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Chapter 1. That the Deity is incomprehensible and that we should not make inquiries and show curiosity about what has not been conveyed to us by the holy prophets, apostles and evangelists No one has seen God anywhere: the Only Begotten Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, that confession (John 1:18). Therefore, the Divine is ineffable and incomprehensible. For no one knows the Son except the Father; no one knows the Father except the Son (Matthew 11:27). And the Holy Spirit knows God as the spirit of man knows what is in him (1 Cor. 2:11). After the first and blessed Nature, no one - not only among people, but even among the supermundane powers, and themselves, I say, the Cherubim and Seraphim - ever knew God, unless He Himself revealed it to someone. However, God did not leave us completely ignorant. For the knowledge that God exists is naturally infused into everyone. Both the creation itself, and both its continuous continuation and management, proclaim the greatness of the divine Nature (see Pres. 13, 5). In the same way, and according to the degree to which we can comprehend, He revealed knowledge of Himself: first through the law and the prophets, and then through His only begotten Son, Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, we accept, understand, and honor everything that was transmitted to us both through the law and the prophets, apostles and evangelists, without looking for anything beyond this; for God, since He is good, is the Giver of every good, subject neither to envy nor to any passion. For envy is far removed from the Divine Nature, which is truly impassive and the only good thing. Therefore, as He who knows everything and cares about what is useful for everyone, He revealed what was useful for us to know; and what exactly exceeded our strength and understanding, he kept silent about. Let us be content with this, and let us abide in it, without exceeding the bounds of eternity (Prov. 22, 28) and without violating divine tradition! Chapter 2. About what can be expressed in speech and what cannot, and about what can be known and what cannot be Anyone who wants to talk or listen about God, of course, must clearly know that from what relates to the doctrine of God and the Incarnation, not everything is inexpressible, and not everything can be expressed in speech; and not everything is inaccessible to knowledge, and not everything is accessible to it; and one is what can be known, and the other is what can be expressed by speech, just as one is to speak and the other is to know. Therefore, much of what is darkly thought about God cannot be expressed in an appropriate way, but about objects that exceed us, we are forced to speak, resorting to the human nature of speech, as, for example, we talk about God, [using the words:] sleep and anger, negligence, and hands, and feet, and the like. That God is beginningless, infinite, both eternal and constant, uncreated, immutable, unchangeable, simple, uncomplicated, incorporeal, invisible, intangible, indescribable, limitless, inaccessible to the mind, immense, incomprehensible, good, righteous, Creator of all creatures, omnipotent, Almighty, overseer of all, Provider of all, having power [over everything], the Judge - we, of course, both know and confess; also that God is one, that is, one Being, and that He is cognizable and exists in three Persons: the Father, I say, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one in everything, except non-fertility, and fertility, and procession, and that the Only Begotten Son, and the Word of God, and God, in His mercy, for the sake of our salvation, according to the good pleasure of the Father and with the assistance of the all-holy Spirit, conceived without seed, born without decay from the holy Virgin and Mother of God Mary through the mediation of the Holy Spirit, and came from her as a perfect man; and that One and the Same is together a perfect God and a perfect man, from two natures: both Divinity and humanity, and that He is [recognized] in two natures, endowed with mind and will, and the ability to act, and independent, existing in a perfect way, according to the definition and concept befitting each: both deity, I say, and humanity, but [at the same time] a single complex Hypostasis; and that He hungered, and thirsted, and endured labor, and was crucified, and suffered death and burial for three days, and ascended into heaven, from where He came to us and will come again later. And the divine Scripture, as well as the entire host of saints, serves as a witness to this. But what the essence of God is, or how it is inherent in all things, or how the only begotten Son and God, having emptied Himself, was born as a man from the blood of the Virgin, being formed differently than what was the law of nature, or how He walked on the waters with dry feet - we do not know, and we cannot say. So, it is impossible to say anything about God or think anything at all contrary to what, by Divine definition, is announced to us or said and revealed to us by the divine sayings of the Old and New Testaments. Chapter 3: Proof that God Exists That God really exists, there is no doubt neither among those who accept the Holy Scriptures: that is, the Old and New Testaments, nor among the majority of the Greeks. For, as we have said, the knowledge that God exists is naturally implanted in us. And since the evil of the evil one against human nature was so strong that it even brought some down into the most unreasonable and worst of all evils, the abyss of destruction: to the assertion that there is no God, showing the madness of which the interpreter of Divine words, David, said: he is foolish in his heart: there is no God (Ps. 13:1), then therefore the disciples of the Lord and the apostles, being made wise by the All-Holy Spirit and creating with His power and grace Divine signs, catching them in a network of miracles, led them up from the abyss of ignorance - to the light of the knowledge of God. In the same way, the heirs of grace and their dignity, both shepherds and teachers, having received the illuminating grace of the Spirit, both by the power of miracles and the word of grace, enlightened the darkened and turned the lost to the true path. We, who have not received either the gift of miracles or the gift of teaching, for we have made ourselves unworthy through our passion for pleasure, want to tell about this a little of what was conveyed to us by the heralds of grace, calling on the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit to help us. Everything that exists is either created or uncreated. So, if it is created, then in any case it is changeable, for what being began due to change will certainly be subject to change, either by perishing or by changing of its own will. If it is uncreated, then, according to the concept of consistency, in any case it is unchangeable. For if the existence of something is opposite, then the concept of how it exists, that is, the qualities of it, are also opposite. Therefore, who will not agree that everything that exists [not only that] that is perceived by our senses, but, of course, the Angels, changes, and changes, and moves in various ways? Comprehensible only by the mind, I mean Angels and souls and demons, changing according to their own will, both succeeding in the beautiful, and moving away from the beautiful, and straining, and weakening? The rest is due to both birth and destruction, both increase and decrease, both changes in quality and movement from place to place? Therefore, beings, being changeable, were in any case created. Having been created, it was in any case created by someone. But the Creator must not be created. For if He was created, then, in any case, He was created by someone, until we come to something not created. Consequently, being uncreated, the Creator is, in any case, unchangeable. And what else could this be if not God? And the very continuous continuation of creation, and preservation, and management, teach us that there is a God who created all this and contains, and preserves, and always provides. For how could opposite natures be united with each other to create a single world - I mean the natures of fire and water, air and earth - and how do they remain indestructible, if some almighty force did not unite them together, and does not always keep them indestructible? What is it that made what is in the sky, and what is on the earth, and what [moves] through the air, and what [lives] under the water, and even more, in comparison with this, the sky and the earth, and the air, and