so that it may be established that the Apostle in this place referred the name of God to that eternal substance of the Son which is from the Father, but the name of Christ to that nature which the Son of God assumed from man; the Doctor of the Gentiles, in faith and truth, deeming it worthy above all things that, just as he preached the same Christ, who was raised, to be man, saying: 'By man came death, and by man the resurrection of the dead; for as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive' (1 Cor. 15:21-22), so with no less care he might most truly preach the same Son—who raised His own flesh by that power which is equal to the Father—to be God, as the text of this passage has published with clear manifestation.
For God, who raised Christ from the dead, and who quickened us together with Him when we were dead in our sins and in the uncircumcision of our flesh (Col. 2:13), is the same who forgave us all our sins; and He who forgave the sins blotted out the handwriting that was against us, and, taking it out of the way, nailed it to the cross; He who nailed the handwriting to the cross, the same stripped Himself of the flesh; He who stripped Himself of the flesh, He also led forth the principalities and powers confidently, openly triumphing over them in Himself (Ibid., 15). But all these things, Paul being witness, God did, who raised Christ from the dead.
Let it therefore be considered whether the Father nailed the handwriting to the cross, whether the Father stripped Himself of the flesh, whether the Father led forth the principalities and powers, openly triumphing over them in Himself; and if all these things could be fitted to the person of the Father, then it will be worthily denied that the Son is here designated by the Apostle, namely that God who raised Christ from the dead. But if all the things designated above are fitting to the Son rather than to the Father, let it be acknowledged that one and the same is preached by the Apostle—Christ who rose from the dead, and God who raised Christ from the dead. Therefore Christ both raised Himself and was raised:
for just as in that which He wrought in Himself He deigned to be made, and in that which He delivered up in Himself He deigned to be delivered up, and in that which He permitted to be slain in Himself He deigned to die, so in that which He raised in Himself He deigned to be raised. CHAPTER 34. The humanity of Christ was not wholly in the tomb or in hell, but the divinity was wholly there. The right faith concerning the humanity of Christ and His deeds. Various errors concerning Christ. Marcionites. Ebionites. Arians. Eunomians. Apollinarists. Noetians. Sabellians. Patripassians. Valentinians and Apollinarists. Error concerning the Holy Spirit.
The true humanity therefore of the Son of God was neither wholly in the tomb nor wholly in hell, but according to His true flesh Christ lay dead in the tomb, and according to His soul Christ descended into hell; and according to that same soul He returned from hell to the flesh which He had left in the tomb; but according to His divinity, which is neither held by place nor enclosed by any limit, He was wholly in the tomb with the flesh, wholly in hell with the soul; and thereby Christ was full everywhere, because God, who was both in His soul—that, the pains of hell being loosed, He might return victorious from hell—and in His flesh—that by a swift resurrection it might not be able to be corrupted—was not separated from the humanity which He had assumed.
The Son of God therefore took upon Himself for us the whole man with his infirmities, yet without sin: being delivered up in His entirety, this same Christ died according to the flesh alone; the whole Christ according to the soul alone descended into hell; the same and inseparable Christ according to the flesh alone rose from the tomb; the same and inseparable Christ, according to the whole man which He assumed, leaving the earth locally, ascended into heaven, and sat at the right hand of God; and according to the same whole man He shall come to judge the living and the dead;
about to crown the faithful and the pious, namely those who, believing Him to be true, full, and perfect in both, that is, in the divine and human substance, neither diminish anything of the paternal substance from the Son of God, and acknowledge that He assumed for their sake the whole man without sin. But He will condemn the unfaithful, who follow the diverse errors of every kind of faithlessness, and who so persist in them with a heart at once hardened, that they do not abandon them even up to the vile end of the present life: among whom are those who dare to believe a phantasm of flesh in Christ, while they deny that He received the truth of flesh; those also who, denying His divinity in every way, think that there was only the substance of a man in Him;
but also those who either deny that He was naturally born as God of God the Father, or do not believe the whole substance of man in Christ. Likewise He will come to condemn those who, believing the Father and the Son to be one God from a unity of operation, deny that the one was so born of the other, that they confound the Father and the Son personally; and who, assigning to the Father alike a human nativity and death, say that the Father Himself was born of the Virgin, and confess that He Himself also suffered in the flesh. Those also He will condemn to the eternal punishment of the torment of Gehenna, who do not confess that the body of Christ was substantially taken from the Virgin, but feign that it was let down from heaven:
whereas the Son of God deigned to assume the nature of an earthly body from man for this reason, because He had not come to save those who are in heaven, but those who are on earth, as the Apostle says: 'For nowhere did He take hold of angels, but He took hold of the seed of Abraham, whence He ought in all things to be made like unto His brethren' (Heb. 2:16-17). The Son of God therefore assumed our soul, that is, our better part, because He is better than our better part; concerning which John says: 'God is greater than our heart' (1 John 3:20); yet He did not disdain also to assume our flesh, that is, our lowest part, because He had come to set free the whole man;
nor could He become our lowest for us through whom our lowest part deserved to be exalted into that name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:9-11). He will also deliver to unending torments those who separate the nature of the Holy Spirit from the substance of the Father and the Son, so that either they think Him not personally to exist at all, or esteem Him, as it were a minister, of altogether inferior merit; being themselves contrary to their own profession, who confess that they believe either in Him who altogether does not exist, or in Him who is not God.
CHAPTER 35. The three persons alike give life. They likewise regenerate. There is one love of the three in us. They dwell in us. They give grace. We are the temple of the whole Trinity. What has been said concerning the Holy Spirit is briefly recapitulated. God one and triune. For, that I may add a few things for the sake of this work, let it be said what the Holy Spirit has less than the Father and the Son have, who both together with the Father and the Son made the beginning of our creation, and together with the Father and the Son perfected the effect of our redemption. God is said to have made heaven; but while the Father works, the Son also is found to be a co-worker, and the Holy Spirit: for 'by the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the Spirit of His mouth all their power' (Ps. 32:6).
What is believed to have less than the Father or the Son, by whom all the power of the heavens is shown to be established? None can give life save He who is substantially God; but as the Father gives life, so the Son gives life, so the Holy Spirit gives life. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will (John 5:21). And concerning the Spirit the Apostle says: 'The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life' (2 Cor. 3:6). The same again says: 'But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus Christ from the dead dwell in you, He who raised Jesus Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies, because of His Spirit that dwells in you' (Rom. 8:11).
The Father regenerates, the Son regenerates, the Holy Spirit regenerates; because when baptism is given in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, each one is regenerated by Him in whose name he is baptized. When therefore baptism is given in the name of the Trinity, the whole Trinity, which is the one and only God, together regenerates. Therefore concerning the faithful John says: 'Who were born not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God' (John 1:13). There is in us the love of the Father, of which Paul says: 'But God commendeth His love toward us;'
'for if, when we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, much more then, being now justified by His blood, shall we be saved from wrath through Him' (Rom. 5:8-9). There is in us also the love of Christ, the Apostle saying: 'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?' (Rom. 8:35). And in another place: 'To know also the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God' (Eph. 3:19). The same is in us also the love of the Holy Spirit, concerning which Paul says: 'I beseech you therefore, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Holy Spirit' (Rom. 15:30). And in another place:
'The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us' (Rom. 5:5). And again he says: 'But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace' (Gal. 5:22). In us dwells the Father, dwells the Son, dwells the Holy Spirit, because it is written: 'I will dwell in them, and walk in them' (2 Cor. 6:16). Concerning the Son also the Apostle says: 'That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts in the inner man' (Eph. 3:16-17). The Holy Spirit too he affirms to dwell in us in these words: 'Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?' (1 Cor. 3:16).
