Theology of the Holy Spirit.
According to St. Gregory the Theologian, Athanasius in his
teaching on the Holy Spirit "is the first man who alone, or with very few
others, dares to state the truth clearly and openly by confessing the single
Divinity and the single essence of the Trinity." Athanasius develops his
theology of the Spirit with clarity and vigor. He starts with the concept of the
completeness and perfect unity of the Holy Trinity: "The whole Trinity is one
God." "It is indivisible and similar to Itself." It is identical to Itself and
concentrated within Itself. "The Trinity is holy and perfect. It is knowable in
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and has nothing alien to Itself or
given to It from outside." It is not a Trinity in name only, but in essence and
in truth.
There exist two possibilities for the Trinity. If the Spirit is
a creature, there can be no Trinity, for "what kind of theology would that be,
composed of Creator and creature?" Or, God is triune and the Spirit is
completely unlike a created thing. He is "proper to the one Word, proper and
consubstantial to the one God (the Father)." Since the Trinity is such a union
and such a unity, who can separate either the Son from the Father, or the Spirit
from the Son and from the Father Himself?
The Holy Spirit is the principle of renewal and sanctification,
the Spirit of Life and Holiness. He anoints and seals. Because of the Spirit we
are all participants in God. If the Holy Spirit were a creature, it would be
impossible for us to communicate with God: a:1/e would be joined with a creature
and would remain alien to God's nature, and would not be in communion with Him
at all." The reality of deification testifies to the Divinity of the Spirit: "If
the Spirit makes us gods, then there is no doubt that His nature is God's
nature."
The Holy Spirit comes from and "proceeds from" the Father,
το εκπορευμα του πατρος. He is the Father's Spirit.
Athanasius does not explain the meaning of “procession,” claiming that it is
beyond the bounds of human understanding. However, he early distinguishes this
mode of being from “generation” by stressing the complete uniqueness of
generation. The Son is the Only-Begotten and is therefore unique. "The one
Father is e Father of His one and only Son." This is more than a matter of
words. Genuine and immutable Fatherhood and genuine and immutable Sonship exist
only in the Divine Trinity. Only the Son God is a Son and nothing else. He is
generated as a son and not in order to become a father, as is the case for other
created beings. The Father is only a father, "for He Himself is not from a
father."
The Spirit is not generated and therefore is not called the
brother of the Son, but is always known by the name of the Holy Spirit. At the
same time the Holy Spirit is not "outside the Son, but is called the Spirit of
the Son," the Spirit of strength and Wisdom. God's Strength and God's Wisdom is
Christ. "Where here is the Word, there is also the Spirit." The Spirit has the
name unity with the Son that the Son has with the Father," and the same
properties. Where there is light, there is radiance. Where there is radiance,
there is also its effect and shining grace. The Spirit is the "proper Image of
the Son," His "living effectiveness and radiant grace." He unites creation with
the Word, and in Him the Word gives to creation the "gift of the Father." "For
the Father Himself acts and distributes all things through the Word in the
Spirit."
In his explanation of the Holy Spirit Athanasius tries to
demonstrate the complete unity and consubstantiality of the Holy pity and Its
sanctifying action. Therefore he insists on the divisibility of the actions of
the Son and the Spirit.
The Trinity and Holy Baptism.
Holy Baptism, which according to the traditions of faith is
performed in the name of the one and indivisible Trinity, brings ration. The
mystery takes place in the name of the Trinity, and "whoever takes anything away
from the Trinity and is baptized in the name of the Father alone, or in the name
of the Son without the Spirit, receives nothing. Those who are baptized in this
way and those who think they are giving baptism remain empty and
unsatisfied."
In spite of the fact that the necessary words are spoken, Arian
baptism "in the name of the Creator and His creation" "is only apparent and not
real" because the words must be accompanied by true faith. Baptism takes place
in the name of the Trinity because grace is received from the Trinity. "God as
Father founded the world through His Wisdom, and by this He did not dishonor the
world. He creates everything through His own Word, and He affirms the holy font
through His Son. In the same way that everything that is done by the Father is
done through the Son, so too in baptism everyone baptized by the Father is also
baptized by the Son. Whoever is baptized by the Son is sanctified by the Holy
Spirit." The persons of the Trinity act as one.
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