The Holy Spirit in Athanasius’ Epistles to Serapion

Abstract

Hiding in the desert and protected by his monks, Athanasius receives a letter from a fellow bishop asking him for advice on how to proceed with a group of Christians, who, based on a particular interpretation of some scriptural passages and logical arguments, hold the Holy Spirit to be a creature. Deeply shocked, Athanasius answers with a long letter addressed to Bishop Serapion, full of biblical passages, where he discusses the biblical and logical arguments transmitted by Serapion and in addition provides his own arguments on that theme. Due to the extension of this response, Serapion will ask twice for abridged responses. As a result of this, we have the three (four) Letters to Serapion on the Holy Spirit, which will become a seminal stage in the development of the theology of the Holy Spirit.