De Spiritu Sancto (Orat. 31)
Gregory, of Nazianzus
Gregorius Nazianzenus, The Five Theological Orations, Mason, Cambridge, 1899
τῶν πραγμάτων τὰ μὲν οὐκ ἔστι, λέγεται δέ· τὰ δὲ ὄντα οὐ λέγεται· τὰ δὲ οὔτε ἔστιν, οὔτε λέγεται· τὰ δὲ ἄμφω, καὶ ἔστι, καὶ λέγεται. τούτων ἀπαιτεῖς με τὰς ἀποδείξεις ; παρασχεῖν ἕτοιμος. ὑπνοῖ τῆ γραφῇ θεός, καὶ γρηγορεῖ, καὶ ὀργίζεται, καὶ βαδίζει, καὶ θρόνον ἔχει τὰ χερουβίμ· καίτοι πότε γέγονεν ἐμπαθής ; πότε δὲ σῶμα θεὸν ἀκήκοας ; τοῦτο οὐκ ὂν ἀνεπλάσθη. ὠνομάσαμεν γάρ, ὡς ἡμῖν ἐφικτόν, ἐκ τῶν ἡμετέρων τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ. τὸ μὲν ἠρεμεῖν αὐτὸν ἀφ’ ἡμῶν, καὶ οἷον ἀμελεῖν, δι’ ἃς αὐτὸς οἶδεν αἰτίας, ὑπνοῦν. τὸ γὰρ ἡμέτερον ὑπνοῦν τοιοῦτον, ἀνενέργητόν τε καὶ ἄπρακτον. τὸ δὲ ἀθρόως εὖ ποιεῖν ἐκ μεταβολῆς, γρηγορεῖν. ὕπνου γὰρ λύσις ἐγρήγορσις, ὥσπερ ἀποστροφῆς ἐπίσκεψις. τὸ δὲ κολάζειν ὀργίζεσθαι πεποιήκαμεν· οὕτω γὰρ ἡμῖν ἐξ ὀργῆς ἡ κόλασις. τὸ δὲ νῦν μὲν τῇδε, νῦν δὲ τῇδε ἐνεργεῖν, βαδίζειν. ἡ γὰρ ἀπ’ ἄλλου πρὸς ἄλλο μετάβασις, βαδισμός. τὸ δὲ ἐναναπαύεσθαι ταῖς ἁγίαις δυνάμεσι, καὶ οἷον ἐμφιλοχωρεῖν, καθέζεσθαι καὶ θρονίζεσθαι. καὶ τοῦτο ἡμέτερον. οὐδενὶ γὰρ οὕτως ὡς τοῖς ἁγίοις τὸ θεῖον ἐναναπαύεται. τὸ δὲ [*](22. 9 αὐτὸς αἰτίας οἶδεν c: οἶδεν αὐτὸς αἰτίας e ΙΙ 10 om ὕπνουν secundo loco b || 16 εναναπαυεσθαι] εναπαυεσθαι (sic) c: ἀναπαύεσθαι df ΙΙ 19 εναναπαυεται] ἐπαναπαύεται be2 ‘Or. 1’) [*](22. There are four heads under which we may arrange the phenomena of Scripture language, (I) There are things said which are not literally true. Of this kind are all the anthropomorphic expressions concerning God.) [*](1. λέγεται δέ] sc. in Scripture.) [*](4. ὑπνοῖ] Ps. xliii 24 (xliv 23).) [*](5. γρηγορεῖ] Jer. xxxi 28.) [*](id. ὀργίζεται] e.g. Ps. lxxviii (lxxix) 5.) [*](ib. βαδίζει] The word does not seem to be used of God in LXX. The ref. is doubtless to passages like Gen. iii 8.) [*](ib. θρόνον ἔχει] Ps. lxxix 2 (lxxx 1); Ezek. i 26.) [*](6. ἐμπαθής] in ref. to ὑπνοῖ, γρηγορεῖ, ὀργίζεται; σῶμα, to βαδίζει, θρόνον.) [*](9. ἠρεμεῖν … ἀφ’ ἠμ’.] ‘letting alone’ (lit. ‘keeping quiet from us’).) [*](11. ἀθρόως] ‘suddenly; cp. ii 2.) [*](15. τῇδε. … τῇδε] ‘in this direction and in that.’) [*](17. ταῖς ἃγ. δυνάμεσι] sc. τοῖς χερουβίμ. ‘Resting in those holy Powers and, as it were, being fond of the place, is “sitting” and “being enthroned”.’) [*](18. οὐδενὶ γάρ] The γάρ explains, not the καὶ τοῦτο ἠμ’., but the choice of the expression ‘resting’ etc. God is in everything; but there is nothing in which He ‘rests’ as He does in the saints (and angelic beings).) [*](19. τὸ δέ ὀξυκ.] more instances of metaphorical language. God ‘flies,’ Ps. xvii li (xviii 10); we speak of His ‘face,’ e.g. Ps. iv 7 (6); His ‘hand,’ e.g. Ps. cxliv (cxlv) 16.)
Πάλιν σὺ πόθεν τὸ ἀγέννητον λαβὼν ἔχεις, ἢ τὸ ἄναρχον, τὰς σὰς ἀκροπόλεις, ἢ καὶ ἡμεῖς τὸ ἀθάνατον ; δεῖξον ταῦτα ὀνομαστί, ἢ διαγράψομεν, καὶ τέθνηκας ἐκ τῶν σῶν ὑποθέσεων, καθαιρεθέντων σοι τῶν ὀνομάτων, καὶ τοῦ τείχους τῆς καταφυγῆς ἐφ’ ᾧ ἐπεποίθεις. [*](23. 6 om η e2 || 7 ὀνομαστὶ] + καὶ η ἀθετήσομεν ἐπειδὴ οὐ γέγραπται bed, nisi quod om καὶ cd || 9 ἐφ’ ω] ἐφ’ ο ac2) [*](2. προσίεσθαι] ‘to welcome’; ii 119.) [*](ib. ὅλως] ‘in short.’) [*](4. ἀνεζωγράφησεν] ‘has depicted,’ i.e. ‘has suggested the form of.’ should almost have expected the inversion of the sentence, — that bodily things depict the powers and operations of God; but either way is intelligible.) [*](23. (2) There are th ings not said which are nevertheless true, — among them facts of which you make a deal. (3) Things neither said nor true. (4) Things both true and said.) [*](5. πάλιν] Instances of true things not found in Scripture.) [*](6. τὰς σὰς ἀκροπ.] ‘those fortresses of yours’; cp. below τοῦ τῆς καταφυγῆς.) [*](7. ἢ διαγράψομεν] Cp. iii 8. The words ἢ ἀθετήσομεν, ἐπειδὴ οὐ γέγραπται seem to be an ancient gloss to explain ἢ διαγράψομεν. They offer no real alternative to it ; and the variation of the mss. which contain them between ἢ and καὶ ἢ indicates the uncertainty of their footing. If they are to be retained, the only sense that can be got out of them would be this: — Shew us the words ἀγέννητον, ἄναρχον in the Bible, and we will either reject the Holy Ghost’s Divinity for not being found there, or (if we can prove that it is there) we will erase both it and your two words together. But this would be very cumbrous. Omitting the words, the sense is plain. Gr. retaliates ; — Shew us ἀγένν., ἄναρχ. in the Bible, or we will discard them, and you will die by your own rules. The perf. τέθνηκας gives vividness to the argument. Probably the gloss was introduced because Gr. ’s word διαγράψομεν seemed itself to imply that the words ἀγέννητον etc. were to be found written in Scripture. How can that be erased which was never written? The scribe wished to substitute for διαγρ. the more general word ἀθετήσομεν, ‘because the expressions in question are not written.’ It may be that the correction might be due to Gr. himself; but (1) its place in the MSS. is against it; it ought to have followed διαγρ.; (2) by διαγρ. Gr. intended no reference to being found in Scripture ; he meant, if conscious of the metaphor at all, an erasure from the theological writings in which the expressions occurred.) [*](8. τῶν ὀνομάτων] sc. ἀγέννητον, ἄναρχον.)
τοσαύτης οὖν οὔσης διαφορᾶς ἐν τοῖς ὀνόμασι καὶ τοῖς πράγμασι, πῶς οὕτω σὺ λίαν δουλεύεις τῷ γράμματι, καὶ γίνῃ μετὰ τῆς Ἰουδαικῆς σοφίας, καὶ συλλαβαῖς ἀκολουθεῖς, ἀφεὶς τὰ πράγματα ; εἰ δὲ σοῦ τὰ δὶς πέντε λέγοντος, ἢ τὰ δὶς ἑπτά, τὰ δέκα συνῆγον, ἢ τέσσαρες καὶ δέκα ἐκ τῶν λεγομένων· ἢ ἐκ τοῦ ζῶον λογικόν, θνητόν, τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἆρα ἄν σοι ληρεῖν ἐνομίσθην ; καὶ πῶς, τὰ σὰ λέγων; οὐ γὰρ τοῦ λέγοντος μᾶλλον οἱ λόγοι, ἢ τοῦ λέγειν συναναγκάζοντος. ὥσπερ οὖν ἐνταῦθα οὐκ ἂν τὰ λεγόμενα μᾶλλον ἐσκόπουν, ἢ τὰ νοούμενα· οὕτως οὐδὲ εἴ τι ἄλλο τῶν μὴ λεγομένων, ἢ μὴ σαφῶς, ἐκ τῆς γραφῆς νοούμενον ηὕρισκον, ἔφυγον ἂν τὴν ἐκφώνησιν, φοβούμενος σὲ τὸν συκοφάντην τῶν ὀνομάτων. οὕτω μὲν οὖν στησόμεθα πρὸς τοὺς ἐξ ἡμισείας εὐγνώμονας. σοὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἔξεστι λέγειν. ὁ γὰρ τὰς τοῦ υἱοῦ προσηγορίας οὕτως ἐναργεῖς οὔσας καὶ τοσαύτας ἀρνούμενος, οὐδ’ ἂν ταύτας ᾐδέσθης δῆλον ὅτι, καὶ εἰ πολλῷ σαφεστέρας καὶ πλείους ἐγίνωσκες. ἤδη δὲ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν δηλώσω τῆς [*](24. 3 συλλαβαις] ταῖς συλλ. c || 4 ακολουθης f || 5 τεσσαπες] τὰ τεσσαπεσ cdf || 10 εἰ] + μὴ ‘Or. I’ || 12 νοουμένων bede.) [*](1. ἐν τοῖς ὂν. καἰ τοῖς πρ.] ‘diversity in names and things.’) [*](3. τῆς ᾿Ιουδ. σοφίας] because the Jews were ‘slaves to the letter.’ ib. συλλαβαῖς] Basil, on the other hand, de Sp. S. 1, points out the extreme importance of noticing ‘syllables.) [*](8. τὰ σὰ λέγων] ‘for saying what you said? For words belong as much to him who forces them to be said (i.e. in this case to you who gave me the data for my conclusion) as to him who said them ’ (i.e. to me who that you meant ‘ten,’ ‘man’).) [*](9. ἐνταῦθα] in the case just supposed.) [*](10. οὐδὲ εἴ τι ἄλλο κτλ.] lif I found anything else intended in Scripture (lit. found out of Scripture anything else intended), though not stated, or not stated clearly, I should not have shrunk from expressing it for fear ’ etc.) [*](13. συκοφ. τῶν ὂν.] The word denotes one who is on the watch for words to denounce them.) [*](ib. στησόμεθα πρός] ‘will take our stand against.’ The οὕτω to the argument from the beginning of § 21 to this point.) [*](14. σοὶ γάρ] i.e. the Eunomian ; oὐδὲ τοῦτο means the foregoing ment, which he says would for them be without force. This seems to have more point than to suppose it to mean ἐξ ἤμ’. εύγν. εἶναι.) [*](17. ταύτας] the προσηγορίαι of the Spirit.)
Δύο γεγόνασι μεταθέσεις βίων ἐπιφανεῖς ἐκ τοῦ παντὸς αἰῶνος, αἳ καὶ δύο διαθῆκαι καλοῦνται, καὶ σεισμοὶ γῆς, διὰ τὸ τοῦ πράγματος περιβόητον· ἡ μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων ἐπὶ τὸν νόμον, ἡ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου πρὸς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον. καὶ τρίτον σεισμὸν εὐαγγελιζόμεθα, τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἐπὶ τὰ ἐκεῖσε μετάστασιν, τὰ μηκέτι κινούμενα, μηδὲ σαλευόμενα. ταὐτὸν δὲ αἱ δύο διαθῆκαι πεπόνθασι. τί τοῦτο ; οὐκ ἀθρόως μετεκινήθησαν, οὐδὲ ὁμοῦ τῇ πρώτῃ κινήσει τῆς ἐγχειρήσεως. τίνος ἕνεκεν ; εἰδέναι γὰρ ἀναγκαῖον ἵνα μὴ βιασθῶμεν, ἀλλὰ πεισθῶμεν. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀκούσιον οὐδὲ μόνιμον· ὥσπερ ἃ βίᾳ κατέχεται τῶν ῥευμάτων ἢ τῶν φυτῶν· τὸ δὲ ἑκούσιον μονιμώτερόν τε καὶ ἀσφαλέστερον. καὶ τὸ μὲν τοῦ βιασαμένου, τὸ δὲ ἡμέτερον· καὶ τὸ μὲν ἐπιεικείας θεοῦ, τὸ δὲ τυραννικῆς [*](25. 9 μηδε] μήτε ag ‘duo Reg.’ || 11 ἕνεκεν] ἕνεκα df) [*](1. ἐπικρύψεως] the reticence of the Bible on the subject of the Spirit’s Godhead.) [*](ib. σοφοῖς] of course ironical, ‘although you are so wise as to need no instruction.’) [*](2. ἀναγαγών] ‘going some distance back’; not back over the preargument, but to principles somewhat remote from the conclusion.) [*](25. Two great changes have occurred in the history of religion, when inert passed under the first and second Covenants respectively. In neither case was the change violently made. Like a skilled teacher or physician, God made the new order agreeable by permitting for a while something from the old, until mem were ready to give it up of themselves.) [*](3. μεταθέσεις βίων] He calls two dispensations by this title, because he is about to dwell on the practical difficulties attending such transitions.) [*](4. σεισμοὶ γῆς] The ref. is to Heb. xii 26.) [*](5. διὰ τὸ...περιβόητον] ‘because of the celebrity of the thing,’ cause the change was so great and on such a scale as to compel wide attention.) [*](7. ἐντεῦθεν ... ἐκεῖσε] from the present order to that which is beyond.) [*](9. μήδε’ σαλευόμενα] Heb. xii 28.) [*](10. ἀθρόως] Cp. § 22.) [*](12. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἅκ. οὐδὲ μόνιμον] ‘for what is not voluntary is not lasting either.’) [*](15. τὸ μὲν τοῦ βίας.] In the one instance, the change would be the work of him who forced it on ; in the other, it is our own. The one kind of change is in keeping with the the considerateness of God ; the other would be a mark of tyrannical power.)
τούτῳ τὸ τῆς θεολογίας εἰκάζειν ἔχω, πλὴν ὅσον ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων. ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τῶν ὑφαιρέσεων ἡ μετάθεσις· ἐνταῦθα δὲ διὰ τῶν προσθηκῶν ἢ τελείωσις. ἔχει γὰρ οὕτως. ἐκήρυσσε φανερῶς ἡ παλαιὰ τὸν πατέρα, τὸν υἱὸν ἀμυδρότερον. ἐφανέρωσεν ἡ καινὴ τὸν υἱόν, ὑπέδειξε τοῦ πνεύματος τὴν θεότητα. ἐμπολιτεύεται νῦν τὸ πνεῦμα, σαφεστέραν ἡμῖν παρέχον τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δήλωσιν. οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἀσφαλές, μήπω τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς θεότητος ὁμολογηθείσης, τὸν υἱὸν ἐκδήλως κηρύττεσθαι· μηδὲ τῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ παραδεχθείσης, τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ἵν εἴπω τι καὶ τολμηρότερον, ἐπιφορτίζεσθαι· μὴ καθάπερ τροφῆ τῇ ὑπὲρ δύναμιν βαρηθέντες, καὶ ἡλιακῷ φωτὶ σαθροτέραν ἔτι προσβαλόντες τὴν ὄψιν, καὶ εἰς τὸ κατὰ δύναμιν κινδυνεύσωσι· ταῖς δὲ κατὰ μέρος προσθήκαις, καί, ὡς εἶπε Δαβίδ, ἀναβάσεσι, καὶ ἐκ δόξης εἰς δόξαν προόδοις καὶ προκοπαῖς, [*](26. 13 προσβαλόντες] προσβάλλοντες be : προβαλόντες ‘Or. 1’) [*](26. So it was with the doctrine of God, except that the successive changes have been in the direction of believing more truths, not fewer. When the doctrine of the Father was well established, that of the Son was revealed, and when that was accepted, then the doctrine of the Spirit. The Spirit Himself came by degrees. Christ Himself revealed Him only by slow advances.) [*](1. τῆς τῆς θεολογίας] ‘the doctrine of God.’) [*](ib. πλὴν ὅσον ἐκ τῶν ἐν.] ‘except that it follows the opposite order.’ The change of practical system consists in dropping things; the doctrinal change consists in learning additional truths.) [*](6. ἐμπολιτεύεται] ‘is resident and active among us.’ Gr. that the Church learns by experience how to interpret the slight indications of the Holy Ghost’s Divinity given by the N.T. It does not follow that he thought doctrinal advance possible in other directions also.) [*](11. ἐπιφορτίζεσθαι] ‘to be piled on the top of it,’ as an additional to be carried.) [*](ib. καθάπερ τροφῆ κτλ.] Cp. i 3.) [*](15. ἀναβάσεσι] Ps. lxxxiii 6 (lxxxiv 5). It is prob. that the words ἐκ δυνάμεως εἰς δύναμιν in ν. 8 (7) suggested the ἐκ δόξης εἰς δόξαν which follows (2 Cor. iii 18).) [*](ib. προόδοις] Cp. ii 20.)
Ὁρᾷς φωτισμοὺς κατὰ μέρος ἡμῖν ἐλλάμποντας, [*](1 εκλαμψη] ἐκλάμψει ab : σαφῶς ἐκλάμπειν ‘Reg. Cypr.’ || 3 παραμετρούμενον] μετρούμενον df || 5 ἐμφυσώμενον] εκφ. cd || 6 ιησου] υἱοῦ ‘Coisl. 2 et sex Colb.’: χρίστου ‘Reg. Cypr.’ || 7 επιστηση b 27. 14 ημιν κατα μέρος b) [*](1. ἐκλάμψῃ τοῖς λ.] On the principle that ‘he that hath, to him shall be given.’ The subjunctive must be explained as depending upon the ἵνα implied in μή.) [*](2. κ. τοῖς μαθηταῖς κ. μ. ἐπ’.] ‘why the Spirit sojourns with the disciples by degrees, dealing Himself out to them in proportion to the capacity of the recipients.’) [*](3. ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ εὑ.] The two series, of three members each, cor respond. ’In the beginning of the Gospel,’ He ‘performs miracles through the disciples (Luke ix Ι) ‘after the Passion,’ He is ’breathed upon’ the disciples (John χχ 22) ‘after after the going up,’ He ‘revealed Himself in fiery tongues’ (Acts ii 3) The same profectus apostolicus is traced in or. xli 11, and by Gr.’s secretary Jerome ad Hedib.) [*](7. ἐντυγχάνων] ‘perusing’; cp. § 21. The progress in our Lord’s statements about the Holy Ghost is traced in four sayings.) [*](ib. ἐρωτήσω] John xiv 16.) [*](9. ἀντίθεος] Cp. iv 5. Jesus might have seemed to be setting Himself up as a kind of rival God, and to speak as if by some independent authority, if He had not in the first instance referred the mission of the Holy Ghost entirely to the Father.) [*](10. εἶτα, Πέμψει μέν] John xiv 26. Here, though the ‘mission’ is still referred to the Father, the Son’s request is dropped, and the Spirit is said to be sent ‘in His name.’) [*](12. εἶτα, Πέμψω] John xv 26. Here the Son’s personal dignity is revealed, as Himself the sender of the Spirit. Gr. of course is not directly rectly speaking of the Eternal Procession.) [*](ib. εἶτα, Ἥξει] John xvi 7 (ἔλθῃ). Here the Spirit’s own freedom brought out. It is a correct and useful observation.)
Ἔχω μὲν οὕτω περὶ τούτων, καὶ ἔχοιμι, καὶ ὅς τις ἐμοὶ φίλος — σέβειν θεὸν τὸν πατέρα, θεὸν τὸν υἱόν, θεὸν τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, τρεῖς ἰδιότητας, θεότητα μίαν, δόξῃ, καὶ τιμῇ, καὶ οὐσίᾳ, καὶ βασιλείᾳ μὴ μεριζομένην, ὥς τις τῶν μικρῷ πρόσθεν θεοφόρων ἐφιλοσόφησεν· ἢ μὴ ἴδοι ἑωσφόρον ἀνατέλλοντα, ὥς φησιν ἡ γραφή, μηδὲ δόξαν τῆς ἐκεῖθεν λαμπρότητος, ὅς τις οὐχ οὕτως ἔχει, ἢ συμφέρεται τοῖς καιροῖς, ἄλλοτε ἄλλος γινόμενος, καὶ περὶ τῶν μεγίστων σαθρῶς βουλευόμενος. εἰ μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲ προσκυνητόν, πῶς ἐμὲ θεοῖ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ; εἰ δὲ προσκυνητόν, πῶς οὐ σεπτόν; εἰ δὲ σεπτόν, πῶς οὐ θεός ; ἓν ἤρτηται τοῦ ἑνός, ἡ χρυσῆ τις ὄντως σειρὰ καὶ σωτήριος. καὶ παρὰ μὲν τοῦ [*](28. 7 μικρῶ πρόσθεν] μικρῶν ἔμπροσθεν b μικρὸν ἔμπροσθεν ‘tres Colb.’ || 14 χρυσῆ τις] χρυσῖτις a) [*](28. Let this be our position then, to worship in one Godhead three undivided Persons. Woe to him zoho does not hold it, or who shifts with the public opinion of the times. If the Holy Ghost gives us the divine nature, He must needs be an object of worship, and in the full sense divine.) [*](3. ἔχω μὲν οὕτω] ‘That is how I stand’: explained, with no construction, by σέβειν.) [*](4. θεὸν τὸν πατέρα] ‘the Father as God.’ Our familiar ‘God Father, God the Son,’ is a of expression peculiar to English Christianity.) [*](6. τῶν μικρῷ πρ. θεοφόρων] ACC. to Elias, the ref. is to Greg. Thaumaturgus, who, he says, uses these words in his ‘Apocalypse.’ The work is not now extant. Θεοφόρων, ‘inspired’ (2 Pet. 121).) [*](7. μὴ ἴδοι ἑωσφ. ἀν’. ] Job iii 9. The imprecation must be considered in the same sense as the anathemas of the Councils.) [*](8. ἐκεῖθεν] of heaven.) [*](9. συμφ. τοῖς καιροῖς] ‘goes with the current of the times.’) [*](11. σαθρῶς] prob. means (in accordance with συμφ. τοῖς καιροῖς) ‘weakly,’ not ‘corruptly.’ Cp. i 3. The timeserver ‘has but weak resolution in regard to the things of most importance.’) [*](12. θεοῖ] ‘make make α God of me’; iii 19.) [*](ib. εἰ δὲ προσκ., πῶς οὐ σεπτόν] Evidently Gr. feels σφιν to be a higher word than the mere external προσκ.; it is already implied in οὐδὲ προσκ. in the line above; but the distinction is not always observed.) [*](14. ἢ χρυσῆ τις] in rough apposition to ἐν. It is difficult to decide between this reading and χρυσῖτις, which has the authority of the best MS. The pronuntialion being identical, it seems natural to choose the rarer word ; but on the other hand the scribe of ‘a’ may have been thrown out by the somewhat unusual combination of ἢ with τις. Cp. ii 19 ἢ αὔρα τις ὀλίγη.)