Scriptural Proofs for the Trinity
Himself. And they preach by the Spirit. They are not visible men, but they have conversed greatly with the divine Spirit. And these are among the others of their company: the Psalmist in a certain Psalm says: 'Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good' (Ps 106:1). And in the same: 'Let all who fear the Lord say, that He is good' (Ps 135:3). And Jeremiah lamented: 'The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul seeking Him' (Lam 3:25). And Isaiah: 'The Lord is a good judge to the house of Israel' (Isa 30:18).
Because also the Holy Spirit of God is good, the one mentioned by David in Psalm 143 says: 'Your good Spirit shall lead me in a level land' (Ps 143:10). In addition to these, if the eternal life and the words of the Son are good—for He said: 'I am the life' (John 14:6), and again: 'The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life' (John 6:64)—and if the sanctification of the Holy Spirit and the energy in the illumination are good (for it is remembered as a co-worker), and also the distribution of the heavenly gifts, then the Son and the Holy Spirit are in every way good.
We were not taught by hearing alone, but we have also seen how the distinct properties of the hypostases of the incorrupt and consubstantial Trinity enter in: of the Father from heaven saying: 'This is my beloved Son' (Matt 3:17), of His Only-begotten being baptized on earth, and of His one and only Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove and remaining upon Him, the Only-begotten God and Son. For a Davidic treasure is confirmed in this Psalm, that the one incarnated from among our wombs was attested as Son by God the Father. And the word is known to all, having here: 'Truth has risen up from the earth, righteousness has bowed down from the heavens' (Ps 85:11).
Likewise, because there is no difference in deity, the words sometimes manifest the Father with the Son in the awesome and unblemished Trinity, as when David says: 'The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand' (Ps 110:1), and Paul: 'Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ' (Rom 1:7). And sometimes they join the Father with the Holy Spirit, as when Haggai prophesies: 'For I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, and my Spirit has stood in the midst' (Hag 2:4).
"of you", and again: "not in great power nor in strength, but in my spirit," says the Lord Almighty (Zechariah 4:6). It must be applied to the word. For since the heretics, while the Spirit is being mentioned with the Father, claim that an unsubstantial power is being shown, the preceding word stands securely. And Isaiah: "and now the Lord has sent me and his spirit" (Isaiah 11:3); and again: "there the deer met and gave each other their faces. In number they came, and not one of them perished. The one did not seek the other, because the Lord commanded them and his spirit gathered them together" (Isaiah 65:23).
And Paul to the Corinthians: "do you not know that you are the temple of God and the spirit of God dwells in you" (1 Corinthians 3:16), and again: "the love of God is poured out in your hearts through the holy spirit" (Romans 5:5), and again: "but God has revealed to us through his spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:10). At other times they name only the Son, as when Isaiah prophesies: "and now, Lord, you are our Father, and we are all works of clay of your hands" (Isaiah 64:8); and Paul to the Galatians: "for as many as were baptized into Christ, have clothed themselves with Christ" (Galatians 3:27).
At other times they proclaim the only-begotten with the holy spirit, as when Paul writes to the Corinthians: "but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11), to the Romans: "I say the truth in Christ, I do not lie, my conscience bearing witness to me in the holy spirit" (Romans 2:15), and again: "for if indeed the one coming preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive another spirit, which you did not receive" (2 Corinthians 11:4).
And at other times he reminds us of the holy spirit, as when Isaiah prophesies: "they rebelled and provoked the holy spirit" (Isaiah 63:10), and again: "a spirit came down from the Lord and led them" (Isaiah 48:16); and Paul writes to the Corinthians: "but a natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of God" (1 Corinthians 2:14). And just as Stephen declares in the Acts: "you resist the holy spirit" (Acts 7:51), and again: "we are witnesses of these words and the holy spirit" (Acts 22:52), just as we have become accustomed to say: "we alone are here and God is also."
Greek
ἑαυτόν. 18.44 καὶ συνεξαγγέλλουσιν πνεύματι. ἀφανεῖς ἄνδρες, ἀλλὰ καὶ σφόδρα προσομιλήσαντες τῷ θεϊκῷ πνεύματι. 18.45 οἱ δέ εἰσιν μεταξὺ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν συνοπαδῶν αὐτοῖς οὗτοι· ὁ ἱεροψάλτης ἐν ριζʹ ψαλμῷ· «ἐξομολογεῖσθε τῷ κυρίῳ, ὅτι ἀγαθός». καὶ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ· «εἰπάτωσαν δὴ πάντες οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν κύριον ὅτι· ἀγαθός». καὶ Ἰερεμίας ἐθρήνει· «ἀγαθὸς κύριος τοῖς ὑπομένουσιν αὐτόν, ψυχῇ ἐκζητούσῃ αὐτόν». 18.46 καὶ Ἠσαίας· «κύριος κριτὴς ἀγαθὸς τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραήλ». 18.47 Ὅτι δὲ καὶ τὸ ἅγιον τοῦ θεοῦ πνεῦμα ἀγαθὸν ὑπάρχει, ὁ μνημονευθεὶς ∆αυῒδ ἐν κδʹ ψαλμῷ μελῳδεῖ· «τὸ πνεῦμά σου τὸ ἀγαθὸν ὁδηγήσει με ἐν γῇ εὐθείᾳ». 18.48 πρὸς δὴ τούτοις, εἰ ἀγαθόν ἐστιν ἡ αἰώνιος ζωή, καὶ τὰ ῥήματα τοῦ υἱοῦ. ἔφη γάρ· «ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ζωή», καὶ πάλιν· «τὰ ῥήματα, ἃ λελάληκα ὑμῖν, πνεῦμά ἐστιν καὶ ζωή ἐστιν». καὶ εἰ ἀγαθὸν «τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ὁ ἁγιασμός» καὶ ἡ ἐν τῇ φωτίσματι ἐνέργεια– συμμνημονεύεται γὰρ ὡς συνεργόν–, ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἡ διανομὴ τῶν οὐρανίων δωρημάτων, πάντως ἀγαθὸς ὁ υἱὸς καὶ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα. 18.49 Οὐκ ἀκοῇ δὲ μόνον ἐδιδάχθημεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα, ὡς ἐγχωρεῖ, τῆς σεπτῆς καὶ ὁμοουσίου τριάδος τὸ ἰδικὸν τῶν ὑποστάσεων· 18.50 τοῦ μὲν πατρὸς ἐξ οὐρανῶν λέγοντος· «οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός», τοῦ δὲ μονογενοῦς αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ γῆς βαπτιζομένου, τοῦ δὲ ἑνὸς καὶ μόνου ἁγίου πνεύματος αὐτοῦ κατιόντος ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς καὶ μένοντος ἐπ' αὐτὸν τὸν μονογενῆ θεὸν καὶ υἱόν. 18.51 καὶ ∆αυϊτικὸν γὰρ θησαύρισμα ἐν πδʹ τοῦτο πιστοῦται ψαλμῷ, ὅτι ὁ σαρκωθεὶς ἐκ τῶν γηΐνων ἡμῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ πατρὸς ἐμαρτυρεῖτο υἱός. γνώριμος δὲ πᾶσιν ὁ λόγος ἔχων ὧδε· «ἀλήθεια ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἀνέτειλεν, δικαιοσύνη ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν διέκυψεν». 18.52 Ὁμοίως διὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι διαφορὰν θεότητος τῇ φρικτῇ καὶ ἀχράντῳ τριάδι ποτὲ τὸν πατέρα μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ ἐκφαίνουσι τὰ λόγια, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ ∆αυῒδ μέν· «εἶπεν ὁ κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου· κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου», Παῦλος δέ· «χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ». ποτὲ δὲ τὸν πατέρα μετὰ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος συνάπτουσιν, ὡς ὅταν Ἀγγαῖος προφητεύῃ· «διότι ἐγὼ μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰμι, λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐφέστηκεν ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν», καὶ πάλιν· «οὐκ ἐν δυνάμαι μεγάλῃ οὐδὲ ἐν ἰσχύι, ἀλλ' ἢ ἐν πνεύματί μου, εἶπεν κύριος παντοκράτωρ». 18.53 Ἐγχρονιστέον τῷ ῥητῷ. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔστιν ὅτε οἱ ἑτερόδοξοι, τοῦ πνεύματος σὺν τῷ πατρὶ μνημονευομένου, φασὶν ἀνυπόστατον δύναμίν τινα δηλοῦσθαι, ἠσφαλισμένως ἔχει τὸ προκείμενον ῥητόν. 18.54 Καὶ Ἠσαΐας· «καὶ νῦν κύριος ἀπέσταλκέν με καὶ τὸ 20 πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ»· καὶ πάλιν· «ἐκεῖ συνήντησαν ἔλαφοι καὶ ἔδοσαν τὰ πρόσωπα ἀλλήλων. ἀριθμῷ παρ ήλθοσαν καὶ μία αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀπώλετο. ἑτέρα τὴν ἑτέραν οὐκ ἐζήτησαν, διότι κύριος ἐνετείλατο αὐταῖς καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ συνήγαγεν αὐτάς» 18.55 Παῦλος δὲ Κορινθίοις· «οὐκ οἴδατε, ὅτι ναὸς θεοῦ ἐστε καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν,» καὶ πάλιν· «ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκκέχυται ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου», καὶ πάλιν· «ἡμῖν δὲ ἀπεκάλυψεν ὁ θεὸς διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτοῦ». 18.56 Ἄλλοτε δὲ μόνον τὸν υἱὸν ὀνομάζουσιν, ὡς ἡνίκα Ἠσαΐας προφητεύῃ· «καὶ νῦν, κύριε, πατὴρ ἡμῶν σύ, ἡμεῖς δὲ πηλὸς ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου πάντες», Παῦλος δὲ Γαλάταις· «ὅσοι γὰρ εἰς Χριστὸν ἐβαπτίσθητε, Χριστὸν ἐνεδύσασθε». 18.57 Ἄλλοτε σὺν τῷ ἁγίῳ πνεύματι τὸν μονογενῆ κηρύττουσιν, ὡς ὅταν Παῦλος Κορινθίοις μὲν ἐπιστέλλῃ· «ἀλλὰ ἀπελούσασθε, ἀλλ' ἡγιάσθητε, ἀλλ' ἐδικαιώθητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἐν τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν», 18.58 Ῥωμαίοις δέ· «ἀλήθειαν λέγω ἐν Χριστῷ, οὐ ψεύδομαι, συμμαρτυρούσης μοι τῆς συνει δήσεώς μου ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ», 18.59 καὶ πάλιν· «εἰ μὲν γὰρ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἄλλον Ἰησοῦν κηρύσσει, ὃν οὐκ ἐκηρύξαμεν, ἢ πνεῦμα ἕτερον λαμβάνετε, ὃ οὐκ ἐλάβετε». 18.60 Καὶ ἄλλοτε τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος καταμόνας ἐπιμέμνηται, ὡς ὁπόταν Ἠσαΐας μὲν προφητεύῃ· «αὐτοὶ ἠπείθησαν καὶ παρώξυναν τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον», καὶ πάλιν· «κατέβη πνεῦμα παρὰ κυρίου καὶ ὡδήγησεν αὐτούς»· 18.61 Παῦλος δὲ Κορινθίοις γράφει· «σαρκικὸς δὲ ἄνθρωπος οὐ δέχεται τὰ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ θεοῦ». 18.62 καὶ ὣς Στέφανος ἐν ταῖς πράξεσι φάσκει· «ὑμεῖς τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ ἀντιπίπτετε», καὶ πάλιν· «ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν μάρτυρες τῶν ῥημάτων τούτων καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον» καθὰ ὡς ἐπίπαν εἰώθαμεν λέγειν· «ἡμεῖς μόνοι ἐνταῦθά ἐσμεν καὶ ὁ θεός.»
About this text
Didymus the Blind defends the full divinity of Father, Son, and Spirit against those who rank them.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.