Panarion (Against Heresies) 1 part 67/82

I say, then, that Christ became a minister of the circumcision for the sake of the truth of God, in order to fulfill the promises; and that the Holy Spirit ministers together with him we have received from the divine Scriptures, thus:

Christ is sent from the Father; the Holy Spirit is sent.

Christ speaks in the saints; the Holy Spirit speaks.

Christ heals; the Holy Spirit heals.

Christ sanctifies; the Holy Spirit sanctifies.

Christ baptizes in his own name; the Holy Spirit baptizes.

Thus the Scriptures say:

'You will renew the face of the earth' — similar to saying, 'You will send forth your word and melt them.'

'And while they were ministering to the Lord,' it says, 'and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them' — similar to saying, 'But the Lord said, Enter the city, and there it will be told you what you must do.'

So they, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia — as Christ might say, 'Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.'

For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things — as one might say, 'Yet not I command, but the Lord, that the wife should not be separated from her husband.'

And they passed through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

And when they had come to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit did not permit them — as Christ might say, 'Go and baptize all the nations,' or 'Carry no bag, no staff, nor sandals.'

'Who,' it says, 'told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem'; or Agabus, 'Thus says the Holy Spirit: The man to whom this belt belongs...' — similar to what Paul said, 'If you seek proof of Christ speaking in me,' or, 'Remember the words of the Lord, that he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.'

'And now, behold, I go bound in the Spirit' — as Paul might say, 'a prisoner of Jesus Christ.'

'Except that the Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying...' — similar to saying, 'The Lord bears witness to my soul that I do not lie.'

'In power, according to the Spirit of holiness' — similar to saying, 'Holy is he who rests among the holy ones.'

'And circumcision of the heart, in the Spirit' — similar to saying, 'And you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of sins, in the circumcision of Christ.'

'If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you' — similar to saying, 'As you received Christ, so walk in him.'

'And the Spirit of the Lord spoke in me, and his word was upon my tongue,' and, 'having the firstfruits of the Spirit' — similar to saying, 'Christ the firstfruits.'

'But the Spirit itself intercedes on our behalf' — similar to saying, 'He who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.'

'That the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit' — similar to saying, 'And may the Lord sanctify you, that you may be sincere and without offense unto the day of Christ.'

'But to us God has revealed it through his Spirit' — similar to saying, 'When he who set me apart from my mother's womb was pleased, through his grace, to reveal his Son in me.'

'Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God' — similar to saying, 'Examine yourselves, whether Christ is in you.'

'You are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you' — similar to saying, 'I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.'

But he also says that justification and grace alike come from both.

'But you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God' — similar to saying, 'Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.'

'No one can say, Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit,' and, 'No one can receive the Holy Spirit except from the Lord. Now 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 it is the same God who works all things in all — and from glory to glory, even as from the Lord who is the Spirit.'

Similar to saying, 'Thus says the Lord Almighty.'

'And my Spirit stands in the midst of you' — similar to saying, 'If anyone opens to me, I will come in, I and the Father, and we will make our dwelling with him.'

And Isaiah says, of him, 'And upon him was the Spirit of God'; but Christ says, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me.'

'And Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit'; or, 'The Lord has sent me, and his Spirit.'

Plain also is the voice of the Seraphim, crying out, 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Sabaoth.'

And if you hear that, 'Having been exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Spirit'; or, 'to wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard [from me]';

or that the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness; or that he himself says, 'Do not be anxious about what you shall say, for it is the Spirit of my Father speaking in you'; or, 'But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God...'; or, 'But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven,' and so on; or, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit'; or, 'And the child grew and became strong in spirit'; or, 'And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan'; or, 'Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit'; or, 'That which is born of the Spirit is spirit' — similar to saying, 'That which was made in him was life'; or, 'And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, the Spirit of truth'; or, 'Why has Satan filled your heart, that you should lie to the Holy Spirit, Ananias?' said Peter; 'and after this, you have not lied to men, but to God.'

Therefore the Holy Spirit is God from God, whom those who kept back part of the price of the land lied to; or, 'God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit.'

Greater than this I have nothing to say.

'Of whom,' it says, 'is Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all.'

'Believe,' it says, 'on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved'; and, 'he spoke to them the word of the Lord,' it says, and having brought them into his house, he set a table before them, and rejoiced with his whole household, having believed in God; or, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God'; or, 'that they may adorn the teaching of God our Savior in everything'; or, 'For the grace of God our Savior has appeared to all men, training us'; or, 'awaiting the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.'

And the ministry of the Spirit and of the Word is the same.

'Take heed,' it says, 'to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God' — similar to saying, 'I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he considered me faithful, appointing me to the ministry.'

Therefore, as has been demonstrated, the Son and the Holy Spirit work together with the Father.

For by the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

And the Holy Spirit is to be worshiped;

for those who worship God must worship him in spirit and truth.

But if these work together, then creation does not produce creation, nor does the Godhead become a created thing, nor is God known within measure or circumscription.

For he is uncircumscribed, uncontainable, inconceivable, encompassing all the works of God.

For they worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, and became fools.

For how is it not foolish to theologize about a creature, and yet to set aside the first commandment, which says, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord your God, the Lord is one; there shall be no new god among you'? But in the holy Scriptures, different names are used for the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit:

Of the Father: Father Almighty, Father of all, Father of Christ.

Of the Son: Word, Christ, true light.

Of the Holy Spirit: Comforter, Spirit of truth, Spirit of God, Spirit of Christ.

Furthermore, God the Father is also conceived as light, but, since he is surpassingly bright, also as power and as wisdom.

Therefore the Son is from light, and for this reason is light dwelling in unapproachable light.

And God is wholly power, and for this reason the Son is Lord of hosts.

God is wholly wisdom; therefore the Son is wisdom from wisdom, in whom all the treasures of wisdom are hidden.

And God is wholly life; therefore the Son is life from life;

for, 'I am the truth and the life.'

And the Holy Spirit is from both, spirit from spirit;

for God is spirit — the Godhead being the giver of gifts, most true, illuminating, comforting, and the announcer of the Father's counsels.

For as the Son is the Messenger of Great Counsel, so also is the Holy Spirit.

'But we have received,' it says, 'the Spirit that is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God — which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things with spiritual words.'

But someone will say, 'Then are we saying there are two sons — and how then is he only-begotten?' By no means! Who are you, to argue back against God? For if he calls the one the Son — the one who is from him — and calls the Holy Spirit the one who is from both, these realities, being conceived only by faith by the saints as luminous, light-giving, having a luminous activity, and forming an accord with the Father himself who is of light — hear it in faith, O man: that the Father is the Father of a true Son, being wholly light, and the Son is the Son of a true Father, light from light, not merely by name, as are the things that are made or created.

And the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, a third light from the Father and the Son.

But all the other things [so called] are so by adoption or by title, not being like these in operation, or in power, or in light, or in thought.

As one might say, 'I have begotten and raised up sons,' or as one might say, 'I have said, You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High,' or as one might say, 'he who has begotten the drops of dew,' or as one might say, 'from whom every family in heaven and on earth [is named],' or as one might say, 'I who make firm the thunder and create the wind.'

For the true Father is not like the rest of fathers or patriarchs, who began to be fathers or who at some time ceased in time to be fathers.

For if he begins to be Father, then he was at some time the son of another father, before he himself was the father of the Only-begotten.

But by analogy, fathers are understood to be the children of [other] fathers, and one could trace the true father of this ancient lineage back into infinity.

Nor is the true Son, like the rest of the children, [a son] by adoption, being newly come to be a son.

For if he were newly come to be Son, there was once a time when the Father was not the father of the Only-begotten.

Nor is the Spirit of truth, like the rest of the spirits, created or made.

Nor is the Angel of Great Counsel called such as the rest of the angels are called angels.

For some have a beginning and an end, while others have a beginning and a dominion beyond conception.

And some create all things unto ages without end, working together with the Father, while others are created by these according as they will.

And some render worship to these, while others are the objects of worship rendered by all creatures.

And some heal the things that are made, while others receive healing from them.

And some are judged according to merit, while others possess the righteous judgment.

And some exist in time, while others do not happen to be in time at all.

And some illuminate all things, while others are illuminated by these.

And some call the little ones up to the height, while others are called by the Perfect One.

And some bestow grace freely on all, while others receive gifts of grace.

And, to speak once for all: some extol the holiness in the heavens of heavens and the rest of the invisible places, while others, being extolled, worthily bestow their gifts on the worthy.

Now Scripture speaks of very many spirits:

'He who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire,' and 'let everything that has breath praise the Lord.'

And the gift of discernment of spirits is given to the worthy.

For some are heavenly, rejoicing in the truth, while others are earthly, fit for deceit and error, and others are subterranean, children of the abyss and of darkness.

For the Gospel says he besought him that he would not send them away into the abyss.

Likewise he also gave commands to the spirits.

And he cast out spirits with a word, and did not allow them to speak.

And there is spoken of 'a spirit of judgment' and 'a spirit of burning'; there is also spoken of 'a spirit of the world.'

'We have received,' it says [not the spirit of the world]; and there is also 'the spirit of man.'

For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him? And there is 'a spirit that goes and does not return';

'for a spirit passed through it, and it shall not exist,' and 'you shall take away their spirit, and they shall fail,' and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

And behold, 'a lying spirit stood before the Lord and said to him, By what means will you deceive Ahab?' And, 'I will be,' it says, 'a lying spirit in the mouth of the prophets.'

And there is spoken of 'a spirit of compunction,' 'a spirit of timidity,' 'a spirit of Python,' 'a spirit of fornication,' 'a spirit of tempest,' 'a wordy spirit,' 'a spirit of infirmity,' 'an unclean spirit,' 'a deaf spirit,' 'a dumb spirit,' 'a spirit that speaks with difficulty,' and 'a spirit exceedingly fierce, which is called Legion,' and 'the spiritual [powers] of wickedness.'

But the sayings concerning spirits are innumerable to the wise.

But just as the many sons [are so called] by adoption or by title, not in truth, because they have beginning and end in a manner subject to sin, so also there are very many spirits by adoption or by title, even if they be sinful ones; but the Holy Spirit alone is called, by the Father and the Son, 'the Spirit of truth,' and 'the Spirit of God,' and 'the Spirit of Christ,' and 'the Spirit of grace.'

For he bestows the good variously on each one: to one the spirit of wisdom, to another the spirit of knowledge, to another the spirit of power, to another the spirit of healings, to another the spirit of prophecy, to another the spirit of discernment, to another [the gift] of tongues, to another of interpretations, and the rest of the gifts, as it says: 'but one and the same Spirit, dividing to each as he wills.'

Concerning this the Lord [says]: 'When the Paraclete comes, whom I will send to you, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify concerning me.'

'And I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.'

'When he comes, that Spirit of truth, he will guide you into all the truth.'

'For he will not speak from himself, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will announce to you the things that are coming.'

'He will glorify me, because he will receive from what is mine, and will announce it to you.'

If, then, he proceeds from the Father and, as the Lord says, 'will receive from what is mine,' then in the manner that 'no one knew the Father except the Son, nor the Son except the Father,' so I dare to say that no one [knows] the Spirit except the Son, from whom he receives, and the Father, from whom he proceeds; and no one [knows] the Son and the Father except the Holy Spirit — who truly glorifies, who teaches all things, who testifies concerning the Son, who is from the Father, who is from the Son; the sole guide of truth, the expositor of the holy laws, the instructor of the spiritual law, the teacher of the prophets, the teacher of the apostles, the luminary of the evangelical doctrines, the chooser of the saints, the true light from the true light.

The natural Son, the true Son, the genuine Son, alone from the Alone; with him also the Spirit — not a Son, but named Spirit.

This is the God who is glorified in the Church:

Father always, Son always, and Holy Spirit always; lofty from the lofty, and most high, intelligent, having immeasurable glory, to whom the created and the made things are subordinate — in short, all things being measured and each thing being contained.

One Godhead is proclaimed chiefly in Moses; a duality is loudly preached in the prophets; a trinity is manifested in the Gospels — fitting the righteous one more fully according to times and generations, unto knowledge and faith.

And this knowledge is immortality, and from faith in it comes the adoption as sons.

But first it expresses the ordinances of the flesh, as one raising up the outer enclosure of the Temple, in Moses;

and third, the ordinances of the Spirit, as one regulating the mercy-seat and the holy of holies in the evangelical [dispensation] for its own dwelling — a holy tabernacle, a holy people, which alone has the righteous one dwelling together with them.

And dwelling in it is one infinite Godhead, one incorruptible Godhead, one inconceivable, incomprehensible, ineffable, invisible Godhead, knowing itself alone, manifesting itself to whom it wills, raising up witnesses to itself, calling, predestining, glorifying, exalting from Hades, sanctifying, and again uniting, unto its own glory and faith, these three: heavenly things, earthly things, and things beneath the earth; spirit, soul, flesh; faith, hope, love; things past, present, and to come; things eternal, age of age, ages of ages, sabbaths of sabbaths, circumcision of the flesh, circumcision of the heart, and the circumcision of Christ in the putting off of the body of sins.

And in general it purifies for itself all things, the invisible and the visible: thrones, dominions, principalities, authorities, powers;

and in all these there is the same holy voice, [going] from glory to glory, crying 'Holy, holy, holy,' glorifying the Father in the Son and the Son in the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, to whom be the glory and the might unto the ages of ages. Amen.

And he who so believes will say: 'So be it, so be it.'

The excerpts from the Ancoratus are completed.

And these are the things which we have already, in writing concerning the faith of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, expounded as briefly as our lowliness could, and cited from what was said before.

But we will still continue, piously bringing forward testimonies for the establishment of our own life, and piously discoursing concerning the Godhead out of right reasoning.

For that in what precedes this it has been demonstrated through many testimonies that the Only-begotten works together with the Father and, in all things, accomplishes and bestows the same things, as being from him and not other than the Father's power and Godhead, but consubstantial with the Father — and not only the Son, but also the Holy Spirit, working together with the Son and the Father, and effecting and granting and bestowing the same things as he wills, as being himself also truly from God, and not alien to the Father and the Son, but consubstantial with the Father and the Son — this is clear to everyone, and has been demonstrated, and in every respect will be demonstrated, from so many testimonies.

But now, because of those who are opposed and are enemies of the Holy Spirit, having set forth, concerning the Holy Spirit alone, the pious [teachings] of right reasoning and those from the testimonies of the same divine Scripture, we will set out still more testimonies in addition to the former, in accordance with the true piety concerning the Holy Spirit;

for, as it is, the Holy Spirit exists singular, worshipped by all, longed for by all creatures and things made, equal to none — not to an angel, not to another spirit — but singular;

for since there are also many spirits, this one is the highest of all spirits, as being always from the Father and not from those others who came to be from what did not exist.

For there are many spirits, but one is the Holy Spirit.

Just as there is one God and one Only-begotten Son of God, so also there is one Holy Spirit of God, from God and in God.

But the Only-begotten Son is incomprehensible, and the Spirit is incomprehensible — from God, and not alien to the Father and the Son.

It is not a mere merging with the Father and the Son, but a Trinity always existing of the same substance — not another substance besides the Godhead, not another Godhead besides the substance, but the same Godhead; and from the same Godhead are the Son and the Holy Spirit.

And the Spirit is the Holy Spirit, and the Son is the Son.

But the Spirit, proceeding from the Father and receiving from the Son, searches the depths of God, announces the things of the Son in the world, sanctifies the saints through the Trinity;

[one] God, one faith, one Lord, one gift, one Church, one baptism.

For the Trinity is always Trinity, as I have often said, and never receives any addition — a truth as sweet to confess as it is insatiable to keep declaring;

for the prophet says, 'How sweet are your words to my throat!'

And if the words [of God] are sweet, how much more the holy name — the Trinity, the fountain of all sweetness? The Trinity, then, is thus numbered:

Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Trinity is not a coalescence, nor is it divided from its own oneness; but in the hypostasis of perfection the Father is perfect, the Son is perfect, the Holy Spirit is perfect — Father and Son and Holy Spirit.

But conversely, the Spirit is placed first when it comes to the gifts of grace:

'For there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are diversities of ministries, but the same Lord; and there are diversities of workings, but it is the same God who works all things in all.'

Since these things are so, let us take heed lest we fall from the truth, but let us confess the truth — not pleading God's cause as an advocate, but thinking piously — lest we perish.

For it is not admissible to say or even to conceive that anything in the Trinity is created or came to be afterward; rather, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit always existed.

The Son is neither a brother to the Father nor a coalescence with him; and the Spirit is neither a coalescence nor a brother to the Father and the Son, nor is the Spirit a coalescence with the Father and the Son.

But the Son is begotten of the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father, the Trinity existing ineffably in identity of glory, and the Son being incomprehensibly with the Father, and the Holy Spirit likewise, and the Trinity never ceasing from that same eternity.

The Father, then, is always unbegotten, uncreated, and incomprehensible; the Son is begotten, yet uncreated and incomprehensible; the Holy Spirit exists always — not begotten, not created, not a brother, not a forefather, not offspring — but the Holy Spirit is of the same essence as the Father and the Son.

The testimonies to this secure life of ours are found throughout all of Scripture.

Out of the many, I shall set forth a few, as far as possible, lest in the present exposition I pass over the subject of the Spirit without testimony.

For at once the Father says concerning the coming of the Son, 'I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall declare judgment to the nations,' so that his Holy Spirit might proclaim him true God, for the salvation of all the faithful.

Then the Only-begotten, adding to his own testimony, declares, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me,' so that his incarnate coming, being confirmed also by the Holy Spirit and clearly proclaimed to the faithful, might be plainly acknowledged from Christ's own testimony — namely, that the Spirit is not alien to God.

Again, the Lord speaks concerning the Spirit, that 'it is the Spirit of my Father who speaks in you'; and again, since the Spirit is not alien to the Godhead of God, he breathed upon the faces of the disciples and said:

'Receive the Holy Spirit.' And again, to show his own equality and consubstantiality with the Holy Spirit — both his own and his Father's — he says, 'If you love me, you will keep my commandments.'

'And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter' — implying that the Lord himself is a Comforter, and that the Holy Spirit is likewise a fellow Comforter.

And the apostles, showing that the Spirit is not a servant but of the same Godhead, and indicating his authority, say: 'And the Holy Spirit said:'

'Separate for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them,' and so forth.

And the apostle speaks plainly concerning him: 'Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty'; and 'You are the temple of God, and the Spirit of the Lord dwells in you.'

Does not the Holy Spirit dwell in those who are worthy? And how could the Spirit, who searches the depths of God, be alien to God? And do not say to me:

'It searches, but does not yet know' — as some dare to blaspheme and so bring destruction upon themselves, since, were they to say the same about the Father, it is also written concerning him that 'he searches the chambers of the belly.'

And if you should impiously suppose, because 'knowing' is not attached to 'searching' in the case of the Spirit, that [the Spirit does not fully know], you would be forced to commit the same impiety concerning the Father, bringing forward the same suspicion.

For neither in the case of the Father, who searches the chambers of the belly, is 'knowing' added; nor was there any need to say it, since God's foreknowledge is clearly shown by the very word 'searches,' and the statement already carries its full and complete sense.

So likewise, understand for me concerning the Spirit and the Son and the Father, that there is one knowledge and one foreknowledge, the Holy Trinity clearly possessing both perfection and identity of nature.

And countless things could be said about these matters, and a mass of testimonies could be brought forth from divine Scripture, and the discussion drawn out at great length, causing weariness to those who read it.

For having said enough concerning every heresy, we, the weak, have by the power of God overturned them all and shown them to be alien to the truth, and shown that each of them, whether in a small matter or in many, blasphemes and denies the truth — as do also these men who vainly blaspheme against the Lord and against the Holy Spirit, and who, according to what the Lord declared, have no forgiveness of sins, neither in this age nor in the age to come, on account of their blasphemy against the Holy Spirit; trampled down by the truth itself as a fearsome horned unicorn is trampled, since the very thought of that blasphemy is able to corrupt the whole body; struck by the word concerning the tree and by the true confession of the Only-begotten, that to the one who blasphemes against the Spirit it shall not be forgiven, neither in this age nor in the one to come, as I have said — trampled down and crushed, having no strength against the truth.

For truly all heresies are gates of Hades, but they shall not prevail against the rock, that is, against the truth.

For even if some of them should wish to say, 'We too confess the faith set forth at Nicaea' —

show me from it that the Holy Spirit is numbered together within the Godhead, and they will be found refuted even by that very creed.

For at that time there was no inquiry concerning the Spirit.

For councils secure matters against whatever falls under question at each particular time.

Since, then, Arius directed his slander against the Son, for this reason the precision of the wording came about after exceedingly careful debate.

But observe from this very confession that not even here will those who blaspheme against the Spirit — the Pneumatomachians, who are alien to his gift and to his work of sanctification — be found to have anything to say.

For the exposition immediately confesses, and does not deny:

'We believe in one God, the Father Almighty.'

Now the word 'we believe' is not spoken only once, but the faith is also directed to God and to one Lord Jesus Christ:

and it is not spoken only once, but the faith is also directed to God and to the Holy Spirit:

and it is not spoken only once, but unto one glorification, and unto one union of the Godhead and one consubstantiality — unto three that are perfect, yet one Godhead, one essence, one glorification, one lordship — from the threefold 'we believe, and we believe, and we believe.'

And right here the argument of such men collapses.

And how much longer shall I prolong this discourse, when what has been said against these men is surely sufficient for those who love the truth? Therefore I shall pass over this heresy as well, beseeching our God, as is my custom, to lend his aid for the overturning of all these heresies, so that, having accomplished this undertaking by his power, we may give him thanks in all things.

Against Aerius, heresy 55, but 75 in the sequence.

A certain Aerius likewise in turn became a great evil for the world, his understanding stupefied and his mind puffed up.