Gospel in answer to the Virgin Mary, when she asked of the angel, " How shall this be? " " The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee." ^ And Matthew says, " She was found with child of DE TRIN. D 50 ON THE TRINITY. [BOOK 11.
the Holy Gliost."-^ Altliough, too, in the prophet Isaiah, Christ Himself is understoocl to say of His own future advent, " And now the Lord God and His Spirit hath sent me."^ 9. Perhaps some one may wish to drive us to say, that the Son is sent also by Himself, because the conception and child- birth of Mary is the working of the Trinity, by whose act of creating all things are created. And how, he will go on to say, has the Father sent Him, if He sent Himself? To whom I answer first, by asking him to tell me, if he can, in what manner the Father hath sanctified Him, if He hath sanctified Himself? For the same Lord says both; " Say ye of Him," He says, " whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God;"^ while in another place He says, "And for their sake I sanctify myself."* I ask, also, in what manner the Father delivered Him, if He delivered Himself? For the Apostle Paul says both: " Who," he says, " spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all;"^ while elsewhere he says of the Saviour Himself, " Who loved me, and delivered Himself for me."^ He will reply, I suppose, if he has a right sense in these things. Because the will of the Father and the Son is one, and their working indivisible. In like manner, then, let him understand the incarnation and nativity of the Virgin, wherein the Son is understood as sent, to have been wrought by one and the same operation of the Father and of the Son indivisibly; the Holy Spirit certainly not being thence ex- cluded,/of whom it is expressly said, " She w^as found with child by the Holy Ghost." For perhaps our meaning will be more plainly unfolded, if we ask in what manner God sent His Son. He commanded that He should come, and He, complying with the commandment, came. Did He then request, or did He only suggest? But w^hichever of these it was, certainly it was done by a word, and the Word of God is the Son of God Himself. Wherefore, since the Father sent Him by a word, His being sent was the work of both the Father and His Word; therefore the same Son was sent by the Father and the Son, because the Son Himself is the Word CHAP, v.] THE SON WAS SENT, IN THAT HE WAS MADE VISIBLE. 5 1 of the Father. For who would embrace so impious an opinion as to think the Father to have uttered a word in time, in order that the eternal Son might thereby be sent and might appear in the flesh in the fulness of time? But assuredly it was in that Word of God itself which was in the beginning with God and was God, namely, in the wisdom itself of God, apart from time, at what time that wisdom must needs appear in the flesh. Therefore, since without any commencement of time, the Word was in the beginning, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, it was in the Word itself without any time, at what time the Word was to be made flesh and dwell among us."*" And when this fulness of time had come, " God sent His Son, made of a woman," ^ that is, made in time, that the Incarnate Word might appear to men; while it was in that Word Himself, apart from time, at what time this was to be done; for the order of times is in the eternal wisdom of God without time. Since, then, that the Son should appear in the flesh was wrought by both the Father and the Son, it is fitly said that He who appeared in that flesh was sent, and that He who did not appear in it, sent Him; because those things which are transacted outwardly before the bodily eyes have their existence from the inward machinery of the spiritual nature, and on that account are fitly said to be sent. Further, that form of man which He took is the person of the Son, not also of the Father; on which account the in- visible Father, together with the Son, who with the Father is invisible, is said to have sent the same Son by making Him visible. But if He became visible in such way as to cease to be invisible with the Father, that is, if the substance of the invisible Word were turned by a change and transition into a visible creature, then the Son w^ould be so understood to be sent by the Father, that He would be found to be only sent; not also, with the Father, sending. But since He so took the form of a servant, as that the unchangeable form of God re- mained, it is clear that that which became apparent in the Son was done by the Father and the Son not being apparent; that is, that by the invisible Father, with the invisible Son, the same Son Himself was sent so as to be visible. Why, therefore, 52 ON THE TRINITY. [l300K II.