the nature of both fire and water? What connected it and divided it? What set this in motion and moves it incessantly and unhindered? Isn’t it the Artist of this who has laid in everything the foundation by which the universe goes its way and is governed? But who is the Artist of this? Isn't it the One who created it and brought it into being? Because we will not give this kind of power to chance. For let the origin belong to chance, but to whom does the dispensation belong? If you like, let's leave this to chance. To whom is the observance and protection of the laws in accordance with which this was first carried out? Of course, to another, except by chance. But what else is this if not God? Chapter 4. What is God? That the Divine is incomprehensible So, it is clear that God exists. And what He is in essence and nature is completely incomprehensible and unknown. For it is clear that the Deity is incorporeal. For how can something that is infinite, and unlimited, and without form, and intangible, and invisible, and simple, and uncomplicated, be a body? For how can [anything] be unchangeable if it is describable and subject to passions? And how can something composed of elements and resolving itself in them be dispassionate? For addition is the beginning of struggle, and struggle is discord, and discord is destruction; destruction is completely alien to God. How can the position be preserved that God penetrates everything and fills everything, as the Scripture says: I do not fill the heavens and the earth with food, says the Lord (Jer. 23:24)? For it is impossible for a body to penetrate through bodies without cutting and being cut, and being intertwined, and not being opposed, just as that which belongs to the moist is mixed and dissolved. Even if some say that this body is immaterial, like the one that the Hellenic sages call the fifth, this, however, cannot be, [for] it, in any case, will move like the sky. For this is what they call the fifth body. Who is it that moves it? For everything that is movable is set in motion by another. Who is driving it? And therefore [I will continue to go] into infinity until we come to something motionless. For the first mover is motionless, which is precisely the Divinity. How is it that something that moves is not limited by space? So, only the Divinity is motionless, and with His motionlessness brings everything into motion. Therefore, we must admit that the Divine is incorporeal. But even this does not show His essence, just as they do not show [the expressions:] the unborn, and the beginningless, and the unchangeable, and the incorruptible, and what is said about God or about the existence of God; for this does not mean that God is, but that He is not. And anyone who wants to talk about the essence of something must explain what it is, and not what it is not. However, it is impossible to say about God what He essentially is. Rather, it is more typical to speak [about Him] through the removal of everything. For He is not anything that exists: not as not existing, but as Being above everything that exists, and above being itself. For if knowledge [revolves around] what exists, then what exceeds knowledge, in any case, will be higher than reality. And vice versa, what exceeds reality is higher than knowledge. So, the Divine is limitless and incomprehensible. And only this one thing: infinity and incomprehensibility in Him is comprehensible. And what we say about God in the affirmative does not show His nature, but what is around nature. Whether you call Him good, or righteous, or wise, or anything else, you are not talking about the nature of God, but about what is around nature. Also, some of what is said about God in the affirmative has the meaning of a superlative negation; as, for example, when speaking about darkness in relation to God, we do not mean darkness, but what is not light, but above light; and speaking about light, we mean that which is not darkness. Chapter 5. Proof that God is one, and not many gods It has been sufficiently proven that God exists and that His being is incomprehensible. But that God is one, and not many gods, is not questioned by those who believe the Divine Scripture. For at the beginning of the legislation the Lord says: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Let there be no gods for you except Men (Ex. 20, 2, 3). And again: hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one (Deut. 6:4). And through the prophet Isaiah Az, He says, the first and Az until now, besides Me there is no God. Before Me there was no other God, and after Me there will be nothing but Me (Isa. 44:6; 43:10). And also the Lord in the Holy Gospels thus speaks to the Father: This is the eternal life, that they may know Thee the one true God (John 17:3). With those who do not believe the Divine Scripture, we will talk in this way. The Divinity is perfect and lacking in both goodness and wisdom and power, beginningless, infinite, eternal, indescribable, and - simply put - perfect in every way. Therefore, if we say that there are many gods, then it is necessary that a difference be noticed between the many. For if there is no difference between them, then rather there is one God, and not many gods. If there is a difference between them, then where is perfection? For if God remains behind perfection or in regard to goodness, or power, or wisdom, or time, or place, then he cannot be God. Identity in all respects shows one rather than many. And also how can indescribability be preserved if there are many gods? For where there was one, [there] there would be no other. And how will the world be ruled by many and not be destroyed and not perish, when there would be a struggle between the rulers? For difference introduces contradiction. If someone would say that each controls a part, then what was the culprit of this order and what divided [power] between them? For that would rather be God. Therefore God is one, perfect, indescribable, Creator of everything, both Preserver and Manager, above perfection and before perfection. In addition, and by natural necessity, one is the beginning of two. Chapter 6. Of the Word and the Son of God, proof borrowed from reason So, this one and only God is not devoid of the Word. Having the Word, He will not have It as non-hypostatic, not as the One who began His existence and is destined to end it. For there was no [time] when God was without the Word. But He always has His Word, which is born from Him and which is not impersonal, like our word, and is not poured out into the air, but is hypostatic, living, perfect, not located outside of Him, but always abiding in Him. For if It is born outside of Him, then where will It be? For since our nature is subject to death and easily destroyed, therefore our word is impersonal. God, always existing and existing perfect, will have both perfect and hypostatic His Word, and always existing, and living, and having everything that a Parent has. For just as our word, coming out of the mind, is neither entirely identical with the mind, nor is it completely different because, being from the mind, it is different in comparison with it; revealing the mind itself, it is no longer completely different from the mind, but, being one by nature, it is different in position. Likewise, the Word of God, in that It exists in Itself, is different in comparison with the One from Whom It has Hypostasis. If we take into account the fact that It shows in Itself what is seen in relation to God, [then] It is identical with Him by nature. For just as perfection in everything is seen in the Father, so it is also seen in the Word begotten of Him. Chapter 7. Of the Holy Spirit, Proof from Reason The Word must also have the Spirit. For our word is not without breath. However, in us, breathing is alien to our being. For it is the attraction and movement of air drawn in and poured out to keep the body in good condition. What exactly during the exclamation becomes the sound of the word, revealing the power of the word in itself. The existence of the Spirit of God in the Divine nature, which is simple and uncomplicated, must be piously confessed, because the Word is not more insufficient than our word. But it is ungodly to consider the Spirit to be something alien, coming into God from without, just as it happens in us, who are of a complex nature. But, having heard about the Word of God, we considered Him not to be one that is devoid of personal existence, and not one that occurs as a result of teaching, and not one that is pronounced by a voice, and not one that is poured into the air and disappears, but existing independently and