit, because the one who sinned was already in the Spirit. And therefore, a merciless punishment has been determined for the sinner.” 11) And Theognostus, also setting forth the reason, says the following: “who has transgressed the first and second limits; he will be worthy of a lesser punishment. And whoever has despised the third limit, there is no longer any excuse for him.” By the first and second limits, Theognost means the announcement of the teaching about the Father and the Son, and by the third, the taught word about the secret teaching and the communion of the Spirit. And wanting to confirm this, he cites what the Savior said to the disciples: “The imam has yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now: when the Holy Spirit comes,” he will teach you (John 16:12, 13). Then Theognostus says: “just as the Savior talks with those who are still unable to comprehend what is perfect, condescending to their smallness, the Holy Spirit abides with the perfect, and no one will conclude from this that the teaching of the Spirit exceeds the teaching of the Son; on the contrary, the Son descends to the imperfect, and the Spirit is the seal of the perfect: so it is not because of the superiority of the Spirit before the Son that blasphemy against the Spirit is inexcusable and unforgivable; but because there is still an excuse for those who are imperfect, but for those who have tasted the heavenly gift and become perfect, there remains no justification or excuse for receiving forgiveness.” This is what Origen and Theognostus argue. 12) And I, as much as I have studied this, think that both understandings require all possible analysis and consideration; and perhaps there is some deeper meaning hidden in what they said. For it is clear that in whom the Father abides, the Son also abides in them, who is in the Father, and also the Spirit is not absent from them; because the Holy, Blessed and Perfect Trinity is inseparable. Again, if everything is brought into being by the Son, and by Him everything will come to pass; then how can He be outside of what He created? since all created beings are not far from Him, then He, of course, abides in all; and therefore it is also necessary that he who sins against the Son and blasphemes the Son sins both against the Father and against the Holy Spirit. And if the holy font were taught solely in the Holy Spirit, then it would be fair to say that the baptized sin against the one Spirit. since it is taught in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and in this way everyone who is baptized is secretly taught; then again it is necessary to conclude that those who transgress the law upon baptism commit blasphemy against the holy and indivisible Trinity. It is fair to take this into consideration: if those with whom the Lord spoke, that is, the Pharisees, had accepted the bath of rebirth, and were already partakers of the gift of the Holy Spirit; then it would be probable that it would be understood that they are talking about those who returned back and sinned against the Holy Spirit. And if they did not accept this bath, they even disdained John’s baptism; then why did the Lord accuse them of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, who had not yet become partakers of the Spirit? The Lord did not say this as just a teaching, and did not threaten punishment in the future; on the contrary, he directly uttered these words, in fact accusing the Pharisees as having already become guilty of such blasphemy. And since the Pharisees were accused of this even before they were baptized; then this saying applies to those who do not break the law after the font, especially since the Lord accused the Pharisees not just of sins, but of blasphemy. There is a difference in this: the one who sins transgresses the law, and the one who blasphemes dishonors against the Divinity itself. So the Savior, having previously accused the Pharisees of many sins, namely, that for the sake of money they transgressed the commandment of God regarding parents, rejected the decrees of the Prophets, and made the house of God a house of purchase, exhorted them to repent; and as soon as they said: “about Beelzebub he will cast out demons,” he called it not just a sin, but such blasphemy that those who dared to commit it would suffer inevitable and merciless punishment. 13) And on the other hand, if this saying is spoken about those who sin after the font, and there is no forgiveness for their sins; then why does the Apostle affirm the same love for the repentant in Corinth (2 Cor. 2:8), and is sick about the Galatians who returned back, “until Christ is again imagined in them” (Gal. 4:19)? With the word “renewed” the Apostle indicates their former perfection in the Spirit. Why do we blame Navat, who rejects repentance and says that those who sin after the font have no excuse, if this saying is spoken about those who sin after the font? And what is said in the Epistle to the Hebrews does not exclude the repentance of those who sin, but shows that there is one baptism of the universal Church, and there is no second. The Apostle wrote to the Hebrews, and so that they would not think that, according to the custom of the law, there are many baptisms under the pretext of repentance and they can be repeated daily, he advises them to repent, but decisively declares that renewal by baptism is one thing, and there is no second; and in another Epistle he says: “one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:5). He did not say: it is impossible to repent; but he says: it is impossible to renew us under the pretext of repentance. And therein lies the great difference. For the one who repents, although he ceases to sin, still has scabs of ulcers; and the one who is baptized puts off the old self and is renewed, being born again by the grace of the Spirit. 