On First Principles 1.3.1–1.4.5

It follows now that we should inquire, as briefly as we can, about the Holy Spirit. All who in any way perceive that there is a providence confess that God is unbegotten, who created and arranged all things, and they acknowledge him as the parent of the universe. That he has a Son, however, we are not the only ones to declare, although this seems quite astonishing and incredible to those who are regarded as philosophers among Greeks and barbarians; yet some even of them seem to have held this opinion, when they confess that all things were created by the Word or reason of God. We, however, according to the faith of his teaching, which we hold for certain to be divinely inspired, believe that it is possible to set out and bring to human knowledge the higher and more divine account of the Son of God by no other means than by that Scripture alone which was inspired by the Holy Spirit, that is, the Gospels and the apostolic writings, and also the law and the prophets, as Christ himself asserted. But concerning the subsistence of the Holy Spirit no one could have had even a suspicion except those who were versed in the law and the prophets, or those who profess to believe in Christ. For about God the Father, although no one is able to speak [worthily], it is possible to gain some understanding from the visible creatures and from what the human mind perceives by nature; and it is possible, moreover, for this to be confirmed from the holy Scriptures. And about the Son of God, although no one knows the Son except the Father, yet from the divine Scriptures the human mind is taught how it ought to think of him too, and not only from the New but also from the Old Testament, through the deeds of the saints which are referred figuratively to Christ, from which both his divine nature and the human nature taken up by him can be discerned.

As to what the Holy Spirit is, many passages of Scripture have taught us, as David says in the fiftieth Psalm, “And do not take your Holy Spirit from me”; and in Daniel it is said, “the Holy Spirit who is in you.” In the New Testament we are taught by abundant testimonies, when the Holy Spirit is described as descending upon Christ, and when the Lord himself breathed on the apostles after the resurrection, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” And the angel says to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.” And Paul says that “no one can say ‘Lord Jesus’ except in the Holy Spirit.” And in the Acts of the Apostles the Holy Spirit was given in baptism through the laying on of the apostles' hands. From all these we have learned that the substance of the Holy Spirit is of such authority and dignity that saving baptism is not completed except by the authority of the most excellent Trinity of all, that is, by naming the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and that the name of the Holy Spirit is joined to the unbegotten God the Father and his only-begotten Son. Who, then, is not amazed at how great is the majesty of the Holy Spirit, when he hears that one who has spoken a word against the Son of Man may hope for forgiveness, but that one who has blasphemed against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness either in the present age or in the age to come?

That all things were created by God, and that there is no creature which has not received from him its very existence, is proved by many statements of Scripture, which reject and refute what is falsely alleged by some, whether about matter coeternal with God or about unbegotten souls, in whom they would have it that God implanted not so much the nature of subsisting as equality and order. For in the little book called the Shepherd, the book of the angel of repentance, which Hermas wrote, it is said: “First of all believe that there is one God, who created and arranged all things; who, when nothing existed before, made all things to be; who contains all things, but is himself contained by none.” Similar things are also written in the book of Enoch. Yet up to the present we have been able to find no statement in the holy writings by which the Holy Spirit is said to be a thing made or a creature, not even in the way in which we showed above that Solomon speaks of Wisdom, or in which we discussed how the names of Life or Word and the other titles of the Son of God are to be understood. The Spirit of God, therefore, who was borne upon the waters, as is written at the beginning of the making of the world, I think is none other than the Holy Spirit, as far as I am able to understand, as we also showed when we were expounding those very passages, not according to the history, however, but according to the spiritual understanding.

