Chapter 20

They say: “The Spirit is not a slave, but neither is he Master; he is free.” What dreadful insensibility and pitiable boldness! Should I lament their ignorance or their blasphemy more?

They try to dishonor doctrines concerning the divine nature by comparing them with human social conditions. They apply to the ineffable nature of God the shifting differences of rank found in human life, failing to understand that among human beings no one is a slave by nature.

People are subjected to slavery in various ways. Some are conquered in war and made prisoners. Others are enslaved through poverty, as the Egyptians were under Pharaoh. Sometimes, by a wise and mysterious ordering, children who are worse in character are placed by their fathers under the authority of those who are wiser and better. A fair-minded person who understands the circumstances may see this not simply as punishment but as a benefit. It is better for someone who lacks the intelligence to govern himself to be guided by the reason of another, like a chariot governed by a driver or a boat by the helmsman at the rudder.

Thus Jacob, through his father’s blessing, became lord over Esau, so that the foolish son, lacking reason as his own guardian, might benefit—even unwillingly—from his wiser brother. Canaan likewise was to be “a servant to his brothers,” because through the folly of his father Ham he had not been trained in virtue.

Such are the ways human beings become slaves in this world. Those who have escaped poverty and war and do not need another’s guardianship are called free. Yet even when one person is called master and another servant, we are all equal in our common human rank and, as possessions of our Creator, all fellow-servants.

But what corresponding distinction can you introduce among the beings of the heavenly world? Their service to God began with their creation. The heavenly powers do not rule over one another out of ambition; all bow before God and render him the reverence due to the Master and the glory due to the Creator. “A son honors his father and a servant his master,” and God asks from all rational creatures one of these two forms of response: “If I am a Father, where is my honor? And if I am a Master, where is my fear?”

Indeed, human life itself would be pitiable if it were not under a master’s oversight. Look at the apostate powers: by stiffening their necks against almighty God they throw off the reins of their service—not because they possess a different nature, but because their will has become disobedient to the Creator.

Whom, then, do you call “free” in the sense you want? A being with no King? One with neither authority to govern another nor willingness to be governed? No such nature exists among beings. To conceive the Holy Spirit in this way is obvious blasphemy. If he is a creature, then of course he serves together with all creation, for “all things are your servants.” But if he is above creation, then he shares in royal sovereignty.