Was the Holy Spirit Seen as God by Early Christians?

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching

...e persons—namely, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—are declared to possess the one Godhead. For the one divinity, showing itself according to nature in the Trinity, establishes the oneness of the nature. And so there is a divinity that is the property of the Father, according to the word, "There is one God the Father," 1 Corinthians 8:6. And there is a divinity hereditary in the Son, as it is written, "The Word was God," John 1:1. And there is a divinity present according to nature in the Spirit, namely, what subsists as the Spirit of God, according to Paul's statement, "You are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you," 1 Corinthians 3:6.

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching

But if they say, "How can there be three persons, and yet only one Divinity?" we will give this reply: There are indeed three persons, since there is one person of God the Father, one of the Lord the Son, and one of the Holy Spirit. And yet there is only one Divinity, since the Son is the Image of God the Father, who is One. That is, He is God of God. In the same way, the Spirit is called the Spirit of God, and that by nature according to the very substance, not by a simple participation in God. And there is one substance in the Trinity. This is not also the case with things that are made. For there is not one substance in God and in the things that are made, because none of these is God in substance. Nor indeed is the Lord one of these in substance. But there is one Lord, the Son, and one Holy Spirit. And we also speak of one Divinity, one Lordship, and one Sanctity in the Trinity, because the Father is the Cause of the Lord, having begotten Him eternally, and the Lord is the Prototype of the Spirit. For in this way the Father is Lord, and the Son also is God. And of God it is said that God is a Spirit. John 4:24

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching

and one Holy Spirit, who by nature and in truth sanctifies all, and makes divine, as being of the substance of God.

Hippolytus, Against the Heresy of Noetus Direct teaching

..., but of one; of two Persons, however, and of a third divine arrangement, that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit. For the Father indeed is One, but there are two Persons, because there is also the Son; and then there is the third, the Holy Spirit. The Father decrees, the Word carries out, and the Son is manifested, through whom the Father is believed on. The harmonious divine arrangement is led back to one God, for God is One. It is the Father who commands, and the Son who obeys, and the Holy Spirit who gives understanding. The Father is above all, and the Son is through all, and the Holy Spirit is in all. And we cannot otherwise think of one God, except by truly believing in Father and Son and Holy Spirit. For the Jews glorified, or gloried in, the Father, but did not give Him thanks, for they did not recognize the Son. The disciples recognized the Son, but not in the Holy Spirit; therefore they also denied Him. The Father's Word, therefore, knowing the divine arrangement and the will of the Father, namely, that the Father seeks to be worshipped in no other way than this, gave this charge to the disciples after He rose from the dead: "Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in

Tertullian, On Modesty Direct teaching

For the very Church itself is, properly and principally, the Spirit Himself, in whom is the Trinity of the One Divinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness

In each case, the person shows an independent being and real subsistence. But divinity is the property of the Father. And whenever the divinity of these three is spoken of as one, this bears witness that the property of the Father also belongs to the Son and the Spirit. Therefore, if the divinity may be spoken of as one in three persons, the Trinity is established and the unity is not divided. And the oneness that naturally belongs to the Father is also acknowledged to belong to the Son and the Spirit. However, if someone speaks of one person in the same way he may speak of one divinity, then it cannot be that the two in the one are one in that sense. For Paul addresses the Father as one with respect to divinity, and he speaks of the Son as one with respect to lordship: "There is one God the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him." 1 Corinthians 8:6. Therefore, if there is one God and one Lord, and at the same time one person just as there is one divinity in one lordship, how can this distinction in the words "of whom" and "by whom" be believed, as was said before? Accordingly, we do not speak as though we we

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness

...e same substance as the Father, and that the substance of the Trinity is one. That is, there is one divinity by nature. The Father remains unbegotten. The Son is begotten of the Father in a true generation, and not formed by an act of will. The Spirit is sent forth eternally from the substance of the Father through the Son, with power to sanctify the whole creation. We also acknowledge that the Word was made flesh and was revealed in the movement of flesh received from a virgin, and did not merely work in a man. And those who have fellowship with people who reject consubstantiality as a teaching foreign to the Scriptures, and who speak of any of the persons in the Trinity as created, and separate that person from the one natural divinity, we regard as aliens, and we have fellowship with no such people. There is one God, the Father, and there is only one divinity. But the Son also is God, as the true image of the one and only divinity, according to His generation and the nature He has from the Father. There is one Lord, the Son. But in the same way there is also the Spirit, who carries the Son's lordship over to the creature that is sanctified. The Son lived in the world, having

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness

and in like manner the Spirit is called the Spirit of God, and that, too, of nature according to the very substance, and not according to simple participation of God.

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness

Do you see that the Spirit is inseparable from the divinity?

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness

Moreover, the order of reason, and the authority of the faith in the disposition of the words and in the Scriptures of the Lord, admonish us after these things to believe also on the Holy Spirit, once promised to the Church, and in the appointed occasions of times given.

Dionysius of Rome, Against the Sabellians Supporting witness

3. That admirable and divine unity, therefore, must neither be separated into three divinities, nor must the dignity and eminent greatness of the Lord be diminished by having applied to it the name of creation, but we must believe in God the Father Omnipotent, and on Christ Jesus His Son, and on the Holy Spirit.

Dionysius of Rome, Against the Sabellians Supporting witness

For it is essential that the Divine Word should be united to the God of all, and that the Holy Spirit should abide and dwell in God;

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Direct teaching

II Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, the triune light of the Godhead, which is unity subsisting in trinity, divided, yet indivisible: for the Trinity is the one God Almighty, whose glory the heavens declare, and the earth His dominion, and the sea His might, and every sentient and intellectual creature at all times proclaims His majesty: for all glory becomes Him, and honour and might, greatness and magnificence, now and ever, and to all eternity. Amen.

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. Mark Direct teaching

for I am holy. O Word of God, past finding out, consubstantial and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and sharer of their sovereignty, accept the pure song which cherubim and seraphim, and the unworthy lips of Your sinful and unworthy servant, sing aloud.

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. Mark Direct teaching

One Father holy, one Son holy, one Spirit holy, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

John 14:26 Direct teaching

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

John 15:26 Direct teaching

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

John 20:22 Direct teaching

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:33 Direct teaching

Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Direct teaching

...d operations. Moreover, nothing in the Trinity can be called greater or less, since the fountain of divinity alone contains all things by His word and reason, and by the Spirit of His mouth sanctifies all things that are worthy of sanctification, as it is written in the Psalm: “By the word of the Lord were the heavens strengthened, and all their power by the Spirit of His mouth.” There is also a special working of God the Father, besides that by which He bestowed upon all things the gift of natural life. There is also a special ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ to those upon whom He confers by nature the gift of reason, by means of which they are enabled to be rightly what they are. There is also another grace of the Holy Spirit, which is bestowed upon the deserving through the ministry of Christ and the working of the Father, in proportion to the merits of those who are made capable of receiving it. This is most clearly pointed out by the Apostle Paul when he demonstrates that the power of the Trinity is one and the same, in these words: “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; there are diversities of administrations, but the same Lord; and there are diversities o

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Direct teaching

...f the Holy Spirit when he declares, "God has revealed them to us by His Holy Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God;" and again in the Gospel, when the Saviour, speaking of the divine and deeper parts of His teaching, which His disciples were not yet able to receive, thus addresses them: "I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now; but when the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, has come, He will teach you all things, and will bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you." We must understand, therefore, that just as the Son, who alone knows the Father, reveals Him to whom He will, so also the Holy Spirit, who alone searches the deep things of God, reveals God to whom He will: "For the Spirit blows where He lists." We must not suppose, however, that the Spirit derives His knowledge through revelation from the Son. For if the Holy Spirit knows the Father through the Son's revelation, He passes from a state of ignorance into one of knowledge. But it is both impious and foolish to confess the Holy Spirit and yet ascribe ignorance to Him. For even if something else existed before the Holy Spirit, it was not by

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching

And there is also the perfect Holy Spirit supplied of God through the Son to the sons of adoption, living and life-giving, holy and imparting holiness to those who partake of Him — not like an unsubstantial breath breathed into them by man, but as the living Breath proceeding from God.

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness

From all which we learn that the person of the Holy Spirit was of such authority and dignity, that saving baptism was not complete except by the authority of the most excellent Trinity of them all, i.e., by the naming of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and by joining to the unbegotten God the Father, and to His only-begotten Son, the name also of the Holy Spirit.

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness

Then, Thirdly, the apostles related that the Holy Spirit was associated in honour and dignity with the Father and the Son.

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness

Now, we are taught what the Holy Spirit is in many passages of Scripture. For example, David says in the fifty-first Psalm, "And take not Your Holy Spirit from me." And in Daniel it is said, "The Holy Spirit which is in you." In the New Testament we also have many clear testimonies: the Holy Spirit is described as having descended upon Christ; after His resurrection, the Lord breathed on His apostles and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit"; the angel said to Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you"; and Paul declares that no one can call Jesus Lord except by the Holy Spirit. In the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit was given in baptism through the laying on of the apostles' hands. From all these passages we learn that the person of the Holy Spirit has such authority and dignity that saving baptism is not complete except by the authority of the most excellent Trinity of them all, that is, by naming the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and by joining to God the Father, who is unbegotten, and to His only begotten Son, the name also of the Holy Spirit. Who, then, is not amazed at the exceeding majesty of the Holy Spirit, when he hears that he who speaks a word against the Son of man may

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness

For it is one and the same thing to have a share in the Holy Spirit, which is (the Spirit) of the Father and the Son, since the nature of the Trinity is one and incorporeal.

Hippolytus, Against the Heresy of Noetus Supporting witness

for God is One. It is the Father who commands, and the Son who obeys, and the Holy Spirit who gives understanding: the Father who is above all, and the Son who is through all, and the Holy Spirit who is in all.

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness

But those who possess the Holy Spirit search the deep things of God, 1 Corinthians 2:10 — that is, grasp the secret that is in the prophecies.

Anonymous, Treatise on Re-Baptism Supporting witness

But they who are not ignorant of the nature of the Holy Spirit, understand that what is said of fire is said of the Spirit Himself.

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness

...ed their hearts and minds, who marked out the Gospel sacraments, who in them was the enlightener of divine things. And when they were strengthened, for the sake of the Lord's name they feared neither dungeons nor chains. Yes, they even trampled under foot the very powers of the world and its tortures, since from now on they were armed and strengthened by the same Spirit, having in themselves the gifts that this same Spirit distributes and assigns to the Church, the spouse of Christ, as her ornaments. This is He who places prophets in the Church, instructs teachers, directs tongues, gives powers and healings, does wonderful works, often gives discrimination of spirits, provides powers of government, suggests counsels, and orders and arranges whatever other gifts of charismata there are. And so He makes the Lord's Church everywhere, and in all things, perfected and completed. This is He who, in the manner of a dove, when our Lord was baptized, came and remained upon Him, dwelling in Christ full and entire, and not diminished in any measure or part. Rather, with His whole overflow He was copiously distributed and sent forth, so that from Him others might receive some enjoyment of H

Methodius, Concerning Free Will Supporting witness

...ou." For he shows that He was conceived in the womb and was to become flesh, as it is written, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God," in Luke 1:35; and afterward other things. Now God the Word, in the absence of a man, by the will of God, who easily does everything, was made flesh in the womb of the virgin, not requiring the operation of the presence of a man. For the power of God overshadowing the virgin, together with the Holy Ghost also who came upon her, was more effective than a man.