Breviarium Fidei Adversos Arianos Haereticos

A Brief of the Faith against the Arian Heretics, in which the equality of the three divine persons is clearly proven by many passages and arguments of Sacred Scripture. Author unknown, but very ancient. The greatest cause of the heretics’ error is that they either do not know or do not wish to observe that in the Lord Jesus Christ, just as there is one person, so there are two substances: God from God the Father, and man from a human mother; and what the Lord himself says according to the dispensation of the assumed flesh they attribute to the divinity, such as: “The Father is greater than I” (John 14:28), or: “Jesus, weary from the journey” (John 4:6), or: “He wept for Lazarus” (John 11:35), or other things of this kind which are read. If they were willing to heed that saying of the Apostle: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor. 5:19), or that of the Gospel: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), they would not doubt, as was said above, to confess that in one person there are two substances; and when they hear it said: “The Father is greater than I,” they would take it according to the humanity; but when they hear: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), they would not doubt that it was said according to the divinity, as can be understood from his works. For according to the man he hungered, to show true flesh; but according to God he fed five thousand men with five loaves, to prove himself God by his miracles.

According to his humanity he thirsted; according to his divinity he refreshed the Samaritan woman with living water. According to his humanity he boarded a ship; but according to his divinity he walked on the sea with his feet. According to his humanity he slept in the ship; according to his divinity he commanded the winds and the waves. According to his humanity he wept for Lazarus; according to his divinity he, who was dead, raised him from the tomb. According to his humanity he hung on the cross; according to his divinity he gave paradise to the thief from the cross. According to his humanity he suffered and tasted death; according to his divinity he raised himself from the dead. If they wished to discern these and similar things wisely, and to assign to each substance what is its own, they could easily keep the course of right faith, and not, on account of his benefits which he undertook or suffered for our redemption in the form of a servant, heap insults upon his divinity; and wherever they read in the Scriptures something according to the humanity which would speak less of the divinity, yet on account of the dispensation of the assumed flesh, the humanity attests to this. For we, just as we read that he is God, so we nowhere read that he is a greater or lesser God, nor ought we to believe this with a religious mind. But he still persists and says: It cannot be that the Son is not believed to be lesser than the Father, because he is known to be from the Father. The custom of human generation deceives him, so that because he is called Son, he is believed to be lesser than the Father. Among men, the father generates a son as lesser for this reason, because he himself was generated as lesser by his father.

Therefore, as the son grows, the father grows old, and when the father dies, the son is proven to succeed, and sometimes becomes better and more powerful than the father. But with God it is not so; because where divinity has no capacity to grow or grow old, it is fitting that the Son should have an equal love, since fullness cannot have a greater. Therefore the Perfect begot the Perfect, the Almighty begot the Almighty, the Full begot the Full; and because He had no increase of age, He could not beget a lesser being; but I recognize that the Son is entirely as the Father is, just as He Himself says: "He who sees me sees also the Father" (John 14:9); and elsewhere: "He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him" (John 5:23). But perhaps because you hear that He was sent, you think Him lesser. I ask you: do you believe the Son is God, or not? Without doubt you will answer that He is God; because even if you wish to deny it, you will be convinced by the Holy Scriptures, as the Apostle says: "From whom Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever" (Romans 9:5). And John in his Epistle: "That we may be," he says, "in His true Son, who is true God and eternal life" (1 John 5:20). And Thomas: "My God," he says, "and my Lord" (John 20:28). And Melchizedek the high priest: "Blessed," he says, "Abraham by the most high God, who created heaven and earth" (Genesis 14:19). You see that He is proven not only as God, but as the most high God by the words of Melchizedek.

The prophet Hosea also bears witness, saying: "Fixing the heaven, and creating the earth, I am the Lord your God, whose hands created the whole host of heaven" (Isa. 41:18; 42:5). If therefore the Son is God, indeed because He is God, because through Him all things were made, and not only not lesser, but the most high God, I ask you, whether God is everywhere, or perhaps locally? Since it is impious to deny that God is everywhere, I beseech you, where was He sent? But understand the sending of the Son as His incarnation, with the Apostle himself explaining: "He sent," he says, "His Son, made from a woman, made under the law" (Gal. 4:4). Finally, we read about Him in the prophet: "I fill heaven and earth," says the Lord (Jer. 23:24). And the Evangelist about the same: "We have all received," he says, "His fullness" (John 1:16). And if He Himself fills all things, where was He sent, He by whose majesty all things are full? But still perhaps you say, as carnal understanding has it, that between the begetting Father and the begotten Son it could not have happened except that there was some interval. They make an interval of an hour; hours designate time: and thus, if you place time before the Son, you do not confess that all things were made through Him. And where is that: "All things were made through Him" (John 1:3)? Certainly, according to your proposition I reply, you who say that the Father was at some time without the Son. We likewise read in the Apostle: "Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor.

I, 24), and the Lord himself speaks about himself: "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). If therefore the Father existed without the Son, as you say, he existed without power, he existed without wisdom, he existed without life, he existed without truth. But because the Father must never be believed to have existed without these, it is fitting for your salvation that, according to the Catholic faith, you acknowledge the Son as coeternal with the Father and equal to him: for his power is read as eternal, with the Apostle saying: "His power and divinity are also eternal" (Rom. 1:20). Similarly concerning the truth, with the Psalmist saying: "And the truth of the Lord remains forever" (Ps. 116:1). They are also accustomed to generate a kind of slanderous question from these matters. "The Father is greater," they say, "to such an extent that he is always named first." Even if he were always named first, it would seem very fitting; because the Son is from him, not he from the Son. Yet so that you may recognize their equality, hear in the Scriptures where the Son is also named first. John the Evangelist says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:2). In the Word he certainly indicated the Son. And the Apostle to the Ephesians: "Do you not know that every fornicator and unclean person has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God" (Eph. 5:5)? Behold, here too the Son is named first. And to the Galatians: "Paul the Apostle, not by men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father" (Gal. 1:1).

