Gregory of Nazianzus De Spiritu Sancto (Orat. 31) 29

Arthur James Mason (Translator)

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De Spiritu Sancto (Orat. 31). Gregory of Nazianzus. Arthur James Mason (Translator). Germany. 2014.

Sponsored by University of Leipzig.

Funding provided by European Social Fund Saxony.

Current edition First1KGreek

De Spiritu Sancto (Orat. 31) (Greek) (Gregory of Nazianzus. The Five Theological Orations. Mason, Arthur James, translator. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1899.)

Notes on the current edition

De Spiritu Sancto (Orat. 31)

1. 29. 4 ὑποτιθέμενος ‘Reg. a’ || 13 πάρα] + τῆ df
2. 2. ἀνάπλασις] that work of reconstruction of the character, in which ἀναγέννησις is the initial movement. It is only by deepening experience of the Spirit’s upon ourselves that we become convinced of the greatness of the Spirit Himself.
3. 29. Turn to the direct testimony of Scripture. What things are said of the Holy Ghost!
4. 4. ὑποθέμενος] ‘assuming,’ as the basis of discussion’; it does not in itself imply ‘admitting.’
5. 5. μαρτυριῶν] ‘Scripture testimonies’; cp. § 2.
6. 7. μὴ λ. σκαιοῖς] ‘to those who are not too dense, or altogether strangers to the Spirit.’
7. 8. γεννᾶται Xp., προτρέχει] In the series which follows, the subject of the first verb of each pair is Christ, the subject of the second is the Holy Ghost. Προτρέχει, Luke i 35, Matt, i 20.
8. 9. μαρτυρεῖ] John i 32 foll.
9. ib. ἀνάγει] Matt, iv 1.
10. ib. συμπαρομαρτεῖ] ‘accompanies Him,’ Luke iv 14 foll., Matt, xii Cp. Or. xli 11 ᾧ παρῆν, οὐχ ὡς 28. ἐνεργοῦν, ἀλλ’ ὡς ὁμοτίμῳ συμπαρομαρτουν.
11. 10. διαδέχεται] John xiv 16 etc.
12. ib. τί γὰρ οὐ δύν. κτλ.] ‘What mighty thing, peculiar to God, is there that He cannot do? What title, peculiar to God, is there which is not applied to Him, except those of Unbegotten and Begotten?’ The phrase ὧν θεός means, ‘which go to make up our conception of God.’ seems strange to add καὶ γεννήσεως as one of those things ὧν θεός, as those with whom Gr. is arguing would not admit it. Gr. means, no doubt, that to orthodox Christians the Godhead cannot be conceived of without it.
13. 12. ἰδιότητας] as in § 28.
14. 1 ὅσων] ὅσον e2
15. 1. καθ’ ὅσων ὂν. ἀναισχ.] ‘and how many names they outrage,’ ‘against how many names they are impudent.’
16. 3. πνεῦμα θεοῦ] e.g. 1 Cor. ii 11 ; Χριστοῦ, Rom. viii 9 ; νοῦς Χρ.,
17. 1 Cor. ii 16; πν. κυρίου, 2 Cor. iii 17; αὐτὸ κ., ibid.
18. 4. πν. υἱοθεσίας] Rom. viii 15 ἀληθείας, John xiv 17, xv 26, xvi 13, 1 John iv 6; ἐλευθερίας (by implication), 2 Cor. iii 17.
19. 5. πν. σοφίας κτλ.] Is. xi 2 foll.
20. 7. πάντα τῇ οὖσ’. πλ.] Wisd. i 7. Πληρωτικὸν κόσμου κ. τ. οὖσ’. is scarcely more than a repetition, but is introduced as an antithesis to ἀχώρητον κτλ., which is Gr.’s of the συνέχον τὰ πάντα of Wisdom.
21. 9. ἀγαθόν] Doubtless Gr.’s in Ps. cxlii (cxliii) 10 ; εὐθές, Ps. 1 12 (li 10); ἡγεμ., ibid. 14 (12).
22. ib. φύσει οὐ θέσει] These words qualify the preceding adjectives, and esp. ἡγεμ. The Holy Spirit is ‘good, right, sovereigh,’ by and not by an act that involved a change in Him. Θέσις seems to be used in the sense of ‘agreement,’ ‘arrangement,’ in which sense it is contrasted with φύσις by other writers. From this general sense of ‘agreement,’ it comes to be used of ‘adoption’ into a family, or ‘admission’ to the citizenship of a city.
23. 10. ἁγιάζον] e.g. Rom. xv 16 μετροῦν, ι Cor. xii 1 1 (for οὐ μετρούμενον cp. iv 12); μετεχόμενον, e.g. Phil, ii 1 ; πληροῦν, συνέχον, Wisd. i 7.
24. 12. κληρονομούμενον] not a scriptural phrase, but perh. derived from more general expressions, like 1 Pet. iii 9 εὐλογίαν κλ., or Gal. iii 14 compared with 18; or from the usual language of Scripture about ‘habing,’ ‘receiving,’ the Spirit. Δοξαζόμενον, perh. ι Pet. iv 14; συναριθμ., e.g. Matt, xxviii 19, 2 Cor. xiii 14 ; ἐπαπειλούμενον, ‘used as a threat,’ Matt. xii 31 (cp. 2 Thess. ii 8).
25. 13. δάκτυλος θ.] Luke xi 20 compared with Matt, xii 28 ; πῦρ, Acts ii 3 (cp. 1 Thess. v 19, 2 Tim. i 6); ὡς θεός, Hob. xii 29.
26. 4 πειραζόμενον παροξυνόμενον e2 || 11 ἀμόλυντον ἀκώλυτον df || ωπερ] ὅπερ abceg ‘plures Reg. etc.’ || 12 το] τὼ acg ‘duo Reg.’
27. 1. τὸ ποιῆσαν] Prob. a ref. to Gen. i 2 ; ἄνακτ’. διὰ β., John iii 5 (2 Cor. v 17); δι’ ἀναστ., Rom. viii 11.
28. 2. τὸ γινῶσκον ἅπ.] i Cor. ii 10 (cp. Ps. exxxviii (exxxix) 7); διδάσκον, John xiv 26, 1 John ii 27 πνέον, John iii 8 ; ὁδηγοῦν, John xvi 13; λαλοῦν, ἀποστ., ἀφορ., Acts xiii 2 foil. (cp. Acts xx 23, 1 Tim. iv 1 ; Is. xlviii 16).
29. 4. παροξυνόμενον] Is. lxiii 10 ; πειραζ., Acts v 9.
30. 5."/> ἀποκαλυπτικόν] I Cor. ii 10 φωτιστ., ζωτ., perh. Ps. xxxv 10 (xxxvi 9) as in § 3 (cp. John vi 63 Rom. viii 10).
31. 6. ναοποιοῦν] I Cor. iii 16, vi 19 θεοποιοῦν, constructively deduced from the Sourut’s action in baptism ; τελειοῦν, in the ‘mystical’ sense of ‘initiating.’ All three words have ref. to ‘baptism,’ in the larger sense of the word ; and the ὥστε prob. belongs to all three. It is more difficult to say what Gr. means by this use of ὥστε. Prob. it is intended to shew that the Spirit’s part in baptism is an active, and not a passive part, so as to justify Gr.’s attribution to Him of work of ‘making’ us temples etc. His independence with respect to the sacrament is a proof of this. He is able to ‘anticipate baptism’ (Acts x 44) ; and ‘baptism’ may be received and His indwelling be yet to seek (Acts viii 16).
32. 8. ἐνεργοῦν] 1 Cor. xii 11; μερὶ. ζόμενον, Acts ii 3 ; διαιροῦν, I Cor. xii n; ποιοῦν ἀπ’. κτλ., Eph. iv 11 compared with 1 Cor. xii 4 foll., Rom. xii 6, Acts xx 28.
33. 10. νοερὸν κτλ.] The following list is taken from Wisd. vii 22 foll., which describes the ‘spirit’ which ‘is in Wisdom.’ Gr. does not all the epithets there used, some of which, esp. μονογενές, would have been troublesome for him to expound. Each epithet from νοερὸν to ἀμόλυντον is explained. Νοερόν = σοφώτατον ; πολυμερές = ταῖς ἐνεργ. ; σαφές = σαφηνιστικὸν πάντων (neut.) ; τρανόν = τρανωτικόν ; ἀκώλυτον = αὐτεξούσιον (this shews the order of df to be wrong) ; ἀμόλυντον = ἀναλλοίωτον (since change in the Holy Ghost must be a change for the worse).