The distinction of the invisible

It is clear that he is subjected outside of the one who subjected all things to him; for if he is outside of the one who subjected, does not the Spirit become subjected? For he said only that the Father is not to be subjected to Christ. 'All things' signifies the creation, and does not insult the uncreated nature. He is speaking about the subjection of enemies; the last enemy, death, is destroyed. Why then do you place the Holy Spirit in the realm of the subjected enemies? For the Father did not introduce the subjection of friends, nor did he mention the subjection of angels, nor did he touch upon the subjection of archangels. It is the subjection of enemies. The last enemy, death, is destroyed. In the subjected enemies, the Holy Spirit is not.

If we, the faithful believing in Christ, shall reign with him, will the Holy Spirit not attain the same dignity as the subjects? At the appearance of the Savior, the sons of Zebedee, James and John, shall sit, and the choir of the apostles upon twelve thrones, but the Spirit shall be about the footstool with the subjects. Depart from impiety. The word is about the creation, man, not about the uncreated nature, nor about the dignity of worship. And so that you may receive an accurate and examined account of piety, understand how the blessed David says he is leading in the hymn of the choir of creation: 'Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the highest,' and the following: angels, powers, heavens of heavens, and the water above the heavens. Did he not mention the Spirit? Did he not group the uncreated nature with the creation? The three youths who entered with Ananias into the furnace also joined the choir.

If, regarding creation, they sing, 'angels of the Lord, heavens of the Lord, powers of the Lord, sun and moon and the rest,' did they not remember the Holy Spirit? Did they not include the created things together? Paul, again dividing the invisible from the visible, teaches this: that all things were created in Christ, both those in heaven and those upon the earth, both the visible and the invisible; and immediately he counts the invisible, saying: whether thrones, whether principalities, whether authorities, whether dominions.

Since all visible things are acknowledged to be in servitude, but in the invisible are angels and powers, and the Holy Spirit and the Son and the Father, so that you might not drag the sovereign dignity of the Divine Spirit under the yoke of slavery through ignorance of the heavenly arrangement, he does not divide the visible, nor does he say: 'whether sun, whether moon, whether stars, all are slaves.' For all things are acknowledged to be in such a state, that the whole universe are slaves. Since in the invisible there were principalities and angels, and the Spirit to be worshiped was also invisible, so that no one might include Him among the invisibles, he counts all things above, to cast the Lord out of the domestic order; he counts those who worship, in order to distinguish the one being worshiped, whether thrones, whether principalities, whether authorities; he did not say: 'whether Spirit.'

But let us come to what lies before us. If you wish, Lord, you are able to cleanse me. The leper saw the bubbling benefit, he saw the gushing salvation, he saw many suffering badly and being demon-possessed, surrounded by the spring of salvation, and he turns away from the division of...