And to the Thessalonians: "Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, both God and our Father, who loved us" (2 Thess. 2:15). To the Corinthians: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit with all of you" (2 Cor. 13:13). And the Lord himself says: "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). He does not say: "The Father and I." And elsewhere: "Who sees me, sees also the Father" (John 14:9). And again: "Who does not honor the Son, does not honor the Father who sent him" (John 5:23). Behold how many times the Son is named first! But because there is equality in the Father and the Son, neither being named before nor after can present any prejudice to the other, since there is no diversity where there is equal divinity in both. But we read thus because human speech cannot otherwise express itself except that, having said one, it then says the other. Behold, so that you may recognize that there is nothing greater there, and nothing less, the question about the Father being named first has ceased; because where there is one substance, one deity, and incorporeal immensity, no disparity or diversity is to be supposed. For where one God is believed, there lesser and greater are excluded. For unity knows no number, and equality admits no degree, as it is written: "You shall not go up by steps to my altar" (Exod. 20:26).

And so let contention be set aside, and let the inseparable Trinity be held with catholic faith, joined without mixture, separated without division, because the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one full God. For reason itself teaches that one neither receives a later nor a prior; he who is alone cannot know comparison or separation; he who is full cannot be lesser, because nothing can be added to or taken away from perfection. Therefore let three persons be believed, but not three substances; three properties, but not three powers. Thus there is one eternity without beginning, just as there is one majesty without end, a Father without an author, a Son without time, a Holy Spirit without a superior. For we Catholics call our Lord God Jesus Christ both lesser than the Father and equal: lesser on account of the assumed humanity, because when he was in the form of God, he deigned to put on the form of a servant; but we call him equal on account of the perpetual divinity, by which, as the Son existing from the Father, he is coeternal with the Father. Why, then, do they not confess him equal with us, when we do not deny him lesser with them? especially since we read both in the holy Scriptures, as the Evangelist says: "For this reason," he says, "the Jews sought to kill him, because not only did he break the Sabbath, but he also called God his Father, making himself equal to God" (John 5:18). Behold, the impiety of the Jews calls him equal, and a Christian does not blush to call him lesser.

And elsewhere the same Evangelist says: "He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him" (John 5:23). For equal honor is shown only to equals. And in another place the same author says: "Just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes" (John 5:21). Hear him saying: "Just as the Father, so also the Son." Hear him saying: "Whomever he wishes," and recognize him as equal to the Father and of his own power; and do not call God lesser, because nowhere in the holy Scriptures do we read of a greater God or a lesser one. Just as he himself says to Philip: "He who sees me sees also the Father" (John 14:9). And: "Everything that the Father does, these same things the Son also does in like manner" (John 5:19). Or that: "The Word was God" (John 1:1). And the Apostle, as we have recalled: "Who is," he says, "over all, God blessed forever" (Romans 9:5). And the Apostle: "Who, though he was in the form of God, did not consider it a usurpation to be equal to God" (Philippians 2:6). Why is this? Because no one usurps what he does not have. Therefore he who possessed equality did not consider it through usurpation; but what the rebellious angel wished to assume through usurpation, Christ possessed by nature. But because he is true God, hear the blessed John saying in his Epistle: "And let us be," he says, "in his true Son Jesus Christ: he is true God and eternal life" (1 John 5:20). You hear "true God," and do you presume to call him lesser, and do you not confess him equal?

The blessed Apostle also says to Titus: "Awaiting the blessed hope and the coming of the glory of the great God" (Titus 2:13). With what face can He be called lesser, whom the Apostle proclaims as the great God? This faithless error also commonly asserts that where in the Scriptures we read either "only God," or "only the highest," or "only the wise," this is not to be understood of the Trinity, but must be taken as referring to the Father alone. How absurd it is to think in this way is proven by this one testimony. For the Apostle says: "Known to the only wise God" (Romans 16:26); they do not understand that he did not say "to the only wise Father," but "to the only wise God," which is the Trinity. For while they attribute this to the Father alone, they blasphemously declare the Son to be unwise. And how can the Apostle call Him the wisdom of God, if the Father alone is wise, since no one can be wise except through his own wisdom? And what of that which the same Apostle declares about Christ Jesus to the Colossians: "In whom," he says, "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 1:3)? From this let them recognize how foolish is what they put forward, and that wherever they read something similar, they should not attribute it to a single person, but to the blessed Trinity, which alone is the supreme and true God. For concerning the Holy Spirit, the Apostle speaks thus: "To one indeed is given through the Spirit a word of wisdom, to another, however, a word of knowledge according to the same Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:8).

If, therefore, through the Holy Spirit, as is true, the word of both wisdom and knowledge is bestowed, how can this be ascribed to the person of the Father alone, that He alone is wise, unless, as has been said, these things belong to the coeternal Trinity? They are also accustomed to say that the Son is lesser because He is visible, while the Father is invisible. They do not understand that the Son is not visible in the substance of His divinity, except in the assumed man, who is also called Christ. For the Son of God, that is, the Word, which was in the beginning God with God, through whom all things were made, could not be seen in His own substance, just as the Father cannot be seen in His own substance. I ask, however, without injury to him, that same one who says that the Son of God was seen, whether he declares his own soul to be visible or invisible: and when he has said it is invisible, as is indeed true, let it be said to him: If a creature, that is, your soul, is invisible, a creature indeed of God, how could the creator of the universe have been visible? But He put on flesh, which could be seen, because divinity could not be seen by man. In this flesh the Father is greater: equal to the Word, greater than the flesh: equal to Him through whom He made us, greater than the one who was made for us. For that the Son is God, although many testimonies set forth above clearly teach this, yet I have believed a few more should be added. In Genesis it is written: God created the heaven (Gen. 1:1), and certainly the Evangelist confirms that all things were created by the Son (John 1:3).

