Primary source · Koine Greek
The Letters to Serapion on the Holy Spirit
Athanasius of Alexandria · c. AD 357–359, from the desert
What this text is
Written in hiding to the bishop of Thmuis: the first full defence of the Spirit's divinity, against those who had conceded the Son but 'blaspheme the Spirit as a creature.'
Profile of Athanasius of Alexandria →
Public-domain translations
Literal gloss of the Greek (Ep. I.1)
You tell me that some have forsaken the Arians for their blasphemy against the Son of God, yet set themselves against the Holy Spirit, saying that He is not only a creature but one of the ministering spirits. To these I must answer, that the Triad is holy and complete, in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Manuscript witnesses
Athanasian corpus manuscripts
10th c. onwardThe four letters to Serapion of Thmuis, first full defence of the Spirit's Godhead.
Patrologia Graeca, vol. 26 (Migne)
1857Standard pre-critical text of the corpus.
Provenance
The desert exile, c. AD 357–359 — the deity of the Spirit
Editions & scholarship
Critical editions and standard translations behind the text above.
- Athanasius Werke I.1.4 (Epistulae I–IV ad Serapionem)Kyriakos Savvidis, 2010The critical edition.
- Works on the Spirit (Popular Patristics 43)Mark DelCogliano, Andrew Radde-Gallwitz & Lewis Ayres, 2011Faithful modern translation.