De sancta trinitate

OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS CYRIL, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, CONCERNING THE HOLY AND LIFE-GIVING TRINITY. PROLOGUE. PROLOGUE. It was fitting that all who are made illustrious by the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, and who are honored to be sheep of the shepherd who laid down his soul for us, should hear the voice of the shepherd, and graze on the pasture shown by him, and abide by the boundaries and laws of the evangelical faith, and cherish the simple teaching of the apostles. But since many, struck with blindness, and enamored of empty glory, and ignorant of themselves, have preferred the offspring of their own erring thought to the God-inspired teaching, and, turning aside from the straight road that leads to the city above, have gone off into manifold and deadly bypaths—all indeed wandering alike, yet not all pursuing the same road of error, but following in different ways the deceit of their own reasonings—I think it fitting for those who walk the royal road, trodden by the pious, both to show mercy to those who wander, and to expose the deceit, and to point out true religion, and to guide those who follow, and to keep them from swerving to either side, until they reach the royal city. CHAPTER 1.

That God places great value on the salvation of men. For this reason the Savior of all sent the sacred choir of the apostles into the inhabited world, so that with the rays of the knowledge of God they might enlighten those who had been raised in the darkness of ignorance, so that the scattered sheep, exposed to the wolves, they might gather together and shepherd fittingly, so that the wild olive they might transform into a good olive by the art of the Spirit, so that those hidden in the deep of impiety they might catch with the word of teaching. Since, then, the salvation of men is most sweet to the Maker of all men, and it seems natural to come to the aid of a neighbor who needs care, let us also deposit the talent of knowledge given to us by the Lord with the money-changers, so that we may not be condemned together with the idle servant; and we shall set forth the teaching of the divine doctrines, both for the knowledgeable as a reminder and for the ignorant as instruction. 2. What is the character of the ecclesiastical discourse. Let the discourse proclaim the evangelical faith simply and instructively, not dialectically nor argumentatively, but in a manner befitting the Church of God, compunctiously, not ostentatiously, instructively, not forensically, free of technical artifice, employing theology; not busying itself with the unattainable, not searching out the incomprehensible, not circumscribing the uncontainable with mind and word, not subjecting the master craftsman to technical methods, not abandoning faith while demanding proof.

Following the fishermen, tracking the shoemaker, led by the tax collector, illuminated by the prophetic lamp, enlightened by the gospel sun, mixing in nothing of his own reasonings, but weaving together all the teachings of the all-holy Spirit; for this is the boundary of divine teaching. 3. That the teaching will be directed to the pious. We have already refuted heretical blasphemies in other treatises, taking up each one separately, stripping off the veil of deceit, and showing the impiety naked. But now, God granting, we shall set before the nurslings of the faith the God-given doctrines of the Church, neither introducing satiety to the readers by the length of the discourse, nor corrupting accuracy by brevity, but choosing the middle course between both extremes, so that we may neither wear out the hearers by abundance nor fail to bring clear teaching of the knowledge of God. I shall begin from above, hastening to the very source of good things. 4. What opinions one ought to hold concerning God the Father. We who are lovers and worshippers and loud-voiced and high-minded heralds of the Trinity believe in one God the Father, without beginning and unbegotten, always being Father, not having acquired this later—for there was no time when he was not, but from the beginning he was Father—nor did he first become Son and then Father, according to the sequence of bodies; but from the very moment he is—and he always is—he both is and is called Father. 5. What one ought to think concerning the Son.

We believe in one Son, coeternal with the one who begot him, not having received a beginning of existence, but always being, and being with the Father. For from whom he is Father—and he is always Father—from that one is the Son. For these things are inseparably related to one another, both the names and the realities. But if the Son is not always, but there was when he was not, then neither is the Father always; for from the one he begot, he has this name. But if God is always and Father (for it is truly blasphemous to place the maker of times under times, and to declare the timeless and supra-temporal generation second to a temporal interval), then the Son is always, begotten from the Father ineffably, always being with the Father, and known together with the Father. That the Scriptures teach the Son to be coeternal with the Father. "In the beginning," it says, "was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word; this one was in the beginning with God." But the one who was in the beginning—when was he not? For he did not say that in the beginning he came to be, but in the beginning he was. However much we strive with our reasonings to pass beyond the "was," we shall not be able to get beyond the beginning. All things are second to the one who is in the beginning—both time, and the age, and whatever other temporal interval might be conceived. But if the Son was not always with God and the Father, but at some later point was added, then it is necessary that time and the age mediate between the Father and the Son. But if one should grant this, the creature will be found to exist before the creator; for "all things," says the evangelist, "came to be through the Son, and without him nothing came to be." And the age or time is one of all things; and the blessed Paul also.

In the last days, he says, he spoke to us in a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also made the ages." But if the ages are works of the Son, they do not preexist the one who made them; and if the ages do not exist, it is evident that neither does time, which days and nights make and measure; and days and nights the rising and setting of light produces; and light came into being after heaven, and earth, and air; and all these things, and the things in them, God the Word created by word with the good pleasure of the Father. Therefore, since times and ages were made along with all other things by the Word, there would be nothing between Father and Son, but God is always Father, and the Son is always with the Father; for which reason also the evangelist cries out, "In the beginning was the Word." And the apostle Paul says: "Who being the radiance of his glory, and the express image of his substance." And elsewhere: "Who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God." And neither does that one permit the "was," nor this one the "being" and "existing," since they proclaim the one who always is; for which reason also, a little later, the evangelist says, "He was life, and the life was the light of men." And

Again: "He was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into the world." And again: "The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father." And in the epistle, "He who was," he says, "from the beginning." Thus the only-begotten Word of God was taught to speak theologically by the divine Spirit—those who from the beginning became eyewitnesses and servants of the Word; therefore they did not number the Creator with the creation; they did not rank the Maker with the things made; nowhere did they call the precious offspring of God a creature; nowhere did they join "he became" to the Godhead; but he says, "In the beginning was the Word"—the Word did not become in the beginning. And that one: "As being the radiance of his glory and the express image of his person"—not "he became radiance and express image." And again: "Who, being in the form of God"—not "having become the form of God," but "being in the form of God." And elsewhere: "Who is the image of the invisible God"—he did not say, "who became the image of the invisible God," but "who is." 7. Proof from the Old Testament that the Son is eternal. Thus everywhere "he was," and "being," and "existing," and "is" are joined to the theology; thus to the great Moses, when speaking with him, he named himself: "I am the one who is." And again: "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: The one who is has sent me to you." And that these words belong to the Son, the champions of the blasphemy themselves testify, saying that the Father is uncircumscribable, and calling the Son a mediator between the Father and the creation, and asserting that he was seen by the patriarchs and the prophets and conversed with them.

But God the Word himself clearly teaches us through Jeremiah the prophet, saying: "In those days and at that time I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the days when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt." Let us inquire, then, who it is that gave the new covenant. Is it not clear to all that the Lord Christ is the provider of this? For he himself cries out in the holy Gospels: "It was said to those of old, You shall not murder; but I say to you, Everyone who is angry with his brother without cause shall be liable to judgment; it was said to those of old, You shall not swear falsely; but I say to you, Do not swear at all." And he lays down the other things likewise, that it was said thus and so, but I legislate this in this manner, not overturning the law that was laid down, but making the legislation more exact and teaching the manner of its observance. The new covenant, then, the Lord Christ has given us; and he who provided this also gave the old covenant to Israel after the departure from Egypt; and he who gave that one and delivered them from Egyptian slavery evidently himself sent Moses to Pharaoh; he himself said: "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: The One who is has sent me to you." And the prophet makes this clear elsewhere as well: "For this," he says, "is our God; no other shall be reckoned beside him; he found out every way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob his child, and to Israel his beloved.

After these things he appeared on earth and conversed with men. Therefore, beginning from below, let us search out the prophetic meaning. Who is he who appeared on the earth and conversed with men? It is evident, I think, to all who have understanding, that it is God the Word, who took up our nature, who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself and took the form of a servant. This one, then, gave the way of knowledge to Jacob his child, and to Israel his beloved, having proclaimed the old law in the wilderness through Moses. But the one who gave that law, before giving the law, said when conversing with Moses: "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: The One Who Is has sent me to you." Therefore the prophet cried out: "This is our God, no other shall be reckoned beside him," bearing witness to him, not of what is lesser, but of what is incomparable. Do you see how the prophetic proclamations resemble the evangelical teachings? Moses proclaims the One Who Is; or rather, God the Word himself says concerning himself, the One Who Is; and Paul often says the One Who Is, and adds also the One Who Exists, which has the same force as the One Who Is; he also says "he is," equivalent in meaning to those; and likewise John the theologian sows the One Who Is throughout the Gospel narrative, and adorns even the prologue itself with these voices, proclaiming "he was" not once, nor twice, nor three times, but many times.

9. That some things are fitting to God the Word, and others to the nature he assumed. But when the heralds of the truth teach such things, who is so exceedingly bold and arrogant as to say "he was not" instead of "he was," and instead of "being" and "existing" to call a creature the one who was begotten from the Father without time and without passion, and is established in the bosom of the Father? For the one who is is not created, the one who exists is not made; for "he became" and "he received" and all such expressions, those entrusted with the mysteries of the knowledge of God spoke not as theologizing but as proclaiming the economy. And first, the blessed John said, "The Word became flesh," having said, "In the beginning was the Word," and having often given "was" for the Godhead, when he came to the economy of the incarnation he necessarily set down "became"; for the firstfruits taken from us by God the Word did not always exist, but at the end of the ages it became and was taken up by God the Word. The blessed Paul does this too; for having said, "existing in the form of God," and having added, "he did not consider it robbery to be equal with God," he brought in, "he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant," joining "taking" to the "form of a servant," and yoking "existing" to the "form of God." Therefore the form of God, pre-existing, or rather always existing, took the form of the servant; therefore the Word of God is not a creature, nor a work, nor from things that are not, but begotten from the Father he is always with the Father, and receives the worship along with the Father from those of right mind. 9. Concerning the generation from God.

Let no one, when he hears of generation, accept in his thoughts the experiences of our own generation—cutting, and flux, and travail, and all other such things. For these are affections of bodies; but God is incorporeal and impassible, immutable and unchangeable, always remaining the same. But if anyone thinks that generation is not free from passion, let him accept these thoughts also in the accounts concerning creation; for just as there cutting and flux, so here care, and toil, and sweat, and instruments, and matter pre-existing, and failures, and all the other things that accompany created things. But if mere will sufficed for God for the creation of the universe, and having willed he immediately showed the things that were not to be, let the objector accept that the generation of God also is free from all passion. And just as he did not create in the same way as humans, so neither did he beget in the same way. 10. What is the meaning of the Lord's names. Therefore also the Word is named Son, as having been begotten impassibly, according to the word that is generated from the mind impassibly. And he is called Son as having proceeded from the Father in a begotten manner. And he is addressed as God as partaking of the Father's nature, and being the unvarying image of the God who begot him. And Only-begotten, as alone from alone, and begotten in a unique manner; effulgence of glory, as showing the Father in himself, and always being with the one who begot him, as the effulgence with the light; express image of his substance, so that you may believe God the Word to be not a bare activity but a living substance, showing in itself the whole of the one who begot him. But firstborn is not of the divine nature, but of the economy

a name; for how can God the Word be both only-begotten and firstborn? For the names are contrary; and "only-begotten" signifies the one who alone was begotten, while "firstborn" signifies the one born before others and first in birth compared with others. But God the Word has no brother, for he is only-begotten. How, then, is he firstborn, the one alone begotten of the Father? It is therefore evident that "firstborn" is a name belonging to the economy. And if anyone doubts, let him learn from Paul, who cries out: "For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." For whose brothers by nature are those who believe? Not of God the Word, but of humanity of the same nature; for they are also conformed to this. And elsewhere he said: "Who will transform the body of our lowliness to be conformed to the body of his glory." Therefore he is also the firstborn, the one who has many brothers; concerning whom he himself says in the Psalms: "I will proclaim your name to my brothers." And we do not say that the only-begotten is one and the firstborn another, but the same, though not in the same respect. For he is named only-begotten according to the generation from above, but he is called firstborn as the first who loosed the pangs of the birth that leads to life. For this reason he is also named firstborn from the dead, as the first to rise and the one who opened the gates of death; and firstborn of all creation, as the first born in the new creation, which he renewed by being born; concerning which the blessed Paul says:

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." But if those who prefer strife to persuasion contend that "firstborn" was said of God the Word with respect to all creation, we shall laugh at their ignorance; nevertheless we shall concede the point, so that even in this way we may demonstrate from our abundant resources that the truth is on our side. For he is called firstborn, not first-created, of all creation; so that it is clear that he himself was begotten before all creation, and nothing is older than the Son, but he was always with the Father, and existed before all creation; while the whole nature of created things came into being later, when it was brought by him into existence. So nothing will remain for the blasphemers from this. 11. That no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son. But to show the equality of the Father and the Son, let us come to the Lord's own teaching: "No one," he says, "knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal him." What is clearer than these words? Equal, he says, is our knowledge; for I know the Father, being known by him; and the Father knows me, and is known by me. But all creation is excluded from our knowledge. For how can that which does not share our nature share our knowledge? Yet some partake of a brief vision; for I reveal, as far as possible, to whomsoever I wish the knowledge concerning the Father, as in a mirror and in a riddle. These things we have learned from the Lord's teachings.

What place does "greater" and "lesser" have here? What creature knows the Creator as it is known by the Creator? What made thing receives equality with its maker? Or do we not know how divine Scripture speaks about creation? Let us therefore recall the words of the Prophet: "In the beginning you, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; and all of them will grow old like a garment, and like a cloak you will roll them up, and they will be changed; but you are the same, and your years will not fail." And again: "Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire." This is the difference between creation and Creator. Where, then, there is equality, it is no longer creature and Creator, but Father and Son; therefore he has set down these names, so that from the names we may learn the identity. "For no one," he says, "knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son." By saying "no one," he indicated creation; but creation being excluded, he shows him who remains superior to created things, and naturally united to the one who begot him: "No one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal him." Let the enemies of the truth say how divine Scripture ought to be read—by clinging to the letter, or by searching out the meaning. If then they say the latter, let them learn from what they themselves say, and do this also in their own questions, and seek the true interpretation of the matters at hand.

But if they claim that the letter suffices for exact teaching, I will refute their meaning from the passages set before us; for the Son is found to be unattainable, while the Father is attainable; and the one is incomprehensible, while the Father is visible. For when the Lord Christ said of himself, "No one knows the Son except the Father," he did not add, "and to whom the Father wills to reveal him"; but having said, "Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son," he immediately added, "and to whom the Son wills to reveal him"; and he has not only made himself visible, but has also made the vision depend on his own authority. But even if they wish to be impious against the Son ten thousand times, those who find this pleasing, we will not endure to accept a blasphemous notion concerning God and the Father; for we believe that the God of all is invisible and incomprehensible. For how could the Son be incomprehensible if he were of the one able to be comprehended? Similarly, then, we say that the Father and the Son are uncontainable, unattainable, and incomprehensible; and we believe that knowledge is revealed through the Father and the Son to the eye of the mind and to the contemplation of faith: "No one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son"; and elsewhere: "As," he says, "the Father knows me, I also know the Father." Not that the one knows more and the other less, but as I know, I am known. 12. That the power of the Father and of the Son is equal. Therefore, those whose knowledge is equal have equal power also; and those whose power is equal clearly have one essence also; and that the power of the Father and of the Son is equal, the Savior himself again taught us, saying thus:

Those who are of my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall not perish forever, nor shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." Do you see how he did not set down "I and the Father are one" in a simple way, foreseeing the heretical malice, lest they take this utterance as concerning will and purpose? But first having established the equality of power, he then brought this forward; for to the sheep, he says, that follow me I give eternal life, so that none of them perish forever; for who is so great as to be able to snatch out of my hand the things shepherded by me? For just as from the right hand of the Father, who is greater than all, it is impossible for anyone to prevail, so it is impossible for any of those guarded by me to be snatched away; "for I and the Father are one." Where then is the greater and the lesser? For if alike no one is able to snatch from the hand of the Son, nor from the hand of the Father, the greater has no place; and since the Father is greater than all, no one is able to snatch from his hand; therefore the Son is greater than all, since alike no one is able to snatch from his hand; therefore he added, "I and the Father are one." For if we follow the letter again, we shall see the Son placed first; "for I," he said, "and the Father," not the Father and I; and having shown the duality of the persons, he proclaimed the identity of the nature.

For by saying "I and the Father," he indicated the number of the persons; but by adding "we are one," he showed the unvaryingness of the power. Of those, therefore, whose knowledge and power and will are equal, of these plainly the nature also is one, even if those who blaspheme are shameless. 13. That from many places one may learn the equality of the Father and the Son. And that the Son can do the same things as the Father, one may learn from elsewhere. For at one time he says, "My Father works until now, and I work"; and at another, "As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he wills." "To whom he wills," he said, not "to whom he is commanded"; "to whom he wishes," not "to whom it is enjoined"—for the one is characteristic of slavery, the other of lordship. And again from elsewhere: "If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me; but if I do them, even if you are unwilling to believe me, believe the works, and know that the Father is in me, and I in him." See again from this too the equality of the Father and the Son; for he says, "The Father is in me, and I in him." But in the case of the greater and the lesser this cannot be found. For example, what I mean: the God of all encompasses in himself all creation together, visible and invisible, or rather holds it in his hand; for he says, "In his hand are the ends of the earth," and again, "He who holds the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants as grasshoppers." And elsewhere: "Who measured the water in his hand, and the heaven with a span, and all the earth with a handful?" All creation, then, as I said, the Maker of all holds in his hand.

But it is impossible for him to be encompassed by creation; therefore it is impossible for unequal things to contain one another. But if this is true, as it is indeed true, and the Son contains the Father, just as the Father contains the Son, it is evident that the argument for inequality has been cast out, and equality in the Father and the Son is recognized. 14. Proof that the Son is equal in honor to the Father. And this again the Master Christ himself teaches us elsewhere, saying: "I am the door. No one comes to the Father except through me." And from another place: "No one comes to me, the Son, unless my heavenly Father draws him." And from this we are taught that the Son equally with the Father, and the Father with the Son, brings those who are being saved. Where, then, is the servile ministry of the heretics? Where is the service befitting a creature? Where does it demonstrate the inequality of the Father's lordship and the Son's servitude? For we hear that now the Son leads those who desire salvation to the Father; and now the Father does this, and brings the nurslings of faith to the Son.

15. That the nature of the Father and the Son is one. And from this we learn the equal honor of the Father and the Son; and this can be learned from another place as well, when the Lord himself was conversing with the Jews who were listening. For after going through many things, he later added: "Even if I bear witness about myself, my witness is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me. And in your law it is written that the witness of two men is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me." The Jews therefore said to him: "Where is your Father?" Jesus answered them: "You know neither me nor my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father also." Alas, how great is the madness of the heretics! How great a frenzy do the heirs of the blasphemy of Arius and Eunomius suffer! In addition to the madness, one can see great shamelessness flourishing in them; for they mention the sending up and down, and they say that the sender is more honorable than the one sent—such is their ignorance of the Scriptures; and they do not consider how by Isaac Jacob into the

Having been sent to Mesopotamia, he is not for this reason less than the one who sent him according to the principle of nature; and likewise Joseph too was sent by Jacob to visit his brothers, and no one would say that he does not partake of his father's nature, since in obeying his father he accepted the mission. But perhaps they say: If the senders here are not greater than the sent according to the principle of nature, at least according to paternal dignity they hold the precedence of honor. But we find, I would say to them, O foolish ones, that even the greater were sent by the lesser, and we shall not for this reason strip the sent of their own honor; for Jonathan was sent by David, the king's son by the fugitive, the one who reigned together with his father by the one who did not dare to appear even in the rank of a servant; since therefore the one sent and the other was sent, no longer is the one sent a king according to your argument, nor is the sender a fugitive; but the dignity of the one sent has passed over to David the sender, and the lowliness of the sender has passed over to Jonathan the one sent—but it is not so. And why need one speak of human affairs? For we find God sent, and man sending; for the one who wrestled with Jacob says: "Send me, for the dawn has risen"; to whom Jacob said: "I will not let you go unless you bless me." What do the wise triflers of the faith have to say to this? But otherwise, from the Lord's own words I will find that the Father who sent is himself with the Son who was sent.

For he says, 'I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me'; and elsewhere, 'My Father did not leave me alone'; and from another place, 'My Father who remains in me, he does the works.' If, therefore, the one who sent was in him and with him, where is the lowliness of the one sent? And he who fills all things—where and from where was he sent? For a sending hints at a change of place. But if Father and Son contain all things, neither did the Father, as though being far from those to whom he sent, send the Son, nor did the Son pass over from one place to another. It remains, then, to understand that the sending was of the humanity that was assumed. But it is time to run back to the interpretation of the Lord's words. 'It is written,' he says, 'in your law, that the testimony of two men is true'; then he adds, 'I am the one who testifies concerning myself, and the Father who sent me testifies concerning me.' Looking, then, to the image, let us understand the archetype. 'The testimony of two men,' he says, 'is true'; and the nature of the two men is clearly acknowledged by all to be one. Therefore the essence of Father and Son is one, and one will be understood and confessed from the image. For just as there are two men there, so also here God and God, Father and Son, and by their very names they declare the sameness of nature. For the true God would not be of another nature than the truly God, nor is the Son other than he, being the Son of God. Hearing these things, the Jews asked him, 'Where is your Father?' Jesus answered, 'You know neither me nor my Father.

If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. See again how from this the consubstantial is demonstrated. For he says, If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; but from the heteroousion the heteroousion is not made known. For things of another kind and alien are not indicative of one another; but things that share a nature are known through one another. Through one man it is possible to see the whole nature of men, and through one sheep the whole kind of sheep; but not through sheep lions, nor through lions sheep, nor angels through men, nor men through angels; for each living thing is indicative of its own nature. If, then, the only-begotten Word of God is a creature, and is from things that are not, and has come to be from some other nature, how does he, when believed in, show the Father in himself? But if the Father is known through the Son, and the one who knows the Son also knows the Father, let every blasphemous tongue be bridled and, according to the prophet, cleave to its throat; but we, the worshippers of the Trinity, receive from this the precise knowledge of the consubstantial, reckoning that the Father would not otherwise have been made known in the Son, if he had not happened to be of the same essence. And we worship our Savior, awaiting the fruit of worship, of which the Father himself is the provider according to the Lord's voice: For, he says, if anyone serves me, my Father will honor him. And John the wonderful theologian says, The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. 16.

That the Lord taught in many places that his own essence and the Father's are one. But so that we may demonstrate the consubstantial also from another testimony, let us hear the Lord himself crying out and saying, not only to the apostles but also to the Jews: "He who believes in me does not believe in me, but in the one who sent me. And he who sees me sees the one who sent me; I have come as a light into the world, so that the one who believes in me may not remain in the darkness." If, then, the one who sees the Son believes in the Father, where is the greater and the lesser? For in the lesser the greater is diminished and is not made known; but if the Father is greater, how is he seen in the Son? And if he is seen in the Son, he is clearly made known as in an equal; for equals are indicative of one another. And again, after a little, the Lord himself says to the apostles: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; and from now on you know him and have seen him." Philip says to him: "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." Jesus says to him: "Have I been with you so long a time, and you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen my Father also; and how do you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words that I speak, I do not speak from myself; but the Father who remains in me, he does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me; but if not, believe me because of the works themselves." What is clearer than these words?

What is clearer than this teaching? But, as it seems, the veil of the Jews has passed over to the mind of the heretics; therefore they are unwilling to see things clearer than the sun, having drawn over themselves the self-chosen mist of ignorance. But let us hear the Lord saying: "If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; and from now on you know him, and have seen him." He says this to Thomas, who had said to him, "We do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way?" And he teaches him, and the rest of the apostles, that whoever has believed in him, having beheld him with the eyes of the mind, has also become a beholder of the Father, since the Father is made known in him. Philip, not understanding these things, entreats him, saying: "Show us your Father, and it is enough for us." And he is not praised, as having desired to see something greater in the manner of the heretics; but he is reproached, as not having beheld the Father in the Son. For he says: "Have I been with you so long a time, and you have not known me, Philip?" And yet Philip desired to see not him but the Father. How then is he reproached as not having known the Son? By the addition to the reproach he makes the reason clear: "For he who has seen me," he says, "has seen the Father." And how do you say, Show us the Father? "I am other," he says, "in respect of person, not in respect of nature; I carry the whole Father in myself; for I am the unvarying seal of the one who begot me, I am the express image of the Father's subsistence, the natural image coexisting with the one who begot me. Whenever, then, you wish to see him, having looked upon me, you will see both.

You will see, however, not with the eyes of the body, but with those of faith; and with those of faith to the extent of knowing the energies, not the nature or the essence; for the comprehension of this surpasses every mind. Therefore he added: "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words that I speak, I do not speak from myself, but the Father who remains in me, he does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me; but if not, believe because of the works themselves." If, then, he speaks the same things as the Father, and the Father remains in him and he in the Father, and he who has seen him has seen the Father, and he who knows him knows the Father, it is clear to all who have understanding that the nature of the Father and of the Son is one, and the Son has all things that belong to the Father; for he would not otherwise have shown the Father in himself, unless he had all things that the Father has, except fatherhood itself; for this is proper to the Father, just as sonship is proper to the Son. 17. Another proof that the Son is equal to the Father. This equality can be learned from another place as well. For Jesus said, it says: "Now the Son of man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him, and God will glorify him in himself, and will glorify him immediately." And again: "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son, so that your Son also may glorify you." O the surpassing folly of the heretics! The one who glorifies, they say, is greater than the one who is glorified; and the Father glorifies, while the Son is glorified; therefore the Father is greater than the Son.

If, then, the Son was not only glorified but also glorified the one who glorified him, what place would "greater" and "lesser" have? Unless perhaps, following the sequence of what has been said, the "greater" passes over to the one who glorifies, and in this way the Son will be found to be lesser whenever he is glorified, but greater whenever he glorifies. But to say these things is the extremity of madness and insanity. For from this we are not taught "greater" and "lesser," but the equality of the Father and the Son. For we hear that the Father also glorifies the Son, and is glorified by the Son; and the Son is glorified by the Father, and glorifies the Father; because the one who has been glorified has not received what he did not have, but what he had. He teaches this in that very passage: "Glorify me," he says, "with yourself, you, Father, with the glory which I had with you before the world existed." But if he had this glory even before the world came to be, how does he ask to receive what he always had? 18. That the dominion of the Father and the Son is one. Then, showing that he is not only glorified but also glorifies, he added: "I have manifested your name to men." And a little later, stopping the mouths of the heretics: "All that is mine," he says, "is yours, and what is yours is mine"—not dividing the common dominion, nor wishing to show that some things belong separately to the Father; but since those who utter every blasphemous word against the Only-begotten say that he receives while the Father gives, he shows that he has the same dominion over all things as the Father. "For what is mine," he says, "is all yours, and what is yours is mine"—teaching not the division of dominion, but the commonality of dominion.

But I have extended my discourse on faith to great length, although in the introduction I promised to set forth the definition in summary; for in my wish to demonstrate from the gospel teaching the worth of the Only-Begotten, I have made the discourse longer than my promise—and this though I have taken care to be brief in my interpretations. Sending the pious, therefore, to the gospel and prophetic books themselves (for these are full of the theology of the Son), I shall proceed to the sequence that lies before us. 19. On the Holy Spirit. We believe, then, as I said, in God the Father, without beginning, and in God the Son, co-eternal by nature, begotten of the Father but always with the Father, according to the voice of the Gospels; for "In the beginning," it says, "was the Word." And we believe also in the Holy Spirit, the upright, the governing, the good, the consubstantial, the one who proceeded from God, not begotten (for there is one Only-Begotten), nor indeed created (for nowhere do we find it numbered with creation in the divine Scripture, but ranked with the Father and the Son); and we have heard that it proceeds from the Father, and we do not busy ourselves with how it proceeds, but we accept the definitions laid down for us by the theologians and blessed men. 20. That the Spirit is ranked with the Father and the Son. For we have been taught by our Savior Jesus Christ himself that the Holy Spirit completes the Trinity; for "Go," he says, "make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"; and being attested together with the Father and the Son, it is higher than all creation.

Therefore the blessed Paul also, proclaiming it together with the Father and the Son, continues: "For the grace of our Lord Jesus, he says, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 21. Demonstration of the Spirit's lordship. And again: "There are divisions of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are divisions of ministries, but the same Lord; and there are divisions of workings, but it is the same God who works all things in all." And proclaiming his authority, he cried out: "But all these things the same and one Spirit works, dividing to each one individually, distributing the gifts to believers as he wills." For through him we have received release from sins; through him we obtain freedom; through him we enjoy the gift of adoption. "For we did not receive, says Paul, a spirit of slavery again unto fear, but we received the Spirit of adoption, in whom we cry, Abba, Father." And elsewhere: "For the law of the Spirit of life has set me free from the law of sin and death." And from another place: "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." But to set others free is not to be a slave; for how could he impart to fellow slaves what he does not himself possess, what he is not able to obtain, what he wishes, as is reasonable, to enjoy but cannot? But if he imparts freedom to believers and sets the enslaved free, he is clearly not a slave but a master, and grants freedom in a masterly way to whom he wills.

Therefore the blessed Paul also said, "All these things the one and the same Spirit works, distributing to each one individually as he wills." Therefore the prophet also, proclaiming his authority in the Old Testament, cried out: "The Lord has sent me, and his Spirit." And God, reproaching the Jews, says: "They made a plan, but not by me, and covenants not by my Spirit," showing the Holy Spirit to be a sharer in the lordship. And elsewhere he says: "Therefore I am with you, and my Spirit stands in your midst." 22. That the Paraclete is a creator. And Job, believing it to be creative and lordly, and not servile nor a creature, says: "The divine Spirit is that which made me, and the breath of the Almighty is that which teaches me." But if it created human nature, it has the same essence as the Father and the Son; for in the making of man God said: "Let us make man in our image and according to our likeness." And of those whose image is one, clearly their essence is also one. 23. That the Holy Spirit is from God. And that the Holy Spirit is of divine essence, God himself teaches us through the prophet Joel, saying: "In the last days I will pour out from my Spirit upon all flesh." And the Lord Christ teaches us, saying to the disciples: "But when they deliver you up, do not

be anxious how or what you will speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you"; and again Paul: "But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you." And a little later: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." And elsewhere: "But to us, he says, God has revealed through his Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God"; for who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man that is in him? So also the things of God no one knows, except the Spirit who is from God." From these things it is evident that the Holy Spirit is not of a different race, nor of a different substance, but of the divine nature; therefore it also knows the deep things of God, and understands the things of God, as our soul understands its own. But if anyone thinks that searching implies ignorance, he will find this also said of the Father: "For he who searches, he says, the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit." But if the God of all, not being ignorant, searches, but clearly knows all things before they come to be, then the Holy Spirit of God also does not search the deep things of God through ignorance; for how would it fit the one who is ignorant, that as the spirit of a man knows the things in him, so also no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God? For knowledge is contrary to searching; and the soul does not search its own things, but knows them exactly; therefore the Holy Spirit has exact knowledge of God; and just as no one knows the Father except the Son, nor the Son except the Father, so, he says, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

From what has been said we are taught the commonality of the nature. But since those who are sick with every shamelessness—the disciples, I mean, of Arius and Eunomius—in their blasphemy say that the Spirit of God is God himself, the blessed Paul necessarily demonstrates the person of the Spirit: "For we," he says, "did not receive the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we might know the things graciously given to us by God, which we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Holy Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually discerned. For who has known the mind of the Lord, who will instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." Therefore, by saying, "We did not receive the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God," he taught that the Holy Spirit is not of the same kind as the world, but is of the divine essence. And in addition to this he taught that his discourse is not about God the Father, but about the Holy Spirit, whose grace those who believe receive. Therefore he said "the Spirit who is from God," teaching that it has its existence from the Father, and that it is of that nature—not by generation, but as only the one who knows the Son knows, and the one who alone knows the Father, and the one who alone knows the Father and the Son; which we have learned from God, but the manner we have not been taught. And we are content with the measures of knowledge that have been given, and we do not ignorantly busy ourselves with things that cannot be attained.

24. That the great Apostle knows the Holy Spirit to be God. And that the Holy Spirit is God's, Paul again teaches us: "You were washed," he says, "and you were sanctified and you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God." For why are we called temples of God, receiving the grace of the Spirit through baptism, unless the Holy Spirit is God? And that the faithful are called temples of the Spirit, the same Apostle teaches us, saying: "Do you not know that your bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought with a price." And the temple proclaims the God who dwells in it; therefore he also said above: "Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, which you are." If, then, the faithful receive the grace of the Spirit through baptism, and being deemed worthy of this gift we are called a temple of God, then the Holy Spirit is God. For this reason, if those who enjoy and are called the indwelling and temple of God are those who partake of the grace of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit is clearly of the divine nature, and consubstantial with the Father and the Son. But if it is a creature and happens to be from another substance, those who obtain its gift would not reasonably be called temples of God; but if those who enjoy some partial and brief grace from it are named temples of God, from the appellation we shall understand the kinship.

This too the crown of the apostles teaches in the Acts, convicting Ananias of his theft. 25. That the divine Peter also agrees concerning the Spirit. "Ananias," he says, "why has Satan deceived your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to withhold from the price of the land?" And a little later: "You did not lie to men, but to God." For since he thought he was escaping the notice of the apostles as though they were men, having stolen from the price of the property what he wished, the chief of the apostles teaches him that those who possess the grace of the Spirit know clearly all things done in secret. "For you did not lie to us," he says, "but to the Holy Spirit. Do not, then, suppose that you have deceived men; for it is God who has been lied to by you. For you did not lie to men, but to God. It was not we," he says, "who were misled by you, but the Holy Spirit, who is God, having his existence from God and being of that nature." Luke also makes this clear in the Acts; for having said earlier that while the brothers were ministering to the Lord and fasting in Antioch, the Holy Spirit said: 26. Proof from many passages that the Holy Spirit is God. "Set apart for me Paul and Barnabas for the work to which I have called them." And having added that, sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and having recounted how, going around Cyprus and Lycia and Lycaonia and Pamphylia and Bithynia, they preached the Gospel, he adds:

And sailing from there to Antioch, Barnabas and Paul, from where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled; and when they arrived and gathered the Church, they reported all that God had done with them." Having mentioned the Spirit above, as having set apart Paul and Barnabas for the work to which they had been called, he calls this to mind after their return; and he places the title of God twice: first, saying that they sailed to Antioch, from where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled; and second, that, having gathered the Church, they reported all that God had done with them. And indeed it was the Holy Spirit who worked wonders, who gave wisdom, who supplied understanding, who strengthened the preachers, who inspired in them the word of teaching; therefore Paul also said: "For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith in the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings in the same Spirit," and so on. Then, teaching that the Holy Spirit distributes these things not as a servant but with authority, granting them to whom he wills, he added: "But all these things the one and the same Spirit works, dividing to each one individually as he wills." If, then, the Holy Spirit worked these things through the apostles as he willed, and Barnabas and Paul, having gathered the Church, reported all that God had done with them, then God is

The Holy Spirit, according to the voice of the apostles. That this happened also in Jerusalem, the most divine Luke relates. "For," he says, "all the multitude was silent, and heard Barnabas and Paul explaining how many signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles." Therefore the Holy Spirit is God; for the same one works the signs and wonders. Wherefore also the Lord in the Gospels said: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." And again in the Acts, Luke says that Paul, having chosen Silas, went out, having been handed over by the brethren to the grace of God—again calling the Holy Spirit God, who through the brethren in Antioch set him apart for the work to which he had called him. Again the blessed Paul says in the letter to the Corinthians: "Whom God has placed in the Church, first prophets and apostles, then pastors and teachers and evangelists, for the equipping of the saints"; and in Miletus, instructing the brethren and reminding them of the grace given: "Take heed therefore to yourselves," he says, "and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as bishops to shepherd the Church of the Lord, which he obtained through his own blood." See again here also the divinity of the Spirit. For there, having mentioned God as appointing pastors and teachers and evangelists, here he says concerning the Spirit: "In which the Holy Spirit has placed you as bishops to shepherd the Church.

teaching that the Holy Spirit is God, and that to say God and Spirit is the same thing, because of the communion of nature; for the Son and the Holy Spirit cooperate in the things that are done by God the Father; and God the Father likewise approves the things that are accomplished by the Son and the Spirit. And from another place again the blessed Paul proclaims that the Spirit is God: "For if," he says, "all prophesy, and some unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is examined by all, the secrets of his heart become manifest; and so, falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that God is truly among you." For since prophecy is a gift of the Spirit, and through the revelation of the Spirit the secrets of the heart become manifest, and it is proper to God to know the mind of men, necessarily the one convicted through the prophecy, being examined, will worship God, declaring that God is truly among you; and those men had the grace of the Spirit. But if God was among them, since they partook of the grace of the Spirit, then the Holy Spirit is God and from God. 27. That the Holy Spirit is from God without creation, and therefore is also called eternal. And the most divine Peter in the Catholic Epistles: "If," he says, "you are reproached in the name of Christ, blessed are you, because the Spirit of glory and power and of God rests upon you." And the blessed John in the Epistle:

By this,” he says, “we know that we remain in him, and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.” But what is proclaimed to be of God is not a creature, but exists from the divine essence; therefore the blessed Paul also calls it eternal, since it has not received its being with a beginning: “For if,” he says, “the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctifies for perfection, how much more the blood of Christ, who through the Holy Spirit offered himself?” If, then, the Holy Spirit is eternal, and God is eternal, the conclusion is clear. But let us leave it to the diligent to collect all the testimonies concerning the Holy Spirit, both those that proclaim him God and Lord and those that say he is ranked together with the Father and the Son; and let us hasten to the end of the teaching set before us. 28. A recapitulation of the faith. Therefore we believe that the nature of the Trinity is one, one essence known in three properties, the authority indivisible, the kingdom undivided, one divinity and lordship. For in this way both the unity is shown in the sameness of the essence, and the Trinity is known not in mere names but in the hypostases. For we do not say one thing with three names, according to the combination and confusion of Sabellius, Photinus, and Marcellus; nor three things of different kind and different essence, unequal and unlike, surpassing one another, measured and weighed out by mind and tongue, according to the division, alienation, and impious meddling of Arius.

But we hold three hypostases, and one nature of the Trinity—incorporeal, immutable, unchangeable, unending, immortal, infinite, incorruptible, uncircumscribable, incomprehensible, invisible, indistinct, ineffable, unutterable, inconceivable, unattainable, beyond thought, self-life, intellectual light, fountain of good things, treasure of wisdom, creator of all things, governing all things, wisdom steering the vessel of creation. This faith we hold; for we were taught it by the men who spoke of God. But to those who argue from syllogisms, let us say: That is your portion, that your lot; but our portion is the Lord, and following him we shall not abandon the right way; for we have also the divine Scripture teaching us; therefore we rightly cry out: "Your law is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths." Illumined by this light, let us recognize the footprints of the fathers who have gone before, let us follow them until we all attain to the resurrection of the dead in Christ Jesus the Lord, to whom be the glory forever. Amen.