endowed with free will, and active, and omnipotent; So, having learned about the Spirit of God, accompanying the Word and showing His activity, we do not understand Him as a breath that does not have personal existence. For if the Spirit who is in God were to be understood in the likeness of our spirit, then in that case the greatness of the Divine nature would be reduced to insignificance. But we understand Him as an independent Power, Which in Itself is contemplated in a special Hypostasis, and emanating from the Father, and resting in the Word, and being His expresser, and as one that cannot be separated from God, in Whom It is, and from the Word, with whom it accompanies, and as one that is not poured out so that it ceases to exist, but as a Power, in the likeness of In a word, existing hypostatically, living, possessing free will, self-moving, active, always desiring good and with every intention possessing the power that accompanies desire, having neither beginning nor end. For the Father never lacked the Word, nor did the Word lack the Spirit. Thus, through Their unity by nature, the delusion of the Hellenes, which recognizes many gods, is destroyed; through the acceptance of the Word and the Spirit, the dogma of the Jews is overthrown and what is useful in both sects remains: from the Jewish opinion the unity of nature remains, from the Hellenic teaching - only the division according to Hypostases. If a Jew speaks against receiving the Word and the Spirit, then let him be both rebuked and forced into silence by Divine Scripture. For the divine David speaks of the Word: For ever, O Lord, Thy word abideth in heaven (Ps. 119:89). And again: I sent my word, and I healed (Ps. 106:20). But the spoken word is not sent and does not endure forever. About the Spirit, the same David says: follow Your spirit, and they will be created (Ps. 103:30). And again: By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the spirit of His mouth all their strength (Ps. 32:6). And Job: The Spirit of God created me, and the breath of the Almighty taught me (Job 33:4). The Spirit, which is sent, and creates, and affirms, and contains, is not a disappearing breath, just as the mouth of God is not a bodily member. For both must be understood according to the dignity of God. So, we believe in one God, one beginning, beginningless, uncreated, unborn, both not subject to destruction and immortal, eternal, boundless, indescribable, unlimited, infinitely powerful, simple, uncomplicated, incorporeal, imperishable, passionless, constant, unchangeable, invisible, the source of goodness and justice, mental light, unapproachable, power unexplored by any measure, measured only by His own will, for He can do whatever He wants (see Ps. 134, 6); into the power of the creator of all creatures - both visible and invisible, containing and preserving everything, providing for everything, ruling and dominating over everything, and commanding the endless and immortal Kingdom, having nothing as an enemy, filling everything, not embraced by anything, on the contrary, Itself embraces everything together and contains and surpasses, penetrating without desecration into all beings and existing further than everything, and removed from every being, as the most essential and existing above all, pre-divine, most good, exceeding fullness, choosing all beginnings and ranks, being above every beginning and rank, above essence and life, and words, and thoughts; into power, which is light itself, goodness itself, life itself, essence itself, since it does not have its being or anything that exists from another, but is itself the source of being for that which exists: for that which lives - the source of life, for that which uses reason - reason, for everything - the cause of all good; into power - knowing everything before his birth; into one essence, one Divinity, one power, one will, one activity, one principle, one power, one dominion, one Kingdom, in three perfect Hypostases, both cognizable and welcomed by one worship, and representing the object of both faith and service on the part of every rational creature; in Hypostases, inseparably united and inseparably distinguished, which even surpasses [any] idea. In the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in Whom we are baptized. For this is how the Lord commanded the Apostles to baptize: baptizing them, He says, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). We believe in one Father, the beginning and cause of everything, not begotten of anyone, but One who alone is guiltless and unbegotten; in the Creator of all things, of course, but in the Father by nature only of His Only Begotten Son, Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ, and in the Producer of the All-Holy Spirit. And into one Son of God, the Only Begotten, our Lord Jesus Christ, begotten of the Father before all ages, into light of light, true God of true God, begotten, not made, of one essence with the Father, through whom all things came into being. Speaking about Him: before all ages, we show that His birth is flightless and without beginning; for the Son of God, the radiance of glory, the image of the hypostasis of the Father (Heb. 1:3), God's wisdom and power (1 Cor. 1:24), the hypostatic Word, essential and perfect, and the living image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15), but He was always with the Father and in Him, begotten of Him eternally and without beginning, was brought into being out of non-existence. For the Father never existed unless the Son existed, but together - the Father, together - the Son, born of Him. For He who is deprived of the Son could not be called Father. And if He existed without having a Son, then He was not the Father; and if after this He received the Son, then after this He became the Father, having not previously been the Father, and from a position in which He was not a Father, changed into one in which He became a Father, which [to say] is worse than any blasphemy. For it is impossible to say of God that He is devoid of the natural ability to be born. The ability to give birth is to give birth from oneself, that is, from one’s own essence, similar in nature. So, regarding the birth of the Son, it is impious to say that in the middle [between His non-birth and His birth] time passed, and that the existence of the Son came after the Father. For we say that the birth of the Son is from Him, that is, from the nature of the Father. And if we do not admit that from time immemorial the Son born of Him existed together with the Father, then we will introduce a change in the Hypostasis of the Father, since, not being the Father, He became the Father later; for creation, even if it came into being after this, did not come from the essence of God, but was brought into being from non-existent things by His will and power, and the change does not concern the nature of God. For birth consists in the fact that from the being of the one who gives birth, what is born is derived, similar in essence. Creation and work consist in the fact that from the outside and not from the essence of the one who creates and produces, there comes into being what is created and produced, completely dissimilar in essence. Therefore, in God, Who alone is impassive and immutable, and immutable, and always exists in the same way, both birth and creation are impassive; for, being by nature dispassionate and constant, as simple and uncomplicated, he is not inclined by nature to endure passion or flow either in birth or in creation, and does not need anyone's assistance; but birth is beginningless and eternal, is a matter of nature and comes out of His being, so that the One who gives birth does not suffer change, and so that there is no first God and no later God, and so that He does not receive increase. Creation in God, being a work of will, is not co-eternal with God; since that which is brought into being from what does not exist is by nature incapable of being coeternal with the beginningless and always existing. Consequently, just as man and God do not produce in the same way, for man does not bring anything into being from something that does not exist, but what he does, he does from a pre-existing substance, not only by desiring, but also by first thinking about and imagining in his mind what is to be, then by laboring with his hands and enduring fatigue and exhaustion, and often without achieving the goal, when the diligent work is not completed as he wishes. God, having only willed, brought everything out of non-existence into existence; This is how God and man give birth in different ways. For God, being flightless and beginningless, and passionless, and free from flow, and incorporeal, and one only, and infinite, also gives birth without flight and without beginning, and passionlessly, and without flow, and without combination; and His incomprehensible birth has neither beginning nor end. And He gives birth without beginning because He is unchangeable, and without expiration because He is passionless and incorporeal; outside of combination, both again because he is incorporeal, and because He alone is God, not needing another; infinitely and unceasingly because He is beginningless and flightless, and infinite, and always exists in the same way. For what is without beginning is also infinite, and what is infinite by grace is by no means without beginning, like [for example] the Angels. Therefore, the ever-existing God gives birth to His Word, which is perfect, without beginning and without end, so that God, who has a higher time and nature and being, does not give birth in time. And that a person gives birth in the opposite way is clear, since he is subject to birth and death, and flow, and increase, and is clothed with a body, and in his nature he has male and female sex. For the male sex needs the help of the female. But may He be merciful who is above all and who surpasses all understanding and understanding! So, the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church expounds the teaching together about the Father and together about His Only Begotten Son, born of Him without flight and without flow, and impassively, and incomprehensibly, as only God of all knows. Just as fire exists at the same time and at the same time the light arising from it, and not first fire and after that light, but together; and just as light, always born from fire, is always in it, in no way separating from it, so the Son is born from the Father, not at all separated from Him, but always abiding in Him. However, light, which is born inseparably from fire and always abides in it, does not have its own hypostasis in comparison with fire, for it is the natural quality of fire. The Only Begotten Son of God, born from the Father inseparably and inseparably and always abiding in Him, has His own Hypostasis in comparison with the Hypostasis of the Father. So, the Son is called Word and radiance because he was born from the Father without combination and dispassionately, and without flight, and without flow, and inseparably. The Son is also the image of the Father's Hypostasis - because He is perfect and hypostatic and in everything equal to the Father, except for non-fertility. The only begotten - because He alone was born from the Father alone in a unique way. For there is no other birth that is likened to the birth of the Son of God, since there is no other Son of God. For although the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, it does not proceed in the manner of birth, but in the manner of procession. This is a different image of origin, both incomprehensible and unknown, just like the birth of the Son. Therefore, everything that the Father has belongs to Him, that is, to the Son, except for ungeneracy, which does not show the difference of essence, does not show dignity, but the image of being; just as Adam, who was not born, for he is the creation of God, and Seth, who was born, for he is the son of Adam, and Eve, who came from Adam’s side, for she was not born, differ from each other not by nature, for they are people, but by the manner of their origin. For it should be known that τò αγένητον, which is written through one letter “ν,” denotes the uncreated, that is, what did not happen; and τò αγέννητον, which is written through two letters “νν,” means unborn. Therefore, in accordance with the first meaning, essence differs from essence, for the other is uncreated essence, that is, αγένητον; through one letter “ν”, and the other – γενητή, that is, created. In accordance with the second meaning, essence does not differ from essence, for the first being of every kind of living being is αγέννητον (unborn), but not αγένητον (that is, not uncreated). For they were created by the Creator, being brought into being by His Word, but were not born, since before there was no other homogeneous thing from which they could have been born. So, if we keep in mind the first meaning, then the three pre-divine Hypostases of the Holy Deity participate [in uncreatedness]; for They are consubstantial and uncreated. If we mean the second meaning, then in no way, for the Father alone is unborn, because His existence is not from another Hypostasis. And only the Son is begotten, for He was born without beginning and without flight from the being of the Father. And the Holy Spirit alone is emanating, not born, but emanating from the being of the Father (see John 15:26). Although Divine Scripture teaches this, the image of birth and procession is incomprehensible. But we should also know that the name of fatherland and sonship and procession was not transferred from us to the blessed Divinity, but, on the contrary, was transferred to us from there, as the divine apostle says: for this reason I bow my knees to the Father, from which all fatherland in heaven and on earth is worthless (Eph. 3:14-15). If we say that the Father is the beginning of the Son and is greater than Him, then we do not show that He takes precedence over the Son in time or nature (John 14:28), for through Him the Father created the eyelids (Heb. 1:2). It does not take precedence in any other respect, if not in relation to the cause; that is, because the Son is begotten of the Father, and not the Father from the Son, and because the Father is naturally the cause of the Son; just as we do not say that fire comes out of light, but that it is better that light comes out of fire. So, whenever we hear that the Father is the beginning and the greater of the Son, let us understand this in the sense of cause. And just as we do not say that fire belongs to one essence and light to another, so we cannot say that the Father belongs to one essence and the Son to another; but - one and the same. And just as we say that fire shines through the light emanating from it, and do not believe on our part that the ministerial organ of fire is the light flowing from it, or better yet, a natural force, so we say about the Father that everything that He does, does through His Only Begotten Son, not as through a ministerial organ, but as a natural and hypostatic Force. And just as we say that fire illuminates, and again we say that the light of fire illuminates, so everything that the Father does, the Son creates in the same way (John 5:19). But light has no existence separate from fire; The Son is a perfect Hypostasis, not separate from the Fatherly Hypostasis, as we showed above. For it is impossible for an image to be found among creation that in all respects similarly shows in itself the properties of the Holy Trinity. For what is created and complex, and fleeting, and changeable, and describable, and having an appearance, and perishable, how will it clearly show the essential Divine essence, free from all this? But it is clear that all creation is possessed by greater [conditions] than these, and all of it, by its nature, is subject to destruction. We believe in the same way in the Holy Spirit, the Life-Giving Lord, who proceeds from the Father and rests in the Son, who is worshiped and glorified with the Father and the Son, as consubstantial and coeternal; Spirit - from God, the right, ruling Spirit, the Source of wisdom, life and sanctification; God with the Father and the Son, who exists and is called; uncreated, Completeness, Creator, holding everything, accomplishing everything, omnipotent, infinitely powerful, unlimitedly dominant over all creation, not subject to [anyone's] power; in the Spirit - idolizing, not idolizing; filling, not filling; perceptible, non-perceptive; sanctifying, not sanctifying; Comforter, as accepting the persistent pleas of everyone; in everything like the Father and the Son; coming from the Father and distributed through the Son, and perceived by all creation, and through Himself creating, and realizing everything without exception, and sanctifying, and containing; hypostatic, that is, existing in His own Hypostasis, Who is not separated and does not part with the Father and the Son and has everything that the Father and the Son have, except non-fertility and birth. For the Father is guiltless and unbegotten, because he is not from anyone, since he has existence from himself, and of what he has, he has nothing from another; on the contrary, He Himself is the beginning and cause