Let us now speak of one of the heresies: that they falsely speak, define, renounce, and do not truly and falsely confess the Holy, One-in-Essence, Life-giving, and Indivisible Trinity, but say that God the Father Almighty has neither the Son nor the Holy Spirit, consubstantial and co-throned with Himself, and that there is no Holy Trinity. And if the Scriptures say that God has the Word and the Spirit, then that, they say, means that God has a word spoken by the mouth when breathing, and dissolved into thin air. And that the prophets said of the Son of God, that he, Jesus Christ, was the Son of God, not in essence, but by grace, just as did the holy prophets Moses, David, and others. And the Holy Spirit, of Whom the prophets write, they do not consider God either in hypostasis or in essence, but call Him the breath proceeding from the mouth of God and dissolving in the air.

We have true testimony from all the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, for even in antiquity, in the Old Testament, it was clearly and majestically preached about the Reigning, Sovereign, One-in-Essence Trinity: the Fathers, the Patriarchs, and the God-speaking prophets in many images said much about this. They prophesied about the Only-begotten Son of God, that He is the Son of God, consubstantial and co-throned with the Father in Divinity, and in human form He will be called Christ and the Son of Man. They also spoke much about the Holy Spirit, confessing Him to be God in Essence and in Hypostasis. But because of the Jews, they spoke about it covertly, through images, mysteriously and implicitly. For Moses knew the folly of the Jews, such that even after the immeasurable and indescribable miracles manifested to them by God, they strove for polytheism and worshipped idols instead of the true God; they wanted to stone Moses himself. First they learned to believe in One God, so that because of the difference of Persons they would not proclaim the difference of Essence and would not thereby be drawn into idolatry. After a short time they would have learned to believe in the Triune and One-in-essence Godhead, as the divine apostles learned, and believed in this, and taught many Jews, whom it is impossible to count; as a learned and wise Philo the Jew (Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 B.C. – 40 A.D.).) learned and believed in the Holy and One-in-Essence Trinity according to the writings of Moses and other holy prophets and patriarchs. For the prophets revealed much about the Holy and One-in-Essence Trinity and predicted great troubles for the Jews, but prosperity for us. In order that the Jews might not kill the prophets who spoke openly about it, and would not destroy the Scriptures, the divine prophets concealed the meaning of the prophecies behind the difficulty of interpretation. That is why the great Moses spoke about the Holy Trinity implicitly, mysteriously, covertly, through images; but he did not write about the holy angels either, passing by this multitude of divine bodiless powers of Heaven, which is the second light after the first divine light. He passed it by so that the Jews would not deify this Heavenly Most Radiant Army. If the Jews worshipped the calf, Baal-Peor, Chemosh, Astarte, how much more would they have served the wonderful heavenly host as God! Therefore, Moses first began to write about the creation of heaven, earth, and all the rest of creation, and not about angels, the existence of which is testified to by the entire Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

Much has been written by the Holy Apostles and Holy Fathers about the Holy and Life-Giving Trinity. But the Jews and heretics reject the apostolic and patristic testimonies and accept only the prophetic ones, interpreting them in an impious sense. Therefore, we will cite here only prophetic evidence, since we are addressing heretics who profess Judaism.

Let us begin with the sacred-speaking Moses, who was the first to write about what is useful for our life. He writes in the Book of Genesis as follows: God, desiring to create Adam, said: "Let us make man in our image and after our likeness..." (Gen. 2:10). 1, 26.) Why did He not say, "I will create," but said, "Let us create"? That is why He said "let us create" because by this He declared not one Person of the Godhead, but three Hypostases, and the words "in the image" – not "in images" – declare the one Being of the Holy Trinity. When He said, "Let us make man," to whom did God speak? Isn't it obvious that He said this to His Only Begotten Son and Word and Holy Spirit?

But the Jews do not agree, saying, "To whom did God speak? God said it to Himself." Thus the heretics go mad, so the Jews oppose the truth and turn it upside down.

But the word of godliness is invincible, God's light shines brighter than the sun: the Holy and One-in-Essence Trinity appeared mysteriously and invisibly for the sake of those great Divine plans of which we have spoken earlier, and therefore it is said in the Scriptures: "Let us make man." To whom did God speak? To no one else, but to the Only-begotten Son and Word and the Holy and Life-giving Spirit.

The heretics object: "No, God said this to Himself, there was no one else then." What could be more insane than saying that God said this to Himself?

What builder, or carpenter, or tanner, alone, pondering over any tool or building without help, says to himself: "Let us make ourselves a tool," or: "Let us make a plough," or: "Let us dye the leather," and does not simply silently do his work? It's a lie to say that. Such actions are characteristic of foolish people, and not of wise people: being alone, talking to oneself and instructing oneself in one's work. And if it is absurd and unseemly for a wise man to do so, how much more is it unbecoming of God.

That is why God did not say: "Let us create the heavens, let us create the earth, let us create the sea." But He said, "Let there be heaven!" and so it was. And all the rest of creation He created One.

But God did not create man in this way, He said: "Let us create man." Evidently God spoke to another Person, with whom He conversed and consulted.

Who is God's counselor? They will answer me: prophets.

But Isaiah says of the Only-begotten Son of God that He is God's counselor, Jesus Christ, the Son of God in essence and not by grace. Isaiah said, "For unto us a child is born, a son is given unto us... and they shall call His name Angel of the Great Council..."(Isaiah 9:6) The Father said to Him: "Let us make man in Our image and after our likeness..." Further, wishing to show that He is not a mere child, nor one of the angels, but the true God, the prophet says of Him: "Mighty God, Lord, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). Further, lest they think that He is God not in Essence, but only by grace, as Moses and David did (for God said to Moses, "Behold, I have made thee God unto Pharaoh..." (Exod. 7, 1.); and David says: "I said, You are gods...")(Ps. 81:6.), Isaiah said of the Lord Jesus Christ: "God is mighty." Moses and David were not strong in themselves, but received power from God and did not keep it, but sinned against the Lord and fainted, and the one wept for the promised land, and the other for his sins. Further, Isaiah, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, concludes: "The Father of the world to come" (Isaiah 9:6). With this, the prophet stopped all impious fabrications! For no man will be the Father of the age to come, but only the Son of God, who is both a child and Christ by human nature, and an angel, and a mighty God, and the Father of the age to come, and the counselor of the Father in the creation of man, and not such as Moses and David.

The Holy and Life-Giving Spirit is also a counselor of the Father. But first let the Holy Scriptures speak of the Only-begotten Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, and then of the Holy and Life-Giving Spirit.

We have already seen how a heretic is overcome by our arguments, when he understands that it is absurd not only for God, but also for a reasonable person, to talk to himself when he is engaged in any work alone. But the Jew persists and says that the words: "Let us make man in our image and likeness" — God said to the angels.