Catechetical Lectures 16.7–16.29

Let the Marcionites also be hated, who cut away the words of the Old Covenant from the New. For Marcion first, most godless of men, who first spoke of three gods, knowing that testimonies of the prophets about Christ are set in the New, cut out the testimonies from the Old Covenant, so that the King might be left without witness. Let the aforementioned Gnostics be hated, Gnostics in name but full of ignorance, who dared to say such things about the Holy Spirit as I do not dare to say.

Let the Cataphrygians be hated, and Montanus, the leader of their evils, and his two so-called prophetesses, Maximilla and Priscilla. For this Montanus, who was out of his mind and truly mad (for he would not have said such things had he not been mad), dared to say that he himself was the Holy Spirit: the most wretched man, filled with all uncleanness and licentiousness (it is enough to say this by hints, for modesty's sake, because of the women present). And having taken possession of Pepuza, a tiny village in Phrygia, he falsely named it Jerusalem; and, most wretchedly, cutting the throats of little children and chopping them up for unlawful food, on the pretext of what they call their mysteries (which is why, until lately, in the persecution, we were suspected of doing this, because these Montanists are called Christians, falsely though by the same name), he dared to call himself the Holy Spirit: a man filled with all impiety and inhumanity, whose condemnation admits no defence.

There contended alongside him, as was said before, the most impious Mani too, who gathered up the evils of all the heresies; and being the last pit of destruction, he collected the doctrines of all the heretics together and devised and taught a newer error. He dared to say that he was the Paraclete whom Christ promised to send. But the Saviour, when he made the promise, said to the apostles, “But stay in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.” What then? Did the apostles, who had died two hundred years before, wait for Mani until they should be clothed with the power? And will anyone dare to say that they were not filled with the Holy Spirit from that time? Yet it is written, “Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” Did this not happen before Mani, and many years before, when the Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost?

Why was Simon the sorcerer condemned? Was it not because he came to the apostles and said, “Give me also this power, that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit”? For he did not say, “Give me also fellowship of the Holy Spirit,” but “power,” so that he might sell to others what cannot be sold and what he himself did not possess. And he offered money to men who owned nothing, though he saw those who brought the prices of what was sold and laid them at the apostles' feet; and he did not consider that those who trampled underfoot the wealth brought for the food of the poor would not give the power of the Holy Spirit for a fee. And what do they say to Simon? “May your money perish with you, because you thought to obtain the gift of God with money.” For you are a second Judas, expecting to sell the grace of the Spirit for money. If, then, Simon, for wishing to obtain the power for a fee, goes to perdition, how great is the impiety of Mani, who said that he himself was the Holy Spirit? Let us hate those worthy of hatred; let us turn away from those from whom God turns away. Let us too say to God with all boldness about all heretics, “Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and pine away over your enemies?” For there is also a good enmity, as it is written, “And I will put enmity between you and her seed.” For friendship with the serpent brings about enmity with God, and death.

Let so much be said by us about those who have been cast out. Now let me return to the divine Scriptures; let us drink waters from our own vessels [from the holy Fathers], and drink from the spring of our own wells: from the living water springing up to eternal life. This the Saviour said of the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive. For see what he says: “He who believes in me”—not simply, but “as the Scripture has said” (he has sent you back to the Old Covenant)—“rivers of living water shall flow out of his belly”: not rivers perceived by the senses, merely watering the earth that bears thorns and trees, but bringing light to souls. And elsewhere he says, “But the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water springing up to eternal life”: a new kind of water, living and springing up, springing up upon those who are worthy.

