Catechetical Instruction Seventeen

To those who are preparing in Jerusalem for enlightenment, spoken without preparation, in which the continuation of the teaching about the Holy Spirit is offered, and to the words from the first Epistle to the Corinthians: "To him is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom," and so on. (1 Corinthians 12:8).

1. In the former teaching, as much as we could, we offered to your love, listeners, some of the testimonies about the Holy Spirit. In the Spirit: now, by the will of God, let us cite as much as possible the remaining testimonies from the New Testament. Before, in order not to burden your ears, I stopped your zeal (for one can never be satisfied with the word of the Holy Spirit): now let us offer some part of what remains to be said. I frankly confess now that our weakness cannot contain all that is said about this in the Scriptures, however, even now I will not have recourse to human wisdom, for it is useless; I will offer only what is contained in the Holy Scriptures. For this is perfectly safe, according to the words of the holy Apostle Paul, who says: "And we speak not in words learned by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Holy Spirit, spiritual reasoning with spiritual things" (1 Corinthians 2:13). We act like travelers or sailors, who, having one goal on their long journey, although they eagerly hasten to reach it; however, because of human weakness, they usually stop for rest in certain cities or harbors.

2. Although we share our reasoning about the Holy Spirit, He Himself is inseparable and is one and the same. For, as in our discourses about the Father, sometimes the teaching of His sovereignty was offered, sometimes of why He is called the Father, or Almighty, and sometimes of the fact that He is the Creator of all things, and yet faith was not divided by the division of teachings: for there was and is one end of godliness. And just as in our discourses on the Only-begotten Son of God at one time we taught about His Divinity, and at another we offered a teaching about His humanity, and although we divided the teaching about our Lord Jesus Christ into many discourses, nevertheless we preached a faith that was not shared in Him: in various ways and now, dividing our teachings about the Holy Spirit. In the Spirit, we preach an undivided faith in Him. For there is one and the same Spirit, dividing the gifts to each one in particular, as He pleases, but Himself abiding indivisible. For the Comforter is not another, different from the Holy Spirit; but there is one and the same, only called by different names. He has life, self-existence; He says, He acts, and all rational beings created from God through Christ, i.e. Angels and men, is the Sanctifier.

3. Lest, because of the different names of the Holy Spirit, some out of ignorance think that these are different spirits, and that they are not one and the same Spirit, Who is one, then, warning you, the Universal Church has betrayed in the confession of faith to believe in one Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who said in the Prophets: That you may know that, although many are names, nevertheless, there is only one Holy Spirit. Of these names, having chosen some of the many, we will now speak.

4. He is called simply the Spirit, as it is now read: to him by the Spirit is given the word of wisdom (Corinthians 12:8). It is called the Spirit of truth, as the Saviour says: "When the Spirit of truth comes" (John 16:13) It is called the Comforter, as the same Saviour said: "For if I do not come, the Comforter will not come to you" (7). And that He is one and the same, called by different names, is clearly shown by the following. For it is said that the Holy Spirit is the same as the Comforter: "But the Comforter is the Holy Spirit" (John 14:26). As for the fact that the Comforter is the same as the Spirit of truth, it is said thus: "And the Spirit of truth will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever" (16). And again: "When the Comforter comes, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth" (John 15:26). He is also called the Spirit of God, as it is written: "And I saw the Spirits of God descending" (Matt. 3:16): and in another place: "For they are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God" (ROM. 8:14). It is also called the Spirit of the Father, as the Saviour says: "For ye shall not speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaketh in you" (Matt. 10:20); and Paul again, "For this reason I bow my knee to the Father," and so on. that He may grant you to be strengthened by His Spirit (Eph. 3:14-16). It is also called the Spirit of the Lord, as Peter said: "That thou shalt consent to tempt the Spirit of the Lord" (Acts 5:9)? It is also called the Spirit of God, and immediately the Spirit of Christ, as Paul writes: "But ye bear it in the flesh, but in the Spirit, because the Spirit of God dwelleth in you: but whosoever hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of Him" (Rom. 8:9). He is also called the Spirit of the Son of God, as it is said: "Inasmuch as ye are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of His Son." It is especially called the Spirit of Christ, as it is written: "In what or at what time the Spirit of Christ was manifested in them" (1 Peter 1:11). And in another place: "By your prayer and the giving of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:19).

5. In addition to these, you will find many other names for the Holy Spirit. He is called the Spirit of holiness, as it is written: according to the Spirit of holiness (Romans 1:4).He is also called the Spirit of sonship, as Paul says: "For do not receive the Spirit of work in fear, but receive the Spirit of sonship, for Whom we cry out: Abba Father" (Romans 8:15). It is also called the Spirit of revelation, as it is written: "That He may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation unto the knowledge of Him" (Ephesians 1:17). It is also called the Spirit of promise, as the same Paul says: "In Him also ye who believed were signified by the Holy Spirit of Promise" (13). He is also called the Spirit of grace, as the same Apostle says again: "And he who reproaches the Spirit of grace." (Hebrews 10:20). It is called by many other similar names. Thou hast clearly heard in the former teaching that in the Psalms He is sometimes called good (Psalm 142:10), sometimes He is called the Lord (50:14). And in the prophecy of Isaiah he is called the Spirit of wisdom, and understanding, and counsel, and strength, and knowledge, and godliness, and the Spirit of the fear of God (Isaiah 11:2, 3).

For I want you to remember what I have just said, and to know perfectly that there is not one in the law and the prophets, but another in the Gospel and the Apostles, but one and the same Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments, who spoke the Divine Scriptures.

6. This same Holy Spirit descended upon the Holy Virgin Mary. For when Christ the Only-begotten was to be born, the power of the Most High overshadowed Her, and the Holy Spirit, Who came upon Her, sanctified Her, so that She might be able to receive Him through Whom all things came to pass. I need not say much about these things to teach you that this birth is undefiled and pure: for you know what Gabriel said to her, I declare to you that which is to be, but I do not act in it; though I be an Archangel, yet I know my office, and I proclaim joy to Thee; but how you have to give birth does not depend on my gift. The Holy Spirit shall come upon Thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow Thee: by the same also that which is born is holy, and shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35).

7. This Holy Spirit was at work in Elizabeth. For not only is He in virgins, but He also draws near to those who are married to their husbands, if the marriage is according to the law: and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit (40) and prophesied. And this good servant said of the Lord, "And whence shall I come this, that the Mother of my Lord may come to me"? Elizabeth blessed her. Filled with this Holy Spirit, Zachariah, the father of John, prophesied, saying that the Only-begotten would bring good to many, and that John would be His Forerunner after his baptism. By this Holy Spirit also Simeon the Righteous was informed, that he did not see death, that he did not even see the Christ of the Lord (Luke 2:26), and having received this Christ in his arms in the temple, he bore clear witness to Him.

8. And John, who was filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother's womb, was sanctified by Him, that he might baptize the Lord; he himself did not give the Spirit, but preached about Him who gives the Spirit. For he said, "I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who comes after me," and so on. He baptizes you with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matt. 3:11). Since the descent of the Holy Spirit was in the form of tongues of fire, of which the Saviour joyfully speaks: "Thou hast come to bring fire upon the earth, and what will I if it be already kindled" (Luke 12:49)?

9. This Holy Spirit descended when the Lord was baptized, so that the glory of Him who is being baptized would not be hidden, as John says: "But He who sent me to baptize with water, He said to me, 'Over Him thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and abiding upon Him, He is baptizing with the Holy Spirit' (John 1:33). But note that the Gospel says: "The heavens are opened" (Matt. 3:16). And they were opened because of the glory of him who is descending. And behold, he says, the heavens were opened, and seeing the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and coming upon Him, that is, He descended by Himself. For it was necessary, as some have explained, that the beginnings and preeminences of the action of the Holy Spirit, which is given to those who are baptized, should be communicated to the humanity of the Saviour, Who bestows this grace. He descended in the form of a dove, perhaps, as some say, in accordance with the pure and gentle dove that depicted Him, which was sacrificed during prayers for children born and for the remission of sins. For it was divinationly foretold that Christ would reveal Himself in this obvious way. For in the songs about the Bridegroom it is proclaimed and said: "His eyes are like doves, full of waters" (Song of Songs 5:12).

10. This dove was partly prefigured, according to some, by Noah's dove. For as in his time salvation was accomplished for those who were with him by means of wood and water, and together a new existence began, and the dove returned to him in the evening with an olive leaf: in the same way, say these interpreters, the Holy Spirit descended upon the true Noah, the author of another existence, uniting into one the wills of all the peoples, which were prefigured by various kinds of animals, who were in the ark. For at His coming, the mental wolves will feed with the lambs. His Church has a calf and an ox and a lion grazing together, since we still see that Church teachers guide and teach earthly rulers. And so, this spiritual dove descended at the time of Baptism, according to the expression of some, in order to show that this is the same One Who through the tree of the Cross will save the faithful, and in the evening through His death will grant salvation.

11. But this can be explained in another way: however, it is better for us to listen now what the Saviour Himself has to say about the Holy Spirit. He says: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). And what is this grace from the Father, He says: how much more does the Father, who is from heaven, give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:13). And that God should be worshipped in spirit, saying: But the hour is coming, and now is, when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks such as those who worship Him. The Spirit is God, and whosoever worshipeth Him, in spirit and in truth is worthy to worship (John 4:23-24). And again: if I cast out demons in the Spirit of God, and so on. (Matt. 12:28), after this quickly: "For this reason I say unto you, All sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven by man; but whosoever blasphemes against the Spirit shall not be forgiven (31). Immediately: whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven him, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven him either in this world or in the 6th (32). And in another place He says: "And I will beseech the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that the Spirit of truth may be with you forever, Whom the world cannot see, because it does not see Him, but knows Him below." But you know Him, for He dwells in you, and will be in you (John 14:16, 17). And again he says, "This is what I say to you in you." But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things, and will bring all things to your remembrance (14:26). And again: "And the Comforter of hell shall come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, which beareth witness of Me" (John 15:26). And in another place the Saviour says: "For if I do not come, the Comforter will not come to you: and when He comes, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:7, 8). And then again: Many more Imam have spoken to you, but you cannot bear them now (12). And when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth: for it is not of thyself that thou shalt speak, but if he heareth, thou shalt speak, and that which is to come shall declare unto you (13). He will glorify Me, for He will receive Me and declare it to you (14). All that the Father has is my essence: for this reason I have spoken unto you, for he shall receive from me, and shall declare unto you (15). I have now set before thee the testimony of the Only-begotten Himself, that thou mayest not hearken unto the words of men.