of everything, the way it naturally exists. The Son is from the Father - according to the image of birth; and the Holy Spirit Himself is also from the Father, but not in the manner of birth, but in the manner of procession. And that, of course, there is a difference between birth and procession, we have learned; but what kind of difference we don’t [know]. But both the birth of the Son from the Father and the procession of the Holy Spirit occur simultaneously. So, everything that the Son has, and the Spirit has from the Father, even being itself. And if [something] is not the Father, [then] neither is the Son, nor is the Spirit; and if the Father does not have something, neither does the Son have, nor does the Spirit have. And because of the Father, that is, because of the existence of the Father, the Son and the Spirit exist. And because the Father has the Son, and also the Spirit, everything that he has, that is, because the Father has it, except ungeneracy and birth and procession. For by these hypostatic properties alone the three Holy Hypostases differ from each other, inseparably distinguished not by essence, but by the distinctive property of the individual Person. We say that each of the three Persons has a perfect Hypostasis, so that we do not mistake the perfect nature for one - composed of three imperfect ones, but for a single simple essence in three perfect Hypostases, which is above and ahead of perfection. For everything composed of imperfect things is necessarily complex. But it is impossible for the addition of perfect Hypostases to occur. Therefore, we are not talking about the form from the Hypostases, but in the Hypostases. They said: “from the imperfect,” [that is,] which does not preserve the appearance of the thing made from it. For stone, and wood, and iron, each in itself is completely in its own nature; in relation to the dwelling made of them, each is imperfect, for each of them in itself is not a house. Therefore, we confess, of course, perfect Hypostases, so as not to think about addition in the Divine nature. For addition is the beginning of discord. And again we say that the three Hypostases are one in the other, so as not to introduce multitudes and crowds of gods. Through the three Hypostases we understand the uncomplicated and unfused; and through the consubstantiality and existence of the Hypostases - One in the Other, and the identity of both will and activity, and strength, and power, and, to put it this way, movements, we understand the inseparable and existence of the one God. For truly there is one God, God and the Word and His Spirit. About the difference between the three Hypostases; and about business, and mind, and thought. – One must know that contemplation by deed is one thing, and contemplation by mind and thought is another. So, in all creatures, the difference of persons is contemplated by action. For we see by deed that Peter is different from Paul. Community, connection, and unity are contemplated by reason and thought. For we notice with our minds that Peter and Paul are of the same nature and have one common nature. For each of them is a living being, rational, mortal; and each is flesh, animated by a soul both rational and gifted with prudence. So this general nature can be contemplated by the mind. For the hypostases are not in each other, but each is separate and separate, that is, it is placed separately on its own, having very much that distinguishes it from the other. For they are separated by place, and differ in time, and differ in intelligence and strength, and in appearance, that is, form, and in condition, and temperament, and dignity, and way of life, and in all characteristic features; Most of all, they differ in that they do not exist in each other, but separately. This is why they are called two, three people, and many. The same can be seen in all creation. But in the Holy and all-essential, and highest of all, and incomprehensible Trinity, the opposite is true. For there community and unity are contemplated [by] the deed, because of the coeternity of [Persons] and the identity of Their being, and activity, and will, and because of the agreement of the cognitive ability, and - the identity of power, and strength, and goodness. I did not say: similarity, but: identity, also - the unity of the origin of movement. For there is one essence, one goodness, one strength, one desire, one activity, one power, one and the same, not three similar to each other, but one and the same movement of Three Persons. For each of Them has no less unity with the other than with Itself; this is because the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one in everything, except for non-fertility, and birth, and procession; I think divided. For we know one God; but we notice with our thoughts the difference in the properties alone of both the fatherland and sonship and procession; both regarding the cause, and what is produced by it, and the fulfillment of the Hypostasis, that is, the way of being. For in relation to the indescribable Divinity we cannot speak of a local distance, as in relation to us, because the Hypostases are one in the other, not in such a way that they merge, but in such a way that they are closely united, according to the word of the Lord, who said: I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:11); nor about the difference of will, or reason, or activity, or strength, or anything else that produces a real and complete division in us. Therefore, we speak about the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit not as three gods, but rather as one God, the Holy Trinity, since the Son and the Spirit are raised to a single Author, [but] they do not add up and do not merge according to Sabelli’s abbreviation, for They are united, as we said, not in such a way that they merge, but in such a way that they closely adjoin - One to the Other, and have mutual penetration without any fusion and mixing; and since They do not exist - One outside the Other, or from the side of His being, are not divided, according to the Aryan division. For the Divinity, if I must say briefly, in the divided is undivided, and as if in three suns, closely adjacent to one another and not separated by intervals, there is one mixture of light and a union. So, every time we look at the Divinity, and the first cause, and sovereignty, and one and the same thing, so to speak, and the movement of the Divinity, and the will, and the identity of essence, and strength, and activity, and dominion, what we see will be one. When we look at that in which there is Divinity, or, more precisely, what there is Divinity, and at that which comes from there - from the first cause, eternally and equally and inseparably, that is, at the Hypostasis of the Son and the Spirit, then there will be Three [Persons] Whom we worship. One Father is Father and without beginning, that is, guiltless, for He is not from anyone. One Son is a Son, and not without beginning, that is, not innocent, for He is from the Father. And if you imagined His origin from a certain time, then it would be without beginning, for He is the Creator of times, and not depending on time. One Spirit is the Holy Spirit, although appearing from the Father, but not in the image of the Son, but in the image of procession, and neither the Father was deprived of birthlessness, because he begat, nor the Son was born of birth, because he was born of the Unbegotten; for how could [this happen]? Neither the Spirit, because He came into being, and because He is God, changed either into the Father or into the Son, because the property is motionless, or how could the property stand firmly if it moved and changed? For if the Father is the Son, then He is not the Father in the proper sense, because He alone is the Father in the proper sense. And if the Son is the Father, then He is not in the proper sense the Son, for one in the proper sense is the Son and one the Holy Spirit. You should know that we do not say that the Father comes from anyone, but we call the Son Himself Father. We do not say that the Son is the cause, nor do we say that He is the Father, but we say that He is both from the Father and the Son of the Father. We say about the Holy Spirit that He is from the Father, and we call Him the Spirit of the Father. But we do not say that the Spirit is from the Son; We call His Son the Spirit: if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, says the divine Apostle, he is not his (Rom. 8:9). And we confess that He was revealed through the Son and is distributed to us: for I breathed, says [St. John the Theologian], and said to His