Basil the Great: On the Holy Spirit
Athanasius: On the Holy Spirit
Didymus the Blind: On the Holy Spirit
Basil – On the Holy Spirit
Basil the Great lived and worked in a most contentious age – between the Council of Nicaea (325) and the Council of Constantinople (381). At issue was the Christian revelation of God. Basil’s opponents were the semi-Arians, Sabellians, and the Pneumatomachi (Spirit-fighters), all of whom denied the equal divine nature of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son, thereby denying the doctrine of Holy Trinity.
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Letters to Serapion: Athanasius on the Holy Spirit
The third article of the Nicene Creed simply states, “We believe in the Holy Spirit.” Such a brief statement would lead one to believe that fourth century pneumatology was under-developed. However, Athanasius presents a well-developed theology of the Holy Spirit. His reputation as the champion of Nicene Trinitarianism is secured with his On the Incarnation of the Word and Letters to Bishop Serapion. Athanasius’ Trinitarian theology does not appear in a vacuum, but was developed to answer challenges to the apostolic tradition as stated in the Rule of Faith. The wide acceptance of Athanasius’ work by his contemporaries suggests that he articulated and clarified a received Trinitarian theology.
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Celebrating Pentecost – A Sermon for Pentecost Sunday
Text: Acts 2:1-4, 12 LSB
And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3And there appeared to them tongues like fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance… 12And they all continued in astonishment and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
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