Книга 3. О Духе Святом

You. As soon as he finally had his fill of blasphemies against the Only Begotten, he turned to the Holy Spirit, and reasoning about Him in accordance with his general intention. He writes like this: Evn. Since this is enough for us about the Only Begotten, it would be appropriate to say now about the Comforter, not following the opinions of many accepted without research, but observing in everything the teaching of the saints, from whom we learn that the Spirit is third in dignity and order; why do we believe that He is third and by nature. You. That he does not consider it necessary to remain with the simple and unartificial faith of many, but with some cunning and refined reasoning again wants to bring the truth to his way of thinking, this was sufficiently revealed in what was said. For, disparaging the opinion of many, by which the Holy Spirit is glorified, he pretends to observe the teaching of the saints, and is silent about those who betrayed this teaching to him, acting now as, according to what we have explained, he acted in judgments about the Only Begotten. Then he says that he learned from the saints that the Holy Spirit is third in order and dignity, but he himself believes that He is third in nature. But which saints and in what words expounded the teaching, he cannot say. Has there ever been such a brave person who introduced something new into divine dogmas? For if the Spirit is third in dignity and order, then what is the need for Him to be third in nature? That the Spirit ranks second in dignity to the Son, this perhaps betrays the word of piety; but that He is third and by nature, Holy Scripture has not taught us, and it cannot be concluded with strict consistency from what was said before. For as the Son according to the Father is second in order, because from the Father, and second in dignity, because the Father is the beginning and guilt, since He is the Father of the Son, and because through the Son there is access and bringing to God and the Father; but by nature it is not the second, because in both the Divinity is one: so exactly, although the Holy Spirit follows the Son in order and in dignity (let us assume that we completely concede in this), however, it is not yet clear from this that it would be fair to conclude that the Holy Spirit is of a different nature. All Angels have both the same name and, of course, the same nature common to all; however, some of them were appointed to rule over the nations, while others were appointed to be companions to each of the faithful. But to the extent that a whole people is preferable to one person, to the same extent, without a doubt, the dignity of the ruler of the people is necessarily higher, in comparison with the dignity of the Angel to whom the care of one person is entrusted. And that with each of the faithful there is an Angel who, as a teacher and shepherd, controls his life, no one will argue against this, remembering the words of the Lord who said: “Do not despise one of these little ones. I tell you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). And the Psalmist says: “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them” (Ps. 33; compare Ps. 90:11). And: “An angel who delivers me from all evil” (Gen. 48:16), and the like. And that some Angels are also leaders of entire nations, Moses teaches us this in a song, saying: “When the Most High gave inheritance to the nations and scattered the sons of men, then he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of His Angels” (Deut. 32:8). And the wise Daniel in a vision heard an Angel who said: “The prince of the kingdom of Persia stood against me twenty-one days; but behold, Michael, one of the first princes, came to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia” (Dan. 10:13); and a little later he says: “The prince of Greece will come.” But they also talk about some Archangel of the “army of the Lord” who appeared to Joshua at the Jordan (Joshua 5:14). And some legions of Angels are also mentioned when the Lord says to the disciples: “Or do you think that I cannot ask My Father, and He will not immediately give Me more than twelve legions of angels” (Matthew 26:53). Therefore, the Archangel of the Angels, appointed by the legions, is, of course, the prince. What does our word lead to? Moreover, the second and third in order and dignity do not in any case necessarily have a different nature. As with the Angels, although one is a prince and the other is a subordinate, yet all are, by nature, Angels, and although there is a difference in dignity, there is communion by nature (and “a star differs from a star in glory” (1 Cor. 15:41), the nature of all stars is the same; and there are many abodes with the Father (John 14:2), that is, differences in dignity, but the nature of those glorified is the same): so it is obvious, although the Holy Spirit, according to dignity and order, as they say, takes the next place (we accepted, they say that the Spirit is considered the third after the Father and the Son, because the Lord himself, giving us saving baptism, betrayed this order when he said: “Go and teach all nations, baptizing people in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19); however, we do not know from anywhere that the Holy Spirit was brought down into some third after the Son and Father nature. Since everything can be subsumed under one of two names: Divinity and creation, dominion and slavery, sanctifying and sanctified power, power by nature having virtue in itself, and power by will succeeding in it; then to what part shall we attribute the Spirit? Are they among those being sanctified? But He Himself is holy. Are you among those who have acquired virtue through their virtues? But He is good by nature. Are they among the service creatures? But there are other “ministering spirits sent out to minister” (Heb. 1:14). Therefore, it is unfair for us to call Him servant, as sovereign by nature, and to rank Him among the creation, as numbered in the divine and blessed Trinity. For the Principalities and Powers, and every similar creature that has holiness in itself due to attentiveness and thoroughness, cannot, in all fairness, be called holy by nature; because, having desired good, in proportion to their love for God, they also accept the measure of holiness. And just as iron, placed in the middle of the fire, does not cease to be iron, but, being heated to the strongest resemblance to fire and having taken into itself all the properties of fire, and in color and actions approaches the fire: so these holy Powers, as a result of communion with the Holy One by nature, have in themselves