disciples: receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22), just as from the sun there is both a ray of sunshine and light, for it itself is the source of a ray of sunshine and light; and through the sun's ray light is communicated to us, and this is the one that illuminates us and is perceived by us. About the Son we do not say that He is the Son of the Spirit, nor, of course, that He is from the Spirit. Chapter 9. What is said about God Deity is simple and uncomplicated. Something that consists of many and different things is complex. So, if we call uncreatedness, and beginninglessness, and incorporeality, and immortality, and eternity, and goodness, and creative power, and the like, essential differences in God, then what consists of so many things will not be simple, but complex, that [to talk about the Divine] is a matter of extreme wickedness. Therefore, it must be thought that each individual thing that is said about God does not mean what He is essentially, but shows either what He is not, or some relation to something that is opposed to Him, or something that accompanies His nature, or activity. Therefore, it seems that of all the names attributed to God, the most important is He, just as He Himself, answering Moses on the mountain, says: This is what the son of Israel said: He sent me (Ex. 3:14). For having combined everything in Himself, He has existence, as if some sea of ​​essence - boundless and unlimited. And as Saint Dionysius says, [the most important name of God is] Good. For in relation to God it is impossible to say first about being and then [already] about the fact that He is Good. The second name is ο Θεός (God), which is derived from θέειν - to run and - to surround everything, or from αίθειν, which means to burn. For God is a fire that consumes (Deut. 4:24) all unrighteousness. Or - from θεασθαι - to contemplate everything. For nothing can be hidden from Him, and He is an all-seeer (2 Mac. 9:5). For He contemplated everything before their existence (Dan. 13:42) from the beginning of time, planning, and each individually occurs at a predetermined time in accordance with His eternal thought, united with will, which is predestination, and image, and plan. So the first name shows that He exists, not that He is. The second shows activity. But originlessness and incorruptibility, and uncreatedness or uncreatedness, and incorporeality, and invisibility, and the like show that He is not, that is, that He did not begin to be and is not destroyed, and is not created, and is not a body, and is not visible. Goodness and righteousness and holiness and the like accompany His nature, but do not show His very essence. The Lord and the King, and similar [names] show the attitude towards that which is opposed to Him. For over those over whom He rules, He is called Lord, and over those over whom He reigns, King, and in relation to what He creates, He is called Creator, and over those whom He shepherds, Shepherd. Chapter 10. About Divine Union and Separation So, all this together must be taken in relation to the whole Divinity and in the same way, and simply, and inseparably, and collectively; The Father, the Son, and the Spirit must be received separately; and that which is innocent, and that which is from a cause, and the unborn, and the begotten, and the proceeding; which does not show the essence, but the relationship [of Persons] among themselves and the way of being. So, knowing this and, as if by a hand, led by this to the Divine essence, we comprehend not the essence itself, but what is around the essence; just as if we know that the soul is incorporeal, and has no quantity, and has no form, then [through this] we have no longer comprehended its essence; We have not comprehended the essence and the body, even if we know that it is white or black, but that which is near the essence. The true word teaches that the Divinity is simple and has one simple activity, good and accomplishing everything in everything, like a sunbeam that warms everything and in each individual thing acts in accordance with its natural property and its ability to perceive, having received such power from God, Who created it. Separately, there is something that relates to the Divine and humane incarnation of the Divine Word. For neither the Father nor the Spirit participated in this in any way, except through good will and indescribable miracles, which God the Word, who became man like us, performed as the unchangeable God and Son of God. Chapter 11. What is said about God in a bodily way And since we find that in the Divine Scripture very much is said symbolically about God in a very bodily way, we should know that it is impossible for us, as people and clothed with this gross flesh, to think or talk about the Divine, and high, and immaterial actions of the Divine, if we did not make use of likenesses, and images, and symbols corresponding to our nature. Therefore, what is said about God in a very physical way is said symbolically, and has a very sublime meaning, for the Divine is simple and has no form. So, let us understand the eyes of God, and the eyelids, and sight, as His power - the contemplator of everything, on the one hand, and, on the other, as His knowledge, from which nothing can be hidden, let us understand it due to the fact that through this feeling we have both more perfect knowledge and more complete conviction. Ears and hearing are like His inclination towards mercy and like His disposition to accept our prayer. For we also show favor to those who supplicate through this feeling, by inclining our ears more cordially to them. The lips and speech are like that which explains His will, due to the fact that in us the thoughts contained in the heart are shown through the lips and speech. And food and drink are like our agile striving for His will. For we, too, through the sense of taste, fulfill the necessary desire inherent in nature. The sense of smell is something that shows [our] thoughts and disposition directed towards Him, due to the fact that through this sense we perceive fragrance. The face is both a revelation and a revelation of Him through deeds, due to the fact that we make ourselves known through the face. The hands are like the success of His activity. For we too, through our hands, accomplish useful and especially more excellent deeds. The right hand is like His help in just deeds, due to the fact that we also use our right hand in deeds that are more beautiful and more excellent and require very great strength. Touch is the most accurate recognition and investigation of even very small and very secret things, due to the fact that among us those whom we touch cannot hide anything in themselves. And legs and walking - both as an arrival and as a manifestation for helping those in need, or for taking revenge on enemies, or for some other matter, due to the fact that with us the arrival occurs through the use of legs. An oath - as the immutability of His decision, due to the fact that our agreements with each other are reinforced through an oath. Anger and rage are both hatred of vice and disgust. For we too, hating what is contrary to [our] conviction, become angry. Oblivion, and sleep, and drowsiness - as a delay in vengeance on enemies and as a delay in the matter of ordinary help to one’s friends. And simply to say, everything that is said about God in a bodily way has some hidden meaning, through what happens to us, teaching what is above us, if nothing is said about the bodily coming of God the Word. For for the sake of our salvation He took upon the whole man, the rational soul and body, and the properties of human nature, and natural and immaculate passions. So, we have learned this from sacred sayings, as the divine Dionysius the Areopagite said, that God is the cause and beginning of everything; the essence of what exists; the life of that which lives; the mind of that which is reasonable; the mind of that which has mind; and both the return and restoration of those who fall away from Him; and renewal and transformation of those who destroy what is in accordance with nature; for those who are shaken by some evil emotion, a holy affirmation; and those standing - safety; and those who go to Him - the path and guidance by which they are raised upward. I will also add that He is the Father of those who are created by Him. For God, who brought us from non-existence into being, is in a more proper sense our Father than those who gave birth to us, who received from Him both being and the ability to create. He is the Shepherd of those who follow Him and are grazed by Him; illuminated – lighting; those