Some of our predecessors have indeed observed that in the New Testament, wherever the Spirit is named without an addition indicating what kind of spirit it is, it should be understood of the Holy Spirit; for example, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace,” and so on; and likewise, “Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect in the flesh?” We, however, think that this distinction can be kept also in the Old Testament, as when it says: “He who gives spirit to the people that is upon the earth, and spirit to those who tread on it.” For without doubt everyone who “treads on the earth,” that is, on earthly and bodily things, is a partaker of the Holy Spirit, receiving him from God. My Hebrew teacher also used to say that the two seraphim in Isaiah, who are described with six wings each, calling to one another and saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts,” were to be understood of the only-begotten Son of God and of the Holy Spirit. And we think that what is said in the song of Habakkuk, “In the midst of the two living creatures” (or “of the two lives”) “you will be known,” is also to be understood of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. For all knowledge of the Father is gained through the Son's revelation in the Holy Spirit, so that both of these, which according to the prophet are called either living creatures or lives, are the cause of the knowledge of God the Father. For just as it is said of the Son that “no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him,” the Apostle says the same of the Holy Spirit when he says, “But God has revealed it to us through his Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” And again in the Gospel the Saviour, mentioning the divine and deeper teachings which his disciples could not yet grasp, says to the apostles: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now; but when the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, comes, he will teach you all things and remind you of all that I have said to you.” And so we must think that just as the Son, who alone knows the Father, reveals him to whom he wills, so the Holy Spirit, who alone searches even the depths of God, reveals God to whom he wills. “For the Spirit breathes where he wills.” Nor are we to think that the Spirit, too, knows through the Son's revealing. For if the Holy Spirit knows the Father through the Son's revealing, he has then come from ignorance to knowledge; and it is surely as impious as it is foolish to confess the Holy Spirit and to ascribe ignorance to him. For it is not that he was something else before he was the Holy Spirit, and came by advancement to be the Holy Spirit, so that one might dare to say that when he was not yet the Holy Spirit he did not know the Father, but after he received knowledge he was made the Holy Spirit. If that were so, the Holy Spirit himself would never be reckoned in the unity of the Trinity, that is, with the unchangeable God the Father and his Son, unless he too had always been the Holy Spirit. Of course, when we say “always” or “was,” or adopt any other such term of temporal meaning, it must be taken simply and with allowance; for the meanings of these terms are temporal, but the things of which we speak, though they are named in temporal terms in the course of discussion, by their nature surpass every understanding of temporal sense.

It seems right, however, to inquire what the reason is why one who is regenerated by God unto salvation has need of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and will not receive salvation unless the Trinity is complete; and why it is not possible to become a partaker of the Father or of the Son without the Holy Spirit. In discussing these things it will undoubtedly be necessary to describe the special working of the Holy Spirit, and the special working of the Father and the Son. I think, then, that the working of the Father and the Son is both in saints and in sinners, in rational human beings and in dumb animals, and also in things without soul, and in absolutely all things that exist; but that the working of the Holy Spirit by no means extends to things without soul, nor to those that are living but dumb; nor is it found even in those who are rational but are set in wickedness and not at all converted to better things. But I think that the work of the Holy Spirit is in those alone who are already turning to better things and walking in the ways of Christ Jesus, that is, who are engaged in good actions and abide in God.

That the working of the Father and the Son is both in saints and in sinners is shown by the fact that all who are rational are partakers of the Word, that is, of reason, and by this they bear implanted in themselves certain seeds, as it were, of wisdom and righteousness, which is Christ. And all things that exist share in him who truly is, who said through Moses, “I am who I am”; and this participation in God the Father reaches all, both righteous and sinners, rational and irrational, and absolutely all things that exist. The Apostle too shows that all have a share in Christ, saying: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to call Christ back from the dead). But what does Scripture say? ‘The word is near, in your mouth and in your heart.’” By this he signifies that Christ is in the heart of all, in so far as he is the Word or reason, by sharing in whom they are rational. And the saying in the Gospel, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin,” makes clear to those who understand reason up to what time a person does not have sin and from what age he is liable to sin, and it is plain and evident how people are said to have sin from their participation in the Word or reason: that is, from the time they have been made capable of understanding and knowledge, when the reason implanted within has suggested to them the distinction between good and evil; and when they have begun to know what evil is, if they do it, they become liable to sin. And this is what he means by saying that people have no excuse for their sin, from the time when the divine word or reason has begun to show them in their heart the distinction between good and evil, so that by it they ought to flee and beware of what is evil; for “to one who knows the good and does not do it, it is sin.” Again, that all human beings are not outside communion with God, the Gospel teaches in this way, when the Saviour says: “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘Look, here,’ or ‘there’; but the kingdom of God is within you.” But we must also see whether perhaps the same thing is meant by what is written in Genesis, where it says: “And he breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” If this is understood to have been given generally to all human beings, then all human beings have a share in God. But if this is to be understood as said of the Spirit of God, since Adam too is found to have prophesied about some things, then it can be taken as given not generally but to the saints.

