Дух Святой

(After the ordination of St. Gregory the Theologian as Bishop of Sasima.) Again the anointing and the Spirit are on me, and again I cry and lament (see Ps. 34:14). You may be amazed at this, but Isaiah, while he does not see the glory of the Lord, and the high and exalted throne, and the Seraphim around him, does not say anything like that, does not show either grief or fear. And although he accuses Israel, he spares himself and separates himself as if he were innocent of anything. When he saw this and heard the holy and mysterious voice, as if beginning to better understand himself, he said: Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips (Isa. 6:5), and adds the words that follow, which I will not say, so as not to say something offensive. I also find about Manoah, the ancient judge, and then about Peter, the pillar of the Church, that one, when he learned how much the vision he had exceeded his nature and strength, said to his wife: we will die, for we have seen God (Judges 13:22). The other cannot stand the presence of the Savior and the miracles that the Lord showed to those who sailed with Him while fishing, and therefore, although he is surprised, he nevertheless sends him away from the ship, adding the reason that he himself is unworthy of God’s appearance and conversation. And when I hear in the Gospel about the centurion who asks Christ to show his strength, but refuses to see Him in his home, because his roof cannot contain God’s dignity and greatness, then I cannot blame myself for fear and lamentation.... Fearing this, I was filled with sorrow, lowered my gaze and experienced something similar to what happens when lightning flashes with children, in whom this sight produces delight mixed with horror. I simultaneously loved and feared the Spirit. It took me some time to gather with myself, to sober up and choose the best and safest, and so that when there was no sorrow, like chaff in the seed, and bad thoughts gave way to better ones, the Spirit completely conquered and used me for His service and work for the improvement of these people, for the management of souls, for teaching by word, deed and example with the weapon of righteousness in the right and left hand (2 Cor. 6, 7), to the skillful passage of shepherding, which distracts from the world, leads to God, exhausts the body, unites with the Spirit, avoids darkness, rejoices in the light, drives away animals, gathers the flock into the fence, beware of rapids and deserts and drives to mountains and heights, about which, in my opinion, the wonderful Micah speaks, raising us from the earth to a height suitable for us: get up and go, for This country is not a place of peace (Mic. 2:10), although some think of finding peace for themselves in earthly and earthly things (1). I opened my lips and attracted the Spirit into myself (Ps. 119, 131). I surrender everything I have and myself to the Spirit: deeds, words, inaction, and silence - only may He possess me, may He lead me, may He direct my hand, mind and tongue, towards what it should and what it wants, and also may it lead me away from what it is best for me to move away from. I am the organ of God, the verbal organ, which was tuned and struck by the good Artist - the Spirit (1). They ask: “What can you say about the Holy Spirit? Where do you introduce to us a God who is alien and unknown according to Scripture?” – And this is said even by those (heretics) who speak moderately about the Son! For what we see in roads and rivers, which are separated from one another and come together, this also happens here due to an excess of wickedness: those who disagree on one thing agree on another, which is why it is impossible to know for certain what is accepted by them and what is disputed... The Spirit will give, and the word will flow, and God will be glorified. But to carefully search and analyze in how many meanings the words “Spirit” and “Holy” are taken and used in Divine Scripture, to collect evidence in favor of speculation and to prove that, in addition to this, the expression made up of both of my words, namely “Holy Spirit”, is taken in a special sense - I leave it to others... Those (heretics) who are indignant at us for the Holy Spirit, as if we are introducing some alien and co-qualified God, and who firmly stand for the letter, let them know that there they trembled with fear, where there was no fear (Ps. 13:5), and let them clearly understand that their attachment to the letter is only a cover for wickedness, as will soon turn out when we refute their objections to the best of our ability. And we so boldly believe in the Divinity of the Spirit, Whom we worship, that, referring to the Trinity the same sayings (although this seems somewhat daring to others), we begin theology like this: There was the true Light, which enlightens every person who comes into the world (John 1:9), that is, the Father. There was the true light, which enlightens every person who comes into the world, that is, the Son. There was the true light, which enlightens every person who comes into the world, that is, another Comforter. Was, and was, and was, but was one. Light, and Light, and Light, but One Light, One God. David also presented the same thing earlier, saying: in Your light we will see light (Ps. 