initiated into the [holy] sacraments - the highest sacrament; for those who are deified, the generous Giver of the Divine; those who are divided - peace; and those striving for simplicity - simplicity; and those who care about unity - unity; of every beginning - the essential and the pre-primary - the beginning; and His secret, that is, knowledge belonging to Him, is a good allocation, as far as [this] is possible and accessible to everyone. More about Divine names, more details The Deity, being incomprehensible, will certainly be nameless. So, not knowing His essence, let us not begin to look for the name of His essence, for names are suitable for showing deeds; but God, being Good and in order for us to be participants in His goodness, having brought us from non-existence into existence and making us capable of knowledge, just as He did not communicate to us His essence, so He did not communicate the knowledge of His essence. For it is impossible for nature to fully know the nature that lies above it. And if knowledge also relates to what exists, then how will the essential be known? Therefore, out of ineffable goodness, He deigned to be called in accordance with what is characteristic of us, so that we would not be completely uninvolved in the knowledge that belongs to Him, but would have at least a dark idea of ​​Him. So, since God is incomprehensible, He is nameless. And as the Author of everything and containing in Himself the conditions and causes of all things, He is called according to all that exists and even the opposite [of one another], such as, for example, light and darkness, water and fire, so that we learn that this is not He in essence, but that He is the all-essential and nameless, and that, as the Author of all things, is called according to what came from Him - as the Cause. Therefore, some of the Divine names are called through negation, explaining what is essential, such as: having no essence, flightless, beginningless, invisible; not because God is less than anything or that He is devoid of anything, for all things are His and came from Him and through Him, and will take place in Him (Col. 1:17), but because He is excellently distinguished from all things. For He is not anything that exists, but is above everything. The names called through affirmation speak of Him as the Author of everything. For as the Author of all things and all essences, He is called both the Being and the essence; and as the Author of all reason, and wisdom, and reasonable, and wise, He is called Reason and reasonable, Wisdom and wise; equally - Mind and smart, Life and alive, Strength and strong; it is called in a similar way and in accordance with everything else; or rather: in a more appropriate manner He will be called in accordance with what is more excellent and what approaches Him. The immaterial is more excellent and comes closer to Him than the material, and the pure than the impure, and the holy than the wicked, since it is more united with Him. Therefore, much more appropriately will He be called sun and light than darkness; and during the day than at night; and life rather than death; and fire, and air, and water, as full of life, rather than earth; and first of all, and most of all, by goodness rather than by vice; and [this] is the same [as] to say: by what exists, rather than by what does not exist. For good is being and the cause of being; evil is the deprivation of good or being. And these are denials and affirmations; but the union that comes from both is also very pleasant, such as, for example, the all-essential essence, the pre-divine Deity, the original principle, and the like. There is also something that is said about God affirmatively, but has the force of an excellent negation, as, for example, [when we call God] darkness, not because God is darkness, but because He is not light, but is above light. So, God is called Mind, and Reason, and Spirit, and Wisdom, and Power, as the Author of this, and as the Immaterial, and as the Performer of everything, and the Almighty. And this, said both negatively and affirmatively, is said generally about the entire Divinity. And each of the Hypostases of the Holy Trinity is spoken of in the same way and in exactly the same way, and incessantly. For every time I think about one of the Hypostases, I understand Her as a perfect God, a perfect essence; When I unite and count the three Persons together, I understand Them as one perfect God. For the Divinity is not complex, but in Three perfect Persons It is one perfect, indivisible and uncomplicated. When I think about the relationship of the Hypostases among themselves, then I understand that the Father is the essential Sun, the Source of goodness, the Abyss of essence, reason, wisdom, power, light, Divinity; The source that gives birth and produces the good hidden in Him. So, He is the Mind, the Abyss of the mind, the Parent of the Word and through the Word the Maker of the Spirit, which reveals Him; and not to say much, the Father has no [other] word, wisdom, power, desire, except the Son, Who is the only Power of the Father, predetermining the creation of all things, as a perfect Hypostasis, born from a perfect Hypostasis as He Himself knows, Who is the Son, and is called. The Holy Spirit is the Power of the Father, revealing the hidden Divinity; coming from the Father through the Son as He Himself knows, [however] not by birth. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the Accomplisher of the creation of all things. So, what befits the Author - the Father, the Source, the Parent - must befit the Father alone. And what is produced, begotten by the Son, the Word, the precursor Power, desire, wisdom, then must befit the Son. What is produced, proceeds, reveals, accomplishes the Power, must befit the Holy Spirit. The Father is the Source and Cause of the Son and the Holy Spirit; but He is the Father of only the Son, and the Producer of the Holy Spirit. The Son is the Son, the word, wisdom, power, image, radiance, image of the Father and He is from the Father. It is not the Son of the Father who is the Holy Spirit; He is the Spirit of the Father, as coming from the Father. For there is no excitement without the Spirit. But He is also the Spirit of the Son, not as proceeding from Him, but as proceeding from the Father through Him. For the Father alone is the Author. Chapter 13. About the place of God and that the Divinity alone is indescribable The corporeal place is the boundary of the encompassing, which encloses what is encompassed; just as, for example, air embraces, but the body embraces. But not all of the enveloping air is the place of the body that is being enclosed, but the boundary of the enveloping air that touches the enveloping body. And that which is embraced is not at all in that which is embraced. There is also a spiritual place, where it is mentally imagined and where the spiritual and incorporeal nature is located; where exactly it resides and acts, and is not encompassed in a physical way, but in a spiritual way. For it does not have an external appearance in order to be embraced by a bodily image. Therefore God, being immaterial and indescribable, is not in a place. For He Himself is the place of Himself, filling everything, and being above everything, and Himself containing everything. However, it is said that He is also in a place, and it is also said about the place of God where His activity is revealed. For He Himself penetrates through everything, without mixing [with it], and devotes His activity to everything, in accordance with the property of each individual thing and its ability to perceive; I am talking about both natural and voluntary purity. For the immaterial is purer than the material, and more virtuous than that which is combined with vice. So, the place of God is that which is more involved in His activity and grace. Therefore, heaven is His throne. For on it are angels doing His will and always glorifying Him (see Isa. 6:1ff). For this is his rest, and the earth is his footstool (Isa. 66:1). For on her in the flesh there are as many people as live (Bar. 3:38). His holy flesh is called the Foot of God. The Church is also called the place of God; for we have set aside this place for glorifying Him, like some kind of church, in which we perform prayers directed to Him. Likewise, those places in which His activity was revealed to us, either in the flesh or without the body, are called places of God. One must know that the Divinity is indivisible, so that It is entirely everywhere, and not part within part, divided in a bodily form, but all in all and all above all. About the place of