Indeed, at the time of the flood, when all flesh had corrupted the way of God, it is written that God said, as of the unworthy and sinners, “My Spirit shall not remain in these men for ever, because they are flesh.” By this it is clearly shown that the Spirit of God is taken away from all who are unworthy. In the Psalms also it is written: “You will take away their spirit, and they will fail and return to their earth. You will send forth your Spirit, and they will be created, and you will renew the face of the earth.” This is clearly said of the Holy Spirit, who, when sinners and the unworthy have been taken away and destroyed, himself “creates” a new people for himself and “renews the face of the earth,” when through the grace of the Spirit they put off the old man with his deeds and begin to walk in newness of life. And therefore it is fittingly said of him that the Holy Spirit will dwell not in all, nor in those who are flesh, but in those whose earth has been renewed. For this reason, indeed, the grace and revelation of the Holy Spirit was given after baptism through the laying on of the apostles' hands. And our Saviour, too, after the resurrection, when the old things had passed away and all things had been made new, himself the new man and the firstborn from the dead, said to the apostles, who had also been renewed through faith in his resurrection, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This, no doubt, is what the Saviour and Lord himself indicated in the Gospel when he denied that new wine could be put into old wineskins and commanded that new wineskins be made, that is, that people should walk in newness of life, so that they might receive the new wine, that is, the newness of the grace of the Holy Spirit. In this way, then, the working of the power of God the Father and of the Son extends without distinction over every creature, but we find that participation in the Holy Spirit is held by the saints alone. Therefore it is said, “No one can say ‘Lord Jesus’ except in the Holy Spirit.” And even the apostles themselves are scarcely at last thought worthy to hear, “You shall receive the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you.” For this reason I think it also follows that one who has sinned against the Son of Man is worthy of forgiveness, because one who is a partaker of the Word or reason of God, if he ceases to live according to reason, seems to have fallen into ignorance or folly and on this account to deserve forgiveness; but one who has already been counted worthy of participation in the Holy Spirit and has turned back is said, by this very fact and deed, to have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit. Let no one think, indeed, that because we have said that the Holy Spirit is granted to the saints alone, while the benefits or workings of the Father and the Son reach the good and the bad, the just and the unjust, we have by this preferred the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son, or are asserting a greater dignity for him; that would certainly be quite inconsistent. For we have described the particular character of his grace and work. Further, nothing in the Trinity is to be called greater or less, since the fountain of the one Godhead holds all things together by his Word and reason, and sanctifies by the spirit of his mouth those things that are worthy of sanctification, as is written in the Psalm: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all their power by the spirit of his mouth.” There is also a special working of God the Father, besides that by which he naturally granted existence to all things. There is also a special ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ toward those on whom he naturally confers rationality, by which it is granted to them, in addition to their being, to be well. There is also another grace, that of the Holy Spirit, which is granted to the worthy, ministered through Christ but worked by the Father, according to the merit of those who become capable of it. This the apostle Paul most clearly indicates when, setting forth the one and the same power of the Trinity, he says: “There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of ministries, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of workings, but the same God who works all in all. But to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for what is profitable.” From this it is most clearly indicated that there is no separation in the Trinity, but that what is called the gift of the Spirit is manifested through the Son and worked by God the Father. “But all these are worked by one and the same Spirit, dividing to each as he wills.”

Having thus declared these things about the unity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, let us now return to the order we had begun to discuss. God the Father grants to all that they exist; participation in Christ, in so far as he is the Word or reason, makes them rational. From this it follows that they are worthy either of praise or of blame, because they are capable of virtue and wickedness. Consequently, therefore, the grace of the Holy Spirit is also present, so that those beings which are not holy in substance may be made holy by participation in him. Since, then, they have first their existence from God the Father, secondly their rationality from the Word, and thirdly their holiness from the Holy Spirit, those which have previously been sanctified through the Holy Spirit are again made capable of Christ, in so far as he is the righteousness of God; and those who have merited to advance to this degree through the sanctification of the Holy Spirit will nonetheless obtain the gift of wisdom according to the power and working of the Spirit of God. And this I think Paul means when he says that to some is given the word of wisdom, to others the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit. And indicating each distinction of gifts, he refers them all to the fountain of the universe, and says: “There are varieties of workings, but one God, who works all things in all.” Hence the working of the Father, which grants existence to all, is found the more glorious and magnificent when each one, through participation in Christ as wisdom, as knowledge and as sanctification, advances and comes to higher degrees of progress; and through being made purer and more sincere by participation in the Holy Spirit, he is made worthy and receives the grace of wisdom and knowledge, so that, all the stains of pollution and ignorance being driven out and cleansed, he may receive so great an advance in sincerity and purity that what he received from God, his existence, may be such as is worthy of God, who granted him existence purely and perfectly, so that what exists may be as worthy as he who made it exist. For in this way the one who is such as he who made him wished him to be will receive from God the power to exist always and to remain for ever. And so that this may happen, and that the things made by him may be present unceasingly and inseparably to him who is, it is the work of Wisdom to instruct and train them and bring them to perfection by the strengthening and unceasing sanctification of the Holy Spirit, through which alone they can receive God. Thus, by the unceasing work of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit towards us, renewed at every stage of progress, we may perhaps at last, with difficulty, behold the holy and blessed life; and when after many struggles we have been able to reach it, we ought so to continue in it that no satiety of that good ever takes hold of us; but the more we perceive of that blessedness, the more our desire for it is enlarged and increased, as we ever more ardently and more capaciously receive and hold the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. But if satiety ever takes hold of any of those who have stood on the highest and perfect step, I do not think that he is suddenly emptied and falls away; rather he must slip down gradually and by degrees; so that it may sometimes happen that, if a brief lapse occurs and he quickly comes to his senses and returns to himself, he does not fall utterly but can draw back his foot and return to his position, and again make firm what had slipped through negligence.

