Novatian, On the Trinity 29
The logic of reason and the authority of faith, built on the Lord's own words and writings, urge us to believe in the Holy Spirit as well. The church was promised this Spirit long ago, but he was given at the appointed times. He was promised through the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-29), but given through Christ. "In the last days," God says, "I will pour out my Spirit upon my servants and handmaids." The Lord himself commanded: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone's sins, they are retained" (John 20:22-23). The Lord Christ calls this Spirit the Paraclete, and declares him to be the Spirit of truth. He is not new in the Gospel, nor was he given for the first time then. This same Spirit accused the people through the prophets, and acted as advocate for the nations through the apostles. The people deserved accusation because they had despised the law; those who believe from the nations deserve the Spirit's advocacy because they strive to attain the law of the Gospel. There is a real difference in his operations, because changing times bring different reasons for his action; yet he himself is not different, nor is he another while doing these things. He is one and the same, distributing his offices across times, occasions, and moments.
Finally, the apostle Paul says: "Having the same spirit of faith, as it is written, 'I believed, therefore I spoke,' we also believe, therefore we also speak." The Spirit is one and the same, present in the prophets and the apostles, except that there he was present only for a moment, but here he remains always. There he did not dwell permanently in them; here he stays in them forever. There he was distributed in measure; here he is poured out entirely. There he was given sparingly; here he is lavished generously. He was not given before the Lord's resurrection, but was bestowed through Christ's resurrection (John 14:16-17). Jesus said, "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth." And: "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father." And: "If I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you" (John 16:7-8). And: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth." Because the Lord was about to ascend into heaven, he necessarily gave the Paraclete to the disciples, so that he would not leave them as orphans—something unfitting—and abandon them without an Advocate and guardian.
He is the one who strengthened their souls and minds, who distinguished the sacraments of the Gospel, who was the illuminator of divine things within them. By him they were confirmed so that for the Lord's name they feared neither prisons nor chains; indeed, they trampled the powers of the world and its torments, armed and strengthened by him. They carried within themselves the gifts which this same Spirit distributes and directs to Christ's bride, the church, like ornaments. He is the one who establishes prophets in the church, instructs teachers, directs tongues, produces virtues and healings, works miraculous deeds, grants discernment of spirits, provides governance, suggests counsels, and composes and arranges all the other gifts of the charisms. Thus he makes the Lord's church perfect and complete in every way and in all things.
This is the one who, in the form of a dove, came upon the Lord after his baptism and remained, dwelling in Christ alone, full and entire, not diminished by any measure or portion. He was distributed and sent with all his abundance, so that others might receive a share of graces from him. The fountain of the Holy Spirit remains in Christ, so that from him the veins of gifts and works might flow, the Holy Spirit dwelling abundantly in Christ. The prophet Isaiah foretold this: "The Spirit of wisdom and understanding shall rest upon him, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and piety, and he shall fill him with the Spirit of the fear of God" (Isaiah 11:2). The same truth appears in another place, spoken in the Lord's own person: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because he has anointed me, he has sent me to preach good news to the poor." Similarly David says: "Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions" (Psalm 45:7). About this the apostle Paul writes: "Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him," and: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
He is the one who works the second birth from water, a seed of divine generation, the consecrator of heavenly birth, the pledge of the promised inheritance, and a kind of guarantee of eternal salvation. He makes us God's temple and his house. He intercedes for us before God with inexpressible groans, fulfilling the office of advocate and presenting the gifts of defense. Given to dwell in our bodies, he is the effecter of sanctity. By doing this in us, he brings our bodies to eternity and to the resurrection of immortality, while accustoming them to mix with heavenly virtue and associate with the divine eternity of the Holy Spirit. For our bodies are trained in him and through him to advance toward immortality, as they learn to discipline themselves moderately according to his decrees.
He is the one who opposes the flesh, because the flesh resists him. He restrains insatiable desires, breaks immoderate lusts, extinguishes illicit ardors, conquers flaming impulses, rejects drunkenness, repels avarice, drives away luxurious revelries, binds charities, constrains affections, repels sects, establishes the rule of truth, conquers heretics, casts out the wicked, and guards the Gospels. About this same Spirit the apostle says: "We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God." He exults: "I think that I also have the Spirit of God." He says: "The spirits of prophets are subject to prophets." He reports: "The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons." No one who is cautious in this Spirit has ever said, "Anathema to Jesus"; no one has denied Christ the Son of God or repudiated the Creator God; no one has uttered words against the Scriptures; no one has established other sacrilegious decrees; no one has written different laws. Whoever blasphemes against this Spirit will not have forgiveness, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
This Spirit bears witness to Christ in the apostles, shows the constant faith of religion in the martyrs, includes the admirable continence of sealed chastity in the virgins, and guards the incorrupt and uncontaminated laws of the Lord's doctrine in the rest. He destroys heretics, corrects the perverse, accuses the faithless, exposes hypocrites, corrects the wicked, and guards the church incorrupt and inviolable in the sanctity of perpetual virginity and truth (1 Corinthians 12:3).
Latin
Sed enim ordo rationis et fidei auctoritas digestis uocibus et litteris domini admonet nos post haec credere etiam in spiritum sanctum, olim ecclesiae repromissum, sed statutis temporum opportunitatibus redditum. est enim per Ioelem prophetam repromissus, sed per Christum redditus. in nouissimis, inquit, diebus effundam de spiritu meo super seruos et ancillas meas. dominus autem: accipite spiritum sanctum; quorum remiseritis peccata, erunt remissa; et quorum retinueritis, erunt retenta. hunc autem spiritum sanctum dominus Christus modo paracletum appellat, modo spiritum ueritatis esse pronuntiat. qui non est in euangelio nouus, sed nec noue datus. nam hic ipse et in prophetis populum accusauit, et in apostolis aduocationem gentibus praestitit. nam illi ut accusarentur merebantur, quia contempserant legem: et qui ex gentibus credunt, ut patrocinio spiritus adiuuentur merentur, quia ad euangelicam peruenire gestiunt legem. differentia sane in illo genera officiorum, quoniam in temporibus differens ratio causarum: nec ex hoc tamen ipse diuersus, qui haec sic gerit, nec alter est, dum sic agit, sed unus atque ipse est, diuidens officia sua per tempora et rerum occasiones atque momenta. denique apostolus Paulus: habentes, inquit, eundem spiritum, sicut scriptum est: credidi, propter quod locutus sum, et nos credimus, ideo loquimur. vnus ergo et idem spiritus, qui in prophetis et apostolis; nisi quoniam ibi ad momentum, hic semper. ceterum ibi, non ut semper in illis inesset, hic, ut in illis semper maneret: et ibi mediocriter distributus, hic totus effusus; ibi parce datus, hic large commodatus; nec tamen ante resurrectionem’ domini exhibitus, sed per resurrectionem Christi contributus. rogabo enim aiebat, patrem, et alium aduocatum dabit uobis, ut uobiscum sit in aeternum, spiritum ueritatis. et: cum uenerit aduocatus ile, quem ego missurus sum uobis a patre meo, spiritum ueritatis, qui de patre meo procedit. et: si non abiero ego, aduocatus ille non ueniet ad uos: si autem ego abiero, remittam illum ad uos. et: cum uenerit spiritus ueritatis, ille uos diriget in omnem ueritatem. et quoniam dominus in caelos esset abiturus, paracletum discipulis necessario dabat, ne illos quodammodo pupillos, quod minime decebat, relinqueret, et sine aduocato et quodam tutore desereret. Hic est enim qui ipsorum animos mentesque firmauit, qui -euangelica sacramenta distinxit, qui in ipsis illuminator rerum diuinarum fuit, quo confirmati pro nomine domini nec carceres nec uincula timuerunt; quin immo ipsas saeculi potestates et tormenta calcauerunt, armati iam scilicet per ipsum atque firmati, habentes in se dona, quae hic idem spiritus ecclesiae Christi sponsae quasi quaedam ornamenta distribuit et dirigit. hic est enim qui prophetas in ecclesia constituit, magistros erudit, linguas dirigit, uirtutes et sanitates facit, opera mirabilia gerit, discretiones spirituum porrigit, gubernationes contribuit, consilia suggerit, quaeque alia sunt charismatum dona componit et digerit; et ideo ecclesiam domini undique et in omnibus perfectam et consummatam facit. Hic est qui in modum columbae, posteaquam dominus baptizatus est, super eum uenit et mansit, habitans in solo Christo plenus et totus, nec in aliqua mensura aut portione mutilatus, sed cum tota sua redundantia cumulate distributus et missus, ut ex illo delibationem quandam gratiarum ceteri consequi possint, totius sancti spiritus in Christo fonte remanente, ut ex illo donorum atque operum uenae ducerentur, spiritu sancto in Christo affluenter habitante. hoc etenim iam prophetans Esaias aiebat: et requiescit, inquit, super eum spiritus sapientiae et intellectus, spiritus consili et uirtutis, spiritus scientiae et pietatis, et implebit eum spiritus timoris dei, hoc idem atque ipsum et alio in loco ex persona ipsius domini: spiritus domini super me; propter quod unxit me, euangelizare pauperibus misit me. similiter Dauid: propterea unxit te, deus, deus tuus oleo laetitiae a consortibus tuis. de hoc apostolus Paulus: guz enim spiritum Christi non habet, hic non est eius; et: vbi spiritus domini, tht libertas. Hic est qui operatur ex aquis secundam natiuitatem, semen quoddam diuini generis, et consecrator caelestis natiuitatis, pignus promissae hereditatis, et quasi chirographum quoddam aeternae salutis; qui nos dei faciat templum, et nos eius efficiat domum. qui interpellat diuinas aures pro nobis gemitibus ineloquacibus, aduocationis implens officia, et defensionis exhibens munera, inhabitator corporibus nostris datus, et sanctitatis effector; qui id agens in nobis ad aeternitatem et ad resurrectionem immortalitatis corpora nostra producat, dum illa in se assuefacit cum caelesti uirtute misceri, et cum spiritus sancti diuina aeternitate sociari. erudiuntur enim in illo et per ipsum corpora nostra ad immortalitatem proficere, dum ad decreta ipsius discunt se moderanter temperare. hic est enim "qui contra carnem desiderat, quia caro contra ipsum repugnat. hic est qui inexplebiles cupiditates coercet, immoderatas libidines frangit, illicitos ardores exstinguit, flagrantes impetus uincit, ebrietates reicit, auaritias repellit, luxuriosas comissationes fugat, caritates nectit, affectiones constringit, sectas repellit, regulam ueritatis expedit, haereticos reuincit, improbos foras exspuit, euangelia custodit. De hoc idem apostolus: on enim spiritum mundi accepimus, sed spiritum qui ex deo est. de hoc exsultat, et dicit: puto autem quia et ego spiritum dei habeo. de hoc dicit: et spiritus prophetarum prophetis subiectus est. de hoc refert: spiritus autem manifeste dicit, quia in nouissimis temporibus recedent quidam a fide, attendentes spiritibus seductoribus, doctrinis daemoniorum, in hypocrisi mendacia loguentium, cautertatam in hoc spiritu positus nemo umquam dicit anathema Iesum: nemo negauit Christum dei filium, aut repudiauit creatorem deum: nemo contra scripturas ulla sua uerba depromit: nemo alia et sacrilega decreta constituit: nemo diuersa iura conscribit. in hunc quisquis blasphemauerit, remissionem non habet, non tantum in isto saeculo, uerum etiam nec in futuro. hic in apostolis Christo testimonium reddit, in martyribus constantem fidem religionis ostendit, in uirginibus admirabilem continentiam signatae castitatis includit, in ceteris incorrupta et incontaminata doctrinae dominicae iura custodit, haereticos destruit, peruersos corrigit, infideles arguit, simulatores ostendit, improbos quoque corrigit, ecclesiam incorruptam et inuiolatam perpetuae uirginitatis et ueritatis sanctitate custodit.