Again in the same place it follows: God created man in his own image and likeness (Gen. 1:27). Behold, recognize God here, because He Himself created man. And Isaiah says of John the forerunner of the Lord: Make straight the paths of our God (Isa. 40:3). Of which God, if not indeed of the Son, whom we do not doubt came in the flesh? And a little later: Strengthen the slack hands, and fortify the weak knees. Say to the faint-hearted: Behold, your God will come in strength, and will save you, and then the eyes of the blind will be opened (Isa. 35:3). Which we certainly know was fulfilled at the coming of Christ. The Psalmist also says: All the nations which you have made will come and worship before you; you are wonderful and do wonderful things; you are the only God (Ps. 85:9). I do not think anyone is so impious as to deny that the Son of God has done wonderful things and created all nations, unless perhaps the Jews. And elsewhere Isaiah, when he announces the coming of Christ through a virgin, says among other things: And his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God (Isa. 9:6). But also the blessed Apostle: For we all must appear before the tribunal of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10). And so that you may recognize that Christ is God, he says elsewhere: We will all stand before the tribunal of God (Rom. 14:10). I live, says the Lord, that every knee will bow to me. He certainly speaks of Christ, whom we believe will come to judge the living and the dead.

The Psalmist, making the voices of the angels when Christ had ascended into the heavens, says: "Lift up your gates, O princes, and be raised up, O eternal gates, and the king of glory will enter" (Ps. 24:7). And when they ask who this king of glory is, the Lord answered: "The strong and mighty Lord of hosts; He Himself is the king of glory" (Ibid., 8, 10). And lest they think this is said of the Father, as they understand many things absurdly, let them hear the Apostle agreeing with this verse: "For if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Cor. 2:8). Since, by both present and past testimonies which have been demanded from the holy Scriptures, the Son is shown to be God, I wonder why some dare to blaspheme by calling Him lesser, when nowhere at all is God read to be lesser, except, as has been said, on account of the dispensation of the assumed flesh, in which He was not only made lesser than the angels, but is found younger than His own mother, as we have already said. Therefore, according to this rule, believe two substances in Christ: true God and true man. According to His humanity, He is subject to death; according to His divinity, He is recognized as the author of life, as the blessed Peter says: "You asked that a murderer be given to you, but you killed the author of life" (Acts 3:14).

According to His humanity: "My soul is sorrowful unto death" (Matt. 26:38); according to His divinity: "I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again, and no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord" (John 10:18). Hence also they are accustomed to seize an occasion for slander from the fact that the Lord said in the Gospel: "The Son cannot do anything else except what He has seen the Father doing" (John 5:19). Which, since the carnal mind does not understand, it thinks was said to show that He is from the Father, as both God and Son: as is customary among men, for example, when a father who is a craftsman teaches his son his craft, so that the son may more specifically imitate what he has seen his father doing. How absurd it is to believe this about the omnipotent God the Father, who is incorporeal, invisible, inestimable, and immense, anyone who has sound eyes of the heart can clearly recognize. For those who think thus are to be asked: By whom was this world which we behold made? Surely they will not deny that it was by the Son, with the Evangelist bearing witness and saying: "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made" (John 1:3). Let them say, therefore, where the Son saw the Father previously making another world, so that afterwards He might create this one; especially since with the power of God, to have willed is to have created, as we read: "He speaks, and they are made" (Ps. 33:9).

But with the veil of the heart removed, let them learn to believe that the Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son: because the divinity, whole and present everywhere, of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, can never be without itself, as He Himself says: "I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me" (John 20:38), and let them recognize what it is to see the Son, that there is one substance, one power, one glory. Let nothing there be believed greater, and nothing lesser. For if we earthly men, when we wish to do something with our body, first introduce it in our mind through the prior insinuation of meditation, and accomplish it through wisdom carrying it out, and in a certain way, with a plan born in our mind, we first act within our heart what we intend to do—which, nevertheless, without any division of senses, a single mind indissociably produces—how then does not God the Father, with God the Son, who is His wisdom, remaining in Himself, because He Himself is, as we have often said, the wisdom and power of the Father, accomplish everything in one will and one operation? But neither does the Father do one thing, and the Son another; rather, what the Father does, the same the Son also does, as He Himself testifies: "Whatever," He says, "the Father does, these same things the Son likewise does" (John 5:19).

But He said: "The Son cannot do anything by Himself, except what He sees the Father doing" (John 8:28), so that we may know and believe that the Son is from the Father, and not from Himself or from elsewhere, but coeternal with the Father, because the Father always exists perfect in Himself, and nothing was ever lacking to Him or added to Him. For if at some time, as the Arians blaspheme, the Father existed without the Son, then the Father was imperfect, then He was without the Word, and, as we have already mentioned, He was without wisdom, without power, without life, without justice, without truth: because all these species of divinity are known according to the Scriptures to be the Son. But since it is blasphemous ever to say that the Father existed without these powers, it is right, it is fitting, that you acknowledge the Son as coeternal and coequal with the Father. For if God speaks in our hearts, He speaks in a wondrous way without sound; how do you think He can speak to His Son, who is His Word? So think thus: He spoke to the Son incorporeally, because He also begot the Son incorporeally. For He did not teach Him as if He had begotten an untaught one. But this is what "He taught me" means: that He begot me knowing and learned. And this is: "The Father taught me" (John 8:28), which means: "The Father begot me knowing." How, then, can the Son do nothing by Himself, concerning whom the Prophet testifies and says: "But God in heaven above, and on earth, did whatever He wished" (Psalm 113:11)?

But perhaps you will say that this was said about the Father. Return to the Evangelist saying about the Son that all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made (John 1:3). He also speaks to Moses: "Go," He says, "tell the children of Israel, the God of your fathers has sent me to you" (Exodus 3:12). When the other responds and says, "Tell me your name, for they will not believe me," after this the Lord adds, "Go, tell the children of Israel: I am who I am, and He who is has sent me to you" (Exodus 3:14). And lest you take this as said about the Father, hear the blessed Apostle agreeing with this passage and in a way expounding the same testimony to the Corinthians: "The Son of God," he says, "who was preached to you through me, and Silvanus, and Timothy, was not in that 'is and is not,' but in Him there was 'is.' For all the promises of God are in Him" (2 Corinthians 1:19). Hear Paul agreeing with Moses, and do not disagree with the Catholic faith. For if you ask the Catholic Church what the Father is, it says God; but it also says the Son is God, and it also says the Holy Spirit is God; and yet it does not say three gods, lest it be compared to the Gentiles, who in their error invent many gods. But we will believe Scripture, both of the New and the Old Testament, that God is one; and if one is greater and another lesser, as the Arians say, one cannot be spoken of, for inequality excludes unity. But how we believe both three and one, pay attention.