a shrine that has already penetrated their entire being and is united with their nature. The difference between them and the Holy Spirit is that in the Spirit holiness is nature, and in them there is sanctification by communion. But beings in which the good is something restored and supplied from outside are of a changeable nature. For it would not have been possible for the morning star to fall and be crushed on the earth (Isa. 14:12), not having by nature a capacity for the worse. Therefore, will it be pious to place the Holy Spirit side by side with creation, when He is so far removed from creation? For it is common for a creature to have something holy as a reward for progress and pleasing God, but at the same time to use its free nature, which can bend to one side or the other to choose good and evil: the Holy Spirit is the source of holy things. And just as the Father is holy by nature, and the Son is holy by nature, so is the Spirit of truth holy by nature; Therefore, he was awarded the predominant and His own name: Saint. So, if holiness is the nature for Him, as for the Father and the Son; then why is He of a third and alien nature? For, I think, Isaiah also writes about the threefold exclamation of the Seraphim: “Holy” (Is. 6:3), because natural holiness is contemplated in three Hypostases. However, it is not this alone, not only the name of the shrine, but also the very name of the Spirit that He has in common with the Father and the Son. For “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). And the prophet says: “spirit” is before our face, “the anointed Lord, in Him I said: in the shadow of His wings we will dwell” (Lamentations Jer. 4:20). And the Apostle refers to the name Spirit to the Lord, saying: “The Lord is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:17). From this it is clear to everyone that the communion of names does not show alienation, but the unity of nature with the Father and the Son. God is called good and is really good; but the Holy Spirit is also good, and has goodness not acquired, but inherent in His nature: otherwise, it would be most unreasonable to assert that the Holy by nature has goodness not by nature, but accidental and coming from outside. And by what the Lord said: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter” (John 14:16), He shows that He Himself is our Comforter; why the name Comforter serves no small proof of the glory of the Holy Spirit. And these are the names that show the greatness of nature: what are the actions of the Holy Spirit? It is said: “By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the Spirit of His mouth all their host” (Ps. 33:6). Therefore, just as God the Word is the Creator of heaven, so the Holy Spirit imparts to the heavenly Powers the firmness and steadfastness of virtue. And Job also says: “The Spirit of God created me” (Job 33:4), meaning, as I think, not creation, but perfection in human virtue. And Isaiah, speaking on behalf of the Lord, obviously, in the reasoning of His humanity, said: “The Lord God and His Spirit have sent Me” (Is. 48:16). And another psalm, showing that the power of the Spirit extends everywhere, says: “Where will I go from Your Spirit, and where will I flee from Your presence?” ( Ps. 139:7 )? But how great and numerous are the benefits of the Spirit that reach us! Just as the Lord Himself “gave them power to become children of God” to those who accepted Him (John 1:12): so the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of “adoption” (Rom. 8:15). And just as our Lord is the true teacher, according to what was said: “Let them not call you mentors, for you have only one Teacher: Christ” (Matthew 23:10): so the Holy Spirit teaches all those who believe in the name of the Lord, as testified by the Lord himself, who said: “But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things” (John 14:26). And as it is said that the Father divides the "actions" worthy of receiving the "actions," and that the Son divides the "ministries" according to the merits of the service: so it is testified that the Holy Spirit also divides the "gifts" worthy of receiving the gifts. “But there are differences in gifts, but the Spirit is the same. And there are differences in ministries, but the Lord is the same. And there are differences in actions, but God is the same, working everything in everyone” (1 Cor. 12:4-6). Do you see how here, too, the action of the Holy Spirit is placed alongside the action of the Father and the Son? Then, from what is added, the divinity of the nature of the Holy Spirit is revealed even more. For what does the Apostle say? “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills” (1 Cor. 12:11). It testifies to nothing other than the sovereign and sovereign power of the Spirit. Therefore, in the New Testament the prophets cried: “Thus says the Holy Spirit” (Acts 21:11). From what does it belong to the Spirit to experience the depths of God? It has been said: who among people knows what is in a person like no one? Only the human spirit that is in him. So no one has come to know the things of God, only the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:11). For just as no one who is alien and foreign can see the inner thoughts of the soul, so, obviously, if anyone is involved in the mysteries of God, is not alien to God and is not foreign to Him, then he can experience the depths of God’s judgments. Then life is given to us from God through Christ in the Holy Spirit. For, although God gives life, as Paul says: “I command you in the sight of God, who gives life to all things” (1 Cor. 6:13); but Christ gives life: “My sheep,” He says, “they hear My voice... and I give them eternal life” (John 10:27–28); We are made alive through the Spirit, as Paul says: “The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, and He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11). But this one, bold in everything and not afraid of the danger that threatens those who dare to utter any blasphemous word against the Holy Spirit, declares that the Spirit is not involved in the Divinity, when he writes about the Spirit like this: Evn. Third in order and by nature, who came into existence at the command of the Father through the action of the Son, honored in third place, as the first and highest of all creatures, the only creation of his kind, having no Divinity and creative power. You. He who asserts this, apparently, does not believe that the Divinity lives in us, whereas John says about God: “We know that He abides in us by the Spirit whom He has given us” (1 John 3:24); and the Apostle: “Do you not know that you are the