...continued from part two.
These words do not even mean that new thing which the revolutionaries want to introduce about the existence of the Spirit, namely that the Spirit proceeds from the Son, whose single authority they wrongly turn into a polyarchy. I do not know where they got this belief from. Which of the two do they want? To have the Spirit proceeding from the Son, making Him together with the Father the origin of the Spirit, or should they remove the procession from the Father? For if the Spirit proceeds from the Son, how does He not also proceed from Himself, since whatever is of the Father and the Son is also of the Spirit? Then what? It happens not only that He does not come from the Son, but also not from the Father. For that which has existence from itself, what need has a cause of existence from elsewhere? Also, if the Spirit has the same power, how does the Son not also come from the Spirit, as the Spirit from the Son? For, either He does not have the same power as the Son, in receiving, and not giving, or if indeed He has the same power, the Son will also have something of the Spirit, as He gives to the Spirit. And how do you deprive the Spirit of this alone, that is, of proceeding from Himself, without taking anything away from the others, which have been added to the Father and the Son? For, He could also be deprived of others, so that the insult would be more evident, or if He is not deprived of others, He may not be deprived even of His existence by Himself. Why, then, is the choice held only for this? Then, if the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, and with the addition of this attribute is distinguished from the paternal hypostasis, how is He not inferior to the Father in the oneness of essence and intimacy of the Son, if indeed the Son has the existence from the Father, and to the Son is added that He is also the cause of the Spirit? And if all that the Son has, He receives from the Father, from there the Spirit will proceed from Him. What, then, was the generosity, to give to the Son for the Spirit to proceed from Him, and to give the Spirit neither to proceed from Himself, nor even to participate in the birth of the Son? And if the Father is greater, because He is the cause of the Son, the Son must also be greater by being the cause of the Spirit. And how does it escape you that the hypostasis of the Spirit is diminished, when the Son is said to have one cause of existence, and the Spirit is said to have two causes? And if by this sequence the Son is greater than the Spirit, how will the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit not be greater than the blasphemy against the Son? Because this is what the Savior taught, saying that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, in this world and in the future will have an unforgivable punishment (Matt. 12:32, Mark 3:29, Luke 12:10).
From the Father and the Son, then, proceeds the Spirit? And where is the teaching of the faith about the monarchy of God? And how will polyarchy not present itself? For what will prevent, according to this word, the Spirit from being the cause of another, and that again of another? And so polyarchy will arise again. If the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, then how does He who knows the Father, as the Father knows the Son (John 10:15) say "The Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father" (John 10:26); But if the Spirit proceeds from the Son, does He have the same or different origin from the Father? If indeed He has the same, why does He need the procession of both since He has one? And if it is different from the Father and different from the Son, but let us be silent about the continuation. What therefore? Who is the cause of the Spirit, the Father or the Son? If indeed it is the Father, how, having the preeminence, did He need the inferior? And if it is the Son, not only does it seem He has communion with the Father in regard to the cause of the Spirit, but He alone is the cause of the Spirit instead of the Father. Then, if the Spirit proceeds from the Son, how does the Son not give it from Himself? And how does He receive all things from the Father? And in what way does He not also give to the Spirit, Who has His cause in Him, so that He may also become a cause, so that, just as He, He may have the privilege of the same cause, so that the Spirit also may not be deprived of the honor of this kind? One might say that of course no one prevents the Father either. For how did He communicate His unique attribute, according to your word?
Of course, they say, this is a complementary work of the road to rebuke revolutionaries. But you who have kinder thoughts, do not cast off freedom, nor return wretchedly to the bondage of corruption, by which you become deniers of the authority of Him who liberates as Despot. But they don't want to. Let them stay as they prefer. They will know the skill of their inventions, because of course they will be surrounded by inevitable suffering, because they will be accountable for unforgivable blasphemy against the Spirit. But we, excelling correctly in adoption, in knowing perfectly the honor to Him who adopted us, as children of God, to extol the Spirit who is consubstantial with God, who is true light, who illuminated the ends, who is direct, and who guides to the uprightness of salvation those who wander in the difficult paths of loss. He springs forth goodness, and to those who partake of it He bestows goodness upon them, which is the incomprehensible source of holiness, and in whose sanctification the immaterial angelic powers have been partaking of since their creation and being close to Him, are sanctified. For the darkness of their will, however, the devil was forcibly detached from the holy and illuminated order and immediately became profane and dark. And the rest of the fellow servant creatures are beautified by participating in the beauty of sanctification. For thus all things are and are said to be "very good" (Gen. 1:31), that which was created by the Father through the Son and perfected by the holy transmission of the Spirit. Those which, because of the sin that entered, after having lost their beauty by corruption, are again fully adorned and renewed by the good Spirit in a better condition than the previous one. If, then, after sin the works of God were destroyed, but after the renewal they became superior to destruction.
You see that the Spirit is not a servant, which made creation more dignified than the state in which it was before. For it no longer proceeds against corruption, since He was joined and directed by the Word which canceled corruption and through Him with the Holy Spirit incorruption was inaugurated. Christ with such a great victory, after sitting on the paternal throne, from which He never departed, moreover sent to the world the mighty Paraclete, Who on the one hand proclaimed His glory and on the other led the creature to his own corresponding glory. And with the radiance of the Father - which is Christ - (Heb. 1:3), after the darkness of impiety has departed, let the unenlightened be enlightened with the Spirit Who is of one essence with the Son. And He descends in the form of tongues of fire physically together and divinely, on the one hand to make known the divinity, "for our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29), and on the other to show His kinship with the kindred Word and making the presence visible, just as the Word was manifested with a body. And He appears in the form of tongues hinting at the known events that will occur. Just as before in the baptism He appeared in the form of a dove, announcing the end of the flood of sin, although the cause of what took place is referred to the divine Word, indicating the form that was manifested. For the descent of the Spirit is the work of the Word. And perhaps, in order to fulfill what He promised to the disciples, He appeared as if the Word was present. And He gave to them, as before, when He had given the Spirit to be with them, either by His word or by infusing the gift, with the presence of the Teacher being implied and not apparent to them, through whom with the sign of tongues were filled with divine power. And let no wicked and foolish man invade and retreat as if they were prey of the words we have spoken, nor try to define the Spirit by filling some organic need, because our own speech and language err in structure. Otherwise He risks placing the Spirit with the creatures, but also with the bodies; and even by confusing the ups and downs he will lose all piety. And what does violent wind mean, despite the fact that it gives a message of the turmoil that brings salvation to those who sail in the sea of unbelief, and are well troubled and led to the saving port of divine knowledge by well-knowing captains, on whom the Spirit gifts good knowledge?
What say you, the slanderer of wondrous things, and in your insanity assert that strange things were produced by drunkenness? Do you scoff at the supernatural? And of those who are moved by the Spirit, by your own vigorous insensitivity, you say that they are drunk with wine (Acts 2:31). It is as if you are very sober, who sees in them the grace that was previously present only in you, granted to every man. Not finding a way to put it on as a garment, nor repenting of your previous battle against God, lest others become rich with divine gifts, those who have hitherto been poor. You, who have long been rich with these gifts, will be left alone and poor.
For already the good things that you had before are behind you, and every gift is leaving you, and everything precious is taken away from you, and instead of the wealth of the divine goods you had before, you are surrounded by extreme poverty. Because this is what envy leads you to, which you conceive from the beginning, you do not finish it and you go against your salvation. From which envy even now, after you are distressed and forced to tear to pieces again the usual odes of the battle of God which are harbingers of suicide, you send forth the slander of ungodly lips, but it will be arrayed against you. For you will not frighten those who are first in the battle of the gospel, nor will you see them speak of your mindlessness, but since they have been filled with the fiery power that has lately descended upon them, and considering your own struggle a struggle for infants, they will burn more you who are set on fire by fury, but the light of piety will be lit everywhere. Are they drunk on wine? Be informed by those who are made wise by the teaching that comes out of the mouths of those who, just like from the sweetest running water, are refreshed by the drink that comes from there. And now, of course, these multitudes that you see are drawing near, but after a while you will see the spring filling all the ends of the earth, and impiety is flooded by the rational rivers. So much does drunkenness bring for the correction of the creature. O this drunkenness that fights God, and does not want to end, nor to recover, to recognize the Despot who came to save!
But of course, those who are dead to the senses from the passion of envy, and therefore, for the wonderful things that are happening have been stripped of prudence, let them perish along with their insensitivity. But we, having been made alive by the Spirit, were altered in a sacred way, just as by divine words, just as by divine acts to honor Him, with which honor God is exceedingly pleased. Let us stop doing the dead works of the passions, and have by actions the life-giving energy of the virtues. Let us change the ugly form of sin and let our form accept the divine beauty. The Only Begotten Son broke down the middle wall of enmity by becoming a mediator, bringing reconciliation with God the Father. He made people His dwelling place, adopting them through the Paraclete. Let familiarity be stabilized. So how is this to be done? Let us imitate the goodness of the One who did it. Let us not disprove adoption with our behavior. Let us do unto one another what the compassionate Father showed unto us. Let us who have received great philanthropy pass on philanthropy. Do not shut up the bowels without sympathy, you who not only had need of sympathy, but even more received sympathy by receiving the boldness of the Son to the benevolent Despot. Do not boast that you have received a higher honor than others. Nor because of what you have received from God are you owed more respect, but you, because you happened to receive a greater favor, therefore you are more despised. Imitate Him who came down from the infinite height, to honor your own lack of glory. Do not make the case for which you care for the weakest, an occasion of humiliation against them. Imitate the sympathy of Jesus "Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation" (Phil. 2:6) to give you sympathy. Let us not become strict accountants of the debts of others to us, we who have been forgiven for infinite debts, so that they do not collect exactly what we owe. Let us envy the good master, but not the wicked servant, who in his sympathy for his fellow-servant did not imitate his master's opinion of him, making compassion appear severe. And because he absolutely demanded to collect what was owed to him, his entire debt was also collected. Let us not imitate the bad example, so that we do not find ourselves in need of a similar charge. Because Christ who forgave us by shedding His blood says: "Forgive and it will be forgiven you and be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36, 37). Feed the poor so that Christ who was hungry may feed you. Dress the naked. Sympathize with him who, like you, was created by the same hand of God and now you see suffering and does not enjoy the same comfort as you. And rather, as long as you yourself have no need of the sympathy of others, if of course someone happened to have such a good journey in the bitterness of life, you should convey that much more sympathy to others. Do not overlook or despise the discarded image that is of the same value as you. He is also an image of God, similar to you, although he is scattered in the countryside and you spend your time in a dwelling. And perhaps of course his has a greater resemblance to the ancient beauty. And testimony to these words is given by the naked Lazarus and the one who was clothed in precious clothes. This is how we will save the kinship with the Father. Having fashioned ourselves with such characteristics we will not be denied adoption. Thus shall we serve the Son, Who has received us as His brothers and reconciled us. Thus we will honor the Paraclete, who brought us the guarantee of reconciliation with our own honor and healing and salvation, for which He arranges and does everything.
But You, Paraclete, who sits on the same throne as the Father and the Word, let the discourse that commemorates Your coming be up to this point. May You with Your sovereign authority sustain our sovereign mind and not let it be covered by the darkness which You have driven away, nor err in action in every endeavor of life, especially in the governance of the cosmic ship, which You have entrusted to us. You the Mind (Father), the Wisdom (Son) and the Most Holy Spirit, the one nature and indivisible Kingdom, whose dominion is eternal, give according to the magnitude of the deeds and the understanding of the contrivances, leading with us and protecting those whom You have allowed us to have their stewardship, so that with skill Your own fortunate people may be administered, and they may have no experience of dark events on earth, and partake of heavenly good pleasures, of which let us all enjoy without exception by Your grace and goodness, and there glorify Your general divine authority forever.
Source: P.G. 107, 133-158. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
These words do not even mean that new thing which the revolutionaries want to introduce about the existence of the Spirit, namely that the Spirit proceeds from the Son, whose single authority they wrongly turn into a polyarchy. I do not know where they got this belief from. Which of the two do they want? To have the Spirit proceeding from the Son, making Him together with the Father the origin of the Spirit, or should they remove the procession from the Father? For if the Spirit proceeds from the Son, how does He not also proceed from Himself, since whatever is of the Father and the Son is also of the Spirit? Then what? It happens not only that He does not come from the Son, but also not from the Father. For that which has existence from itself, what need has a cause of existence from elsewhere? Also, if the Spirit has the same power, how does the Son not also come from the Spirit, as the Spirit from the Son? For, either He does not have the same power as the Son, in receiving, and not giving, or if indeed He has the same power, the Son will also have something of the Spirit, as He gives to the Spirit. And how do you deprive the Spirit of this alone, that is, of proceeding from Himself, without taking anything away from the others, which have been added to the Father and the Son? For, He could also be deprived of others, so that the insult would be more evident, or if He is not deprived of others, He may not be deprived even of His existence by Himself. Why, then, is the choice held only for this? Then, if the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, and with the addition of this attribute is distinguished from the paternal hypostasis, how is He not inferior to the Father in the oneness of essence and intimacy of the Son, if indeed the Son has the existence from the Father, and to the Son is added that He is also the cause of the Spirit? And if all that the Son has, He receives from the Father, from there the Spirit will proceed from Him. What, then, was the generosity, to give to the Son for the Spirit to proceed from Him, and to give the Spirit neither to proceed from Himself, nor even to participate in the birth of the Son? And if the Father is greater, because He is the cause of the Son, the Son must also be greater by being the cause of the Spirit. And how does it escape you that the hypostasis of the Spirit is diminished, when the Son is said to have one cause of existence, and the Spirit is said to have two causes? And if by this sequence the Son is greater than the Spirit, how will the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit not be greater than the blasphemy against the Son? Because this is what the Savior taught, saying that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, in this world and in the future will have an unforgivable punishment (Matt. 12:32, Mark 3:29, Luke 12:10).
From the Father and the Son, then, proceeds the Spirit? And where is the teaching of the faith about the monarchy of God? And how will polyarchy not present itself? For what will prevent, according to this word, the Spirit from being the cause of another, and that again of another? And so polyarchy will arise again. If the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, then how does He who knows the Father, as the Father knows the Son (John 10:15) say "The Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father" (John 10:26); But if the Spirit proceeds from the Son, does He have the same or different origin from the Father? If indeed He has the same, why does He need the procession of both since He has one? And if it is different from the Father and different from the Son, but let us be silent about the continuation. What therefore? Who is the cause of the Spirit, the Father or the Son? If indeed it is the Father, how, having the preeminence, did He need the inferior? And if it is the Son, not only does it seem He has communion with the Father in regard to the cause of the Spirit, but He alone is the cause of the Spirit instead of the Father. Then, if the Spirit proceeds from the Son, how does the Son not give it from Himself? And how does He receive all things from the Father? And in what way does He not also give to the Spirit, Who has His cause in Him, so that He may also become a cause, so that, just as He, He may have the privilege of the same cause, so that the Spirit also may not be deprived of the honor of this kind? One might say that of course no one prevents the Father either. For how did He communicate His unique attribute, according to your word?
Of course, they say, this is a complementary work of the road to rebuke revolutionaries. But you who have kinder thoughts, do not cast off freedom, nor return wretchedly to the bondage of corruption, by which you become deniers of the authority of Him who liberates as Despot. But they don't want to. Let them stay as they prefer. They will know the skill of their inventions, because of course they will be surrounded by inevitable suffering, because they will be accountable for unforgivable blasphemy against the Spirit. But we, excelling correctly in adoption, in knowing perfectly the honor to Him who adopted us, as children of God, to extol the Spirit who is consubstantial with God, who is true light, who illuminated the ends, who is direct, and who guides to the uprightness of salvation those who wander in the difficult paths of loss. He springs forth goodness, and to those who partake of it He bestows goodness upon them, which is the incomprehensible source of holiness, and in whose sanctification the immaterial angelic powers have been partaking of since their creation and being close to Him, are sanctified. For the darkness of their will, however, the devil was forcibly detached from the holy and illuminated order and immediately became profane and dark. And the rest of the fellow servant creatures are beautified by participating in the beauty of sanctification. For thus all things are and are said to be "very good" (Gen. 1:31), that which was created by the Father through the Son and perfected by the holy transmission of the Spirit. Those which, because of the sin that entered, after having lost their beauty by corruption, are again fully adorned and renewed by the good Spirit in a better condition than the previous one. If, then, after sin the works of God were destroyed, but after the renewal they became superior to destruction.
You see that the Spirit is not a servant, which made creation more dignified than the state in which it was before. For it no longer proceeds against corruption, since He was joined and directed by the Word which canceled corruption and through Him with the Holy Spirit incorruption was inaugurated. Christ with such a great victory, after sitting on the paternal throne, from which He never departed, moreover sent to the world the mighty Paraclete, Who on the one hand proclaimed His glory and on the other led the creature to his own corresponding glory. And with the radiance of the Father - which is Christ - (Heb. 1:3), after the darkness of impiety has departed, let the unenlightened be enlightened with the Spirit Who is of one essence with the Son. And He descends in the form of tongues of fire physically together and divinely, on the one hand to make known the divinity, "for our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29), and on the other to show His kinship with the kindred Word and making the presence visible, just as the Word was manifested with a body. And He appears in the form of tongues hinting at the known events that will occur. Just as before in the baptism He appeared in the form of a dove, announcing the end of the flood of sin, although the cause of what took place is referred to the divine Word, indicating the form that was manifested. For the descent of the Spirit is the work of the Word. And perhaps, in order to fulfill what He promised to the disciples, He appeared as if the Word was present. And He gave to them, as before, when He had given the Spirit to be with them, either by His word or by infusing the gift, with the presence of the Teacher being implied and not apparent to them, through whom with the sign of tongues were filled with divine power. And let no wicked and foolish man invade and retreat as if they were prey of the words we have spoken, nor try to define the Spirit by filling some organic need, because our own speech and language err in structure. Otherwise He risks placing the Spirit with the creatures, but also with the bodies; and even by confusing the ups and downs he will lose all piety. And what does violent wind mean, despite the fact that it gives a message of the turmoil that brings salvation to those who sail in the sea of unbelief, and are well troubled and led to the saving port of divine knowledge by well-knowing captains, on whom the Spirit gifts good knowledge?
What say you, the slanderer of wondrous things, and in your insanity assert that strange things were produced by drunkenness? Do you scoff at the supernatural? And of those who are moved by the Spirit, by your own vigorous insensitivity, you say that they are drunk with wine (Acts 2:31). It is as if you are very sober, who sees in them the grace that was previously present only in you, granted to every man. Not finding a way to put it on as a garment, nor repenting of your previous battle against God, lest others become rich with divine gifts, those who have hitherto been poor. You, who have long been rich with these gifts, will be left alone and poor.
For already the good things that you had before are behind you, and every gift is leaving you, and everything precious is taken away from you, and instead of the wealth of the divine goods you had before, you are surrounded by extreme poverty. Because this is what envy leads you to, which you conceive from the beginning, you do not finish it and you go against your salvation. From which envy even now, after you are distressed and forced to tear to pieces again the usual odes of the battle of God which are harbingers of suicide, you send forth the slander of ungodly lips, but it will be arrayed against you. For you will not frighten those who are first in the battle of the gospel, nor will you see them speak of your mindlessness, but since they have been filled with the fiery power that has lately descended upon them, and considering your own struggle a struggle for infants, they will burn more you who are set on fire by fury, but the light of piety will be lit everywhere. Are they drunk on wine? Be informed by those who are made wise by the teaching that comes out of the mouths of those who, just like from the sweetest running water, are refreshed by the drink that comes from there. And now, of course, these multitudes that you see are drawing near, but after a while you will see the spring filling all the ends of the earth, and impiety is flooded by the rational rivers. So much does drunkenness bring for the correction of the creature. O this drunkenness that fights God, and does not want to end, nor to recover, to recognize the Despot who came to save!
But of course, those who are dead to the senses from the passion of envy, and therefore, for the wonderful things that are happening have been stripped of prudence, let them perish along with their insensitivity. But we, having been made alive by the Spirit, were altered in a sacred way, just as by divine words, just as by divine acts to honor Him, with which honor God is exceedingly pleased. Let us stop doing the dead works of the passions, and have by actions the life-giving energy of the virtues. Let us change the ugly form of sin and let our form accept the divine beauty. The Only Begotten Son broke down the middle wall of enmity by becoming a mediator, bringing reconciliation with God the Father. He made people His dwelling place, adopting them through the Paraclete. Let familiarity be stabilized. So how is this to be done? Let us imitate the goodness of the One who did it. Let us not disprove adoption with our behavior. Let us do unto one another what the compassionate Father showed unto us. Let us who have received great philanthropy pass on philanthropy. Do not shut up the bowels without sympathy, you who not only had need of sympathy, but even more received sympathy by receiving the boldness of the Son to the benevolent Despot. Do not boast that you have received a higher honor than others. Nor because of what you have received from God are you owed more respect, but you, because you happened to receive a greater favor, therefore you are more despised. Imitate Him who came down from the infinite height, to honor your own lack of glory. Do not make the case for which you care for the weakest, an occasion of humiliation against them. Imitate the sympathy of Jesus "Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation" (Phil. 2:6) to give you sympathy. Let us not become strict accountants of the debts of others to us, we who have been forgiven for infinite debts, so that they do not collect exactly what we owe. Let us envy the good master, but not the wicked servant, who in his sympathy for his fellow-servant did not imitate his master's opinion of him, making compassion appear severe. And because he absolutely demanded to collect what was owed to him, his entire debt was also collected. Let us not imitate the bad example, so that we do not find ourselves in need of a similar charge. Because Christ who forgave us by shedding His blood says: "Forgive and it will be forgiven you and be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36, 37). Feed the poor so that Christ who was hungry may feed you. Dress the naked. Sympathize with him who, like you, was created by the same hand of God and now you see suffering and does not enjoy the same comfort as you. And rather, as long as you yourself have no need of the sympathy of others, if of course someone happened to have such a good journey in the bitterness of life, you should convey that much more sympathy to others. Do not overlook or despise the discarded image that is of the same value as you. He is also an image of God, similar to you, although he is scattered in the countryside and you spend your time in a dwelling. And perhaps of course his has a greater resemblance to the ancient beauty. And testimony to these words is given by the naked Lazarus and the one who was clothed in precious clothes. This is how we will save the kinship with the Father. Having fashioned ourselves with such characteristics we will not be denied adoption. Thus shall we serve the Son, Who has received us as His brothers and reconciled us. Thus we will honor the Paraclete, who brought us the guarantee of reconciliation with our own honor and healing and salvation, for which He arranges and does everything.
But You, Paraclete, who sits on the same throne as the Father and the Word, let the discourse that commemorates Your coming be up to this point. May You with Your sovereign authority sustain our sovereign mind and not let it be covered by the darkness which You have driven away, nor err in action in every endeavor of life, especially in the governance of the cosmic ship, which You have entrusted to us. You the Mind (Father), the Wisdom (Son) and the Most Holy Spirit, the one nature and indivisible Kingdom, whose dominion is eternal, give according to the magnitude of the deeds and the understanding of the contrivances, leading with us and protecting those whom You have allowed us to have their stewardship, so that with skill Your own fortunate people may be administered, and they may have no experience of dark events on earth, and partake of heavenly good pleasures, of which let us all enjoy without exception by Your grace and goodness, and there glorify Your general divine authority forever.
Source: P.G. 107, 133-158. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
