5.<… >Having refuted, as far as possible, any thought about the corporeality of God, we affirm, in accordance with the truth, that God is incomprehensible and invaluable. Even if we were given the opportunity to know or understand something about God, we must still believe that He is incomparably better than what we have learned about Him.< >

Kn. 1, ch. 2. About Christ

1. First of all, we need to know that in Christ is the nature of His Godhead, because He is the only-begotten Son of God; and what is human nature, which He has lately assumed according to the economy. In view of this, we must first consider what the only-begotten Son of God is. It is known that He is called by many and different names, depending on the circumstances and the concepts of those who name Him. Thus He is called Wisdom,141 as we find it in the words of Solomon: "The Lord had me as the beginning of His way, before His creatures, from time immemorial. I was born when there were no abysses, when there were no springs abounding in water. I was born before the mountains were raised, before the hills" (Proverbs 8:22, 24-25). He is also called the firstborn, or, as the Apostle says: "He who was born before all creation" (Col. 1:15). And yet the firstborn is not different in nature from Wisdom, but one and the same (with Her). Finally, the Apostle Paul says: "Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24).

2. But let no one think that when we call the Son the Wisdom of God, we recognize Him as something not substantial, that we do not, for example, consider Him to be any rational living being, but some thing which can make (men) wise, and communicate to the minds of those who are made receptive to the properties and to the understanding of them. If, therefore, it is once properly accepted that the only-begotten Son of God is His Wisdom, existing substantially, then, in my opinion, our reason should no longer wander in conjectures such as whether the ύττόστασις, that is, the substance (substantia) of the Son, has something corporeal; for everything corporeal has either a form, or a color, or a size, but what sensible person would seek color or size in Wisdom as wisdom? God the Father could never, not for a single moment, certainly exist without giving birth to this Wisdom: so should everyone think and believe who only knows how to piously think and think about God. In fact, if God begat Wisdom that did not exist before, then He could not give birth to Her before He gave birth, or He could, but did not want to give birth. But this cannot be said of God: it is evident to all that such suppositions are both absurd and impious, for in both cases it is found that God either rose from a state of incapacity to a state of ability, or, supposing His ability, that He delayed and postponed the birth of Wisdom. That is why we always acknowledge God to be the Father of His only-begotten Son, begotten of Him and receiving existence from Him, but without any beginning, not only such as can be divided into any temporal extensions, but also such as is usually contemplated by the mind alone in itself, and which is seen, so to speak, by pure thought and spirit. Thus, it must be believed that Wisdom is born outside of any beginning, of which it is possible to speak or think. In this very hypostasis of Wisdom was all the power and destiny of the future creation, both that which exists from the beginning of the world and that which happens afterwards: all this was predestined and arranged in Wisdom by the power of foreknowledge.

In view of these creations, which were as it were foretold and foreordained in Wisdom Herself, Wisdom says through Solomon of Herself that She was created as the beginning of the ways of God, or that it contains in Herself the beginnings, or forms, or forms of all creation.

3. And so, when it is said that Wisdom is the beginning of God's ways, and that She was created, this, according to our understanding, means whose Wisdom contains in Itself the beginnings and predestination of all creation. Likewise, the name of Wisdom as the Word of God must be understood, namely, in the sense that Wisdom reveals to all other beings, i.e., to all creation, the knowledge of the mysteries and of all that is hidden within the Wisdom of God: it is called the Word because it serves as an interpreter of the mysteries of the spirit. Therefore it seems to me that the saying written in the Acts of Paul is correct: "This is the Word, a living being." As for John, he speaks even more sublimely and beautifully, when at the beginning of his Gospel he gives his own definition that the Word is God. He says: "The Word was God. It was in the beginning with God" (John 1:1-2). But whoever at the same time ascribes the beginning to the Word of God, or the Wisdom of God, evidently extends his impiety even to the unborn Father Himself, since then he will deny the truth that He was always the Father, and begotten the Son, and had Wisdom in all previous times or ages, in a word, in the course of all that can be denoted in any way in human language<. >

7. But since we have quoted Paul's saying that the Son is the radiance of the glory of God and the image of His hypostasis (substantiae), let us see what idea should follow from this saying. "God," according to John, "is light" (1 John 1:5). Thus, the only-begotten Son is the radiance of this light, which illuminates all creation and proceeds from Him inseparably, just as radiance proceeds from light. The work of light must be understood in accordance with the above considerations about the sense in which the Son is the way that leads to the Father, in what sense He is the Word who explains and offers to the rational creature the mysteries of wisdom and knowledge, in what sense He is truth, and life, and resurrection. Thus, through radiance it is known and felt what light itself is. It is a radiance that appears comparatively soft to the weak and fragile eyes of mortals and gradually prepares them to perceive the brilliance of the light itself, removing from them everything that obstructs their vision, according to the word of the Lord: "First take the beam out of your eye" (Luke 6:42). This radiance makes them capable of perceiving the glory of light and becomes, as it were, a kind of intermediary between people and light.

8. But, according to the words of the Apostle, He is not only the radiance of Glory, but also the imprinted image of His essence (substantiae) and even of His hypostasis (subsistence). Therefore it is not superfluous to pay attention to the sense in which any other essence and hypostasis, besides the very essence of God, can be called His image. The Son of God, Who is called the Word of God and His Wisdom, alone knows the Father and reveals Him to those whom He wills, that is, to those who can be made capable of receiving the Word and Wisdom itself.

Suppose, for example, that two statues are made. One is so huge that it occupies the entire circle of the earth and is inaccessible to anyone's observation, and the other is an exact copy of the first, but not of such enormous size. Then, when people see the second statue, they can also know about the first statue, because the smaller statue has the same outlines of limbs and faces, the same appearance and the same material as the first. In the same way, the Son of God, having humbled Himself in His equality with the Father and showing us the way to know Him, becomes the image of His essence. The purpose of this is that we, who are unable to see the glory of the divine light, may have access to the contemplation of it, by the fact that it is made for us by this radiance. Of course, a crude comparison with statues only explains how the Son of God, having entered into the smallest form of the human body, reflected in Himself the immeasurable and invisible greatness of the Father, due to the similarity with His works and power. That is why He said to His disciples: "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9), "I and the Father" (John 10:30). In the same sense, we must also understand the words: "The Father is in Me, and I in the Father" (John 10:38).

Kn. 1, ch. 3. About the Holy Spirit

1. Now we must briefly consider the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. All those who in any way acknowledge Providence confess that there is an unborn God who created and arranged everything. They all recognize Him as the parent of the universe. We are not alone in preaching that He has a Son. Thus, although this doctrine seems rather surprising and incredible to Greek and barbarian philosophers, yet some of them express an opinion of the Son, when they confess that all things were created by the word or mind of God. We are convinced that the doctrine of the Son of God can only be set forth and brought into the minds of men only by means of the Scriptures inspired by the Holy Spirit,145 namely, by the Gospel and the Apostle, and also by the law and the prophets, as Christ Himself has attested. As for the hypostasis of the Holy Spirit, no one could have had the slightest supposition about it, except those who were acquainted with the law and the prophets, or those who profess faith in Christ. Although, of course, no one is able to express (the full truth) about God the Father, yet about Him it is possible to obtain some idea through the medium of visible creatures and on the basis of what the human mind naturally cognizes, moreover, this concept can be confirmed by the Holy Scriptures. It is also true that no one knows the Son except the Father, but nevertheless the human mind learns from the Holy Scriptures how to think about Him. Not only from the New, but also from the Old Testament, precisely through the deeds of the saints, who serve as prototypes of Christ, by means of these deeds it is possible to discern either His divine nature or the human nature assumed by Him.

2. But many Scriptures teach us about the existence of the Holy Spirit. In the 50th Psalm David says: "Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me" (Psalm 50:13). And in the book of Daniel it says: "In you is the Spirit of the Holy God" (Dan. 4:6). In the New Testament there are even more such testimonies, from which we know that the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ, and that the Lord, after His resurrection, breathed upon the Apostles, saying: "Receive ye the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). The angel says to Mary: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you" (Luke 1:35). Paul says: "No one can call Jesus Lord, except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:3). According to the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit was given in baptism through the laying on of the hands of the apostles (Acts 8:18). From all these testimonies we conclude that the essence of the Holy Spirit possesses such dignity and authority that even saving baptism can be performed by the authority of all [Persons] of the highest Trinity [triad], that is, through the joint mention of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and through the union with the unborn God the Father and His only-begotten Son also in the name of the Holy Spirit. And who will not be amazed at the greatness. of the Holy Spirit, when will he hear that he who has spoken a word against the Son of man can hope for forgiveness, but he who has spoken blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not receive forgiveness either in the present world or in the world to come (Matt. 12:32)? with... >

8. From these testimonies about the unity of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, let us now return to what we have actually begun to discuss. God the Father gives all beings existence, participation in Christ [the Logos], makes beings rational. Hence it follows that these beings are worthy either of praise or of punishment, because they are capable of virtue and vice. Therefore, there is also the grace of the Holy Spirit, so that beings who are not holy by nature may become holy through participation in this grace. Thus, beings have their being from God the Father, rationality from the Word, and holiness from the Holy Spirit. Moreover, those beings who have previously been sanctified through the Holy Spirit become capable of perceiving Christ as God's truth, and even those who have already been vouchsafed to attain this stage [of moral regeneration] through the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, will still receive the gift of wisdom through the power and action of the Holy Spirit. This idea is expressed by the Apostle Paul when he says that the word of wisdom is given to some, and the word of knowledge is given to others by the same Spirit. But with all this, pointing out a strictly defined distinction between the gifts, the Apostle refers all these gifts to the source of everything and says: "The actions are different, but God is one and the same, working all things in all" (1 Corinthians 12:6). That is why the action of the Father, which imparts existence to all beings, is especially glorious and majestic when each one succeeds and ascends to the highest stages of perfection, through participation in Christ as wisdom, knowledge, and sanctification. The action of the Father is glorified when one is purified through participation in the Holy Spirit and worthily receives the grace of knowledge in such a way that he reaches such perfection that the being he has received from God becomes fully worthy of God. And God gives existence for perfection, so that it is worthy of God. Thus, the possibility of eternal existence will be received from God by the one who fulfills the will of God. However, in order for this to be accomplished, in order for created beings to stand inseparably <) before the Eternal, they must be instructed and taught by Wisdom and raised to perfection through the confirmation of the Holy Spirit and through constant sanctification, by means of which they can hold on to God alone. Thus, with the constant action of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, renewed in all degrees of perfection, we may contemplate a holy and blessed life. When we succeed in approaching this life, we must be firm so as not to become satiated with this life. On the contrary, with a gradual and greater penetration into this blessedness, the thirst for it should increase and grow in us, provided that we more and more ardently and zealously receive and preserve within ourselves the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. However, if someone is seized by gluttony, I do not think that he will suddenly become empty and fall away from perfection. It must necessarily fall little by little and gradually. Consequently, if someone sometimes accidentally undergoes a slight fall, but soon comes to his senses and comes to his senses, he cannot actually completely destroy [his moral state], but can rise again and return to his former level. He can regain what he has lost through negligence.

II. Origen's Physics 2, ch. 3 2. On the Beginning of the World and the Causes of It