church of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16)? and again: “In whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy church in the Lord; in Him you also are built together to be a habitation of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21–22). So, if it is said that God lives in us through the Spirit, then is it not obvious impiety to assert that the Spirit Himself is not involved in the Divinity? And if we call those who have perfected themselves in virtue gods, and perfection is achieved through the Spirit, then how can He who creates others as gods Himself be deprived of Divinity? But it is not pious to say, both about people and about the Spirit, that the Divinity is honored in Him, which He is involved in, but does not have by nature. For whoever becomes god by grace has a changeable nature, because the best is sometimes lost through carelessness. This clearly contradicts the tradition of saving baptism. It is said: “Teach all nations, baptizing people in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). For baptism is the seal of faith, and faith is the confession of the Divine; because first one must believe, and then be sealed by baptism. Our baptism, according to the tradition of the Lord, is in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and no creature or slave is compared with the Father and the Son; because the Divinity in the Trinity is fulfilled. And what is outside of Them, everything is of service to us, even if one thing is much preferred to another, due to the excess of merits. And don’t give me these wise words again: Evn. If not a creature, then either a birth or an unborn. But God is beginningless and unborn and one. And so does non-birth. Therefore, it remains to call Him a creature and a work. You. And if I believed that everything is comprehended by our knowledge, then perhaps I would be ashamed to admit ignorance. Now, not only are thousands of objects hidden from us, both from those prepared for us in the next century, and from those existing now in heaven, but we do not even have a clear and unquestioning concept of what is in our body. For example, in vision: do we take into ourselves images of visible things, and therefore form ideas about them? And how does the small size of our pupil accommodate the image of the greatest mountains, the immeasurable earth, the boundless sea and even the sky itself? Or, emitting something from ourselves, when this something approaches visible objects, then do we receive a sensation of them? And what is it, and how great is this something, which through expansion becomes sufficient for the earth and the sea, passing through the space between the earth and the sky, touching the sky itself, and moving with such speed that at the same time the nearby body and the stars in the sky are perceived? And is it necessary to talk about other things? Even about the very movements of the mind, who can say with accuracy: does the soul create or give birth to them? What is surprising - and about the Holy Spirit, we are not ashamed to admit ignorance, and yet unquestioningly give Him the praise attested in Scripture? For what is written in the Scriptures sufficiently shows us that He is above creation; because it is impossible for one who sanctifies and one who is sanctified, one who teaches and one who is taught, one who gives revelation and one who needs revelation, to be of the same nature. But no one will be so completely foolish as to dare to call anything other than the God of all unborn; will not call him Son; because the Only Begotten is one. Therefore, what should He be called? - The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth, sent from God, given through the Son, not a slave, but holy, good, sovereign, the life-giving Spirit, the Spirit of sonhood, knowing all that is God. Thus, in the Trinity, the concept of unity is observed, with the confession of one Father, one Son and one Holy Spirit. But they provide evidence to confirm that the Holy Spirit is a creature - one from the prophet, who says: “For here is He, who forms the mountains and makes the wind” 6 (Am. 4:13), another from the Gospel: “Without Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:3). And we are sure that the prophetic word does not refer to the Holy Spirit, but to this ordinary breath, to the breath of the air. This can be seen from the following: The Prophet did not say: the creating spirit, but: the creating spirit. For just as thunder is not created once and forever in some independent bodily form, but every time, by the will of God, to frighten people, it is produced and again destroyed; so this spirit either occurs when the air flows like a river, or ceases when what was previously in motion comes to rest, according to the will of Him who orders everything for the preservation and combination of all things, so that the Creator is proclaimed throughout all creation by thunder and winds and other creatures. Therefore, after the words: “for here is He who forms the mountains and makes the wind,” the prophet says: “and proclaims His Christ among the people” 7 . For as “the heavens preach the glory of God” (Ps. 18:12) those who are able to infer from them about the art of the Creator; so the sounds of thunder and the movements of the winds preach their Creator. Or maybe this is a prophecy relating to the incarnation of the Lord, when a voice that came from heaven seemed like thunder to those who heard it, but God and the Father gave it to show people Christ through it (John 12:28–29). But the winds, which set in motion and disturbed the sea, and then ceased at the command of the Lord (Matthew 8:24), also clearly announced Christ to the people. The words: “without Him nothing came into existence that came into being,” do not prove to us at all that the Holy Spirit was created, as if the word “nothing” also includes the Spirit. For if the Holy Spirit is one and only; then how can something unique by nature be contained in the concept of “nothing”? And let no one think that the hypostasis of the Spirit is denied by denying the position that the Spirit is a creature. For it is characteristic of a pious mind to be afraid to say about the Holy Spirit, which is silent in the Holy Scriptures, but to believe that experimental knowledge of Him and accurate comprehension is presented to us in the coming age, when, having ceased to see the truth in a mirror and fortune-telling, we will be worthy to contemplate it face to face (1 Cor. 13:12). In euros The original word is “ruach”, which is translated both as “wind” and “spirit”. Vasily quotes from the LXX translation. You might be interested in: