De Spiritu Sancto (Orat. 31)

Ὁ μὲν δὴ περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ λόγος τοιοῦτος· καὶ οὕτω διαπέφευγε τοὺς λιθάζοντας, διελθὼν διὰ μέσου αὐτῶν. ὁ λόγος γὰρ οὐ λιθάζεται, λιθοβολεῖ δέ, ὅταν ἐθέλῃ, καὶ σφενδονᾷ θηρία, λόγους κακῶς τῷ ὄρει προσβαίνοντας. τί δ’ ἂν εἴποις, φασί, περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ; πόθεν ἡμῖν ἐπεισάγεις ξένον θεὸν καὶ ἄγραφον ; τοῦτο ἤδη καὶ οἱ περὶ τὸν υἱὸν μετριάζοντες. ὅπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν ὁδῶν εὑρεῖν ἐστὶ καὶ τῶν ποταμῶν, σχίζονταί τε ἀπ’ ἀλλήλων, καὶ εἰς ἄλληλα συνάγονται· τοῦτο κἀνταῦθα συμβαίνει διὰ τὸν πλοῦτον τῆς ἀσεβείας, καὶ τοὺς τὰ ἄλλα διεστῶτας ἐν ἄλλοις συμφέρεσθαι, ὥστε μηδὲ γινώσκειν καθαρῶς δύνασθαι τὸ συμφέρον ἢ τὸ μαχόμενον.

ἔχει μὲν οὖν τι καὶ δυσχερὲς ὁ περὶ τοῦ πνεύματος λόγος, οὐ μόνον ὅτι ἐν τοῖς περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ λόγοις ἀποκαμόντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι θερμότερον τῷ πνεύματι προσπαλαίουσι· χρὴ γάρ τι πάντως αὐτοὺς ἀσεβεῖν, ἢ οὐδὲ βιωτός ἐστιν αὐτοῖς ὁ βίος· ἀλλ’ ὅτι καὶ ἡμεῖς τῷ πλήθει τῶν ζητημάτων ἀποκναισθέντες ταὐτὸ πάσχομεν τοῖς κακοσίτοις, οἱ ἐπειδὰν πρός τι τῶν βρωμάτων ἀηδισθῶσι, πρὸς πάντα λόγον ὁμοίως, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνοι πρὸς τροφήν, δυσχεραίνομεν. ὅμως διδότω τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ ὁ λόγος δραμεῖται, καὶ ὁ θεὸς δοξασθήσεται. τὸ μὲν οὖν ἐπιμελῶς ἐξετάζειν καὶ διαιρεῖσθαι, ποσαχῶς ἢ τὸ πνεῦμα ἢ τὸ ἅγιον παρὰ τῇ θείᾳ γραφῆ νοεῖται καὶ λέγεται, μετὰ τῶν προσφόρων τῇ θεωρίᾳ μαρτυριῶν, καὶ ὅ τι παρὰ ταῦτα [*](2. 2 του υἱοῦ] OM του cd || 3 om οἱ e || 5 αὐτοῖς ἐστιν ce || 7 βρωμάτων] ζητηματων b) [*](2. The enquiry about the Holy Ghost is difficult. Controversialists defeated over the Son attack the Holy Ghost the more eagerly. Good Christians, sick of argument, wish the enquiry left alone. But we must try. I shall not discuss the meaning of ‘ holy ’ and of ‘ Spirit, ’ of of the two words together. That has been done by others.) [*](3. οἱ ἄνθρωποι] The clause χρὴ γάρ τι κτλ., as well as the opposed ἀλλ’ ὅτι καὶ ἡμεῖς, shows that Gr. does not mean 'men,' including good Christians who dislike controversy, but ’the men,' i.e. his opponents. Their very failure, and the exhaustion of their arguments about the Son ἀποκαμόντες), make them the more keen in their attack upon the Spirit.) [*](6. ἀποκναισθέντες] Cp. i 2.) [*](7. κακοσίτοις] ’squeamish about their diet.’) [*](ib. ot ἐπειδὰν κτλ.] The MSS. appear to give no sign of any other reading, but the grammar is in hopeless confusion. The simplest remedy would be to strike out οἳ before ἐπειδάν, and to insert it before πρὸς πάντα. Otherwise we must suppose that some words have fallen out after ἀηδισθῶσι, such as πάντα ἀποστρέφονται, followed by ἡμεῖς οὖν to begin a new sentence. The required sense is plain, though it cannot be got out of the present text : that as people of delicate stomach, who have had something offered them which they dislike, turn against food in general, so we, disgusted with the Eunomian arguments about the Son, are disinclined to listen to arguments of any kind about the Spirit, or indeed on any religious subject.) [*](9. ὁ λόγος δραμεῖται] 1 Thess. iii 1. As, however, ὁ λόγος is here ’the ’ and not directly ’the word of ’ Gr. shrinks from making it the subject of δοξασθήσεται, as in St Paul.) [*](11. ποσαχῶς] in how many different senses the words πνεῦμα and ἄγιος are used in Scripture.) [*](13. μαρτυριῶν] ’ the texts that bear upon the investigation.’)

Οἱ μὲν οὖν, ὡς ξένον τινὰ θεὸν καὶ παρέγγραπτον εἰσαγόντων ἡμῶν τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, δυσχεραίνοντες, καὶ σφόδρα προπολεμοῦντες τοῦ γράμματος, ἴστωσαν ἐκεῖ φοβούμενοι φόβον, οὗ μὴ ἔστι φόβος, καὶ σαφῶς γινωσκέτωσαν ὅτι ἔνδυμα τῆς ἀσεβείας ἐστὶν αὐτοῖς ἡ φιλία τοῦ γράμματος, ὡς δειχθήσεται μικρὸν ὕστερον, ἐπειδὰν τὰς ἐνστάσεις αὐτῶν εἰς δύναμιν διελέγξωμεν. ἡμεῖς δὲ τοσοῦτον θαρροῦμεν τῇ θεότητι τοῦ πνεύματος, ὃ πρεσβεύομεν, ὥστε καὶ τῆς θεολογίας ἐντεῦθεν ἀρξόμεθα, τὰς αὐτὰς τῇ τριάδι φωνὰς ἐφαρμόζοντες, κἄν τισι δοκῇ [*](2 ταυτα...ταυτα] ταὐτὰ . . . ταὐτὰ ceg || 4 τρεψώμεθα eg 3. 5 θέον τινα b || 12 0] ω ‘ Reg. a, Or. 1’) [*](3. ἐπεὶ καὶ ἡμεῖς] The use of ἐπεί, where perh. we might have expected ὡς, seems to be in favour of the reading ταὐτά, which would thus be taken to mean, ’since we agree with ’ But the mss. are not of very great value in matters of this kind (and it must be remembered that the principal MS. fails us at this point) ; and it would be difficult to supply a verb that would suit ταὐτά, which the obvious φιλοσοφοῦμεν would not do. Ἐπεὶ will therefore indicate that the proposed division of labour is a fair one : the ἔτεροι (by whom Gr. prob. means, not Basil, but students who wer still living to profit by his labours), have worked at that particular study for our advantage as well as their own, and we will leave it to them, since we are labouring at this other for theirs as well as ours.) [*](3. Zeal for the letter ὁ Scripture is sometimes a cloak for My confidence in the Godhead of the Holy Ghost is absolute. He ἲς the Light that lighteneth every man, equally with the Father and the Son. I will fearlessly proclaim Him.) [*](5. παρέγγραπτον] wrongly entered on the list ; cp. iii 18.) [*](7. πρόπολεμοῦντες τ. γρ] Gr. will not say τῆς γραφῆς ; cp. iv 1 οἱ τοῦ γράμματος ἱερόσυλοι.) [*](ib. ἐκεῖ φοβούμενοι φ.] Ps. Iii 6 (Hii 5).) [*](11. εἰς δύναμιν] ’ to the best ὁ our power.’) [*](12. θαρροῦμεν τῆ θ.] ‘have such confidence ’ not merely in the sense of believing that the thing is so, but in that of resting upon it for support.) [*](ib. πρεσβεύομεν] ’revere’; cp. i 5.) [*](13. τῆς θεολογίας] ‘of θὶς account of the Godhead. ’ For numerous exx. of the use of the word, see Suicer s.v.) [*](ib. ἐντεῦθεν] explained by the clause τὰς αὐτὰς . . . ἐφαρμόζοντες.)

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?)

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.)

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?’)

Ἑνταῦθα σὸς ὁ λόγος ’ αἱ σφενδόναι πεμπέσθωσαν, οἱ συλλογισμοὶ πλεκέσθωσαν. ἢ ἀγέννητον πάντως, ἢ γεννητόν. καὶ εἰ μὲν ἀγέννητον, δύο τὰ ἄναρχα. εἰ δὲ γεννητόν, ὑποδιαίρει πάλιν· ἢ ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦτο, ἢ ἐκ τοῦ υἱοῦ. καὶ εἰ μὲν ἐκ τοῦ πατρός, υἱοὶ δύο καὶ ἀδελφοί. σὺ δέ μοι πλάττε καὶ διδύμους, εἰ βούλει, ἢ τὸν μὲν πρεσβύτερον, τὸν δὲ νεώτερον ’ ἐπειδὴ λίαν εἶ φιλοσώματος. εἰ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ υἱοῦ, πέφηνέ, φησι, καὶ υἱωνὸς ἡμῖν θεός· οὗ τί ἂν γένοιτο παραδοξότερον ; ταῦτα μὲν οὖν οἱ σοφοὶ τοῦ κακοποιῆσαι, τὰ δὲ ἂγ ἀθ’ ἁ γράφειν οὐ θέλοντες. ἐγὼ δὲ εἰ μὲν ἑώρων ἀναγκαίαν τὴν διαίρεσιν, ἐδεξάμην ἂν τὰ πράγματα, οὐ φοβηθεὶς τὰ ὀνόματα. οὐ γάρ, ἐπειδὴ κατά τινα σχέσιν ὑψηλοτέραν υἱὸς ὁ υἱός, οὐ δυνηθέντων ἡμῶν ἄλλως ἢ οὕτως ἐνδείξασθαι τὸ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ὁμοούσιον, ἤδη καὶ πάσας οἰητέον ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι τὰς κάτω κλήσεις, καὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας συγγενείας, μεταφέρειν ἐπὶ τὸ θεῖον. ἢ τάχα ἃν σύ γε καὶ ἄρρενα τὸν θεὸν ἡμῖν ὑπολάβοις, κατὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦτον, ὅτι θεὸς ὀνομάζεται, καὶ πατήρ ; καὶ θῆλύ τι τὴν θεότητα, ὅσον ἐπὶ ταῖς κλήσεσι ; καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα οὐδέτερον, ὅτι μὴ γεννητικόν ; εἰ δέ σοι καὶ τοῦτο παιχθείη, τῇ ἑαυτοῦ [*](7, 4 υποδιαιρησει ’Reg. Copr.' || 15 τῆς] τὰς b ΙΙ 18 omn ’Reg. a’) [*](1. ἐνταῦθα σὸς 6 λ.] ‘now for your say’ It begins at ἢ ἀγέννητον.) [*](3. δύο τὰ ἄναρχα] viz. the Father and the Spirit.) [*](6. σὺ δέ μοι πλ.] This is Gr.'s interpolation into his adversary's argument.) [*](7. φιλοσώματος] i.e. determined to refer everything to material standards.) [*](9. σοφοὶ τοῦ κακ’.] Jer. iv 22. It is hard to see why Gr. balances this clause by ‘ and will not write what is good.' It is not a reference to anything in Scripture. No doubt the Eunomian literature was as extensive as its oral polemic.) [*](11. τὰ πράγματα] much as at the end of § 5. The ’names’ which he says would not scare him ὅσ’ are such as that of υἱωνός. Not that he admits that such a name would necessarily be applicable, even if the ‘ facts ’ were as suggested. is shewn in the next sentence.) [*](12. κατά τινα σχ. ὑψ.] ‘according to sonic relationship too lofty for us to understand' the Son is Son. No other language would express at once His derivation from the Father and His being of one substance with Him. It does not follow, however, that all the nomenclature of our earthly relationships is to be trans- ferred straightway to the Godhead.) [*](20. εἰ δέ σοι κ· τοῦτο π·] ’and if you like to carry the gamt farther i cp. iii 7 προσπαιξω τὸν π.)