And why did he call the grace of the Spirit water? Because all things subsist by water; because water brings forth grass and gives life; because the water of the rains comes down from heaven; because it comes down in one form but works in many forms. For one spring waters the whole of paradise; and one and the same rain comes down on all the world, and becomes white in the lily, red in the rose, purple in violets and hyacinths, and different and varied in every kind of thing; it is one thing in the palm and another in the vine, and all things in all, though it is of one form and not different from itself. For the rain does not change itself and come down now as one thing, now as another, but adapting itself to the constitution of the things that receive it, it becomes what suits each. So too the Holy Spirit, being one and of one form and indivisible, distributes grace to each as he wills. And as a dry tree, sharing in water, puts forth shoots, so too the soul in sins, when it has been counted worthy of the Holy Spirit through repentance, bears clusters of righteousness. And though he is of one form, at the assent of God and in the name of Christ he works many virtues. For he uses the tongue of one for wisdom; he enlightens the soul of another in prophecy; to another he gives power to drive out demons; to another he gives to interpret the divine Scriptures. He strengthens the self-control of one; he teaches another about almsgiving; he teaches another to fast and to live as an ascetic; he teaches another to despise the things of the body; he prepares another for martyrdom: different in different men, but himself not different from himself, as it is written: “But to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 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 healing in the same Spirit, to another workings of powers, to another prophecy, to another discernment of spirits, to another kinds of tongues, to another interpretation of tongues. But all these are worked by one and the same Spirit, who distributes to each individually as he wills.” [13] But since many different things are written in the divine Scriptures about “spirit” in general, and there is fear lest someone through ignorance fall into confusion, not knowing what kind of spirit is meant, it is good now to make sure which the Scripture says is the Holy Spirit. For as Aaron is called christ, and David and Saul and others are called christs, but the true Christ is one only, so too, since the name “spirit” is used of different things, it is good to see what it is that is called in a special sense the Holy Spirit. For many things are called spirits. An angel is called a spirit; our soul is called a spirit; this wind that blows is called a spirit; great virtue is called a spirit; an unclean deed is called a spirit; a hostile demon is called a spirit. Take care, then, when you hear these things, that you never take one for another because of the sameness of name. For of our soul Scripture says, “His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return to his earth.” And of the same soul it says, “… the spirit of man within him.”

“… who forms …” Of the angels he says in the Psalms, “Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.” And of the wind he says, “With a violent wind you will shatter the ships of Tarshish”; and, “As a tree in the forest is shaken by the wind”; and, “Fire, hail, snow, ice, stormy wind.” And of good teaching the Lord himself says, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life,” that is, are spiritual. But the Holy Spirit is not uttered by the tongue; he is living, enabling us to speak wisely, himself speaking and conversing.

And would you know that he converses and speaks? Philip, at the revelation of an angel, went down to the road leading to Gaza, when the eunuch was coming; and the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” You see the Spirit speaking to one who hears? And Ezekiel says thus: “The Spirit of the Lord came upon me and said to me, Thus says the Lord”; and again, “The Holy Spirit said to the apostles in Antioch, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” You see the Spirit living, setting apart, calling, and sending with authority. And Paul said, “Except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.” For this good Sanctifier, Helper and Teacher of the Church is the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, of whom the Saviour said, “He will teach you all things”; and he did not say only “will teach,” but also “will remind you of all that I said to you”; for the teachings of Christ and of the Holy Spirit are not different, but the same. He testified beforehand to Paul what would happen, so that he might be the more courageous from knowing beforehand. These things have been said to you because of the saying, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit,” so that you may not think this means speech of the lips, but good teaching.

Here sin too is called spirit, as we have said, but in another and opposite sense, as when it says, “They were led astray by a spirit of sexual immorality.” The unclean spirit too, the demon, is called spirit; but with an addition … the name is attached to each, to show what is proper to it. If it speaks of the soul of man, it says “the spirit,” with the addition “of man”; if it means the wind, it says “spirit of storm”; if it means sin, it says “spirit of sexual immorality”; if it means the demon, it says “unclean spirit”: so that we may know of what each saying speaks, and you may not think that it is about the Holy Spirit; God forbid! For this name “spirit” is common, and everything that does not have a solid body is called spirit in a general way. Since, then, the demons too do not have such bodies, they are called spirits; but the difference is great. For the unclean demon, when he comes upon a man's soul (may the Lord deliver from him the soul of every one of those who hear, and of those who are not present), comes like a bloodthirsty wolf upon a sheep, ready to devour: his coming is most savage, the sensation of him most oppressive, the mind is darkened, and his attack is unjust, a seizure of another's possession; for he forces himself to use another's body and another's instruments as his own. He throws down the one who stands (for he is akin to him who fell from heaven); he twists the tongue and distorts the lips; foam comes instead of words; the man is filled with darkness; his eye is open, yet the soul does not see through it; and the wretched man quivers convulsively before death. Truly the demons are enemies of men, treating them shamefully and without mercy.