35:10). And now we have seen and preach a brief, in no way excessive Theology of the Trinity, having received from the Light - the Father - the Son in the Light - the Spirit. Let the plunderer plunder, and the plunderer devastate (Isa. 21:2), but what we understand is what we preach. If they didn’t hear us from below, we would climb a high mountain and cry out from there. Let us exalt the Spirit, let us not fear. And if we are afraid, then we should remain silent and not preach. If it was when the Father was not, then it was when the Son was not. If it was when the Son was not, then it was when the Holy Spirit was not. If there was One from the beginning, then there were Three. If you depose One, then I dare and say: do not claim that you exalt Two. For what is the use of an imperfect Godhead? It is better to say, what kind of Deity is it if It is imperfect? But how can one be perfect if something is missing for perfection? But something is lacking in the Divinity, which does not have the Holy One. And how can you have this without the Spirit? If there is any other Holiness besides the Spirit, then let them say what should be understood by it. And if this is the same, then is it possible not to be Her from the beginning? Is it better for God to never be perfect and without the Spirit? If the Spirit is not from the beginning, then He is placed along with me or a little above me, because over time we are separated from God. If He puts me on a par with me, then how does He make me a god or how does He unite me with the Divine?.. The Sadducees did not even recognize the existence of the Spirit (since they did not recognize either Angels or the resurrection); I don’t know why they despised so many testimonies about the Spirit in the Old Testament. And among the pagans, their best theologians and those closest to us had an idea of ​​​​the Spirit, as it seems to me, but they did not agree on the name and called It the Mind of the World, the External Mind, and the like. As for the sages of our time, some considered Him to be an action, others to a creature, others to God, and others did not dare to say either one or the other about Him out of respect, as they say, for Scripture, which supposedly did not express anything clearly about this; therefore, they do not honor or deprive the Spirit of honor, remaining towards Him in some kind of average, or rather, very pitiful disposition. Even among those who recognized Him as God, some are pious only in their hearts, while others dare to be pious with their lips. But I heard from other even wiser measurers of the Divinity, who, although in agreement with us they profess the Three intuited, nevertheless divide them so much among themselves that they consider One to be unlimited both in essence and in power, the Other - unlimited in strength, but not in essence, and the Third - limited in both, imitating, in a different form, those who call them Creator, Co-worker and Servant, from the order of names and grace, concluding about the gradualness of those named. We will not say a word to those who do not even admit the existence of the Spirit, or to pagan vain talkers, so as not to anoint the words with the oil of sinners, but we will talk with others in the following way. It must be assumed that the Holy Spirit is something either independent or represented in another; and those who understand this call the former essence, and the latter – accessory. Therefore, if the spirit is an accessory, then He will be the action of God. For what can we call Him then, except action, and whose action, besides God's? The same situation is more decent and does not introduce complications. And if He is an action, then, without a doubt, He will be produced, not the producer, and together with the production will cease. For such is all action. But how does the Spirit produce (1 Cor. 12:11), and speak (see Matt. 10:20), and separate (see Acts 13:2), and be offended (see Eph. 4:30), and become angry (Is. 63:10), and produce everything that is characteristic of the mover, and not of the movement? If the Spirit is an essence, and not a part of the essence, then it will be necessary to assume that He is either a creature or God, for something in between a creature and God, or not involved in either one or the other, or composed of both, will not be invented by those who create tragelaphs 63 . But if he is a creature, then how can we believe in Him? How are we made perfect in Him? For it is not the same thing to believe in something and to believe in something. We believe in the Divine, but we believe in every thing. But if God is not a creature, then He is no longer a work of art, not a servant, and not at all something bearing low names. Now the word is yours, let your slings throw, let your conclusions be intertwined! Spirit, without a doubt, is either unborn or born. And if unborn, then two without beginning. And if begotten, then (again you subdivide) born either from the Father or from the Son. And if from the Father, then two Sons and Brothers (think, if you want, that they are either twins, or one is older and the other is younger, for you are extremely carnal!). And if from the Son, then (you say) God the grandson appeared to us? But could anything be stranger than this? This is how those who are