14) When I reasoned in this way, a greater depth of meaning appeared to me in this saying. And therefore, having first offered a fervent prayer to the Lord, who sat by the well and walked on the sea, I raised my thoughts to the economy that He finally completed for us, considering it possible in this economy to reveal the meaning of the passage I was reading. All divine Scripture evangelizes and preaches about the Lord's economy, especially John, who says: “The Word became flesh and dwelt in us” (John 1:14); and Paul, who writes: “He who was in the form of God was not equal to God by admiration; but He exhausted Himself, taking on the form of a servant, and being found in the form of a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:6-8). Therefore, the Lord, being God and becoming a man, like God, raised the dead, and healing everyone with a word, turned water into wine (for these were not human works), but as one who bore a body, he thirsted, toiled and suffered (for this was not characteristic of the Divine); as God, said: “I am in the Father, and the Father in Me” (John 14:11); and as one who bears a body, he denounces the Jews: “Why are you seeking to kill Me, the man who told you the truth that you heard from the Father” (John 8:40)? This was not done separately according to the quality of what was created, so that in another the action of the body without the Divine was revealed, and in another the action of the Divinity without the body; on the contrary, this was done unitedly, and the Lord who miraculously did this was one and only one by His grace. In human terms He “spits” (John 9:6), and the spitting was Divine; because by spitting he gave sight to the eyes of those who were blind from birth. And when he wanted to show that He is God, expressing this in human language, he said: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). He healed with a single will, and, stretching out a human hand, he raised up Peter’s mother-in-law, “burned by fire” (Matthew 8:14, 15), and raised from the dead the already deceased daughter of the arch-synagogue. 15) And the heretics, out of their own ignorance, indulged in madness, and some, seeing the human works of the Savior, denied what was said: “in the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1), while others, looking at the works of the Divine, did not recognize what was said: “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). A faithful and apostolic man, knowing the love of the Lord for mankind, when he sees the signs of the Divine, marvels at the Lord in the flesh, and when he also sees what is characteristic of the body, he looks at this with amazement, and in this he understands the effectiveness of the Divine. Since such is the faith of the Church, then when others, looking at human deeds, see the Lord thirsty, or weary, or suffering, and only mock the Savior as a man, then they sin gravely, however, having repented soon, they can receive forgiveness, having the weakness of the body as an excuse; because the Apostle does not deprive them of an excuse, and, as it were, stretches out his hand to them, saying: “And the great thing that is confessed is the mystery of godliness: God appeared in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). And again, when others, looking at the deeds of the Divine, doubt the physical nature, then these too sin gravely; because, seeing someone eating and suffering, they imagine it as a dream; However, if they soon repent, Christ is ready to forgive them, because for them, too, the pretext is the most superhuman greatness revealed in deeds. But when those who think of themselves that they have knowledge of the law (as the Pharisees of that time were), having surpassed both of them in ignorance and bitterness, reach the point of madness, and completely deny the very essence of the Word in the body, or attribute the very works of the Divine to the devil and his demons, then for such wickedness they rightly suffer merciless punishment; because they imputed the devil to God, they thought about the true, truly existing God that He is in no way superior to demons in deeds. 16) The Jews of that time fell into such and such wickedness, and of the Jews the Pharisees. When the Savior revealed the works of the Father, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, made the lame walk, opened the ears of the deaf, loosed the tongue of the dumb, commanding the winds, walking even on the sea, made it clear that creation was submissive to Him; then the people were amazed and praised God, and the wonderful Pharisees said that these were the works of Beelzebub, and these foolish ones were not ashamed to attribute God’s power to the devil. Therefore, the Savior pronounced a fair sentence about them, that their blasphemy is inexcusable and unforgivable. While they, seeing the deeds of man, limped in thought, saying: “Is this not the son of Tekton?” (Matthew 13:55) and: “How can you tell this book without studying?” (John 7:15) and: “what... You do a sign for yourself” (John 6:30)? and: “let him now come down from the cross, and we believe in Him” (Matthew 27:42); Until then, the Lord tolerated them, and since they sinned against the Son of man, grieving over their blindness, he said: “If only you had understood,” “even to peace” (Luke 19:42). For even the great Peter, since the doorwoman asked him, and he answered her about the Lord, as about a man, the Lord forgave him for his tears. And when the fallen Jews fell even more and became mad, so that the works of God began to be called Beelzebub; then the Lord no longer tolerated them. For they blasphemed His Spirit, saying that he who does this is not God, but Beelzebub. And for this, as those who dared to do something intolerable, he punished them forever. This also meant, as if, looking at the order of the world and at the industry for the world, they dared and said that creation also received its existence from Beelzebub, that, obeying the devil, the sun rises, and for his sake the stars in the sky revolve. Just as creatures are the work of God, so the works of Christ were the works of the Father. And if some of these deeds are Beelzebub’s, then others must also be Beelzebub’s. And for the Jews who affirm this, does what is said mean: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1)? Nothing is alien to their madness; for their fathers in the desert had the same way of thinking with them: having recently come out of Egypt, they made a calf, and attributing to him the blessings of God that had come to them, they said: “These are your gods, to Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Ex. 32:4). Therefore, even then, not a small number, but many of those who dared to do this were exterminated at the very beginning for this blasphemy; Moreover, God announced, saying: “On the same day I will sit and bring their sin on them” (Ex. 32:34). For while they were murmuring because of the loaves and water, God still endured them, like a mother nursing her son with her breasts. When they became even more mad, and, as the Spirit sings about them: “changing their glory into the likeness of a calf that eats grass” (Ps. 106:20); then, having dared to do such an unforgivable deed, as the Scripture says, they were struck “for creating the calf that Aaron had created” (Ex. 32:35). 17) And now the Pharisees, who dared to do such a thing, heard from the Savior the same sentence that Beelzebub, mentioned by the Jews, had already heard and carried, that is, that they, along with Beelzebub, would forever be consumed by the fire prepared for him. The Lord said this, not making a comparison between blasphemy against the Son and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and not in the sense that the Spirit is greater, and therefore blasphemy against the Spirit has greater guilt. Let this not happen! For He previously taught that everything that the Father has belongs to the Son, that the Spirit will receive from the Son and glorify the Son, and that it is not the Spirit who gives the Son, but the Son who gives the Spirit to the disciples, and through the disciples to those who believe in Him. Therefore, the Savior spoke without comparing Himself and the Spirit. But since the blasphemy in both cases concerns Himself, in one case the blasphemy is less, and in the other much more; then the Lord said this. For the Pharisees themselves said both things. Seeing Him as a man, they slandered: “Where does this wisdom come from” (Matthew 13:54)? and: “Have you not been with Imashi for fifty years, and have you seen Abraham?” (John 8:57). Looking at the works of the Father, they not only denied His Divinity, but also said that in Him is not the Divinity, but Beelzebub, and that His works are the works of Beelzebub. Both were spoken against Him; but since there was less blasphemy against humanity, and more blasphemy against Divinity, he pronounced inevitable punishment on them for greater blasphemy. And indeed, in encouragement of the disciples, saying: “If Beelzebub had reproached the Lord of the house” (Matthew 10:25), he called himself, so much blasphemed by the Jews, Lord of the house. 18) If the Jews, saying: “about Beelzebub,” slandered no one else, but the Lord; it is clear that in what was said: “blasphemy against the Spirit”, of course, blasphemy against the Lord himself, and meaning Himself, the Savior uttered this whole saying, because He is the Master of everything. And we are not lazy to repeat the same thing again for safety. It is common for people to thirst, to get tired, to sleep, to be choked, and to eat food. But it was no longer possible for people to do the works that the Lord had done, but for God. Therefore, when, according to what was said before, others, seeing what was characteristic of people, slandered the Lord as a man, then they became worthy of less punishment than those who attributed God’s deeds to the devil. The latter not only cast down the sacred to the dogs, but also equate God with the devil, and call the light darkness. And that this was the unforgivable blasphemy of the Pharisees, Mark noted, saying: “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit has no remission... but is guilty of eternal sin. I said beforehand: to have an unclean spirit” (Mark 3:29, 30). And the man who was blind from birth, having received his sight, testified: “It has not been heard since time immemorial, that one opened the eyes of one who was born blind; if this One had not been from God, He could not have done anything” (John 9:32, 33). And the people, marveling at what the Lord had done, said: “These words are not the meaning of one who is possessed: can food open the eyes of the blind?” (John 10:21). The Pharisees, who considered themselves strong in the Law, widened the openings of their vestments, boasted that they knew more than others, were not ashamed of all this; but, saying that the Lord has a demon and that the works of God are the works of demons, “these damned ones,” according to what is written, “are devoured by demons, and not by God” (Deut. 32:17). They were subjected to this for no other reason than the desire to deny that the one who does these things is God and the Son of God. If eating food and bodily appearance showed the Lord to be a man, then why didn’t the Pharisees see from the works that He was in the Father and the Father in Him? They did not want to admit this; it would be better to say that they had Beelzebub within them, who inspired them to call the Lord a simple man for human deeds, and not to confess Him as God for deeds characteristic of God, but instead of the Lord to deify Beelzebub, who was in them, so that, finally, they would be tormented with him forever in the fire. 19) And this remark of the Evangelist Mark in the place we are reading, it seems to me, suggests a thought similar to what was said, and shows that both blasphemy concerns the Lord himself, and He said about Himself - both: “Son of man”, and: “Spirit”, in order to indicate by the first name human nature, and by the word “Spirit” to designate His spiritual, intelligent and true Divinity. For, in signifying His bodily nature, He attributed blasphemy, in which forgiveness can be obtained, to the Son of Man, but about unforgivable blasphemy He declared that it extended to the Spirit, so that by this difference from the bodily nature it could point to His Divinity. I notice the same way of speech in the Gospel of John, when the Lord, talking about eating His body, and seeing that many were tempted by it, says: “Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of man ascending, where you were before? The spirit is the one who gives life; the flesh has no use for anything: the words that I spoke to you are the Spirit and the life” (John 6:61–63). And here He said both about Himself, both flesh and spirit; and he used the word “spirit” in distinction from the flesh, so that the disciples, having believed not only in His visible, but also in His invisible, would understand that His words are not carnal, but spiritual. For how many would a body be enough to eat, and how would it feed the whole world? But for this reason, he mentioned the ascension of the Son of Man into heaven, in order to distract them from the bodily concept, and to finally let them understand that the flesh that he spoke about is heavenly food and spiritual food, given from above by Him. For he says: “Whatever the words say to you, the spirit and the life are.” And this meant: what is shown and given for the salvation of the world is the flesh that I wear; but this flesh and its blood will be given by Me spiritually to you as food, so that it will be given to everyone spiritually, and for everyone it will become a guardian for the resurrection of eternal life. Likewise, to the Samaritan woman, distracting her from the sensual, the Lord called God Spirit, so that she would imagine God not physically, but spiritually. So the Prophet, contemplating the Word made flesh, said: “The Spirit of our face, the anointed Lord” (Pl. 4:20), so that no one would conclude about the Lord from what is visible that He is a simple man, but hearing the word: “Spirit,” he knew that He is God existing in the body. 20) From this it finally becomes clear that if someone sees the Lord talking about Himself and, looking only at His bodily works and not believing, says: “Where does this wisdom come from?” (Matthew 13:54) then he will sin and blaspheme against Him as against the Son of man; and if, looking at His deeds performed by the Holy Spirit, he says that the one who does such deeds is not God and not the Son of God, and attributes them to Beelzebub, then he clearly blasphemes the Lord, denying His Divinity. For in this Gospel saying, as has already been noted several times, the Lord, saying: “Son of man,” points to His incarnation and humanity, in order to say: “Spirit” - to express that He is also the Holy Spirit, by whom He created everything. Therefore, while doing works, he said: “if... you do not believe Me, believe in [My] works: that you may understand... that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me” (John 10:38); preparing to offer Himself for us bodily, when He came to Jerusalem for this very purpose, He said to His disciples: “Sleep and rest: behold, the hour is approaching, and the Son of man is being delivered into the hands of sinners” (Matthew 26:45). Works confirmed that the Lord is the true God, and death showed that He truly had a body. Therefore, he rightly called the one who was handed over to death the Son of Man. For the Word is immortal, inviolable and is the original life. But the Pharisees did not believe these works, they did not even want to see what their sons were doing. Therefore, the Lord also reproaches them with meekness, saying: “If... I cast out demons about Beelzebub, about whom will your sons cast out? For this reason there will be judges for you. If through the Spirit of God I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God will come upon you” (Luke 11:19, 20). And here he said: “about the Spirit of God” - not in the sense that He Himself is less than the Spirit, and that the Spirit did this in Him. But by this again he made it clear that He, God’s Word, does everything through the Spirit, and at the same time taught those who heard that, by attributing the works of the Spirit to Beelzebub, they thereby blaspheme the very Giver of the Spirit. For, even saying this shows that the Pharisees, not out of ignorance, but voluntarily, indulge in such unpardonable blasphemy, and although the foolish know that such deeds are the deeds of God, they are not ashamed to attribute them to Beelzebub and produce them from the unclean spirit. 