CHAPTER 4. How such a use of prepositions cannot be
ON THE HOLY SPIRIT
CHAPTER 4. How such a use of prepositions cannot be observed in Scripture.
6. Now we admit that the Word of truth often uses these expressions in the manner just described, but we absolutely deny that the freedom of the Spirit is controlled by pagan pettiness. Rather, it appropriately varies its expressions for each occasion, as the circumstances require.
For instance, "from whom" or "from which" does not always refer to matter, as pagan philosophy teaches, but Scripture is more likely to apply this phrase to the supreme cause:
"one God, from Whom are all things"® or "all things are from God." ** However, the word of truth often uses this same preposition when referring to matter; for example, it says, "You shall make an ark from incorruptible wood" * and "You shall make a lampstand from pure gold," " and "the first man was from the earth, a man of dust" * and "You are formed from the clay, as I am." "
But our opponents, as we have already said, have decreed that this phrase concerns the Father alone, in order to prove their heresy of different natures. The source of this distinction of theirs is pagan philosophy, but they do not always precisely follow the system, They say "in the Spirit" and "through" the Son, and since they impose the title
"instrument" on the Son, and "place" on the Spirit, here they are in comformity with their teachers. But when they apply "from Whom" to God (the Father) they no longer imitate the pagans, but claim that they have changed to apostolic usage, as it is written, "from Him is the source of your life in Christ Jesus" ** and "all things are from ®°TI Cor. 8:6. bt) th ea P ete 14 Job 33:6.
107 Cor. 11:12.
*81/Cor, 15:47.
1 Cf, I Cor. 1:30. aE Ex 25 e10:
ST. BASIL THE GREAT
God." ** What is the result of this technical discussion?
Cause has one nature, an instrument has another, and place yet another. So the Son's nature is alien to the Father's, since the tool is by nature different from the craftsman, and the nature of the Spirit is foreign to both, since place and time are different from tools or those who handle them.
CHAPTER 5. How "through whom' is also said concerning the Father, and "from whom" for the Son and the Spirit.
Having described our opponents' arguments, we shall now demonstrate our proposal: namely, that the Father does not accept "from whom" exclusively, and abandon "through whom" to the Son. Furthermore, we reject their arbitrary principle that the Son does not admit the Holy Spirit to share "from whom" or "through whom".
"There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things... and one Lord Jesus Christ through whom are all things." "
St. Paul does not say this to lay down an arbitrary law of prepositions, but to distinguish between the persons. He writes this not to introduce any division of natures, but to prove that the union of Father and Son is without confusion. It is obvious that the phrases in this passage do not contradict each other, nor do they separate the natures to which they are applied, like army squadrons facing each other in battle. The blessed Paul unites both for the same purpose when he says, "for from him and through him and to him are all things." ** Even someone not paying much attention to the meaning of the words would admit that 481 Cor, 11:12.
17T Cor. 8:6.
18 Rom. 11:36.
ON THE HOLY SPIRIT
this passage clearly refers to the Lord. The Apostle has just quoted the prophecy of Isaiah: "Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counsellor," " and then goes on to say that "for from Him and through Him and to Him are all things." The prophet is speaking about God the Word, the Maker of all creation; we learn this from his previous words, "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?
Who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been His counsellor?" *® This passage is not merely a rhetorical question; if it were, "who" could not possibly refer to anyone. Rather, the use of "who" indicates a rare personage.
The following passages ask the same: "Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?" or "What man is there who desires life," or "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?" * All these questions, including "Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counsellor?" have the same answer: "For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all that He Himself is doing." * He it is who holds the earth, grasping it with His hands. He has arranged all things in order; He set the mountains in their places and measured the waters. He assigns to each thing in the universe its proper rank. He encompasses the expanse of the heavens with only a small portion of His power, which the prophet in his oracle calls a span. The Apostle's words are well spoken: "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things." * The cause of being comes from Him to all things that exist, according to the will of God the Father. Through Him structure and preservation are given to all things, for He created everything, and dispenses
19Ts. 40:13; Rom. 12:34.
20Ts, 40:12-13.
22 Ps, 34:12.
24 Jn. 5:20.
21 Ps. 94:16.
22 Ps! (24:3; 2 Rom. 11:36.
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well-being to all things, according to the need of each.
Therefore all things are turned toward Him, looking with irresistible longing and unspeakable love to the creator and sustainer of life as it is written: "The eyes of all look hopefully to Thee," ** and "These all look to Thee, to give them their food in due season," " and again, "Thou openest
Thy hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." * 8.
If our opponents reject this interpretation, what argument will deliver them from openly falling into their own trap? If they will not permit these three expressions
"from whom," "through whom" and "in whom" to be spoken concerning the Lord, they will be forced against their will to apply them to God the Father. Here their argument crumbles, because we find not only "from whom" but also "through whom" applied to the Father. "Through whom" indicates nothing derogatory; why in the world should it be used to confine the Son in an inferior position?
If it always denotes subservience, let them explain to us to what superior the God of glory and the Father of Christ is subject. Truly they have overthrown themselves, while we are victorious on both sides. If the words "from Him and through Him and to Him are all things" refer to the Son, the "from Him" is discovered to be applied to the Son. On the other hand, if they contend that the words belong to the Father, then "through whom" is given to God (the Father) as His due. Both phrases have equal value, since both are used to describe God in the same way.
Either the passage refers to the Father or the Son, and both prepositions describe either one Person, or the other;
But let us return to our original topic.
Paul says in his epistle to the Ephesians: "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way
26 Ps, 145:15.
27 Ps. 104:27.
3 Ps, 145:16.
ON THE HOLY SPIRIT
into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love." * Again in the epistle to the Colossians he says to those who have no understanding of the Only-Begotten, that "...not holding fast to the Head (that is, Christ) from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God." *® From another passage we learn that Christ is the head of the Church, as the Apostle says: "He has made Him the head over all things for the Church," * and, "from His fulness we have all received." * The Lord Himself says: "He will take what is mine and declare it to you." * The industrious reader will notice that the phrase "from whom" is used in many different ways. For instance, the Lord says, "I perceive that power has gone forth from me." * Similarly we observe that "from whom" is frequently used in reference to the Spirit. Paul says: "He who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit." * John writes: "And by this we know that He abides in us, from the Spirit which He has given us." * The angel says to Joseph:
"that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit." "
The Lord says: "That which is born from the Spirit is spirit." * Such is the case so far.
10.
We must now demonstrate that the phrase "through whom" or "by whom" is used by Scripture to refer to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit alike. As far as the Son is concerned, we will not enumerate the multitude of references available, for they are well-known, and our op29 Eph. 4:15-16. asin 16215:
86 T Jn. 3:24.
80 Col. 2:19.
4 Lk, 8:46.
37 Lk, 1:20.
*! Eph: 1:22.
> Gal. 6:8.
88 Jn. 3:6.
32 Jn. 1:16.
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ponents build their argument by using them. We will show, however, that "through whom" or "by whom" is used in reference to the Father. It is written: "God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His
Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." * and "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God" " and again, "So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir," "' and "so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father..." Isaiah says:
"Woe to them that take secret counsel, and not by the Lord." " This same phrase is used many times to refer to the Spirit as well: "Guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit," " and it says in another place, "To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom." "
11.
We can say the same concerning the preposition in; Scripture uses it to refer to God the Father. In the Old
Testament it says, that "in God we shall do valiantly" " and "Blessed are the people... who exult in Thy name all the day." *" Paul says, "...in God Who created all things" and "Paul and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father" " and "asking that somehow in God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you" " and "make your boast in God." The rest are too numerous to be mentioned; we do not wish to accumulate evidence for its own sake, but to prove that our opponents' opinions are unsound. Therefore I will not enumerate the instances where the preposition "in" is used to describe the Lord and the Holy Spirit, because they are so widespread.
But I cannot refrain from remarking that the "wise hearer"' may easily discover that if terminological differences in- ®8T Cor. 1:9.
48 Ts. 29:15.
47 Ps. 89:16.
40 TT Cor. 1:1.
"TI Tim. 1:14.
- 48 TI Thess. 1:1.
"1 Gal. 4:7.
© 1'Cor, 12:83
#9 Rom. 1:10.
@ Rom. 6:4.
46 Ps, 108:13.
50 Rom. 2:17.
ON THE HOLY SPIRIT
dicate differences in nature, then our opponents must shamefully agree that identical terminology is used for identical natures. Thus ample proof of our proposition has been provided.
12.
The use of the above prepositions not only varies in discussions concerning the divine nature, but the meanings of the prepositions themselves are often interchangeable and are transferred from one subject to the other. For instance, Adam says "I have gained a man through God" ** which means the same as from God. It says in another passage, "Moses charged ..
. Israel through the commandment of the Lord," and again, "Is not the interpretation ..
. through God?" * Joseph, when he spoke to his fellow-prisoners concerning dreams, instead of saying from God, plainly says through God. Sometimes Paul does just the opposite: he uses "from whom" instead of "through whom"; for example, in the passage "born from woman" * instead of "through woman," but in another place he clearly distinguishes between these two prepositions when he says that woman is made from man, but man is born through woman: "As woman was made from man, so man is now born of (through) woman" * But in these same passages, where Paul demonstrates that these terms are used in different ways, he also corrects the error of those who imagine that the Lord's body is not a material body: He says that the Lord was born from woman to show that the God-bearing flesh was formed from the common stuff of humanity. If he had said that the Lord was born through woman someone might suspect that woman is merely the passive means of generation, but by saying that Christ was born from (the) woman he satisfactorily shows that the mother and her offspring share
51 Gen. 4:1.
58 Gen. 40:8. oS. Coreit=12) 52 Num. 36:1.
54 Gal. 4:4.