does He say, "Neither came I of myself"? This, we may now say, is said according to the form of a servant, in the same way as it is said, " I judge no man."-^ 10. If, therefore. He is said to be sent, in so far as He ap- peared outwardly in the bodily creature, who inwardly in His spiritual nature is always hidden from the eyes of mortals, it is now easy to understand also of the Holy Spirit why He too is said to be sent. Eor in due time a certain outward appearance of the creature was wrought, wherein the Holy Spirit might be visibly shown; whether when He descended upon the Lord Himself in a bodily shape as a dove,^ or when, ten days having past since His ascension, on the day of Pentecost a sound came suddenly from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and cloven tongues like as of fire were seen upon them, and it sat upon each of them.^ This operation, visibly exhibited, and presented to mortal eyes, is called the sending of the Holy Spirit; not that that His very substance appeared, in which He himself also is invisible and unchangeable, like the Father and the Son, but that the hearts of men, touched by things seen outwardly, might be turned from the manifestation in time of Him as coming to His hidden eternity as ever present.
Chap. vi. — The creature is not w taken hy the Holy Spirit asjleshis by the Word.
11. It is, then, for this reason nowhere written, that the Father is greater than the Holy Spirit, or that the Holy Spirit is less than God the Father, because the creature in which the Holy Spirit was to appear was not taken in the same way as the Son of man was taken, as the form in which the person of the Word of God Himself should be set forth; not that He might possess the word of God, as other holy and wise men have possessed it, but " above His fellows; "* not certainly that He possessed the word more than they, so as to be of more sur- passing wisdom than the rest were, but that He was the very Word Himself. For the word in the flesh is one thing, and the Word made flesh is another; i.e. the word in man is one thing, the Word that is man is another. For flesh is put for man, where it is said, " The Word was made flesh;"^ and again, " And all flesh shall see the salvation of God." ^ For it does CHAP. VL] the holy SPIEIT NOT INCAENATE IN THE DOVE. 53 not mean flesh without soul and without mind; but " all flesh," is the same as if it were said, every man. The creature, then, in which the Holy Spirit should appear, was not so taken, as that flesh and human form were taken, of the Virgin Mary. For the Spirit did not beatify the dove, or the wind, or the fire, and join them for ever to Himself and to His person in unity and " fashion.** Nor, again, is the nature of the Holy Spirit mutable and changeable; so that these things were not made of the creature, but He himself was turned and changed first into one and then into another, as water is changed into ice. But these things appeared at the seasons at which they ought to have appeared, the creature serving the Creator, and being changed and converted at the command of Him who remains immutably in Himself, in order to signify and manifest Him in such way as it was fit He should be signified and manifested to mortal men. Accordingly, although that dove is called the Spirit;^ and in speaking of that fire, "There appeared unto them," he says, " cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them; and they began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance;"^ in order to show that the Spirit was manifested by that fire, as by the dove; yet we cannot call the Holy Spirit both God and a dove, or both God and fire, in the same way as we call the Son both God and man; nor as we call the Son the Lamb of God; which not only John the Baptist says, " Behold the Lamb of God," ^ but also John the Evangelist sees the Lamb slain in the Apocalypse.* For that prophetic vision was not shown to bodily eyes through bodily forms, but in the spirit through spiritual images of bodily things. But whosoever saw that dove and that fire, saw them with their eyes. Although it may perhaps be disputed concerning the fire, whether it was seen by the eyes or in the spirit, on account of the form of the sentence. For the text does not say, They saw cloven tongues like fire, but, " There appeared to them." But we are not wont to say with the same meaning. It appeared to me; as we say, I saw. And in those spiritual visions of corporeal images the usual expressions are, both. It appeared to me; 54 ON THE TRINITY. [BOOK II.
and, I saw: but in those things which are shown to the eyes through express corporeal forms, the common expression is not, It appeared to me; but, I saw. There may, therefore, be a question raised respecting that fire, how it was seen; whether within in the spirit as it were outwardly, or really outwardly before the eyes of the flesh. But of that dove, which is said to have descended in a bodily form, no one ever doubted that it was seen by the eyes. Nor, again, as we call the Son a Eock (for it is written, " And that Eock was Christ " ^), can we so call the Spirit a dove or fire. Tor that rock was a thing already created, and after the mode of its action was called by the name of Christ, whom it signified; like the stone placed under Jacob's head, and also anointed, which he took in order to signify the Lord;^ or as Isaac was Christ, when he carried the wood for the sacrifice of himself^ A particular significa- tive action was added to those already existing things; they did not, as that dove and fire, suddenly come into being in order simply so to signify. The dove and the fire, indeed, seem to me more like that flame which appeared to Moses in the bush,* or that pillar which the people followed in the wilderness,^ or the thunders and lightnings which came when the Law was given in the mount.^ For the corporeal form of these things came into being for the very purpose, that it might signify something, and then pass away. Chap. vii. — A doubt raised about divine appearances.
12. The Holy Spirit, then, is also said to be sent, on account of these corporeal forms which came into existence in time, in order to signify and manifest Him, as He must needs be manifested, to human senses; yet He is not said to be less than the Father, as the Son, because He was in the form of a servant, is said to be; because that form of a servant inhered in the unity of the person of the Son, but those corporeal forms appeared for a time, in order to show what was necessary to be shown, and then ceased to be. Why, then, is not the Father also said to be sent, through those corporeal forms, the fire of the bush, and the pillar of cloud or of fire, and the lightnings in the mount, and whatever other things of the * Ex. iii. 2. •'• Ex. xiii. 21, 22. ^ Ex. xix. IG.
CHAP. VII.] HOW GOD APPEARED TO THE FATHERS. 55 Icind appeared at that time, wlien (as we have learned from Scripture testimony) He spake face to face with the fathers, if He Himself was manifested by those modes and forms of the creature, as exhibited and presented corporeally to human sight? But if.the Son was manifested by them, why is He said to be sent so long after, when He was made of a woman, as the apostle says, " But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman," ^ seeing that He was sent also before, when He appeared to the fathers by those changeable forms of the creature? Or if He cannot rightly be said to be sent, unless when the Word was made flesh, why is the Holy Spirit said to be sent, of whom no such incarnation was ever wrought? But if by those visible things, which are put before us in the Law and in the prophets, neither the Father nor the Son but the Holy Spirit was manifested, why also is He said to be sent now, when He was sent also before after these modes 1 13. In the perplexity of this inquiry, the Lord helping us, we must ask, first, whether the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit; or whether, sometimes the Father, sometimes the Son, sometimes the Holy Spirit; or whether it was without any distinction of persons, in such way as the one and only God is spoken of, that is, that the Trinity itself appeared to the fathers by those forms of the creature. N'ext, whichever of these alter- natives shall have been found or thought true, whether for this purpose only the creature was fashioned, wherein God, as He judged it suitable at that time, should be shown to human sight; or whether angels, who already existed, were so sent, as to speak in the person of God, taking a corporeal form from the corporeal creature, for the purpose of their ministry, as each had need; or else, according to the power the Creator has given them, changing and converting their own body itself, to which they are not subject, but govern it as subject to themselves, into whatever appearances they would that were suited and apt to their several actions. Lastly, we shall discern that which it was our purpose to ask, viz. whether the Son and the Holy Spirit were also sent before; and, if they were so sent, what difference there is between that sending, and the 56 ON THE TRINITY. [BOOK II.
one which we read of in the Gospel; or whether in truth neither of them were sent, except when either the Son was made of the Virgin Mary, or the Holy Spirit appeared in a visible form, whether in the dove or in tongues of fire.
Chap. viii. — Tlie entire Trinity invisible.
14. Let us therefore say nothing of those who, with an over carnal mind, have thought the nature of the Word of God, and the Wisdom, which, " remaining in herself, maketh all things new," -^ whom we call the only Son of God, not only to be changeable, but also to be visible. For these, with more audacity than religion, bring a very dull heart to the inquiry into divine things. For whereas the soul is a spiritual substance, and whereas itself also was made, yet could not be made by any other than by Him by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing is made,^ it, although changeable, is yet not visible; and this they have believed to be the case with the Word Himself and with the Wisdom of God itself, by which the soul w^as made; whereas this Wisdom is not only invisible, as the soul also is, but likewise unchangeable, which the soul is not. It is in truth the same unchangeable- ness in it, which is referred to when it was said, " Eemaining in herself she maketh all things new." Yet these people, endeavouring, as it were, to prop up their error in its fall by testimonies of the divine Scriptures, adduce the words of the Apostle Paul; and take that, which is said of the one only God, in whom the Trinity itself is understood, to be said only of the Father, and neither of the Son nor of the Holy Spirit: " ISTow unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever; " ^ and that other passage, " The blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see." * How these passages are to be understood, I think we have already discoursed sufficiently.
CilAP. IX. — Against those who believed the Father only to be immortal and invisible. The truth to be sought by peaceful study.
15. But they who will have these texts understood only of the Father, and not of the Son or the Holy Spirit, declare the CHAP. IX.] NOT THE FATHER ONLY WHO HAS IMMORTALITY. 57 Son to be visible, not by having taken flesli of the Virgin, but aforetime also in Himself For He Himself, they say, appeared to the eyes of the fathers. And if you say to them, In whatever manner, then, the Son is visible in Himself, in that manner also He is mortal in Himself; so that it plainly follows that you would have this saying also understood only of the Father, viz. " Who only hath immortality; " for if the Son is mortal from having taken upon Him our flesh, then allow that it is on account of this flesh that He is also visible: they reply, that it is not on account of this flesh that they say that the Son is mortal; but that, just as He was also before visible, so He was also before mortal. For if they say the Son is mortal from having taken our flesh, then it is not the Father alone without the Son who hath immortality; because His Word also has immortality, by which all things were made. For He did not therefore lose His immortality, because He took mortal flesh; seeing that it could not happen even to the human soul, that it should die with the body, when the Lord Himself says, " Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul." ^ Or, forsooth, also the Holy Spirit took flesh: concerning wdiom certainly they will, Avithout doubt, be troubled to say — if the Son is mortal on account of taking our flesh — in what manner they understand that the Father only has immortality without the Son and the Holy Spirit, since, indeed, the Holy Spirit did not take our flesh; and if He has not immortality, then the Son is not mortal on account of taking our flesh; but if the Holy Spirit has immortality, then it is not said only of the Father, " AVho only hath immortality," And therefore they think they are able to prove that the Son in Himself was mortal also before the incarnation, because changeableness itself is not unfitly called mortality, according to which the soul also is said to die; not because it is changed and turned into body, or into some substance other than itself, but because, whatever in its own self-same substance is now after another mode than it once was, is discovered to be mortal, in so far as it has ceased to be what it was. Because then, say thej^, before the Son of God was born of the Virgin Mary, He Himself appeared to our fathers, not in one and the 58 ON THE TRINITY. [BOOK II.
same form only, but in many forms; first in one form, then in another; He is both visible in Himself, because His substance was visible to mortal eyes, when He had not yet taken our flesh, and mortal, inasmuch as He is changeable. And so also the Holy Spirit, who appeared at one time as a dove, and another time as fire. Whence, they say, these texts do not belong to the Trinity, but singularly and properly to the Father only: " ISTow unto the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only wise God; " and, " Who only hath immor- tality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see."
16. Passing by, then, these reasoners, who are unable to know the substance even of the soul, which is invisible, and therefore are very far indeed from knowing that the substance of the one and only God, that is, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, remains ever not only invisible, but also unchangeable, and that hence it possesses true and real immor- tality; let us, who deny that God, whether the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit, ever appeared to bodily eyes, unless through the corporeal creature made subject to His own power; let us, I say — ready to be corrected, if we are reproved in a fraternal and upright spirit, ready to be so, even if carped at by an enemy, so that he speak the truth — in catholic peace and with peaceful study inquire, whether God indiscriminately appeared to our fathers before Christ came in the flesh, or whether it was any one person of the Trinity, or whether severally, as it were by turns.
Chap. X. — Whether God the Trinity indiscriminately appeared to the Fathers, or. any one person of the Trinity. The appearing of God to Adam. Of the same appearance. The Vision to Abraham.
17. And first, in that which is written in Genesis, viz. that God spake with man whom He had formed out of the dust; if we set apart the figurative meaning, and treat it so as to place faith in the narrative even, in the letter, it should appear that God then spake with man in the appearance of a man. This is not indeed expressly laid down in the book, but the general tenor of its reading sounds in this sense, especially in that which is written, that Adam heard the voice of the Lord God, walking in the garden in the cool of the evening, and hid CHAP. X.] now GOD SPAKE TO ADAM. 59