the Angel and the soul and about the indescribable An angel, although he is not physically present in a place so that he has a form and takes on a form, is said to be in a place, due to the fact that he is spiritually present and acts in accordance with its nature, and is not located in another place, but is mentally limited there, where he acts. For he cannot act in different places at the same time. For it is characteristic of God alone to act everywhere at the same time. For the Angel acts in different places due to the speed inherent in his nature, and due to the fact that he easily, that is, quickly moves [from one place to another]; and the Divinity, being everywhere and above everything, at the same time acts in various ways with a single and simple action. The soul is united with the body - all with all, and not part with part; and it is not encompassed by it, but embraces it, just as fire embraces iron; and, being in it, performs the actions characteristic of it. That which is embraced by place, or time, or understanding is describable; what is indescribable is that which is not embraced by any of this. Consequently, the Divinity alone is indescribable, since It is beginningless and infinite, and embraces everything and is not encompassed by any understanding. For It alone is incomprehensible and unlimited, not cognizable by anyone, but only Itself contemplates Itself. The angel is limited both by time, for he began his existence, and by place, although in the spiritual sense, as we said earlier, and by intelligibility. For in some way they know each other’s nature, and are completely limited by the Creator. And bodies are limited by both the beginning and the end, and the corporeal place, and intelligibility. A summary of what is said about God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And about the Word and the Spirit. So, the Divinity is completely immutable and unchangeable. For everything that is not in our power, He predestined, as a result of His foreknowledge, each individual thing according to its characteristic and appropriate time and place. And therefore the Father judges no one, but all judgment is given to the Sons (John 5:22). For the Father judged, without a doubt, and also the Son, as God, and also the Holy Spirit; but the Son Himself in a bodily form, as a man, will descend and sit on the throne of glory (Matthew 25:31), for descent and graying are characteristic of a limited body, and will judge the universe in righteousness (Acts 17:31). Everything is far from God, not by place, but by nature. In us: prudence, wisdom, and decision appear and disappear as properties; but not in God, for in Him nothing arises or decreases, because He is unchangeable and immutable, and in relation to Him there should be no talk of chance. For God has goodness accompanying His being. He who always directs his desire to God sees Him, for God is in everything, because what exists depends on the Being; and nothing can exist if it does not have its existence in Existence; because God, as containing nature, is united with all things; and God the Word is united hypostatically with His holy flesh, and has become inextricably close to our nature. No one except the Son and the Spirit sees the Father (see John 6:46). The Son is the will, and wisdom, and power of the Father. For in relation to God we should not talk about quality, so as not to say that He is composed of essence and quality. The Son is from the Father, and everything that He has comes from Him; therefore, He cannot do anything about Himself (John 5:30). For He has no activity special in comparison with the Father. And that God, being invisible by nature, becomes visible through His actions, we know from the structure of the world and government (see Wisdom 13:5 et seq.). The Son is the image of the Father and the Son is the image of the Spirit, through whom Christ, dwelling in man, gives him that which is according to the image [of God]. God the Holy Spirit is the middle one between the Unborn and the Born and comes into contact with the Father through the Son. He is called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the Mind of Christ, the Spirit of the Lord, the Lord Himself, the Spirit of sonhood, truth, freedom, wisdom (for He is the one who produces all this); filling everything with His being, containing everything; making the world complete with His being; inconceivable for the world in His power. God is an eternal Being and unchangeable, Who is the Creator of things and Whom the pious mind worships. God and Father, always existing, unbegotten, as not begotten of anyone, but begat the coequal Son; God is also the Son, always existing together with the Father, born of Him timeless and eternal, and without flow, and impassively, and inseparably. God is also the Holy Spirit, the sanctifying, hypostatic Power, proceeding inseparably from the Father and resting in the Son, consubstantial with the Father and the Son. The Word is the one who independently always abides with the Father. The word, in turn, is also a natural movement of the mind, according to which it moves, and thinks, and reasons; it is, as it were, its light and radiance. On the other hand, there is an internal word spoken in the heart. And again: the spoken word is a messenger of thought. So, God the Word is both independently and hypostatically; the remaining three words are powers of the soul that are not contemplated in their own hypostasis: the first of them is a natural creation of the mind, always naturally flowing out of it; the second is called internal, and the third is pronounced. Spirit is understood in many different ways. [For this name is also called] the Holy Spirit. The powers of the Holy Spirit are also called spirits. The Spirit is also a good Angel; spirit - and demon; spirit - and soul; sometimes it is called spirit and mind; spirit - and wind; spirit - and air. Chapter 14. Properties of the Divine Nature [God is a Being] uncreated, beginningless, immortal and limitless, and eternal, immaterial, good, possessing creative power, righteous, illuminating, unchanging, dispassionate, indescribable, incomprehensible, unlimited, indefinable, invisible, inaccessible to the mind, not needing anything, autocratic and independent, omnipotent, life-giving, omnipotent, infinitely powerful, sanctifying and giving, embracing and containing everything together and providing for everything. The Divine nature has all this and the like by nature, not receiving it from anywhere, but itself distributing every good to its own creations, according to the power in which each individually can receive. There is both abiding and the presence of Hypostases - one in the other; for They are inseparable and inseparable, One from the other, having mutual penetration unmerged; not in such a way that They mix or merge, but in such a way that They are closely united with each other; for the Son is in the Father and the Spirit; and the Spirit is in the Father and the Son; and the Father is in the Son and the Spirit, although there is no destruction [of individuals], or confusion, or fusion. There is both unity and identity of movement, for one is the aspiration and one is the movement of the three Hypostases, which exactly is impossible to see in created nature. [It is also added here] that Divine brilliance and activity, which is one and simple and indivisible and which is plausibly diversified in that which is divisible, and distributes to everything that which constitutes [each thing’s] own nature, remains simple, of course, increasing in divisible things indivisibly and reducing and turning the divisible to the simplicity of itself. For everything strives towards it and has its existence in it. And she gives existence to all things, in accordance with the nature of [each] of them; and it is the being of that which exists, and the life of that which lives, and the mind of that which is rational, and the mind of that which is intelligent, itself being above the mind, and above the mind, and above life, and above the essence. It should also be added that the Divine nature penetrates everything without mixing [with it], and through it itself is nothing. Another thing is that by simple knowledge she will know everything. With His Divine, all-contemplating, and immaterial eye, He simply sees everything, both the present and the past, as well as the future before their existence (Dan. 13:42); she is infallible, and forgives sins, and saves; [must add] also the fact that although she can do everything she wants, she does not want what she can do. For she can destroy the world, but she does not want to.