Then, Thirdly, the apostles related that the Holy Spirit was associated in honour and dignity with the Father and the Son. But in His case it is not clearly distinguished whether He is to be regarded as born or innate, or also as a Son of God or not: for these are points which have to be inquired into out of sacred Scripture according to the best of our ability, and which demand careful investigation. And that this Spirit inspired each one of the saints, whether prophets or apostles; and that there was not one Spirit in the men of the old dispensation, and another in those who were inspired at the advent of Christ, is most clearly taught throughout the Churches. (From the preface)

The nature of the Holy Spirit is "not clearly distinquished." The relationship of the Holy Spirit to God the Father and Christ the Son "demand(s) careful investigation." Origen does not presume to know.

At the first Council of Nicaea the creed simply noted belief in the Holy Ghost and, with Origen, did not attempt to characterize the third aspect of the Trinity. At the Council of Constantinople (381) it was added, "And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spake by the prophets."

On Trinity Sunday most Christians are told the Trinity is both fundamental and a mystery. To Unitarians the discussion is a distraction. To Muslims and Jews the Trinity is a scandal, dividing one God into three parts.

Writing a century after the death of Paul and a century before the great Councils began to more closely define acceptable and unacceptable, we find in Origen a mature Christian struggling to explain for himself (and others) the essential aspects of his faith.