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TOPIC: Post-Nicene Fathers Vol 05 (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 25.01.13 Book II Part 4
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§14. He Proceeds to Discuss the Views Held by Eunomius, and by the Church, Touching the Holy Spirit; And to Show that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are Not Three Gods, But One God. He Also Discusses Different Senses of "Subjection," And Therein Shows that the Subjection of All Things to the Son is the Same as the Subjection of the Son to the Father.
Thus much with regard to his profanity towards the Son. Now let us see what he says about the Holy Spirit. "After Him, we believe," he says, "on the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth." I think it will be plain to all who come across this passage what object he has in view in thus perverting the declaration of the faith delivered to us by the Lord, in his statements concerning the Son and the Father. Though this absurdity has already been exposed, I will nevertheless endeavour, in few words, to make plain the aim of his knavery. As in the former case, he avoided using the name "Father," that so he might not include the Son in the eternity of the Father, so he avoided employing the title Son, that he might not by it suggest His natural affinity to the Father; so here, too, he refrains from saying "Holy Spirit," that he may not by this name acknowledge the majesty of His glory, and His complete union with the Father and the Son. For since the appellation of "Spirit," and that of "Holy," are by the Scriptures equally applied to the Father and the Son (for "God is a Spiritshyperlink ," and "the anointed Lord is the Spirit before our facehyperlink ," and "the Lord our God is Holyhyperlink ," and there is "one Holy, one Lord Jesus Christhyperlink ") lest there should, by the use of these terms, be bred in the minds of his readers some orthodox conception of the Holy Spirit, such as would naturally arise in them from His sharing His glorious appellation with the Father and the Son, for this reason, deluding the ears of the foolish, he changes the words of the Faith as set forth by God in the delivery of this mystery, making a way, so to speak, by this sequence, for the entrance of his impiety against the Holy Spirit. For if he had said, "We believe in the Holy Spirit," and "God is a Spirit," any one instructed in things divine would have interposed the remark, that if we are to believe in the Holy Spirit, while God is called a Spirit, He is assuredly not distinct in nature from that which receives the same titles in a proper sense. For of all those things which are indicated not unreally, nor metaphorically, but properly and absolutely, by the same names, we are necessarily compelled to acknowledge that the nature also, which is signified by this identity of names, is one and the same. For this reason it is that, suppressing the name appointed by the Lord in the formula of the faith, he says, "We believe in the Comforter." But I have been taught that this very name is also applied by the inspired Scripture to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost alike. For the Son gives the name of "Comforter" equally to Himself and to the Holy Spirithyperlink ; and the Father, where He is said to work comfort, surely claims as His own the name of "Comforter." For assuredly he Who does the work of a Comforter does not disdain the name belonging to the work: for David says to the Father, "Thou, Lord, hast holpen me and comforted mehyperlink ," and the great Apostle applies to the Father the same language, when he says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who comforteth us in all our tribulationhyperlink "; and John, in one of his Catholic Epistles, expressly gives to the Son the name of Comforterhyperlink . Nay, more, the Lord Himself, in saying that another Comforter would be sent us, when speaking of the Spirit, clearly asserted this title of Himself in the first place. But as there are two senses of the parakaleinhyperlink ,-one to beseech, by words and gestures of respect, to induce him to whom we apply for anything, to feel with us in respect of those things for which we apply,-the other to comfort, to take remedial thought for affections of body and soul,-the Holy Scripture affirms the conception of the Paraclete, in either sense alike, to belong to the Divine nature. For at one time Paul sets before us by the word parakalein the healing power of God, as when he says, "God, Who comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titushyperlink "; and at another time he uses this word in its other meaning, when he says, writing to the Corinthians, "Now we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to Godhyperlink ." Now since these things are so, in whatever way you understand the title "Paraclete," when used of the Spirit, you will not in either of its significations detach Him from His community in it with the Father and the Son. Accordingly, he has not been able, even though he wished it, to belittle the glory of the Spirit by ascribing to Him the very attribute which Holy Scripture refers also to the Father and to the Son. But in styling Him "the Spirit of Truth," Eunomius' own