Chapter 16 — Reasons for which certain men have deemed the Holy Spirit to be a creature

Some have deemed the Holy Spirit to be a creature, higher than other creatures: and they appealed to the authority of Scripture to confirm this assertion.

For it is said according to the Septuagint version: He who forms the mountains, and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his Word (Amos 4:13). Again it is said: Thus says the Lord, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him (Zech 12:1). Therefore, it would seem that the Holy Spirit is a creature.

Again. Our Lord says, speaking of the Holy Spirit: He will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak (John 16:13). From which it would seem to follow that he never speaks on his own authority, but only in obedience to the commands of a master; for to speak what is heard seems to pertain to a minister. Therefore, it seems that the Holy Spirit is a creature subject to God.

Further. To be sent would seem to be the mark of an inferior, since authority is implied in one who sends. Now the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son: for our Lord said: The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things (John 14:26); and: When the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father (John 15:26). Therefore, it seems that the Holy Spirit is less than both Father and Son.

Also. Where Sacred Scripture associates the Son with the Father in things pertaining to the divinity, it makes no mention of the Holy Spirit; as when our Lord says: No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son (Matt 11:27), without mentioning the Holy Spirit. Again it is said: This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3); and here again there is no mention of the Holy Spirit. Again, the Apostle says: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 1:7); and: For us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist (1 Cor 8:6): and here again nothing is said of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it seems that the Holy Spirit is not God.

Moreover. Whatsoever is in motion is a creature, for it was proved in the first book (Ch. 13.) that God is immovable. Now, Scripture ascribes movement to the Holy Spirit, for it is said: The Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters (Gen 1:2), and: I will pour out my spirit on all flesh (Joel 2:28). Therefore, it seems that the Holy Spirit is a creature.

Further. Whatever can be increased or divided is changeable and created. Now this would seem to be ascribed to the Holy Spirit in the Sacred Scriptures. Thus the Lord said to Moses: Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel . . . I will take some of the spirit which is upon you and put it upon them (Num 11:16–17). It is also stated that Eliseus besought Elias: I pray you, let me inherit a double share of your spirit, and Elias answered: If you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you (2 Kgs 2:9–10). Seemingly, then, the Holy Spirit is subject to change, and is not God.

Again. There can be no sorrow in God, since it is a passion. But God is impassible. The Holy Spirit, however, is affected by sorrow; hence the Apostle says: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God (Eph 4:30). It is also said: They rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit (Vulgate: the Spirit of his Holy One.) (Isa 63:10). Therefore, seemingly, the Holy Spirit is not God.

Besides. It is not fitting that God should pray, but rather that prayer should be addressed to him. Now prayer is becoming to the Holy Spirit, for it is said: The Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words (Rom 8:26). Therefore, the Holy Spirit is, seemingly, not God.

Moreover. No one gives fittingly that over which he has no dominion. But God the Father gives the Holy Spirit, and so too does the Son. For our Lord says: The heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him (Luke 11:13); and Peter says that God has given the Holy Spirit to those who obey him (Acts 5:32).

Therefore, it would seem that the Holy Spirit is not God.

Again. If the Holy Spirit be true God, he must have the divine nature. Thus, since the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father (John 15:26), it follows of necessity that he receives the divine nature from him. Now, he that receives the nature of the one that produces him is begotten by him, since it is proper to the one begotten to be brought forth in specific likeness to his principle. Therefore, the Holy Spirit would be begotten, and consequently he would be the Son, and this is surely contrary to faith.

Again. If the Holy Spirit receives the divine nature from the Father, and is not begotten, it follows that the divine nature is bestowed in two ways, namely, by way of generation, as the Son proceeds, and by the way in which the Holy Spirit proceeds. Now, seemingly, it is inconsistent with unity of nature to be bestowed in two ways, as can be proved by a review of the various natures. Seeing, then, that the Holy Spirit does not receive the (divine) nature by way of generation, it seems to necessarily follow that he does not receive it at all. Consequently, he is not God.

This was the opinion of Arius, who maintained that the Son and Holy Spirit are creatures: but that the Son is greater than the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit is subservient to the Son, even as he maintained that the Son is less than the Father. As regards his teaching about the Holy Spirit, he was followed by Macedonius, who rightly held the Father and Son to be of one and the same substance, but refused to believe this about the Holy Spirit, and contended that he is a creature. (St. Augustine, On Heresies, 49.) Hence by some the Macedonians are called Semi-arians, because they partly agree with the Arians, and partly disagree.