smart for evil reason (Jer. 4:22), but do not want to write good things. But I, finding division necessary, would accept those named without fear of names. For when the Son is the Son in some higher respect and, besides this name, we cannot signify by any other that which is from God consubstantial with God, then we should not think that it is already necessary to transfer to the Divinity and all the lower names even of our kinship, or perhaps you will assume a god-husband on the basis that God is called both the Father and the Divinity (ή Θε ό τ ης), according to the power of the names, do you recognize them as something feminine? The Spirit is neither husband nor wife, because it does not give birth. And if you give free rein to your imagination and say from old nonsense and fables that God begot the Son from His will, then we have already introduced God - husband and wife together, like Marcion and Valentine, who invented new aeons 64. But since we do not accept your first division, according to which nothing is allowed in between the unborn and the born, then your brothers and grandchildren immediately disappear along with this notorious division and, like a polysyllabic knot whose first loop has been unraveled, they disintegrate on their own and are removed from theology. For tell me where to place the Outgoing One, Which in your division turns out to be the middle member and was introduced by a better Theologian than you - our Savior; unless, following your third testament, you have already excluded from the Gospel the expression itself: the Holy Spirit. Which comes from the Father (John 15:26)? Since He comes from the Father, He is not a creature. Since he is not begotten, he is not the Son. Since there is a mean between the unborn and the begotten, then God. Thus, having escaped the snares of your conclusions, He turns out to be God, Who is stronger than your divisions! “Therefore, what is procession?” Explain to me the ungeneracy of the Father, then I too will dare to speak about the birth of the Son and the procession of the Spirit. Then, having penetrated into the mysteries of God, we will both come to amazement - we, who cannot see under our feet and count the sand of the seas and the drops of rain and the days of eternity (Sir. 1, 2), not only go into the depths of God and judge the nature so unspoken and inexplicable. You say: “What does the Spirit lack in order to be the Son? For if he had lacked nothing, he would have been the Son.” We are not saying that anything is missing. For in God there is no lack. But the difference (I will say this) in the manifestation or mutual relationship produces a difference in their names. For the Son lacks nothing to be the Father (since Sonship is not a deficiency), but he is therefore not yet the Father. Otherwise, the Father also lacks something to be the Son, because the Father is not the Son. But this does not mean a lack (where does it come from?) and a decrease in essence. This very thing - to be unborn, to be born and to proceed, gives names, the first to the Father, the second to the Son, the third to the Holy Spirit, about whom we have a word, so that the unity of the three Hypostases is preserved in the single nature and dignity of the Divinity. The Son is not the Father, because the Father is one, but the same as the Father. The Spirit is not the Son, although from God, because the Only Begotten is one, but the same as the Son. And the Three are one in Divinity, and the One is three in personal properties, so that there is neither one - in the Sabellian sense, nor three - in the sense of the current evil division. “So what? Is the Spirit God? - Without a doubt. “And consubstantial?” - Yes, because God. “Show me,” you continue, “so that from the same one there is a son, and the other is not a son, and, moreover, both are of the same essence, then I will admit God and God.” - Indicate the imaginary God and another nature of God, and then I will present to you the Trinity itself with the same names and names. And if there is one God and one highest Nature, then where will I get a likeness for you? Or will you begin to look for it again in the things below and around you? Although it is extremely shameful, and not only shameful, but mostly useless, to take the likeness of things above in what is below, of the immovable in a fluid nature, and, as Isaiah says, to ask the dead about the living (Is. 8:19), however, I will try to please you and from here extract something to help the word. But I’m thinking of keeping silent about something else; although from the history of animals one can imagine much, partly to us, partly to a few, known about how nature artistically arranged the birth of animals. For they say that not only from those who are homogeneous will be born those who are similar, and from those who are heterogeneous, foreign ones, but also from heterogeneous ones, similar ones, and from homogeneous ones, foreign ones. And if anyone believes the legend, then there is another image of birth, namely: the animal destroys itself and is born from itself. But there are also animals that, through the generosity of nature, are reborn, transforming from one kind and transforming into another. Even from the same thing, one thing is not a generation, but another generation, however, both are of the same essence, which in some way comes closer to the real subject. But I, having presented one example that actually concerns us and is known to everyone, will move on to another reasoning. What was Adam? - a creature of God. And Eva? - part of this creature. And Sif? - the product of both. So, don’t you notice that creation, part and generation are identical? - How can you not see? – And are they consubstantial or not? - Why isn’t it like that? – So, it is recognized that things that happened differently can be of the same essence. I say this not in order to transfer creation, or separation, or anything else corporeal to the Divinity... but so that all this serves as an image of what is intelligible. But it is impossible for what is taken for comparison to completely correspond to the truth in everything. “And what is this for?” - you ask. “Not one person was born of one thing, and another of something else.” So what? Are not Eve and Seth from the same Adam? - From whom else? – Or are they both the offspring of Adam? - Without a doubt. - What is it? – Eve is a part, and Seth is a generation. - However, both of them are identical to each other, because both are people, which no one will argue with. So, will you stop arguing against the Spirit and asserting that He is certainly either a creation, or is not consubstantial and not God, although in what is akin to man we open the possibility of your opinion?.. But you say, “Who worshiped the Spirit? Who is from the ancients or from the new? Who prayed to Him? Where is it written that we should worship and pray to Him? Where did you get this from? “I will present you with the most satisfactory reason for this later, when I discuss the unwritten.” And now it will be enough to say one thing: in the Spirit we worship and through Him we pray. For it is said: God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24). And one more thing: for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be expressed (Rom. 8:26). And one more thing: I will begin to pray with the spirit, I will also pray with the mind (1 Cor. 14:15), that is, in the mind and in the spirit. So, worship, or prayer by the spirit, in my opinion, means nothing more than the fact that the Spirit offers prayer and worship to Himself. Will any of the God-inspired men, who know well that the worship of the One is the worship of the Three, according to the equality of dignity and Divinity in the Three, not approve of this? Nor will I be frightened by the fact that, according to what has been said, all things came into being through the Son (John 1:3) 65, as if under the word all things are contained, including the Holy Spirit. For it is not simply said: everything, but: everything that began to be. The Father is not the Son, nor is everything that had no beginning of existence. Therefore, show that the Spirit had a beginning of being, and then give Him to the Son, and number Him among the creatures. Until you prove this, the comprehensiveness of the word will not help wickedness at all. For if the Spirit had a beginning of being, then, without a doubt, by Christ, I myself will not deny this. And if he did not, then why should He include everything under the word or be through Christ? So, stop honoring the Father badly by rebelling against the Only Begotten (for that is a bad honor when you deprive Him of the Son and instead of the Son you give a most excellent creature), and stop honoring the Son badly by rebelling against the Spirit. The Son is not the creator of the Spirit as something co-serving with Him, but is glorified with Him as one of equal honor. Do not place alongside yourself any One of the Trinity, lest you fall away from the Trinity, and do not take away from the One the Divine nature and equal worship, lest with the removal of One of the Three everything is taken away, or rather, lest you fall away from everything. It is better to have an insufficient understanding of unity than to indulge in wickedness with all the insolence... Over the course of centuries, there were two famous transformations of human life, called two Testaments and, according to the well-known saying of Scripture, upheavals of the earth (see Hag. 2:7). One led from idols to the Law, and the other from the Law to the Gospel. I also preach the good news about the third shock - about the transfer from here to there, unshakable and unshakable. But the same thing happened to both Testaments. What exactly? They were not introduced suddenly, not on the first occasion. For what? We needed to know that we were not being forced, but persuaded. For what is not arbitrary is also fragile, just as a stream or a plant is held for a short time by force. Voluntary is both stronger and more reliable. And the first is the business of the one who uses violence, and the last is actually ours. The first is characteristic of violent power, and the latter is characteristic of God's justice. Therefore, God determined that good should not be done to those who are unwilling, but to those who are willing. Therefore, He, as a teacher and a doctor, abolishes some fatherly customs, and allows others, allowing others for our pleasure, just as doctors give the sick medicine, skillfully seasoned with something pleasant, so that it is accepted. For it is not easy to change something that has become a custom and has been respected for a long time. What do I mean? The fact that the first Testament, having prohibited idols, allowed sacrifices, and the second, having abolished sacrifices, did not prohibit circumcision. Then, those who once agreed to the abolition, they yielded and ceded, some - sacrifices, others - circumcision, and became Jews from pagans, and Christians from Jews, being drawn towards the Gospel by gradual changes. Let Paul convince you of this, who from circumcision and cleansing has already reached out to what he said: Why do they persecute me, brethren, if I still preach circumcision (Gal. 5:11)? This was necessary for house-building, and this for perfection. I want to liken Theology to this, only in the opposite sense, for there transformation was achieved through abolitions, and here perfection through additions. But the fact is that the Old Testament clearly preached the Father, and not with such clarity the Son, the New Testament revealed the Son and gave instructions about the Divinity of the Spirit, now the Spirit abides with us, giving us the clearest knowledge of Him. It was unsafe to clearly preach the Son before the Divinity of the Father was confessed, and before the Son was recognized (to put it somewhat boldly), to burden us with preaching about the Holy Spirit and expose us to the danger of losing our last strength, as happens to people who are burdened with food taken in excess, or who still have weak eyesight and direct their eyes to the sunlight. It was necessary that the Trinity light should illumine those who were being enlightened by gradual additions, as David says, by ascensions, receipts from glory to glory, and successes. For this reason, I think, the Spirit descends on the disciples gradually, commensurate with the power of those who receive it, at the beginning of the Gospel, after suffering, after ascension, it exercises power through them (see Matt. 10:1), sometimes it is given to them through a breath (see John 20:22), sometimes it appears in tongues of fire (see Acts 2:3). Yes, and Jesus proclaims Him gradually, as you yourself will see if you read carefully. I will pray, he says, that the Father will send you another Comforter (John 14:16-17), so that He will not be considered an adversary to God and speaking from some other authority. Then, although he uses the word will send, he adds: in my name (John 14:26), and leaving the word: I will pray, he retains the word: he will send. Then he says: I will send (John 15:26), showing his own dignity. Then he said: He will come (John 16:13), showing the power of the Spirit. You see the insights that gradually dawned on us and the order of theology that it is better for us to observe, not suddenly expressing everything and not completely hiding everything, for the former is imprudent, and the latter is godless; and with some you can defeat strangers, and with others you can alienate your own. I will add to what has been said what, although it may have already occurred to others, I nevertheless consider it to be the fruit of my own mind. The Savior, even after He preached much to the disciples, had something else that, as He himself said, the disciples (perhaps for the reasons I stated above) could not then comprehend (John 16:12) and which therefore He hid from them. And the Savior also said that we will be taught everything by the descending Spirit (see John 16:13). This is where I include the Divinity of the Spirit itself, clearly revealed later, when this knowledge had already become timely and suitable, after the glorification of the Savior, after they began to accept the miracle not with unbelief. And what greater than this would Christ have promised, or would the Spirit have taught, if it is necessary to recognize both the promised and the preached as great and worthy of God’s greatness (1)? I would like that with me everyone who is my friend would honor God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, three persons, One Divinity, indivisible in glory, honor, essence and kingdom, as one of the God-bearing men who lived shortly before us philosophized. Either, as Scripture says, he will not see the light of the morning (Job 3:9), nor the glory of future illumination, who believes otherwise, or, taking into account the circumstances, is one or the other, and does not judge the most important subjects sensibly. If the Spirit is not venerable, then how does He make me god in Baptism? And if we worship, then how can we not? And if we are venerable, then why not God? Here one thing is held by another, this is a truly golden and saving chain. From the Spirit we have rebirth, from rebirth we have regeneration, from regeneration we have knowledge of the dignity of Him who recreated. All this could be said about the Spirit on the assumption that He is not attested to by Scripture. But now a swarm of evidence will appear before you, from which anyone who is not too dull-minded and alien to the Spirit will clearly see that the Divinity of the Spirit is very revealed in Scripture. Please note the following. Christ is born - the Spirit precedes (see Luke 1:35). Christ is baptized - the Spirit bears witness (see John 1:33–34). Christ is tempted - the Spirit raises Him up (see Matt. 4:1). Christ accomplishes the powers - the Spirit accompanies. Christ ascends - the Spirit succeeds. What great and possible thing cannot the Spirit accomplish for the One God? And of the names of God, by what is He not called, except unbegotten and begotten? But these properties had to remain with the Father and the Son, so that there would be no unity in the Divinity, which brings into order both everything else and disorder itself. I am in awe when I imagine in my mind the wealth of names, and the fact that those who resist the Spirit are not ashamed of even such a number of names. It is called: the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9), the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:1), the Spirit of the Lord (Isa. 61:1), the Lord himself (2 Cor. 3:17), the Spirit of adoption (Rom. 8:15), truth (John 14:17), freedom (2 Cor. 3:17), the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, godliness, fear of the Lord (Is. 11:2-3), because all this produces. He fills everything with essence, contains everything (see Pres. 1, 7) - fills the world in relation to essence and is inconceivable for the world in relation to power. He is the good Spirit (Ps. 142:10), right (Ps. 50:12), sovereign (Ps. 50:14) - by nature, and not by assimilation, sanctifying, but not sanctified, measuring, but not being measured, borrowing, but not borrowing, fulfilling, but not being fulfilled, containing, but not contained, inherited (see Eph. 1:14), glorified (see 1 Cor. 6:19–20), numbered (see Matt. 28:19), threatening (see Acts 5:1–10; Matt. 12:31–32). He is the finger of God (see Luke 11:20), fire (see Matt. 3:11; Acts 2:3), like God, and I think, in the meaning of consubstantiality. He is the Spirit who created (see Job 33:4), who recreates in baptism (see Titus 3:5) and resurrection (see Rom. 8:11), the Spirit who knows everything (see 1 Cor. 2:11), teaches everything (John 14:26), breathes where he wants (John 3:8) and as much as he wants, the instructing Spirit (see John 16:3), speaking (see Matt. 10:20), sending (Acts 13:4), separating (see Acts. 13:2), the angry one (see Isa. 63:10), the tempted one (see Acts 5:9), the giver of revelations (see 1 Cor. 2:10), enlightenment (see Heb. 6:4), life (see Rom. 8:11), or better yet, Light itself and life itself. He makes me a church (see 1 Cor. 6:19), creates me as a god, perfects me, and therefore precedes baptism (see Acts 10:44), and is sought after baptism (see Acts 19:5-6); He produces everything that God produces. He is divided in tongues of fire (see Acts 2:3) and divides gifts (see 1 Cor. 12:11), creates apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, teachers (see Eph. 4:11); He is a rational spirit, many-parted, clear, bright, harmless, uncontrollable (which is equivalent, perhaps, to the words: wise, diverse in actions, making everything clear and bright, free and unchangeable), omnipotent, all-seeing and penetrating all intelligent, pure, subtle spirits (Wis. 7, 22-23), that is, as far as I understand, the powers of Angels, as well as prophetic and apostolic, at the same time and not in one place, but located here and here, which means unlimited. And what would you think? Those who say this and teach this, and in addition, call the Spirit another Comforter (John 14:16), as if another God, know that only blasphemy against the Spirit is unforgivable (see Matt. 12:31); Ananias and Sapphira, when they lied to the Holy Spirit, are declared to have lied to God and not to man (see Acts 5:4) - do they confess about the Spirit that he is God, or something else? Oh, how rude and far from the Spirit you really are if you doubt this and demand another Teacher! So, these names are very numerous and meaningful (for is it necessary to give you the passages of Scripture literally?); and if there are derogatory expressions in Scripture: given (see Acts 8:18), sent (see John 14:26), divided (see Acts 2:3), bestowal, gift (Acts 2:38), breath (see John 20:21), promise (see Acts 2:33), intercession (see Rom. 8:26 ) and others like that, then (not to mention each of these expressions) we must raise them to the first Cause in order to see from Whom the Spirit is, and not accept three principles, like the polytheists. For it is equally wicked to unite with Sabellius and to divide with Arius - to unite with respect to the person, to divide with respect to nature (1). Whoever reduces the Holy Spirit to the ranks of creatures is a scoffer, an evil servant and the worst of the evil. For it is common for evil slaves to reject dominion, rebel against domination, and freely make slaves like themselves. Whoever recognizes Him as God is divine and bright in mind. And whoever even calls God is high if he does it in front of prudent people, but if he does it in front of lowly people he is imprudent, because beads are trusted by dirt, the sound of thunder is trusted by weak hearing, a ray of sunshine is trusted by sore eyes, solid food is trusted by those who eat only milk. Gradually they must be led forward and brought closer to the highest, so that Light is given to Light and truth is rewarded with Truth (1). If you do not confess that the Holy Spirit is neither uncreated nor untimely, then (let zeal express itself somewhat and boldly) an opposing spirit is clearly at work within you (1). The Holy Spirit always was, and is, and will be; He did not begin and will not cease to exist, but is always one and indivisible with the Father and the Son. For it was indecent either for the Father to ever be without the Son, or for the Son to ever be without the Spirit; It would be extremely inglorious for the Divine, as if due to a change in His advice, to come to the fullness of perfection. So, the Spirit was always acceptable, and not accepting, performing, and not being accomplished, filling, and not being filled, sanctifying, and not being sanctified, leading to deification, and not being led into deification. He is always the same for Himself and for Those with Whom He is one, invisible, not subject to time, incontainable, unchangeable, has neither quality, quantity, nor form, intangible, self-moving, ever-moving, free, autocratic, omnipotent (although, like everything that belongs to the Only Begotten, so everything that belongs to the Spirit is raised to the first guilt). He is life and life-giving, He is Light and the Giver of light, He is the source of goodness and the source of goodness... Through Him the Father is known and the Son is glorified (see John. 16:11), and He Himself knows by Them Alone, one and indivisible, service and worship, one power, one perfection and sanctification. But why expand? Everything that the Father has belongs to the Son, except ungeneracy; everything that the Son has belongs to the Spirit, except birth. And unbornness and birth do not distinguish essences, in my opinion, but differ in one and the same essence... The Holy Spirit acted, firstly, in the Angelic and heavenly powers - in those who are first after God and around God, for their perfection and illumination, and immobility or immobility towards evil, is from none other than the Holy Spirit; and then he acted in the fathers and in the prophets, some of whom saw or knew God in images, while others foreknew the future, since the Spirit imprinted this on their minds, and they saw the future before them as the present, for such is the power of the Spirit, after this he acted in the disciples of Christ (I will not say in Christ, in whom He abided not as an active one, but as an attendant of equal honor), and in them three times, according to their acceptability, and at three different times - before the glorification of Christ by passion, after the glorification by resurrection and after the ascension into heaven, or after the consummation (Acts. 3:21), or whatever else it should be called; as shown by the first cleansing from diseases and spirits, which was carried out, of course, not without the Spirit, also after the completion of the economy, the breath of Christ, which, obviously, was Divine inspiration, and, finally, the current division of the tongues of fire, which we celebrate. But the first was unclear, the second is more clear, and the present is more perfect, for it no longer acts as before, but is essentially present and, as another would say, the Spirit co-abides and cohabits. For as the Son conversed with us bodily, so it became that the Spirit should appear in a bodily form, and when Christ entered into His glory, then He had to descend to us, had to come, because He is Lord, and to be sent, because He is not adversary to God. For such words show unanimity more than the division of nature. For this reason the Spirit comes after Christ, so that we will not be left without a Comforter; and for this reason it is called other, to give you the concept of equality, for the word “other” is put instead of “other self”; this same name means one thing - dominion, not humiliation. For the word “other”, as far as I know, is used not about foreign people, but about those of the same essence. It appears in the form of tongues, due to its affinity with the Word; and in the form of fiery tongues (why do you think?) or because of purification (for according to Scripture the purifying fire is known, which those who wish can see everywhere), or in its essence, for our God is fire, and consuming fire (Heb. 12:29) wickedness... appears in in the form of divided tongues due to different talents: in the form of sitting tongues to signify Royal dignity and repose in the Saints, for the Cherubim are the throne of God in the upper room (unless they consider me overly inquisitive) to signify the ascension and exaltation from the earth of those who will receive the Spirit, for some heights (upper rooms) are covered with the waters of God, with which God is hymned (see Ps. 103, 3). And Jesus Himself introduces those ordained to the highest ministry to the sacrament in the upper room, showing that it is necessary for God to condescend to us (as, as far as we know, he condescended to Moses), and for us to ascend to Him, and that, thus, with the co-dissolution of dignity, communication between God and people must take place. As long as they remain in their own dignity: God in the dignity of height, and man in baseness - until then goodness is incompatible, love for mankind is incommunicable, and in the middle there is a great and impassable abyss that separates not only the rich from Lazarus and from the coveted bosom of Abraham, but created and transitory nature from the uncreated and permanent (1). The Holy Spirit was preached by the prophets... The Holy Spirit was promised first by Joel, who says: And it shall come to pass after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh (that is, those who believe), on your sons and daughters, and so on (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17), and subsequently - by Jesus, Who Himself glorifies the Spirit and is glorified by the Spirit, just as he glorifies the Father and is glorified Father. And what a generous promise! The Spirit eternally abides: both now with those worthy in temporary life, and afterward with those worthy of the blessings there, if we completely preserve Him with a good life, and do not remove Him from ourselves to the same extent as we sin. This Spirit creates with the Son in creation and resurrection, of which may what has been said assure you: By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the Spirit of His mouth all their power (Ps. 32:6); The Spirit of God created me, and the breath of the Almighty gave me life (Job 33:4); and again: You will send Your Spirit, and they will be created, and You will renew the face of the earth (Ps. 103:30). He creates in spiritual regeneration, of which may what has been said assure you that no one can see or receive the Kingdom unless one is born of the Spirit (John 3:5), and from the first birth, which is the mystery of the night, is not purified by the daytime and light regeneration (see Ps. 139:16), by which each individual is recreated. This Spirit, being wise and loving of mankind, will take a shepherd - creates him as a psalmist, driving away evil spirits, and indicates in him a king for Israel. If he takes a shepherd who gathers syquimores, he becomes a prophet (see Am. 7:14). Remember David and Amos! Will he take a witty youth, still a minor, and make him a judge of the elders? Witness Daniel, who defeated the lions in the den. Will he find fishermen - the whole world of words encircling the net will be caught in Christ’s net. Take as an example Peter and Andrew and the sons of thunder, who thundered about spiritual things. If he finds publicans, he acquires disciples and creates souls as merchants. Witness Matthew, yesterday a publican, and now an evangelist. Will he find fiery persecutors - his desire changes and Saul makes them Pauls, as zealous in piety as he found them defending evil. He is also the Spirit of meekness and is angry with those who sin. So, let us taste His meekness, and not anger, confessing His dignity and avoiding blasphemy, let us not wish to see Him angry without mercy (1). It is testified about the Spirit that He searches through all things, including the depths of God (1 Cor. 2:10), not because He does not know, but because He delights in contemplation (1). With trepidation we honor the great Spirit: He is my God, through Him I came to know God, He Himself is God and in that life makes me God. He is omnipotent; He is the dispenser of gifts, the subject of the hymns of the pure face of heaven and earth; He is the giver of life, sits on the exalted throne, comes from the Father. He is God's power, the Autonomous Ruler. He is not the Son (because He is the One Good Son of the One All-Good One), but He is not outside the invisible Divinity, but is of equal honor. Whoever wants to find the Divinity of the Heavenly Spirit on the pages of the inspired law will see many frequent and converging paths, if only he wishes to see, if he has attracted the pure Spirit to any extent with his heart, and his mind is keenly seeing. And if anyone demands the open words of the dear Deity, then let him know that his demand is unreasonable. For until the Divinity of Christ had been revealed to the greater part of mortals, it was not appropriate to place an incredible burden on extremely weak hearts. The most perfect word is not for beginners. Who would show the full brilliance of fire to still weak eyes or saturate them with exorbitant light? It is better to gradually accustom them to bright shine, so as not to damage the very sources of sweet light. So the word, having first revealed the entire Divinity of the King the Father, began to illuminate with light the great glory of Christ, revealed to the few rational people, and then, having more clearly revealed the Divinity of the Son, the Divinity of the luminous Spirit shone for us. And for those it shed a little light, but provided most of it to us, to whom the Spirit was then abundantly and in tongues of fire, showing clear signs of His Divinity when the Savior ascended from the earth. I know that God is fire for the wicked and light for the good (2). Tragelafus is a fantastic animal made up of a goat and a deer. – Approx. ed. Marcion - in the middle of the 2nd century. founded the Gnostic religious community and preached a doctrine that became widespread throughout the Roman Empire and opposed to Orthodox Christian doctrine. Valentin is the founder of one of the most famous Gnostic schools in Rome in the 2nd century. Christian Gnostics put forward a dualistic doctrine of the “present and future aeon.” Aeon is the concept of peace and eternity established at the beginning of the Hellenistic era. – Approx. ed. In the synodal translation: everything came into being through Him. – Approx. ed. You might be interested in: