De Spiritu Sancto (Orat. 31)

Εἰ ἦν ὅτε οὐκ ἦν ὁ πατήρ, ἦν ὅτε οὐκ ἦν ὁ υἱός. [*](7 πρότερον ἐφαντάσθη dg || 11 θεολογίαν] ὁμολογίαν b || 13 καὶ κηρύσσομεν] om καὶ f || 15 ησυχαζοντες] ἡσυχάσομεν f) [*](1. ἢν τὸ φῶς] John i 9. There is no need to suppose that Gr. intends to make ἦν into a mere copula ; ‘ the true light was the Father.' Ὁ πατὴρ would more naturally be in apposition to τὸ φῶς.) [*](8. ἐν τῷ φωτί σου] Ps. xxxv 10 (xxxvi 9). Both parts of the verse are frequently quoted by the Fathers as containing the doctrine of the Trinity. For the first half cp. Ambr. de Sp. S. i 15.) [*](9. τεθεάμεθα κτλ.] The passage is influenced by 1 John i 3, 5. ib. ἐκ φωτὸς τοῦ πατρός] This is implied in the word ’Thy ’; the Holy Ghost is the ’s light, which implies that the Source from which He proceeds is light also.) [*](12. ὁ ἀθετῶν κτλ] Is. xxi 2; with possibly a reminiscence of Ez. iii 27.) [*](13. ἐπ’ ὄρος ὑψηλόν κτλ.] Is. xl. 9 ἐπ’ ὄρος ὑψ. ἀνάβηθι ὑψώσατε, μὴ φοβεῖσθε· εἰπόν . . . Ἴδου ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν.) [*](14, εἰ μὴ κάτωθεν ἀκ.] Gr. prob. thinks of his favourite reference to Moses on Sinai, and of the unpre- pared people who were forbidden to go up with him.) [*](15. εἰ δὲ καὶ φοβ.] ’and if we should be afraid at all, it will be for holding our peace , not for proclaim- ing Him?) [*](4. There never was α time when He was not. No one person of the Trinity can be imagined to exist or to have ever existedwithoutthe others ; for an imperfect Godhead is unthinkable; able; especially a Godhead holiness. If He ever began to exist, He is on a level with us. How could He raise us, as He does, to Godhead?)

εἰ ἦν ὅτε οὐκ ἦν ὁ υἱός, ἦν ὅτε οὐδὲ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγ ἴον. εἰ τὸ ἓν ἢν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς, καὶ τὰ τρία. εἰ τὸ ἓν κάτω βάλλεις, τολμῶ, καὶ λέγω, μηδὲ τὰ δύο θῇς ἄνω. τίς γὰρ ἀτελοῦς θεότητος ὄνησις ; μᾶλλον δὲ τίς θεότης, εἰ μὴ τελεία ; τελεία δὲ πῶς, ᾗ λείπει τι πρὸς τελείωσιν ; λείπει δέ πὼς, μὴ ἐχούσῃ τὸ ἅγ ἴον· ἔχοι δ’ ἂν πῶς, μὴ τοῦτο ἔχουσα ; ἢ γὰρ ἄλλη τις παρὰ τοῦτο ἡ ἁγιότης ’ καὶ ἥ τις αὕτη νοεῖται, λεγέτω τις· ἢ εἴπερ ἡ αὐτή, πῶς οὐκ ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς ; ὥσπερ ἄμεινον ὂν τῷ θεῷ εἶναί ποτε ἀτελεῖ, καὶ δίχα πνεύματος. εἰ μὴ ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς ἢν, μετ’ ἐμοῦ τέτακται, καὶ εἰ μικρὸν πρὸ ἐμοῦ. χρόνῳ γὰρ ἀπὸ θεοῦ τεμνόμεθα. εἰ τέτακται μετ’ ἐμοῦ, πῶς ἐμὲ ποιεῖ θεόν, ἢ πῶς συνάπτει θεότητι;

Μαλλὸν δὲ φιλοσοφήσω σοι περὶ αὐτοῦ μικρὸν ἄνωθεν. περὶ τριάδος γὰρ καὶ πρότερον διειλήφαμεν. τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον Σαδδουκαῖοι μὲν οὐδὲ εἶναι τὸ παράπαν [*](4. 1 om τὸ ἄγιον cef2g || 1 τρια] + ἢν f || 4 θεότης εἰ μὴ τελεια] θεοτητος ἡμιτέλεια b : θεότητος εἰ μὴ τέλεια d : θεότης ἦ εἰ suprascr.) μὴ τέλεια c || δ’ av] ’δε c || 7 η γαρ] εἰ γὰρ dfg || η αγιοτης] om η e || 8 η αυτη] αὔτη ceg || 10 δίχα] + TOudfg || 11 ἄπο] + του ’duo Colb.’) [*](3. μηδὲ τὰ δύο θῆς ἄνω] ‘Ι veilture to tell you not to set the other two up ’ because it is useless and illogical to attempt it.) [*](4. εἰ μὴ τελεία] I retain this reading in the text, as it has most authority and makes good sense ; but I have little doubt that the true reading, which would account for the variants, is ἡ μὴ τελεία.) [*](6. μὴ τοῦτο ἔχουσα] By τοῦτο Gr. means the Holy Ghost.) [*](7. ἢ γὰρ ἄλλη τις] Besides the superior Ms. authority for ἢ, it accords better with the καἰ before ἤ τις, which would be unintelligible with εἰ. It is quite in ’s style to interpose the question with λαὶ before passing on to the second horn of the dilemma. ‘ Either the holiness of the Godhead is independent of the Holy Spirit, — and in that case I should like to be informed what it is supposed to be; or if ’ etc.) [*](10. μετ’ ἐμοῦ] in company with creatures like us.) [*](5. The Sadducees denied His existence. Some of the best Greek thinkers had glimpses of Him, but there was no agreement among them on the point. Christians likewise are divided. While some believe Him to be God, some think Him α Divine operation, or even α creature; some make nice distinctions between His nature and those of the Father and Son.) [*](14. μικρὸν ἄνωθεν] ‘a little farther back’; the same comparative use which we observed iu πόρρωθεν ii 2.) [*](15. διειλήφαμεν] ’ have discussed’; cp. iv 16.)

ἐνόμισαν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀγγέλους, οὐδὲ ἀνάστασιν· οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅθεν τὰς τοσαύτας περὶ αὐτοῦ μαρτυρίας ἐν τῇ παλαιᾷ διαπτύσαντες. Ἑλλήνων δὲ οἱ θεολογικώτεροι, καὶ μᾶλλον ἡμῖν προσεγγίσαντες, ἐφαντάσθησαν μέν, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ· περὶ δὲ τὴν κλῆσιν διηνέχθησαν, νοῦν τοῦ παντός, καὶ τὸν θύραθεν νοῦν, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα προσαγορεύσαντες. τῶν δὲ καθ’ ἡμᾶς σοφῶν οἱ μὲν ἐνέργειαν τοῦτο ὑπέλαβον, οἱ δὲ κτίσμα, οἱ δὲ θεόν, οἱ δὲ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν ὁπότερον τούτων, αἰδοῖ τῆς γραφῆς, ὥς φασιν, ὡς οὐδέτερον σαφῶς δηλωσάσης. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὔτε σέβουσιν, οὔτε ἀτιμάζουσι, μέσως πὼς περὶ αὐτοῦ διακείμενοι, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ λίαν ἀθλίως. καὶ τῶν θεὸν ὑπειληφότων οἱ μὲν ἄχρι διανοίας εἰσὶν εὐσεβεῖς, οἱ δὲ τολμῶσιν εὐσεβεῖν καὶ τοῖς χείλεσιν. ἄλλων δὲ ἤκουσα μετρούντων θεότητα σοφωτέρων, οἳ τρία μὲν εἶναι καθ’ ἡμᾶς ὁμολογοῦσι τὰ νοούμενα, τοσοῦτον δὲ ἀλλήλων διέστησαν, ὡς τὸ μὲν καὶ οὐσία καὶ δυνάμει [*](5, 9 οὐδέτερον] οὐδὲν ἕτερον f ΙΙ 11 πέρι αὐτοῦ] πέρι αὐτὸ c2 || 14 σοφὼ. τερῶν] σοφώτερον ’in nonnull.’) [*](1. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀγγ.] Acts xxiii 8. Gr.'s remark is not exactly logical γάρ) ; the denial of angels would not involve the denial of the Holy Spirit. It looks as if he had carelessly taken πνεῦμα in that passage to = ἅγιον πν.) [*](3. διαπτύσαντες] Cp. τοσαύτας Gr. prob. means, as De Billy interprets, tot ac tanta. id. Ἑλλήνων δὲ οἱ θ.] no doubt esp. Plato and Aristotle. If the actual expression νοῦς τοῦ παντός does not occur in Plato, the thought is there, and prob. the expression itself in some of the Neo- Platonists. The phrase τὸν θύραθεν νοῦν comes from Arist. de Gen. An. ii 3.) [*](5. διηνέχθησαν] ’’they differed,' i.e. from one another.) [*](6. τῶν δέ καθ’ ἤμ’. σ.] ‘of our own clever people,' as opp. to Ἑλλήνων. There is an ironical tone in σοφῶν, because, although orthodox divines are included in the phrase, Gr. is thinking most of the heretical doctors.) [*](11. μέσως πως...διακ.] ‘ hold a kind of neutral position with regard Him.’) [*](12. Βy τὰς 12. ἄχρι διανοίας] Like the μέχρι which has occurred several times in these Orations, ἄχρι means ‘in thought and no father.’ They have not the courage to express it.) [*](14. ἄλλων δὲ ἤ·κουσα] 1 1 have heard others, still cleverer, meting out Godfrequently head? It is not known whom he means.) [*](15. τὰ νοούμενα] ‘that our notion is that of three existences.’ The is used throughout to avoid undue handling of personal language.) [*](16. διέστησαν] 1st aor., ‘ they put them at such a distance from each other, as to make the first’ etc.) ποιεῖν ἀόριστον· τὸ δὲ δυνάμει μέν, οὐκ οὐσίᾳ δέ· τὸ δὲ ἀμφοτέροις περιγραπτόν· ἄλλον τρόπον μιμούμενοι τοὺς δημιουργόν, καὶ συνεργόν, καὶ λειτουργὸν ὀνομάζοντας, καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς ὀνόμασι τάξιν καὶ χάριν τῶν πραγμάτων ἀκολουθίαν εἶναι νομίζοντας.

Ἡμῖν δὲ πρὸς μὲν τοὺς οὐδὲ εἶναι ὑπειληφότας οὐδεὶς λόγος, ἢ τοὺς ληροῦντας ἐν Ἕλλησιν. μηδὲ γὰρ ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐλαίῳ πιανθείημεν εἰς τὸν λόγον. πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἄλλους οὕτω διαλεξόμεθα. τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἢ τῶν καθ’ ἑαυτὸ ὑφεστηκότων πάντως ὑποθετέον, ἢ τῶν ἐν ἑτέρῳ θεωρουμένων· ὧν τὸ μὲν οὐσίαν καλοῦσιν οἱ περὶ ταῦτα δεινοί, τὸ δὲ συμβεβηκός. εἰ μὲν οὖν συμβέβηκεν, ἐνέργεια τοῦτο ἂν εἴη θεοῦ. τί γὰρ ἕτερον, ἢ τίνος ; τοῦτο [*](5 νομιζοντας] -τες b 6. 7 ουδεις] ουδεις ο b: ουδε εις ce ‘duo Reg.’ || 9 διαλεξωμεθα b) [*](2. ἄλλον τρόπον μιμ.] ‘imitating, though in a somewhat different form, those,‘ etc. He seems to mean Arius.) [*](4. τάξιν καὶ χάριν] The word χάρις appears to be used in the sense which Lidd. and Scott put as iv 2 viz. ‘homage due,’ ‘majesty’; and τάξις accordingly will be, not exactly the order in which the names stand in the Bible, but the rank which is inherent in each. ‘Who think that the rank and dignity of the respective names denotes a gradation of the realities which they represent.’ The πράγματα, of course, are the three Blessed Persons themselves.) [*](6. Against Sadducee and Greek I shall not indulge myself to argue, but only against the others. The Holy Ghost is either a contingent or a substantive existence. If contingent, He must be a Divine operation or influence; but this does not agree with the personal language of Scripture. If He is a substantive existence, He is either God or a creature; there is no betwixt and between. If He is a creature, how can we ‘believe in’ Him? He must be God.) [*](8. ἁμαρτ. ἐλαίῳ] Ps. cxl (cxli) 5. It may be asked, why it would be an anointing of himself with the oil of sinners for his oration to enter into controversy with such persons, while he feels himself at liberty to argue with the Macedonians. The answer is, that the ἁμαρτωλοὶ are not opponents (as the Donatists might have said) too bad even to be argued with. He means that, although it might add a richness and profusion to his discourse, there would be a kind of sinful self-indulgence in demolishing opinions with which he was not practically confronted.) [*](9. τῶν καθ’ ἑατυτὸ ὑφ.] ‘either an independent subsistence, or a thing observed in something else.’) [*](12. συμβεβηκός] something contingent, ‘a contingency’; a thing which happens to be so, but might have been otherwise.) [*](13. ἐνέργεια τοῦτο ἂν εἴη θ.] ‘it (the Holy Spirit so conceived of) will be an operation of God’— an influence, an inspiration, or the like—‘for what else could it be, or from whom besides could it come?’)

γάρ πως μᾶλλον καὶ φεύγει σύνθεσιν. καὶ εἰ ἐνέργεια, ἐνεργηθήσεται δῆλον ὅτι, οὐκ ἐνεργήσει, καὶ ὁμοῦ τῷ ἐνεργηθῆναι παύσεται. τοιοῦτον γὰρ ἡ ἐνέργεια. πῶς οὖν ἐνεργεῖ, καὶ τάδε λέγει, καὶ ἀφορίζει, καὶ λυπεῖται, καὶ παροξύνεται, καὶ ὅσα κινουμένου σαφῶς ἐστίν, οὐ κινήσεως; εἰ δὲ οὐσία τις, οὐ τῶν περὶ τὴν οὐσίαν, ἤτοι κτίσμα ὑποληφθήσεται, ἢ θεός. μέσον γάρ τι τούτων, ἤτοι μηδετέρου μετέχον, ἢ ἐξ ἀμφοῖν σύνθετον, οὐδ’ ἂν οἱ τοὺς τραγελάφους πλάττοντες ἐννοήσαιεν. ἀλλ᾿ εἰ μὲν κτίσμα, πῶς εἰς αὐτὸ πιστεύομεν, ἢ ἐν αὐτῷ τελειούμεθα ; οὐ γὰρ ταὐτόν ἐστι πιστεύειν εἴς τι, καὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ πιστεύειν. τὸ μὲν γάρ ἐστι θεότητος, τὸ δὲ παντὸς πράγματος. εἰ δὲ θεός, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ κτίσμα, οὐδὲ ποίημα, οὐδὲ σύνδουλον, οὐδ᾿ ὅλως τι τῶν ταπεινῶν ὀνομάτων.

[*](1 και ει] om ει b || 2 τω] το b || 7 υπολειφθησεται ‘Or. 1’)[*](1. φεύγει σύνθεσιν] It is assumed that all will agree that the simpler the account, the better.)[*](2. ἐνεργηθήσεται . . . παύσεται] The fut. is logical, not temporal. It is of the very nature of an ‘operation ’ to be incapable of independent action, or to continue when the operator stops.)[*](3. πῶς οὖν ἐνεργεῖ] The Bible, however, attributes to the Holy Spirit operations of His own, such as ‘saying’ this and that (τάδε), ‘separating’ (an inexact reminiscence of Acts xiii 2).)[*](4. λυπεῖται] Eph. iv 30.)[*](5. παροξύνεται] Is. lxiii 10.)[*](ib. κινουμένου] middle voice. These are notes, Gr. says, not of a motion in the abstract (such as an ἐνέργεια is), but of the thing which is in motion.)[*](6. τῶν περὶ τὴν οὐ.] ‘an existence, and not an attribute of existence.’)[*](9. τραγελάφους] the typical fabulous compound.)[*](10. τελειούμεθα] in baptism; cp. § 29.)[*](ib. οὐ γὰρ ταὐτόν] ‘it is not the same thing to believe in anything, and to believe statements about it; the first is peculiar to God, the second can be done with any thing.’ See Pearson on the Creed I believe in God; who rightly says that the distinction is more characteristic of Western than of Eastern theology.)[*](13. οὐδὲ ποίημα] sc. ἐστί. The apodosis begins at this point, not at ἀλλ᾿ οὐ κτίσμα.)[*](7. Now it is your turn. ‘Is He begotten, or unbegotten? If begotten, of whom ? If of the Father, there are two Sons; if of the Son, He is a grandson.’ Your names do not terrify me. Because we are obliged to speak of ‘Sonship’ in the Godhead, it does not follow that all earthly nomenclature would apply; or at that rate you will have to say ali manner of strange things.)