To show this diminution or falling away of those who have acted rather carelessly, it does not seem absurd to use the comparison of an example. Suppose, then, there is someone who has been gradually trained in some skill or art, for instance geometry or medicine, until he has come to perfection, having shaped himself over a long time by instruction and exercises so as to take on the discipline of that art completely: to such a one it can certainly never happen that he falls asleep skilled and wakes up unskilled. For it is not fitting now to bring forward or mention what happens through some injury or weakness, since these do not suit the comparison and example proposed. According to what we have proposed, then, so long as that geometer or physician exercises himself in the study of his art and in its rational principles, the knowledge of the discipline remains with him. But if he neglects the exercises and abandons his diligence, at first, through negligence, a few things gradually slip away, then more, and so over a long time everything passes into oblivion and is entirely erased from memory. It can indeed happen that, when he has only begun to fall away and is still being corrupted by a small negligence, if he is roused and quickly returns to himself, he may restore what has only recently been lost and recover what had been taken from him by an erasure still slight. Let us now transfer this to those who have devoted themselves to the knowledge and wisdom of God, whose learning and diligence surpass all other disciplines in incomparable ways, and let us consider, according to the form of the comparison proposed, what the acquisition of knowledge is and what its erasure; especially since we hear from the Apostle what is said of the perfect, that face to face they behold the glory of the Lord through the revelation of mysteries.

But in our wish to show the divine benefits bestowed on us through the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, which Trinity is the fountain of all holiness, we have said these things by way of a digression, and we thought we should touch, if only briefly, on the subject of the soul, since it had come up, as we were discussing the neighbouring subject of rational nature. More fittingly, however, we shall discuss in its proper place, God granting it to us through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, the whole of rational nature, which is distinguished into three kinds and species.

This blessed and ruling (ἀρχική) power, then, that is, the power that holds rule over all things, we call the Trinity. This is the good God and kindly Father of all, at once the beneficent power (εὐεργετικὴ δύναμις) and the creative (δημιουργική), that is, the power of doing good, of creating and of providing. It is both absurd and impious to suppose that these powers of God were ever idle, even for a moment. For it is unlawful even to suspect lightly that these powers, through which God is chiefly understood, as is fitting, ever ceased from works worthy of them and were inactive. For we must not think that they were hindered from outside, since they are in God, or rather are God; nor again must we believe that, when nothing stood in their way, they were reluctant to act and to do what was worthy of them, or neglected to do it. And therefore no moment at all can be conceived in which that beneficent power did not do good. Hence it follows that there always existed those to whom it did good, namely its works or creatures, and that, doing good, it dispensed its benefits among them in due order and according to merit by the power of its providence. And through this it seems to follow that there was never a time when God was not creator, benefactor and provider.

But here again human understanding is dulled and hemmed in: how can it be understood that, for as long as God has existed, creatures too have always existed and have subsisted, so to speak, without beginning, when they must without doubt be believed to have been created and made by God? Since, then, there is this conflict of human thoughts and understandings with one another, very strong arguments meeting and resisting on both sides and each pulling the mind of the one who considers them over to its side, this occurs to us, within the slight and very narrow grasp of our mind, as something that can be confessed without any danger to piety: that God the Father always existed, always having his only-begotten Son, who, according to what we set out above, is also called Wisdom. This, then, is the Wisdom in whom God always “rejoiced when the world was completed,” so that by this God may be understood always to rejoice. In this Wisdom, then, who was always with the Father, the creation was always present, outlined and formed, and there was never a time when the prefiguration of the things that were to be was not with Wisdom.

In this way, perhaps, we shall seem, within our weakness, to think something reverent about God: neither calling creatures unbegotten and coeternal with God, nor, on the other hand, saying that God, having done nothing good before, turned to doing it; since that word is true which is written, “In wisdom you have made all things.” And if “all things” were made “in wisdom,” then, since Wisdom always existed, the things which were afterwards also made in substance were always “in Wisdom” by way of prefiguration and preformation. And I think that Solomon, perceiving or understanding this, says in Ecclesiastes: “What is it that has been made? The very thing that is to be. And what is it that has been created? The very thing that is to be created. And there is nothing new under the sun. If anyone speaks and says, ‘See, this is new,’ it has already been in the ages that were before us.” If, then, the individual things that are “under the sun” already existed in those “ages that were before us,” since “there is nothing new under the sun,” then without doubt all things, whether genera or species, always existed, and perhaps even individually. In any case, what is shown is this: that God did not begin to be creator at some point, not having been so before.