The Holy Spirit is not like this; God forbid! On the contrary, his doings tend toward what is good and saving. First, his coming is gentle; the perception of him is fragrant; his burden is very light; rays of light and knowledge flash out before his coming. He comes with the heart of a true guardian; for he comes to save and to heal, to teach, to admonish, to strengthen, to encourage, to enlighten the mind: first of the one who receives him, then through him of others too. And as one who was formerly in darkness and then suddenly sees the sun has the sight of his body enlightened, and sees plainly what he did not see, so too he who is counted worthy of the Holy Spirit is enlightened in his soul, and sees beyond man what he did not know. His body is on earth, yet his soul mirrors the heavens. He sees, like Isaiah, the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up; he sees, like Ezekiel, him who is above the cherubim; he sees, like Daniel, ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands; and the little man sees the beginning of the world and the end of the world, and the times between, and knows the successions of kings, which he never learned; for the true Enlightener is present. The man is within walls, yet the power of his knowledge reaches far, and he sees even what others are doing.

Peter was not present with Ananias and Sapphira when they sold their possessions, but he was present through the Spirit. “Why,” he says, “has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?” There was no accuser, no witness; how did he know what had happened? “While it remained, did it not remain yours? And after it was sold, was it not in your power? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart?” Peter, the unlettered, learned through the grace of the Spirit what the wise men of the Greeks did not know. You have the like in the case of Elisha too. For when he had freely healed Naaman's leprosy, Gehazi received the reward, taking the reward for another's achievement; he takes the money from Naaman and puts it away in a dark place. But darkness is not dark to the saints. And when he came, Elisha asked him; and like Peter, who said, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much,” he too inquires, “Where have you been, Gehazi?”—not ignorant of the “where,” but grieving over it. You came from darkness, and into darkness you go. You have sold the leper's healing, and you inherit the leprosy. “I,” he says, “have fulfilled the command of him who said to me, Freely you have received, freely give; but you have sold the grace: receive the outcome of the sale.” But what does Elisha say to him? “Did not my heart go with you?” I was shut in here by the body, but the spirit given me by God saw even what was far off, and plainly showed me what was happening elsewhere. You see how the Holy Spirit not only removes ignorance but also implants knowledge? You see how the Holy Spirit enlightens souls?

Isaiah lived nearly a thousand years ago, and he saw Zion as a booth. The city was then standing, adorned with public squares and clothed in dignity; and yet he says, “Zion shall be ploughed like a field,” foretelling what is now fulfilled in our day. And see the exactness of the prophecy; for he said, “And the daughter of Zion shall be left like a booth in a vineyard and like a lodge in a cucumber field”; and now the place is full of cucumber fields. You see how the Holy Spirit enlightens the saints? Do not, then, because of the sameness of name, be carried away to other things,

but keep to what is exact.

And if ever, while you were sitting here, a thought of chastity and virginity has come into your mind, the teaching is his. Has not a maiden often, already at the bridal chamber, fled, when he taught her about virginity? Has not a man often, distinguished at court, spurned wealth and rank, taught by the Holy Spirit? Has not a young man often, seeing beauty, closed his eyes and fled the sight and escaped defilement? Do you ask where this came from? The Holy Spirit taught the young man's soul. There is so much greed in the world, and Christians live without possessions. Why? Because of the promise of the Holy Spirit. Truly precious is the Holy Spirit, the good; rightly are we baptized into the Father and into the Son and into the Holy Spirit. A man still wearing a body wrestles with many most savage demons; and often the demon whom many could not hold with iron chains has been held by him with words of prayer, through the power of the Holy Spirit within him; and the simple breath of the exorcist becomes fire to the unseen one. We have, then, from God a great ally and protector, a great teacher of the Church, a great champion on our behalf. Let us not fear the demons nor the devil; for greater is he who fights for us. Only let us open our doors to him; for he goes about seeking those who are worthy, and seeking on whom to bestow his gifts. [20] And he is called the Paraclete because he encourages and comforts and helps us in our weakness. “For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered”: plainly, to God. Often someone has been insulted for Christ's sake and dishonoured unjustly; martyrdom is at hand; tortures on every side, and fire and swords and wild beasts and the depths. But the Holy Spirit whispers to him, saying, “Wait for the Lord, O man; what is happening is small, what is given is great; after toiling a short time you will be with angels for ever. The sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” He portrays the kingdom of heaven to the man, and shows him also the paradise of delight; and the martyrs, whose bodily faces are perforce turned toward the judges, but who by his power are already in paradise, despise the hardships that are seen.

And would you know that the martyrs bear witness by the power of the Holy Spirit? The Saviour says to the disciples, “But when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious how you will defend yourselves, or what you will say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” For it is impossible to bear witness for Christ unless one bears witness through the Holy Spirit. For if “no one can say Lord Jesus except in the Holy Spirit,” who will give his own life for Jesus except in the Holy Spirit?

Great indeed, all-powerful in gifts, and wonderful is the Holy Spirit. Consider how many of you are sitting here now, how many souls of us are present. He works suitably for each; and, present in the midst, he sees the disposition of each, sees his reasoning and conscience, and what we say and what we think. Great indeed is what has been said, and yet it is small. For consider, I pray, with your mind enlightened by him, how many Christians there are in this whole diocese, and how many in the whole province of Palestine. And extend your mind from the province to the whole Roman empire; and from this, consider, I pray, the whole world: races of Persians and nations of Indians, Goths and Sarmatians, Gauls and Spaniards and Moors, Libyans and Ethiopians, and the rest who have no names among us; for of many of the nations not even the names have reached us. Consider, I pray, of each nation the bishops, presbyters, deacons, monks, virgins and the rest of the laity; and see the great Protector and Giver of the gifts, how throughout the world he gives to one chastity, to another perpetual virginity, to another almsgiving, to another voluntary poverty, to another the power to drive out hostile spirits. And as light with one touch of its ray illuminates all things, so too the Holy Spirit enlightens those who have eyes; for if anyone, being blind, is not counted worthy of the grace, let him not blame the Spirit, but his own unbelief.

You have seen his power in the whole world. Do not stay on earth any longer, but go up on high: go up, I pray, in your mind even to the first heaven, and see there so many countless myriads of angels. Go up higher in your thoughts, if you can: see, I pray, the archangels; see the spirits; see the virtues; see the principalities; see the powers; see the thrones; see the dominions. Of all these the Paraclete is the ruler from God, and teacher and sanctifier. Elijah and Elisha and Isaiah need him among men; Michael and Gabriel need him among angels. None of the things that came to be is equal in honour to him; for the races of angels and all their hosts gathered together have no equality with the Holy Spirit. The all-good power of the Paraclete overshadows all these. And they are sent forth for service, but he searches even the depths of God, as the Apostle says: “For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him? So too no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.”

He proclaimed Christ in the prophets; he worked in the apostles; he to this day seals souls in baptism. And the Father gives to the Son, and the Son shares with the Holy Spirit. For it is Jesus himself, not I, who says, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father” …

… of the Holy Spirit he says, “When he comes, the Spirit of truth,” and so on, “he will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” The Father, through the Son, with the Holy Spirit, bestows all things. The gifts of the Father are not one thing, and those of the Son another, and those of the Holy Spirit another; for there is one salvation, one power, one faith: one God, the Father; one Lord, his only-begotten Son; one Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. And it is enough for us to know these things; do not pry into his nature or substance. For if it had been written, we would have spoken of it; what is not written, let us not dare. It is enough for our salvation to know that there is Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit. [25] This Spirit came down upon the seventy elders in the time of Moses (and let not the length of the discourse, beloved, weary you; but may he of whom we speak give strength to each, both to us who speak and to you who hear). This Spirit came down, as I said, upon the seventy elders in the time of Moses. I say these things to you to show now that he knows all things and works as he wills. The seventy elders were chosen; “and the Lord came down in a cloud, and took of the Spirit that was upon Moses, and put it upon the seventy men, the elders”: not that the Spirit was divided, but the grace was distributed in proportion to the vessels and the capacity of those who received it. Sixty-eight were present and prophesied, but Eldad and Medad were not present. So that it might be shown, then, that it was not Moses who bestowed the gift, but the Spirit who was at work, Eldad and Medad, who had been called but had not yet …

Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' successor, was amazed, and came and said to Moses, “Have you heard that Eldad and Medad are prophesying? They were called and did not come. My lord Moses, stop them.” “I cannot stop them, for the grace is heavenly; and I am so far from stopping them that I am thankful for it. But I do not think you said this out of envy. Are you jealous for my sake, because they prophesied and you do not yet prophesy? Wait for the time. And would that all the Lord's people were prophets, whenever the Lord gives his Spirit upon them!”—saying this too prophetically, “whenever the Lord gives”: “for he has not yet given it; so you do not yet have it.” Did not Abraham, then, and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph have it? Did those before them not have it? But “whenever the Lord gives” plainly means “gives it upon all.” Now the grace is partial; then the gift will be abundant. He was hinting at what was to happen among us at Pentecost; for he came down among us. But he had come down before upon many; for it is written, “And Joshua the son of Nun was filled with a spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him.” You see the same figure everywhere, in the Old and the New: in the time of Moses the Spirit was given by the laying on of hands, and Peter gives the Spirit by the laying on of hands. And the grace is to come upon you too who are about to be baptized; but how, I do not say;

He came also upon all the righteous and the prophets: Enos, I mean, Enoch, Noah and the rest; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. As for Joseph having the Spirit of God in him, even Pharaoh perceived it. Of Moses, and the wonders worked by the Spirit in his time, you have often heard. The most courageous Job had him too, and all the saints, even if we do not go through all their names. He was sent forth also at the making of the tabernacle, and filled with wisdom the wise men with Bezalel.

In the power of this Spirit, as we have in Judges, Othniel judged, Gideon was strengthened, Jephthah conquered, Deborah, a woman, waged war; and Samson, while he still acted righteously and did not grieve him, did works beyond man. Of Samuel and David we have it plainly in the books of the Kingdoms, how they themselves prophesied in the Holy Spirit and were leaders of the prophets. And Samuel was called the Seer; and David says plainly, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me”; and in the Psalms, “And do not take your Holy Spirit from me”; and again, “Your good Spirit shall lead me in an even land.” And as … Azariah in the time of King Asa, and … in the time of Jehoshaphat, and again another, who was stoned. And Ezra says, “And you gave your good Spirit to instruct them.” Of Elijah, who was taken up, and Elisha, men who bore the Spirit and worked wonders, it is plain, even if we do not say it, that they were full of the Holy Spirit. [29] And if anyone goes through all the books of the Twelve and of the other prophets, he will find many testimonies about the Holy Spirit: Micah saying in the person of God, “Truly I will fill myself with strength in the Spirit of the Lord”; and Joel crying, “And it shall be after this, says God, I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh,” and so on; and Haggai,

“… I am with you, says the Lord Almighty, and my Spirit stands in your midst”; and Zechariah likewise, “But receive my words and my statutes, which I command by my Spirit to my servants the prophets,” and other things.