Equality of powers makes unity; the property of persons makes Trinity. You have heard how He Himself taught that His equality with the Father is to be understood: "I," He says, "and the Father are one" (John 10:30). "One" is one thing, "are" is another. For when He says "are," He signifies persons. "We are one," that is, we are justice, and the same wisdom, undivided power, equal glory. Since this is so, let dissension be removed, and let the faith be held intact. They also say: The Father is greater because He is immortal. They must be asked whether they admit that the Son is mortal in the substance of His divinity. If they say so, every man can recognize how contrary to reason they speak, who does not doubt that even the human soul is immortal. But this must be said to them: that He is said to have suffered and died according to the flesh. For according to the divinity, in which He always existed and created all things, He remains immortal. They also say He is visible; let those who say this recognize how absurd that is, since not even the human soul can be visible, how much less God in His substance? But He assumed flesh for this reason, which could be seen, because the deity could not be beheld with bodily eyes. Let these things about the equality of the Father and the Son suffice for the present. For concerning the equality of the works of the Trinity, that is, of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we will show a little later, with the Lord's gift, from the holy Scriptures.

Now concerning the deity of the Holy Spirit, a few testimonies from among many are to be set forth, whom the heretics are said not only to assert as lesser, but even to deny as God altogether. Let them hear a few things concerning the deity of the Holy Spirit. In Genesis, the divine word says: "The Spirit of the Lord was borne over the waters" (Gen. 1:2). This is an eminence of power, not a lack of necessity. And in the Gospel: "Spirit is God: and those who worship, it is fitting to worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). And lest you understand this as said of the Father, and not of the Holy Spirit, hear what follows: "The Spirit breathes where it wills" (John 3:8). Hear "where it wills," so that you may not doubt that it is of its own power. And the Apostle says to the Corinthians: "There are divisions of graces, but the Spirit is the same: and there are divisions of operations, but the same God, who works all things in all" (1 Cor. 12:4). And that you may recognize the Spirit itself named Lord and God, hear how he concludes further on: "To one indeed is given through the Spirit a word of wisdom, to another a word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith in the same Spirit" (Ibid., 8), and so forth. And thus he concludes: "But all these things one and the same Spirit works, distributing to each as it wills" (Ibid., 11). He who dispenses divine gifts as he wills knows no law of a superior. Acknowledge at last, that he who divides as he wills is proven to be subject to no one, but is recognized to be of his own power.

For from the highest power descends the will, which no authority contradicts. And to the Hebrews he similarly speaks concerning the distributions of the Holy Spirit according to his own will. And who this distributor and divider is, he clearly shows to the Romans, saying: "To each one as God has divided the measure of faith" (Rom. 12:3). And to the Corinthians: "Do you not know," he says, "that you are a temple of God, and the spirit of God dwells in you" (1 Cor. 3:16)? "If anyone violates the temple of God, God will destroy him" (ibid., 17). And who this God is, whose temple he forbids to be violated, hear in what follows: "Do you not know that your members are a temple of the Holy Spirit" (2 Cor. 6:19)? And who this Holy Spirit would be, whose temple we would be, he demonstrates by concluding thus: "Glorify," he says, "and carry God in your body" (ibid., 20). Acknowledge the Holy Spirit clearly as God, and cease to blaspheme. And in the Acts of the Apostles, blessed Peter says to Ananias, who had vowed an offering to God and afterwards proved undevout: "Who compelled you to lie to the Holy Spirit? You have not lied to men, but to God" (Acts 5:3). Behold, here too the testimony of blessed Peter manifests him most clearly to be God. Likewise there: "The Holy Spirit said: 'Set apart for me Paul and Barnabas for the work to which I have chosen them'" (Acts 13:2).

And blessed Paul said there: "Attend," he says, "to yourselves and to the whole flock, in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as Apostles, to rule the Church of God, which He acquired with His own blood" (Acts 20:28). And who it is that separates and sends the Apostles, the same Paul declares to the Corinthians, saying: "And certain ones," he says, "God placed in the Church: first Apostles, second Prophets, third Teachers" (1 Cor. 12:28), and so forth. Behold, where he has shown the Holy Spirit to be God, clearer than light, and whom in the Acts of the Apostles he calls the Holy Spirit, to the Corinthians he has manifestly confessed to be God. For the same chosen vessel says to the Jews: "Well did the Holy Spirit prophesy about you through the mouth of the Prophet Isaiah" (Acts 28:25). And who this Holy Spirit was, who spoke in the Prophets, blessed David expresses, saying: "I will hear what the Lord God says in me" (Ps. 85:9). And in the Acts: "So that the Scripture might be fulfilled," he says, "which God set forth through the mouth of His prophets" (Acts 3:18). And here recognize that He is clearly declared to be God, who spoke through the mouth of the prophets, just as Zacharias says in the Gospel: "Blessed," he says, "is the God of Israel, because He has visited and made redemption for His people" (Luke 1:68), and after a little, he says: "As He spoke through the mouth of His holy prophets" (Ibid., 70). You recognize that the Lord God is the Holy Spirit, who spoke through the mouth of the prophets, which even the impious Jews do not deny.

If He were not God, He would not be joined in baptism with the Father and the Son under a single name of divinity, as it is written where the Lord Himself laid down the rule of baptism: "Go," He says, "baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). This testimony alone ought to suffice for heretics against disbelief in the inseparable Trinity, because not even they dare to baptize otherwise, lest they appear to corrupt the Lord's rule. And where one name is spoken, there both greater and lesser are excluded. And in the second letter to the Corinthians: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit with all of you" (1 Corinthians 13:13). So that you may recognize the one substance and divinity of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, hear the prophet Isaiah saying: "Who has weighed the mass of the earth with three fingers" (Isaiah 40:12). For we also find singularly in the Scriptures the Holy Spirit named as a finger, as in that passage in the Gospel where He says: "If I cast out demons with the finger of God" (Luke 11:20); which another evangelist declares, saying: "If I cast out demons with the Spirit of God" (Matthew 12:28). And the magicians of Pharaoh, conquered by divine signs, say: "It is the finger of God" (Exodus 8:19).

On Pentecost, which even before the coming of Christ the Jews observed, Moses received the tablets inscribed by the finger of God, that is, by the Spirit; and what was then figured on stone tablets for the very hard hearts of the Jews, after the Ascension of the Lord deigned to appear visibly on fleshly tablets, that is, in the hearts of the disciples, in the very form of fire in which it appeared to Moses in the desert, concerning which we believe Isaiah says: Our God is a consuming fire (Deut. 4:24; Heb. 12:29). And as we read that no one knows the thoughts of men except God, how is the Holy Spirit not God, who is known to know not only what is in man, but also what is in God? As the Apostle says: For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God (1 Cor. 2:10); and a little later: Thus no one has known the things of God except the Spirit of God (ibid., 2). But perhaps someone says that He is lesser because He is read as having been sent. And what will he say, when he reads in the prophet Isaiah from the person of Christ saying: The Lord sent me and His Spirit (Isa. 48:16). And elsewhere: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to proclaim remission to the poor and sight to the blind, to announce the propitious year of the Lord (Isa. 61:1), and the rest.

And so that you may know clearly that this was said about the Lord, the Evangelist adds: When the Lord Jesus had come into the synagogue, the book of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and opening it he found written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me" (Luke 4:17), and the rest which we have mentioned above. And after this: He folded, it says, the book, and gave it to the minister, and said: "Today this scripture is fulfilled among you" (Luke 4:20). Is it to be believed that one who is known to be everywhere is sent? As the Psalmist says: "Where shall I go from your Spirit, and from your face where shall I flee" (Psalm 138:7)? But just as the sending of the Son is declared to be the incarnation, when he deigned to manifest himself either in the form of a dove, or in fire, or by assuming various signs of this kind. How then is he to be believed lesser, who is also approved to have sent God, who is himself equal to the Father, for our remission? And not only to have sent, as we recalled was said through Isaiah, but also to have created according to the flesh, as you have in the Gospel the angel saying to Mary: "The Holy Spirit," it says, "will come upon you, the power of the Most High will overshadow you" (Luke 1:35), and the rest. For Christ was conceived not by generation, but by the command and blessing of the Holy Spirit, just as another evangelist says: "She was found," it says, "having in the womb from the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:28). The prophets, however, frequently say, as we have already recalled, "Thus says the Lord.

And who this Lord is, the prophet Micah clearly shows when he speaks to Ahab, saying: If you return safe from battle, the Lord has not spoken in me (3 Kings 22:28). And who this God is who has spoken in the Prophets, the apostle Paul demonstrates when he says to the Jews: Well, he says, the Holy Spirit prophesied about you through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah (Acts 28:25). Go, he says, blind the heart of this people (Isaiah 6:10), and so forth. Nevertheless, the heretics are to be asked which offense is greater: that which sins against the Father, or that which sins against the Holy Spirit, whom they say is not God. And when they have said that the offense against the Father is greater, they are to be asked again whether the children of Israel sinned against the Father or against another. When they answer that they sinned against the Father, they are to be asked again whether their sins were forgiven them. Surely they will not deny it, because we also read that they turned to God, and their sins were forgiven them. Then they are to be asked to explain how they understand the Lord's saying: Whoever sins against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, neither in this age nor in the future (Matthew 12:32). If He is not God, why is His offense said by the Lord to be so grave? Again, they are to be asked whether the children of Israel were disobedient to God or not.

Since they have not denied, because they cannot, it must be said to them how they receive that which the blessed Stephen reproaches the Jews with, saying: You have always resisted the Holy Spirit, and you have always been contumacious toward him, just as your fathers were (Acts 7:51). Hear also to the Thessalonians, where he places the Holy Spirit both in a prior position and names him Lord, saying: But the Lord direct your hearts in the charity of God and the patience of Christ (2 Thess. 3:5). Pay close attention, because here the Holy Spirit is prayed to, that he may direct the hearts of believers in the charity of God and in the patience of Christ. They are also to be asked what is greater, the heavens or the powers of the heavens? And when they have without doubt said the powers of the heavens, it must be said to them: The Holy Spirit is not lesser to such an extent, but is supreme, that while the heavens are said to be created by the Word of the Lord, the powers of the heavens are created by the Holy Spirit. Receive also where the Holy Spirit is clearly described as creator. Job says: The divine Spirit who made me (Job 33:4). And he has shown the divine creator in one verse: when he calls him divine, he shows both God and creator. Just as David also says: Send forth your Spirit, and they will be created, and you will renew the face of the earth (Ps. 104:30). They are also to be asked whether a creature can be everywhere or not? And when they have answered that it cannot be everywhere, as is indeed true, it must be said without doubt that the Holy Spirit is God, and not a creature, who is described as being everywhere.

Concerning which, as has already been said, the Prophet, fearing His omnipotence, says: "Whither shall I go from your Spirit, and from your face, whither shall I flee" (Ps. 138:7)? Therefore recognize that there is no place where the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit is not proven to be present. Likewise, they are to be asked whether anyone other than God can forgive sins; and when they answer that no one except God can, because it is written: "No one can forgive sins except God alone" (Luke 5:26), it must be said to them that without doubt the Holy Spirit is God, who is known to confer the remission of sins, just as the Lord said: "Receive the Holy Spirit; those whose sins you forgive shall have them forgiven" (John 20:22). He also, in baptism, together with the Father and the Son, grants the remission of sins to those baptized. Hear also that the Holy Spirit is God, who is frequently joined with the Father and the Son. To the Corinthians, as has already been said: "The grace," he says, "of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit with all of you" (2 Cor. 13:13). If He were not God and were a creature, as the heretic blasphemes, He would never be joined to the Father and the Son in baptism, where the salvation of the human race is at stake. For that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are of one substance, the prophet Isaiah says, as we have already recalled: "Who has weighed the mass of the earth with three fingers" (Isa. 40:12)? In which passage, by the three fingers, he taught that there is one substance in three persons.

The Apostle, understanding this as spoken concerning the Trinity, says: "All things are from Him, and through Him, and in Him are all things" (Rom. 11:36), that is, all things are contained in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Likewise, the same Apostle says to the Corinthians: "God who commanded light to shine forth from darkness, who illumined our hearts with the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus" (2 Cor. 4:6). In this passage the Trinity is most manifestly understood. "God who commanded light to shine forth from darkness" is recognized as the Holy Spirit; and where it says "the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God," the Father is understood; but where it says "in the face of Christ Jesus," the Son is designated. Hear yet further: that the Trinity abides in unity, and unity in the Trinity, the voices of angels and archangels declare in Isaiah, where the Seraphim are written to sing the hymn: "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts" (Isa. 6:3). They do not conclude with "three holies," but with "thrice holy," saying "Lord God of Hosts": that is, that you may understand three persons and one God. They do not say it once, lest you believe in a singularity; not twice, lest you exclude the Holy Spirit; not "Holy Lords of Hosts," lest you confess three gods in the manner of the pagans. But they say "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts," and the Trinity God is praised, who is the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

That He is also God can be easily approved by one who has sound eyes of the heart, from the equality of operations, as we will demonstrate in what follows. Just as the Father saves, so also the Son, so also the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father: "Save us, our God, and gather us from the nations" (Ps. 105:47). Concerning the Son: "The Son of man came to save what had perished" (Luke 19:10); and elsewhere: "For He will save His people from their sins" (Matt. 1:25). Concerning the Holy Spirit, to Titus: "He has saved us through the laver of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5). Just as the Father strengthens, so the Son, so the Holy Spirit. Esther concerning the Father: "Strengthen me, O king and God of two" (Esther 14:12). Concerning the Son, the Apostle: "I give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, who strengthened me and considered me faithful" (1 Tim. 1:12). Concerning the Holy Spirit in the Gospel: "But the child grew and was strengthened by the Holy Spirit" (Luke 1:80). The Father gives life, so the Son, so the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel: "Just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wills" (John 5:21). Concerning the Holy Spirit in the Epistle of the Apostle Peter: "Dead in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit" (1 Pet. 3:18). And the Apostle Paul says: "The letter kills, but the spirit gives life" (2 Cor. 3:6). And in the Gospel: "It is the Spirit that gives life, for the flesh avails nothing" (John 6:64).

Just as the Father frees, so the Son, so also the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father: "God, the most high, is their deliverer" (Ps. 77:3, 5). Concerning the Son in the Gospel: "If He has freed you, you will truly be free, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:36, 32). Concerning the Holy Spirit: "The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus freed me from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2). The Father chooses, so the Son, so also the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father, the Apostle: "Blessed is God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who chose us before the constitution of the world" (Eph. 1:3). Concerning the Son: "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you" (John 15:16). Concerning the Holy Spirit in the Acts: "When they had fasted and prayed, the Holy Spirit said to them, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Paul for the work which I have chosen them'" (Acts 13:2). The Father is called Creator, so the Son, so also the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father, the Apostle: "What is the dispensation of the sacrament hidden by God who created all things" (Eph. 3:9). Concerning the Son, to the Colossians: "Because by Him all things were created, and all things consist in Him" (Col. 1:17); and in the Gospel: "All things were made through Him" (John 1:3). Concerning the Holy Spirit in Solomon: "And He saw and numbered and measured all things; He Himself created them through the Holy Spirit" (Sir. 1:9); and in the Psalm: "Send forth Your Spirit, and they will be created" (Ps. 103:30); and elsewhere: "The Spirit of His mouth, all their power" (Ps. 32:6). Just as the Father foretold, so the Son, so also the Holy Spirit.

Concerning the Father: "But God, who foretold that His Christ would suffer, fulfilled it" (Acts 3:18). Concerning the Son in the Gospel: "The angel said to the women, 'Go and announce to the brethren that He has gone before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He foretold to you'" (Mark 16:7). Concerning the Holy Spirit in Acts: "Peter said, 'The scripture must be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold through the mouth of David'" (Acts 1:16). The Father is great, so the Son, so also the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father: "Great is our God and worthy of praise" (Ps. 47:2). Concerning the Son, to Titus: "Waiting for the blessed hope and the coming of the glory of the great God, our Savior Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13). Concerning the Holy Spirit in Kings: "The Lord said to Elijah, 'Behold, the Lord passed by, and the Holy Spirit, and the mighty one'" (1 Kings 19:11). Just as the charity of the Father, so of the Son, so also of the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father: "But the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the charity of our God abounded" (1 Tim. 1:14). Concerning the Son: "For the charity of Christ urges us" (2 Cor. 5:14). Concerning the Holy Spirit: "What do you wish, that I come to you with a rod, or with the charity of the Spirit?" (1 Cor. 4:21); and elsewhere: "The charity of God is diffused in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who is given to us" (Rom. 5:5). The Father gives eternal life, so the Son, so the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father in the Epistle of John: "For God will give us eternal life" (1 John 5:11).

Concerning the Son in the Gospel: "My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life" (John 10:27). Concerning the Holy Spirit in the Epistle to the Galatians: "He who sows in the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life" (Galatians 6:8). Just as the Father gives peace, so does the Son, and so also does the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father: "The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding" (Philippians 4:7). Concerning the Son in the Gospel: "I leave you my peace" (John 14:27). Concerning the Holy Spirit: "But the wisdom of the Spirit is life and peace" (Romans 8:6). The Father reveals, so does the Son, and so also does the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father in the Epistle to the Galatians: "That he might reveal his Son in me" (Galatians 1:16). Concerning the Son in the same place: "For neither did I receive it from a man, but through the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:12). Concerning the Holy Spirit in the Epistle to the Ephesians: "What was not known to other generations, as it is now revealed to his saints through his Holy Spirit" (Ephesians 3:5); and elsewhere: "For God has revealed to us through the Spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:10). Just as the Father illuminates, so does the Son, and so also does the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father: "You will light my lamp, O Lord" (Psalm 18:29). Concerning the Son in the Apostle: "Arise, you who sleep, and Christ will illuminate you" (Ephesians 5:14). Concerning the Holy Spirit, the same Apostle: "Since God, who said that light would shine forth from darkness, has shone in our hearts the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Just as the Gospel of the Father is spoken, so also of the Son, and so also of the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father, to Titus: "Which is according to the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God" (1 Tim. 1:11). Concerning the Son, to the Romans: "Whom I serve in my spirit in the Gospel of his Son" (Rom. 1:9). Concerning the Holy Spirit, in the Epistle of the blessed Peter: "But these things were ministered to you by those who evangelized you in the Holy Spirit" (1 Pet. 1:12). Just as the Father shone forth, so also the Son, and so also the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father: "My God, illuminate my darkness" (Ps. 17:29). Concerning the Son, in the Psalm: "God the Lord, and he shone forth to us" (Ps. 117:27). Concerning the Holy Spirit, the Prophet: "I will no longer hide my face from them, because my spirit has shone forth over the whole house of Israel" (Ezek. 39:29). And the Apostle: "Since God, who said that light should shine forth from darkness, who shone forth in our hearts for the illumination of the clarity of God in the face of God Christ Jesus" (2 Cor. 4:6). The Father has foreknowledge, so also the Son, and so also the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father: "God, who is the knower of hidden things" (Dan. 13:42). Concerning the Son: "From the beginning," he says, "Jesus knew who would betray him" (John 6:65). Concerning the Holy Spirit: "When the Paraclete Spirit comes, he will teach you all truth, and he will announce to you what is to come" (John 16:13). Just as the Father is said to be everywhere, so also the Son, and so also the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father: "I fill heaven and earth, says the Lord" (Jer. 23:24).

Concerning the Son: "Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst" (Matt. 18:20); and the Apostle: "Who ascended above the heavens to fill all things" (Eph. 4:10). Concerning the Holy Spirit in Solomon: "The Spirit of the Lord filled the whole world" (Wis. 1:7), and what is above the world, it filled the Lord Himself, the maker of the whole world, as we read: "But Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan" (Luke 4:1). And David: "Whither shall I go from your Spirit" (Ps. 138:7)? The Father reproves, likewise the Son, likewise the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father: "Lord, do not reprove me in your anger" (Ps. 6:2). Concerning the Son: "I will reprove you, and set those things before your face" (Ps. 49:2). Concerning the Spirit: "When the Paraclete Spirit comes, He will reprove the world concerning sin" (John 16:8), and the rest. The Father is good, the Son is good, and the Holy Spirit is good. Concerning the Father: "Good Father" (John 17:11). Concerning the Son: "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:14). Concerning the Holy Spirit: "Your good Spirit will lead me in the right path" (Ps. 142:11). He sanctifies and justifies as the Father does, likewise the Son, likewise the Holy Spirit. The Apostle: "But you are sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:11). The Father is called holy, the Son is called holy, and the Holy Spirit is holy. Concerning the Father in Leviticus: "Be holy, for I am holy" (Lev. 11:44).

Concerning the Son in the Gospel: "That which will be born from you is holy, it will be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). Likewise there: "We know who you are, the holy one of God" (Luke 4:34). Concerning the Holy Spirit in Solomon: "For the holy spirit of discipline will flee from a feigned person" (Wisdom 1:5). The Father is strong, the Son is strong, and the Holy Spirit is strong. Concerning the Father: "God is strong and patient" (Psalm 7:13). Concerning the Son in Isaiah: "And his name will be called mighty God" (Isaiah 9:6). Concerning the Holy Spirit in Solomon: "The spirit of fortitude in his ways." The Father works, the Son works, and the Holy Spirit works. Concerning the Father in Philippians: "For God, who works in you both to will" (Philippians 2:13). Concerning the Son in the Gospel: "I must do the works of him who sent me" (John 9:4). Concerning the Holy Spirit in Corinthians: "But all these things one and the same Spirit works, distributing to each as he wills" (1 Corinthians 12:11). The Father is power, the Son is power, and the Holy Spirit is power. Concerning the Father, the Apostle: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for the power of God is in the salvation of every believer" (Romans 1:16). Concerning the Son, the Apostle: "I will gladly glory in my infirmities, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Concerning the Holy Spirit in Thessalonians: "Our Gospel was not among you in word only, but in the power of the Holy Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 1:5). The Father is a fountain, the Son is a fountain, and the Holy Spirit is a fountain. Concerning the Father, Jeremiah: "They have abandoned the fountain of living water" (Jeremiah 2:13).

Concerning the Son in Solomon: "The fountain of wisdom, the Word of God" (Sirach 1:5). Concerning the Holy Spirit, Isaiah: "Behold, the name of the Lord coming after a long time, burning in the wrath of indignation, will devour the nations, and his Spirit like a fountain of water drawing a valley" (Isaiah 30:27-28). Love is the Father, love is the Son, love is also the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father in the Epistle of John: "God is love" (1 John 4:16). Concerning the Son, the Apostle to the Corinthians: "For the love of Christ urges us on" (2 Corinthians 5:14). Concerning the Holy Spirit, the Apostle: "I beseech you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit" (Romans 15:30). The Father regenerates, the Son regenerates, and the Holy Spirit regenerates. Concerning the Father, Peter: "Blessed is God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has regenerated us into the hope of eternal life" (1 Peter 1:3). Concerning the Son, in the same place: "Loving one another from the heart, as if reborn through the living word of God" (1 Peter 1:23). Concerning the Holy Spirit in the Gospel: "If anyone has not been reborn from the Holy Spirit, he will not enter the kingdom of heaven" (John 3:5). The Father raises up, the Son raises up, and the Holy Spirit raises up. Concerning the Father in the Acts: "The God of our fathers, who raised Jesus, will also raise us by his power" (Acts 5:30). Concerning the Son in the Gospel: "The Jews came not only because of Jesus, but to see Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead" (John 12:9).

Concerning the Holy Spirit, the Apostle: "But if His Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead, dwells in you, it will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit dwelling in you" (Romans 8:11). The grace of God the Father, the grace of the Son, and the grace of the Holy Spirit. Concerning the Father: "Who will deliver me from this body of death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ" (Romans 7:24). Concerning the Son, to the Corinthians: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, because for your sake He became poor when He was rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). Concerning the Holy Spirit in Acts: "And those who came with Peter were amazed, because the grace of the Holy Spirit was poured out among the Gentiles" (Acts 10:45). The Father signs, the Son signs, and the Holy Spirit signs. Concerning the Father, to the Corinthians: "And He who signed you with us in Christ, and who anointed us, is God" (2 Corinthians 1:21). Concerning the Son, to the Ephesians: "Hearing the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in which you are signed" (Ephesians 1:13). Concerning the Holy Spirit, as above: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, in whom you are signed on the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). The Father dwells in believers, the Son dwells, and the Holy Spirit dwells. Concerning the Father in Isaiah: "Keep the Sabbath day and sanctify it, that I may dwell in your midst" (Jeremiah 17:22). Concerning the Son, to the Ephesians: "That Christ dwells through faith in your hearts" (Ephesians 3:17).

Concerning the Holy Spirit: "Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you" (1 Corinthians 3:16)? The Father searches, the Son searches, and the Holy Spirit also searches. Concerning the Father in the Psalm: "God, who searches hearts and reins" (Psalm 7:10). Concerning the Son in the Apocalypse: "And all the Churches shall know that I am the searcher of heart and reins" (Apocalypse 2:23). Concerning the Holy Spirit in the Apostle: "The Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10). The Father bears witness, the Son bears witness, and the Holy Spirit also bears witness. Concerning the Father in the Psalm: "The faithful testimony of God, bestowing wisdom upon the little ones" (Psalm 18:8). Concerning the Son to Timothy: "I charge you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who bore witness under Pontius Pilate" (1 Timothy 6:13). Concerning the Holy Spirit, the Apostle: "He bears witness to our Spirit" (Romans 8:16). The Father shows, the Son shows, and the Holy Spirit also shows. Concerning the Father to Timothy: "Whom in his times the blessed and only powerful one shows" (1 Timothy 6:15). Concerning the Son in the Gospel, the Son Himself says: "But I will show you whom you should fear" (Luke 12:5); and, "I have shown you many good works from my Father" (John 10:32). Concerning the Holy Spirit to the Corinthians: "My preaching was not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in the showing of the spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:4). The Father fills, the Son fills, and the Holy Spirit also fills.

Concerning the Father, Jeremiah: "I fill heaven and earth," says the Lord (Jer. 23:24). Concerning the Son, in the Apostle: "May the Lord fill your hearts and confirm you in every good work and word" (1 Thess. 2:16). And in the Gospel: "From his fullness we have all received" (John 1:16). Concerning the Holy Spirit, in the Acts: "He filled every place where the disciples were gathered" (Acts 2:2). And: "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan" (Luke 4:1). The Father speaks, the Son speaks, and the Holy Spirit also speaks. Concerning the Father: "God has spoken in his holy one" (Ps. 59:8). Concerning the Son: "Jesus speaking to the crowds" (Matt. 12:46). Concerning the Holy Spirit: "There is one who speaks in you" (Matt. 10:20). The Father appeared, the Son appeared, and the Holy Spirit also appeared. Concerning the Father, in the Acts: "The God of glory appeared to our fathers" (Acts 7:2). Concerning the Son, in the Epistle of John: "The Son appeared for this purpose, that the works of the devil might be undone" (1 John 3:8). Concerning the Holy Spirit, in Job: "And a spirit appeared in my eyes, and horror rushed upon me" (Job 4:15). The Father is truth, the Son is truth, and the Holy Spirit is truth. Concerning the Father, in the Psalm: "You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth" (Ps. 30:6). Concerning the Son: "Truth has arisen from the earth" (Ps. 84:12). And in the Gospel: "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:16). Concerning the Holy Spirit, in the Gospel: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will teach you all truth" (John 16:13).

Behold the unity of operation; do not hesitate to believe in the unity of the Trinity. They are also accustomed to speak concerning baptism, that their baptism is better than ours in this matter; because those who convert from them to us, we do not rebaptize them, but reconcile them through the imposition of hands. They, however, if they can seduce any of ours, inconsiderately rebaptize them. They who are to be asked: Is that baptism which they give said to be theirs, or ours? If it is ours, why do they presume to do it, similarly to us by baptizing? If it is theirs, why do they violate it by repeating it? But we have reverence for the Lord's words, and just as He Himself commanded, so we also baptize, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. But it is certain that they also baptize thus. For if they baptized as they believe, in the name of the greater Father, and in the name of the lesser Son, and in the name of the much lesser Holy Spirit, then indeed we would not repeat the baptism, but would give it, because they were not baptizing according to the rule which the Lord handed down. But what are we to do? They baptize well, but they believe badly: they baptize well, but it is evil that they rebaptize. They indeed baptize regularly, but they insinuate the faith badly. And while they make carnal degrees in the divinity, they incur the offense of the divinity: not fearing that which the Lord said: "He who has been washed once does not need to be washed again" (John 13:10).

For the Lord said in the Gospel, "You are the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13); and whoever is wise understands that this was not said without reason. For salt is made from water, but if it is put into water again, it dissolves and perishes. Thus, whoever has been baptized once from water has become salt; but if he allows himself to be baptized again, he is reduced to nothing like salt placed in water, and his soul is punished with perpetual death. For the Apostle says concerning the Church, "We, being many, are one bread, one body" (1 Corinthians 10:17): because just as one bread is made from many grains, so one Church is gathered from many peoples. And bread, as everyone knows, is made with water and baked by fire, and every Christian, through the water of baptism and the fire of the Holy Spirit, has become an offering of God, the Lord saying: "If anyone has not been reborn from water and the Holy Spirit, he will not enter the kingdom of heaven" (John 3:5). But just as bread already once baked, if someone puts it back into water and wishes to remix and rebake it, loses its former dignity and turns into blackness and earth. So does such a one become, whoever allows baptism to be repeated in himself. And therefore each one ought, with God's help, to preserve his baptism until death, if he wishes faithfully to reach the kingdoms of heaven. For whoever allows himself to be rebaptized blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, while denying that he is a Christian and that he was reborn through water and the Holy Spirit.

And it is necessary that he incur that threatening sentence of the Lord which we have recalled: "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the future" (Matthew 12:32).