21) How can they, having dared to do this, still blame the pagans for making idols for themselves and calling them gods? The insolence of the Pharisees is similar to pagan madness, or perhaps surpasses it; because, having adopted a law about this, they dishonor God by breaking the law. What will those who dare such blasphemy do when they read the Prophet Isaiah and hear that the signs of Christ’s coming are the sight of the blind, the walking of the lame, the speaking of the dumb, the resurrection of the dead, the healing of lepers, the opening of hearing for the deaf (Isa. 35:5, 6)? Will they really want to call someone else the creator of this? For, having called God creator, they will expose themselves to wickedness against the Lord. And what the Prophet foresaw and predicted, the Lord came and accomplished. If, carried away by their insolence, they dare to say that this too was foretold “about Beelzebub”; then I am afraid that, having soon succeeded in wickedness, when they read: “Who gave a mouth to man? and who made the dumb and the deaf, the seeing and the blind?” (Ex. 4:11), and passages similar to these, in their madness, will also say that these are the words of Beelzebub. For to whom the grace of insight is attributed, the culprit of blindness must, of necessity, be sought. The Scripture says that it is the same One who creates both. Of course, saying this, they will eventually come to the idea that the Creator of human nature is Beelzebub. For it is characteristic of the Creator to have power over the created. But Moses said: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”; and: “In the image of God God created man” (Gen. 1:1, 27). And Daniel boldly says to Darius: “I do not worship an idol made with hands, but to the living God, who made heaven and earth and rules over all flesh” (Dan. 14:5). Will they, having come up with a new turn, say: not seeing, limping, and having other infirmities are given as punishment from the Creator; and Beelzebub performs deliverance from infirmities and good deeds to the suffering. But it is extremely unwise to even enter into research about this; the maddened and frenzied are characterized by such evil talk with which these reckless ones attribute the best not to God, but to Beelzebub. It no longer means anything to them to distort the dogmas of the Divine Scriptures, just to deny them the coming of Christ! 22) But these evil ones had to either not disparage the Lord for his bodily nature as a man, or confess Him for his works as the true God. They did everything wrong. Seeing Him as a man, they slandered Him as a man; and looking at the deeds of God, they denied the Divinity and turned to the devil, thinking that with such insolence they would escape judgment and the Word, which they had desecrated, would no longer condemn them. The charmers, magicians and sorcerers of the Pharaohs even dared to do more; however, having seen the signs created by Moses, they yielded and fled, saying: “the finger of God” does this (Ex. 8:19). The Pharisees and scribes, seeing the action (not of the finger, but) of the whole hand of God, and noting that the deeds performed by the Savior were both more numerous and higher than those of Moses, said that this was done by Beelzebub, about whom the Magi, no matter how close they were to him, confessed that he could not do even that which was much smaller in comparison. Who can fully depict the madness of the Pharisees? Or who, as the Prophet said, will find something to compare their wickedness to? They justified the Sodomites, surpassed the pagans in ignorance, surpassed Pharaoh's magicians in foolishness, and can only be compared with the Arians, falling into the same wickedness with them. For the Jews, seeing the works of the Father performed by the Son, attributed them to Beelzebub; and the Arians, looking at the same deeds, classify the Lord who creates them among the creatures, saying that He is one of those that do not exist, and was not until He was born. The Pharisees, seeing the Lord in the flesh, grumbled, saying: “Why do you, this man, create for yourself God” (John 10:33)? And those who oppose Christ, seeing that He is suffering and sleeping, blaspheme Him, saying: “Whoever endures this cannot be the true God and consubstantial with the Father!” In a word: if anyone wants to comparatively examine the evil of both; then he will find, as I said above, that they have fallen together in the “vale of slanago” (Gen. 14:8, 10) of insanity. 23) Therefore, the Lord pronounced merciless punishment on both of them. For he says: “Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the next” (Matthew 12:32). And rightly so. For whoever denies the Son will he call upon, and in whom will he find purification? Or what kind of life, what kind of peace will he expect for himself, who rejected Him who said: “I am... life” (John 14:6); and: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28)? But just as they will suffer eternal punishment, those who think piously about Christ, who worship Him both in the flesh and in the Spirit, who do not know that He is the Son of God, who do not deny that He became the Son of man, and equally believe that “in the beginning was the Word,” and that “the Word became flesh,” will, without a doubt, reign forever in heaven, according to the holy promises of our Lord and Savior Himself Jesus Christ, Who says: “These go away into everlasting torment, but the righteous into everlasting life” (Matthew 25:46). This is how much I studied myself and wrote briefly to you; You, accept this from me, not as a perfect teaching, but as soon as an opportunity for you, having extracted for yourself the most precise meaning from the Gospel sayings and from the Psalms, to finally bind the handles of truth. And when you bring them, then let it be said: “But in the future they will come with joy, grasping their hands” (Ps. 126:6) about Christ Jesus our Lord. Through Him and with Him to the Father and together with the Holy Spirit be glory and power forever and ever! Amen. That is, Bishops, namely: Akaki and Patrophilus. You might be interested in: