Chapter VI.
Therefore, first of all, it must be believed that there is one God, who created everything out of nothing through his Word, and enlivened them through the Holy Spirit: who, while encompassing all things, is not encompassed by anyone. This is comprehended in one verse by the prophet David, saying: By the word of the Lord the heavens were made firm, and by the breath of His mouth all their power (Psalm 32:6). This is the Holy Spirit, who was carried over the waters in the beginning of the creation and structure of the world (Genesis 1:2). This is the one in whom Moses and Aaron, in the presence of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, performed signs, and of whom the Magi said: This is the finger of God (Exodus 8:9). This is the one who spoke in Moses, and in all the holy patriarchs and prophets and apostles (2 Peter 1:21); of whom the Apostle says: And we have all been made to drink of one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). This is the one who fashioned the flesh of the Word of God in the sacred womb of the Virgin (Luke 1:35): this is the one whom the Father sent upon the Son after baptism (Matthew 3:16): this is the one by whose power Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and went back to Galilee (Luke 4:14): this is the one whom the Father gives to those who ask (Luke 11:13): this is the one who is our advocate with the Father, and is called another Paraclete, whom the Son promised to send to us (John 14:16). If, therefore, the Holy Spirit were not of the same nature with the Father and the Son, he would never be called another Paraclete; therefore, he is called another Paraclete, so that we may recognize the equality of nature and power. Therefore, one who ascends from us to the Father, and another who comes to us from the Father, always declares the paternal and most loving affection towards us. He never allows us to be in the temptations of this world and in miseries without an advocate and without a comforter. This is he who, together with the Father, sent the Son for the salvation of the human race, as the prophet Isaiah testifies in the person of the speaking Son, saying: The Lord sent me, and his Spirit (Isa. XLVIII, 16; Matt. XII, 28). This is he in whom Jesus cast out demons: this is he whom the Lord Jesus Christ, rising from the dead on the third day, gave to his disciples, saying: Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you retain, they are retained (John XX, 22, 23). This is he who, on the day of Pentecost, descending upon the apostles, bestowed upon them diverse languages and graces (Acts 2:3), fulfilling the prophecy of the holy prophet Joel (Joel 2:28). This is he who, speaking in the holy martyrs, conquered the devil and the adversaries of Christ. This is he who filled Paul and separated him for the apostleship (Acts 13:2). This is he who operates his diverse gifts in each member of the Body of Christ until the end of the world (1 Corinthians 12:6). He is the one who not only drives away from us sadness, grief, and evil thoughts, but also gives us the memory of God, so that we can rightfully say with the prophet David: I have been mindful of God, and I have been pleased (Psalm 76:4); and again: I will be mindful of your wonders (ibidem, 12). He is the one who, coming to us when we believe rightly and act well, illuminates our darkness, narrowness of heart, and timidity with his own light, blending our perception with the perception of Christ, so that we may contemplate our life, which is hidden in Christ, and consider what our state will be in eternal and future ages, following Jesus, the Son of God, who has penetrated the heavens, and is seated at the right hand of God, and fills every place, leaving nothing devoid of his presence. But if we think that he, who undertook the dispensation of the body for our salvation, is not contained within the space of one place, or circumscribed according to the nature of his divinity and incorporeality. The divinity cannot be separated by the diversity of places; which the Savior himself proved when he said: No one ascends to heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven (John 3:13). Therefore, the Spirit, the Word, the power, the wisdom, the brightness, the image, the vapor, and the brightness of God without stain do not need a place to fulfill their works; all of which undoubtedly demonstrate the person of the Son. Therefore, there has never been a time when the Father was without the Son, or the Son was without the Father, or the Holy Spirit was without the Father and the Son.