wish, I suppose, was to suggest by this phrase subjection, since Christ is the Truth, and he called Him the Spirit of Truth, as if one should say that He is a possession and chattel of the Truth, without being aware that God is called a God of righteousnesshyperlink ; and we certainly do not understand thereby that God is a possession of righteousness. Wherefore also, when we hear of the "Spirit of Truth," we acquire by that phrase such a conception as befits the Deity, being guided to the loftier interpretation by the words which follow it. For when the Lord said "The Spirit of Truth," He immediately added "Which proceedeth from the Fatherhyperlink ," a fact which the voice of the Lord never asserted of any conceivable thing in creation, not of aught visible or invisible, not of thrones, principalities, powers, or dominions, nor of any other name that is named either in this world or in that which is to come. It is plain then that that, from share in which all creation is excluded, is something special and peculiar to uncreated being. But this man bids us believe in "the Guide of godliness." Let a man then believe in Paul, and Barnabas, and Titus, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, and all those by whom we have been led into the way of thefaith. For if we are to believe in "that which guides us to godliness," along with the Father and the Son, all the prophets and lawgivers and patriarchs, heralds, evangelists, apostles, pastors,and teachers, have equal honour with the Holy Spirit, as they bare been "guides to godliness" to those who came after them. "Who came into being," he goes on, "by the only God through the Only-begotten." In these words he gathers up in one head all his blasphemy. Once more he calls the Father "only God," who employs the Only-begotten as an instrument for the production of the Spirit. What shadow of such a notion did he find in Scripture, that he ventures upon this assertion? by deduction from what premises did he bring his profanity to such a conclusion as this?Which of the Evangelists says it? what apostle? what prophet? Nay, on the contrary every scripture divinely inspired, written by the afflatus of the Spirit, attests the Divinity of the Spirit. For example (for it is better to prove my position from the actual testimonies), those who receive power to become children of God bear witness to the Divinity of the Spirit. Who knows not that utterance of the Lord which tells us that they who are born of the Spirit are the children of God? For thus He expressly ascribes the birth of the children of God to the Spirit, saying, that as that which is born of the flesh is flesh, so that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. But as many as are born of the Spirit are called the children of Godhyperlink . So also when the Lord by breathing upon His disciples had imparted to them the Holy Spirit, John says, "Of His fulness have all we receivedhyperlink ." And that "in Him dwelleth the fulness of the Godheadhyperlink ," the mighty Paul attests: yea, moreover, through the prophet Isaiah it is attested, as to the manifestation of the Divine appearance vouchsafed to him, when he saw Him that sat "on the throne high and lifted uphyperlink ;" the older tradition, it is true, says that it was the Father Who appeared to him, but the evangelist John refers the prophecy to our Lord, saying, touching those of the Jews who did not believe the words uttered by the prophet concerning the Lord, "These things said Esaias, when he saw His glory and spoke of Himhyperlink ." But the mighty Paul attributes the same passage to the Holy Spirit in his speech made to the Jews at Rome, when he says, "Well spoke the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet concerning you, saying, Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understandhyperlink ," showing, in my opinion, by Holy Scripture itself, that every specially divine vision, every theophany, every word uttered in the Person of God, is to be understood to refer to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Hence when David says, "they provoked God in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the deserthyperlink ," the apostle refers to the Holy Spirit the despite done by the Israelites to God, in these terms: "Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness; when your fathers tempted mehyperlink ," and goes on to refer all that the prophecy refers to God, to the Person of the Holy Ghost. Those who keep repeating against us the phrase "three Gods," because we hold these views, have perhaps not yet learnt how to count. For if the Father and the Son are not divided into duality, (for they are, according to the Lord's words, One, and not Twohyperlink ) and if the Holy Ghost is also one, how can one added to one be divided into the number of three Gods? Is it not rather plain that no one can charge us with believing in the number of three Gods, without himself first maintaining in his own doctrine a pair of Gods? For it is by being added to two that the one completes the triad of Gods. But what room is there for the charge of tritheism against those by whom one God is worshipped, the God expressed by the Name ofthe Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost?
Let us however resume Eunomius' statement in its entirety. "Having come into being from the only God through the Only-begotten, this Spirit also-" What proof is there of the statement that "this Spirit also" is one of the things that were made by the Only-begotten? They will say of course that "all things were made by Himhyperlink ," and that in the term "all things" "this Spirit also" is included. Our answer to them shall be this, All things were made by Him, that were made. Now the things that were made, as Paul tells us, were things visible and invisible, thrones, authorities, dominions, principalities, powers, and among those included under the head of thrones and powers are reckoned by Paul the Cherubim and Seraphimhyperlink : so far does the term "all things" extend. But of the Holy Spirit, as being above the nature of things that have come into being, Paul said not a word in his enumeration of existing things, not indicating to us by his words either His subordination or His coming into being; but just as the prophet calls the Holy Spirit "good," and "right," and "guidinghyperlink " (indicating by the word "guiding" the power of control), even so the apostle ascribes independent authority to the dignity of the Spirit, when he affirms that He works all in all as He willshyperlink . Again, the Lord makes manifest the Spirit's independent power and operation in His discourse with Nicodemus, when He says, "The Spirit breatheth where He willethhyperlink ." How is it then that Eunomius goes so far as to define that He also is one of the things that came into being by the Son, condemned to eternal subjection. For he describes Him as "once for all made subject," enthralling the guiding and governing Spirit in I know not what form of subjection. For this expression of "subjection" has many significations in Holy Scripture, and is understood and used with many varieties of meaning. For the Psalmist says that even irrational nature is put in subjectionhyperlink , and brings under the same term those who are overcome in warhyperlink , while the apostle bids servants to be in subjection to their own mastershyperlink , and that those who are placed over the priesthood should have their children in subjectionhyperlink , as their disorderly conduct brings discredit upon their fathers, as in the case of the sons of Eli the priest. Again, he speaks of the subjection of all men to God, when we all, being united to one another by the faith, become one body of the Lord Who is in all, as the subjection of the Son to the Father, when the adoration paid to the Son by all things with one accord, by things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, redounds to the glory of the Father; as Paul says elsewhere, "To Him every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Fatherhyperlink ." For when this takes place, the mighty wisdom of Paul affirms that the Son, Who is in all, is subject to the Father by virtue of the subjection of those in whom He is. What kind of "subjection once for all" Eunomius asserts of the Holy Spirit, it is thus impossible to learn from the phrase which he has thrown out,-whether he means the subjection of irrational creatures, or of captives, or of servants, or of children who are kept in order, or of those who are saved by subjection. For the subjection of men to God is salvation for those who are so made subject, according to the voice of the prophet, who says that his soul is subject to God, since of Him cometh salvation by subjectionhyperlink , so that subjection is the means of averting perdition. As therefore the help of the healing art is sought eagerly by the sick, so is subjection by those who are in need of salvation. But of what life does the Holy Spirit, that quickeneth all things, stand in need, that by subjection He should obtain salvation for Himself? Since then it is not on the strength of any Divine utterance that he asserts such an attribute of the Spirit, nor yet is it as a consequence of probable arguments that he has launched this blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, it must be plain at all events to sensible men that he vents his impiety against Him without any warrant whatsoever, unsupported as it is by any authority from Scripture or by any logical consequence.
§15. Lastly He Displays at Length the Folly of Eunomius, Who at Times Speaks of the Holy Spirit as Created, and as the Fairest Work of the Son, and at Other Times Confesses, by the Operations Attributed to Him, that He is God, and Thus Ends the Book.
He goes on to add, "Neither on the same level with the Father, nor connumerated with the Father (for God over all is one and only Father), nor on an equality with the Son, for the Son is only-begotten, having none begotten with Him." Well, for my own part, if he had only added to his previous statement the remark that the Holy Ghost is not the Father of the Son, I should even then have thought it idle for him to linger over what no one ever doubted, and forbid people to form notions of Him which not even the most witless would entertain. But since he endeavours to establish his impiety by irrelevant and unconnected statements, imagining that by denying the Holy Spirit to be the Father of the Only-begotten he makes out that He is subject and subordinate, I therefore made mention of these words, as a proof of the folly of the man who imagines that he is demonstrating the Spirit to be subject to the Father on the ground that the Spirit is not Father of the Only-begotten. For what compels the conclusion, that if He be not Father, He must be subject? If it had been demonstrated that "Father" and "despot" were terms identical in meaning, it would no doubt have followed that, as absolute sovereignty was part of the conception of the Father, we should affirm that the Spirit is subject to Him Who surpassed Him in respect of authority. But if by "Father" is implied merely His relation to the Son, and no conception of absolute sovereignty or authority is involved by the use of the word, how does it follow, from the fact that the Spirit is not the Father of the Son, that the Spirit is subject to the Father? "Nor on an equality with the Son," he says. How comes he to say this? for to be, and to be unchangeable, and to admit no evil whatsoever, and to remain unalterably in that which is good, all this shows no variation in the case of the Son and of the Spirit. For the incorruptible nature of the Spirit is remote from corruption equally with that of the Son, and in the Spirit, just as in the Son, His essential goodness is absolutely apart from its contrary, and in both alike their perfection in every good stands in need of no addition.
Now the inspired Scripture teaches us to affirm all these attributes of the Spirit, when it predicates of the Spirit the terms "good," and "wise," and "incorruptible," and "immortal," and all such lofty conceptions and names as are properly applied to Godhead. If then He is inferior in none of these respects, by what means does Eunomius determine the inequality of the Son and the Spirit? "For the Son is," he tells us, "Only-begotten, having no brother begotten with Him." Well, the point, that we are not to understand the "Only-begotten" to have brethren, we have already discussed in our comments upon the phrase "first-born of all creationhyperlink ." But we ought not to leave unexamined the sense that Eunomius now unfairly attaches to the term. For while the doctrine of the Church declares that in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost there is one power, and goodness, and essence, and glory, and the like, saving the difference of the Persons, this man, when he wishes to make the essence of the Only-begotten common to the creation, calls Him "the first-born of all creation" in respect of His pre-temporal existence, declaring by this mode of expression that all conceivable objects in creation are in brotherhood with the Lord; for assuredly the first-born is not the first-born of those otherwise begotten, but of those begotten like Himselfhyperlink . But when he is bent upon severing the Spirit from union with the Son, he calls Him "Only-begotten, not having any brother begotten with Him," not with the object of conceiving of Him as without brethren, but that by the means of this assertion he may establish touching the Spirit His essential alienation from the Son. It is true that we learn from Holy Scripture not to speak of the Holy Ghost as brother of the Son: but that we are not to say that the Holy Ghost is homogeneoushyperlink with the Son, is nowhere shown in the divine Scriptures. For if there does reside in the Father and the Son a life-giving power, it is ascribed also to the Holy Spirit, according to the words of the Gospel. If one may discern alike in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit the properties of being incorruptible, immutable, of admitting no evil, of being good, right, guiding, of working all in all as He wills, and all the like attributes, how is it possible by identity in these respects to infer difference in kind? Accordingly the word of godliness agrees in affirming that we ought not to regard any kind of brotherhood as attaching to the Only-begotten; but to say that the Spirit is not homogeneous with the Son, the upright with the upright, the good with the good, the life-giving with the life-giving, this has been clearly demonstrated by logical inference to be a piece of heretical knavery.
Why then is the majesty of the Spirit curtailed by such arguments as these? For there is nothing which can be the cause of producing in him deviation by excess or defect from conceptions such as befit the Godhead, nor, since all these are by Holy Scripture predicated equally of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, can he inform us wherein he discerns inequality to exist. But he launches his blasphemy against the Holy Ghost in its naked form, ill-prepared and unsupported by any consecutive argument. "Nor yet ranked," he says, "with any other: for He has gone abovehyperlink all the creatures that came into being by the instrumentality of the Son in mode of being, and nature, and glory, and knowledge, as the first and noblest work of the Only-begotten, the greatest and most glorious." I will leave, however, to others the task of ridiculing the bad taste and surplusage of his style, thinking as I do that it is unseemly for the gray baits of age, when dealing with the argument before us, to make vulgarity of expression an objection against one who is guilty of impiety. I will just add to my investigation this remark. If the Spirit has "gone above" all the creations of the Son, (for I will use his own ungrammatical and senseless phrase, or rather, to make things clearer, I will present his idea in my own language) if he transcends all things wrought by the Son, the Holy Spirit cannot be ranked with the rest of the creation; and if, as Eunomius says, he surpasses them by virtue of priority of birth, he must needs confess, in the case of the rest of creation, that the objects which are first in order of production are more to be esteemed than those which come after them. Now the creation of the irrational animals was prior to that of man. Accordingly he will of course declare that the irrational nature is more honourable than rational existence. So too, according to the argument of Eunomius, Cain will be proved superior to Abel, in that he was before him in time of birth, and so the stars will be shown to be lower and of less excellence than all the things that grow out of the earth; for these last sprang from the earth on the third day, and all the stars are recorded by Moses to have been created on the fourth. Well, surely no one is such a simpleton as to infer that the grass of the earth is more to be esteemed than the marvels of thesky, on the ground of its precedence in time, or to award the meed to Cain over Abel, or to place below the irrational animals man who came into being later than they. So there is no sense in our author's contention that the nature of the Holy Spirit is superior to that of the creatures that came into being subsequently, on the ground that He came into being before they did. And now let us see what he who separates Him from fellowship with the Son is prepared to concede to the glory of the Spirit: "For he too," he says, "being one, and first and alone, and surpassing all the creations of the Son in essence and dignity of nature, accomplishing every operation and all teaching according to the good pleasure of the Son, being sent by Him, and receiving from Him, and declaring to those who are instructed, and guiding into truth." He speaks of the Holy Ghost as "accomplishing every operation and all teaching." What operation? Does he mean that which the Father and the Son execute, according to the word of the Lord Himself Who "hitherto workethhyperlink " man's salvation, or does he mean some other? For if His work is that named, He has assuredly the same power and nature as Him Who works it, and in such an one difference of kind from Deity can have no place. For just as, if anything should perform the functions of fire, shining and warming in precisely the same way, it is itself certainly fire, so if the Spirit does the works of the Father, He must assuredly be acknowledged to be of the same nature with Him. If on the other hand He operates something else than our salvation, and displays His operation in a contrary direction, He will thereby be proved to be of a different nature and essence. But Eunomius' statement itself bears witness that the Spirit quickeneth in like manner with the Father and the Son. Accordingly, from the identity of operations it results assuredly that the Spirit is not alien from the nature of the Father and the Son. And to the statement that the Spirit accomplishes the operation and teaching of the Father according to the good pleasure of the Son we assent. For the community of nature gives us warrant that the will of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is one, and thus, if the Holy Spirit wills that which seems good to the Son, the community of will clearly points to unity of essence. But he goes on, "being sent by Him, and receiving from Him, and declaring to those who are instructed, and guiding into truth." If he had not previously said what he has concerning the Spirit, the reader would surely have supposed that these words applied to some human teacher. For to receive a mission is the same thing as to be sent, and to have nothing of one's own, but to receive of the free favour of him who gives the mission, and to minister his words to those who are under instruction, and to be a guide into truth for those that are astray. All these things, which Eunomius is good enough to allow to the Holy Spirit, belong to the present pastors and teachers of the Church, -to be sent, to receive, to announce, to teach, to suggest the truth. Now, as he had said above "He is one, and first, and alone, and surpassing all," had be but stopped there, he would have appeared as a defender of the doctrines of truth. For He Who is indivisibly contemplated in the One is most truly One, and first Who is in the First, and alone Who is in the Only One. For as the spirit of man that is in him, and the man himself, are but one man, so also the Spirit of God which is in Him, and God Himself, would properly be termed One God, and First and Only, being incapable of separation from Him in Whom He is. But as things are, with his addition of his profane phrase, "surpassing all the creatures of the Son," he produces turbid confusion by assigning to Him Who "breatheth where He willethhyperlink ," and "worketh all in allhyperlink ," a mere superiority in comparison with the rest of created things.
Let us now see further what he adds to this "sanctifying the saints." If any one says this also of the Father and of the Son, he will speak truly. For those in whom the Holy One dwells, He makes holy, even as the Good One makes men good. And the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are holy and good, as has been shown. "Acting as a guide to those who approach the mystery." This may well be said of Apollos who watered what Paul planted. For the Apostle plants by his guidancehyperlink , and Apollos, when he baptizes, waters by Sacramental regeneration, bringing to the mystery those who were instructed by Paul. Thus he places on a level with Apollos that Spirit Who perfects men through baptism. "Distributing every gift." With this we too agree; for everything that is good is a portion of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. "Co-operating with the faithful for the understanding and contemplation of things appointed." As he does not add by whom they are appointed, he leaves his meaning doubtful, whether it is correct or the reverse. But we will by a slight addition advance his statement so as to make it consistent with godliness. For since, whether it be the word of wisdom, or the word of knowledge, or faith, or help, or government, or aught else that is enumerated in the lists of saving gifts, "all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He willhyperlink ," we therefore do not reject the statement of Eunomius when he says that the Spirit "co-operates with the faithful for understanding and contemplation of things appointed" by Him, because by Him all good teachings are appointed for us. "Sounding an accompaniment to those who pray." It would be foolish seriously to examine the meaning of this expression, of which the ludicrous and meaningless character is at once manifest to all. For who is so demented and beside himself as to wait for us to tell him that the Holy Spirit is not a bell nor an empty cask sounding an accompaniment and made to ring by the voice of him who prays as it were by a blow? "Leading us to that which is expedient for us." This the Father and the Son likewise do: for "He leadeth Joseph like a sheephyperlink ," and, "led His people like sheephyperlink ," and, "the good Spirit leadeth us in a land of righteousnesshyperlink ." "Strengthening us to godliness." To strengthen man to godliness David says is the work of God; "For Thou art my strength and my refugehyperlink ," says the Psalmist, and "the Lord is the strength of His peoplehyperlink ," and, "He shall give strength and power unto His peoplehyperlink ." If then the expressions of Eunomius are meant in accordance with the mind of the Psalmist, they are a testimony to the Divinity of the Holy Ghost: but if they are opposed to the word of prophecy, then by this very fact a charge of blasphemy lies against Eunomius, because he sets up his own opinions in opposition to the holy prophets. Next he says, "Lightening souls with the light of knowledge." This grace also the doctrine of godliness ascribes alike to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. For He is called a light by Davidhyperlink , and from thence the light of knowledge shines in them who are enlightened. In like manner also the cleansing of our thoughts of which the statement speaks is proper to the power of the Lord. For it was "the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His person," Who "purged our sinshyperlink ." Again, to banish devils, which Eunomius says is a property of the Spirit, this also the only-begotten God, Who said to the devil, "I charge theehyperlink ," ascribes to the power of the Spirit, when He says, "If I by the Spirit of God cast out devilshyperlink ," so that the expulsion of devils is not destructive of the glory of the Spirit, but rather a demonstration of His divine and transcendent power. "Healing the sick," he says, "curing the infirm, comforting the afflicted, raising up those who stumble, recovering the distressed." These are the words of those who think reverently of the Holy Ghost, for no one would ascribe the operation of any one of these effects to any one except to God. If then heresy affirms that those things which it belongs to none save God alone to effect, are wrought by the power of the Spirit, we have in support of the truths for which we are contending the witness even of our adversaries. How does the Psalmist seek his healing from God, saying, "Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak; O Lord, heal me, for my hones are vexedhyperlink !" It is to God that Isaiah says, "The dew that is from Thee is healing unto themhyperlink ." Again, prophetic language attests that the conversion of those in error is the work of God. For "they went astray in the wilderness in a thirsty land," says the Psalmist, and he adds, "So He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to the city where they dwelthyperlink :" and, "when the Lord turned again the captivity of Sionhyperlink ." In like manner also the comfort of the afflicted is ascribed to God, Paul thus speaking, "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who comforteth us in all our tribulationhyperlink ." Again, the Psalmist says, speaking in the person of God "Thou calledst upon Me in trouble and I delivered theehyperlink ." And the setting upright of those who stumble is innumerable times ascribed by Scripture to the power of the Lord: "Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall, but the Lord was my helphyperlink ," and "Though he fall, he shall not be cast away, for the Lord upholdeth him with His handhyperlink ," and "The Lord helpeth them that are fallenhyperlink ." And to the loving-kindness of God confessedly belongs the recovery of the distressed, if Eunomius means the same thing of which we learn in prophecy, as the Scripture says, "Thou laidest trouble upon our loins; Thou sufferedst men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, and Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy placehyperlink ."
Thus far then the majesty of the Spirit is demonstrated by the evidence of our opponents, but in what follows the limpid waters of devotion are once more defiled by the mud of heresy. For he says of the Spirit that He "cheers on those who are contending": and this phrase involves him in the charge of extreme folly and impiety. For in the stadium some have the task of arranging the competitions between those who intend to show their athletic vigour; others, who surpass the rest in strength and skill, strive for the victory and strip to contend with one another, while the rest, taking sides in their good wishes with one or other of the competitors, according as they are severally disposed towards or interested in one athlete or another, cheer him on at the time of the engagement, and bid him guard against some hurt, or remember some trick of wrestling, or keep himself unthrown by the help of his art. Take note from what has been said to how low a rank Eunomius degrades the Holy Spirit. For while on the course there are some who arrange the contests, and others who settle whether the contest is conducted according to rule, others who are actually engaged, and yet others who cheer on the competitors, who are acknowledged to be far inferior to the athletes themselves, Eunomius considers the Holy Spirit as one of the mob who look on, or as one of those who attend upon the athletes, seeing that He neither determines the contest nor awards the victory, nor contends with the adversary, but merely cheers without contributing at all to the victory. For He neither joins in the fray, nor does He implant the power to contend, but merely wishes that the athlete in whom He is interested may not come off second in the strife. And so Paul wrestles "against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high placeshyperlink ," while the Spirit of power does not strengthen the combatants nor distribute to them His gifts, "dividing to every man severally as He willhyperlink ," but His influence is limited to cheering on those who are engaged.
Again he says, "Emboldening the faint-hearted." And here, while in accordance with his own method he follows his previous blasphemy against the Spirit, the truth for all that manifests itself, even through unfriendly lips. For to none other than to God does it belong to implant courage in the fearful, saying to the faint-hearted, "Fear not, for I am with thee, be not dismayedhyperlink ," as says the Psalmist, "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for Thou art with mehyperlink ." Nay, the Lord Himself says to the fearful,-"Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraidhyperlink ," and, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faithhyperlink ?" and, "Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraidhyperlink ," and again, "Be of good cheer: I have overcome the worldhyperlink ." Accordingly, even though this may not have been the intention of Eunomius, orthodoxy asserts itself by means even of the voice of an enemy. And the next sentence agrees with that which went before:-"Caring for all, and showing all concern and forethought." For in fact it belongs to God alone to care and to take thought for all, as the mighty David has expressed it, "I am poor and needy, but the Lord careth for mehyperlink ." And if what remains seems to be resolved into empty words, with sound and without sense, let no one find fault, seeing that in most of what he says, so far as any sane meaning is concerned, he is feeble and untutored. For what on earth he means when he says, "for the onward leading of the better disposed and the guardianship of the more faithful," neither he himself, nor they who senselessly admire his follies, could possibly tell us.
Footnotes
210 S. John iv. 24.
211 Cf. Lam. iv. 20 in LXX.
212 Ps. xcix. 9.
213 Cf. the response to the words of the Priest at the elevation the Gifts in the Greek Liturgies.
214 S. John xiv. 16.
215 Ps. lxxvi. 17.
216 2 Cor. i. 3-4.
217 1 S. John ii. 1. The word is in the A. V. rendered "advocate.")
218 From which is derived the name Paraclete, i.e. Comforter or Advocate.
219 2 Cor. vii. 6.
220 2 Cor. v. 20.
221 The text reads, "that God is called righteousness," but the argument seems to require the genitive case. The reference may be to Ps. iv. I.
222 S. John xv. 26.
223 With this passage cf. S. John i. 12, S. John iii. 6; Rom. viii. 14; S. 1 John iii. 3.
224 S. John xx. 21, and S. John i. 16.
225 Col. ii. 9.
226 Is. vi. 1.
227 S. John xii. 41. The "older tradition" means presumably the ancient interpretation of the Jews.
228 Cf. Acts xxviii. 25, Acts xxviii. 26. The quotation is not verbal.
229 Cf. Ps. lxxviii. 40.
230 Heb. iii. 7.
231 S. John x. 30.
232 Cf. S. John i. 3.
233 Cf. Col. i. 16; but the enumeration varies considerably.
234 The last of these epithets is from Ps. li. 14 (pneuma hgemonikon, the "Spiritus principalis" of the Vulgate, the "free spirit" of the English version); the "right spirit" of ver.12 being also applied by S. Gregory to the Holy Spirit, while the epithet "good" is from Ps cxlii. 10.
235 Cf. 1 Cor. xii. 11.
236 S. John iii. 8.
237 Ps. viii. 7, Ps. viii. 8.
238 Ps. xlvii. 3.
239 Tit. ii. 9.
240 1 Tim. iii. 4.
241 Cf. Phil. ii. 10, Phil. ii. 11, a passage which is apparently considered as explanatory of 1 Cor. xv. 28.
242 Cf. Ps. lxii. 1 (LXX.).
243 See above, §8 of this book.
244 Or, "not the first-born of beings of a different race, but of those of his own stock."
245 omogenh, "of the same stock": the word being the same which (when coupled with adelfon) has been translated, in the passages preceding, by "begotten with."
246 anabebhke: the word apparently is intended by Eunomius to have the force of "transcended"; Gregory, later on, criticizes its employment in this sense.
247 S. John v. 17.
248 S. John iii. 8.
249 1 Cor. xii. 6.
250 If we read kathxhsewj for the kaqhghsewj of Oehler's text we have a clearer sense, "the Apostle plants by his instruction."
251 1 Cor. xii. 11.
252 Ps. lxxx. 1.
253 Ps. lxxvii. 20.
254 Cf. Ps. cxliii. 10.
255 Cf. Ps. xxxi. 3.
256 Ps. xxviii. 8.
257 Ps. lxviii. 35.
258 Ps. xxvii. 1.
259 Heb. i. 3.
260 Cf. S. Mark ix. 25.
261 S. Matt. xii. 28.
262 Ps. vi. 3.
263 Is. xxvi. 19 (LXX.).
264 Ps. cviii. 4-7.
265 Ps. cxxvi. 1.
266 2 Cor. i. 3, 2 Cor. i. 4.
267 Ps. lxxxi. 17.
268 Ps. cxviii. 13.
269 Ps. xxxvii. 24.
270 Ps. cxlvi. 8.
271 Ps. lxvi. 10, Ps. lxvi. 11.
272 Eph. vi. 12.
273 1 Cor. xii. 11.
274 Is. xli. 10.
275 Ps. xxiii. 4.
276 S. John xiv. 27.
277 S. Matt. viii. 26.
278 S. Mark vi. 50.
279 S. John xvi. 33.
280 Ps. xl. 20.