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Et, utostendereteumdemesseSpiritumDeiquiSpiritussanctusest, Timotheumsicadmonetdicens : BonumdepositumcustodiperSpiritumsanctumquihabitatinnobis (IITim. I, 14). DatgraliamPater, datgratiamFilius, datgratiamSpiritussanctus, sicutprædicatorveritatis, Christoinseloquente, testatur : GratiavobisetpaxaDeoPatrenostro, etDominoJesuChristo (Rom. I, 7). DeSpirituquoquesancloscriptumestinActibusapostolorum, cumPetrusaddocendumCorneliumabipsoSpiritumitteretur : LoquenteautemPetroverbahæc, ceciditSpiritussanctussuperomnesquiaudiebantverbum, etobstupueruntexcircumcisionefidelesquivenerantcumPetro;
And, to show that the same is the Spirit of God who is the Holy Spirit, he thus admonishes Timothy, saying: 'Keep the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who dwelleth in us' (2 Tim. 1:14). The Father gives grace, the Son gives grace, the Holy Spirit gives grace, as the preacher of truth, Christ speaking in him, testifies: 'Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ' (Rom. 1:7). Concerning the Holy Spirit also it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, when Peter was sent by the Spirit Himself to teach Cornelius: 'And while Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word, and the faithful of the circumcision who had come with Peter were astonished;'
'because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the grace of the Holy Spirit' (Acts 10:44-45). We are the temple of the Father, we are the temple of the Son, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, as we have learned from Paul our teacher, who says: 'For ye are the temple of the living God' (2 Cor. 6:16). And in another place: 'But if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy: for the temple of God is holy, which ye are' (1 Cor. 3:17). We are also the temple of the Son, whose house we are. For the Son Himself also called the temple a house, the evangelist saying: 'Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep' (John 2:13ff.), etc. And when He had straightway cast them out of the temple, He said to those that sold doves:
'Take these things hence, and make not my Father's house a house of merchandise' (Ibid., 16). Likewise David shows in the psalms that the temple of God is the same as the house, saying: 'But as for me, in the multitude of Thy mercy I will come into Thy house; I will worship toward Thy holy temple in Thy fear' (Ps. 5:8). Since therefore this is the temple of God which is the house of God, the Apostle shows us to be the temple of the Son, whose house we are, thus writing to the Hebrews, he calls us: 'But Christ as a son over His own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and glory of the hope firm unto the end' (Heb. 3:6). For the very body of the Son also, Holy Scripture named both a house and a temple, when Solomon says:
'Wisdom hath built herself a house' (Prov. 9:1); and the evangelist, agreeing with this sense, says: 'But He spoke of the temple of His body' (John 2:21). If therefore that which is the body of Christ is the temple of Christ, we also are His temple, whom the Apostle affirms to be His body, saying: 'Ye are the body of Christ, and members' (1 Cor. 12:27). He also plainly records us to be the temple of the Holy Spirit, saying: 'Know ye not that your members are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom ye have from God?' (1 Cor. 6:19). Where he also showed Him to be God, adding these things: 'And ye are not your own: for ye are bought with a great price; glorify therefore and bear God in your body' (Ibid., 15).
Yet this temple of the Holy Spirit he testifies to be the members of Christ, saying: 'Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?' Let it therefore be said whether He could establish the power of the heavens who is not God? whether He can give life who is not God? whether He can sanctify in the regeneration of baptism who is not God? whether He can bestow love who is not God? whether He can dwell in believers who is not God? whether He can give grace who is not God? whether He can have as His temple the members of Christ who is not God? then worthily shall the Holy Spirit be denied to be God. Again let it be said whether any creature can do those things which have been recounted concerning the Holy Spirit? then worthily shall the Holy Spirit be called a creature.
But if these things were never possible to a creature, and are found in the Holy Spirit—things which belong to God alone—we ought not to call Him naturally different from the Father and the Son, whom in the power of works we cannot find to be different. And thus from the unity of work the unity of power is to be acknowledged; nor let anyone doubt to call the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit—the Trinity of persons being preserved—one God by nature, who was able to create all things by will alone, who can govern all things by the omnipotence of His power, who can fill all things by the immensity of His divinity. CHAPTER 36. Peroration to King Trasimundus the Arian.
These things, most clement king, as the Lord granted, I preferred to write to your piety rather than to keep wholly silent, lest, by keeping silence, I should either be esteemed proud, or be thought doubtful concerning the truth of our faith; since Christ has willed to call the Catholic Church alone His dove, saying: 'One is my dove, one is my beloved' (Cant. 6:9). In which name of the dove love and simplicity are signified. But she alone possesses true love, who says that the Son of God, whom she loves, is not less in divinity, but confesses Him equal to the Father. And she alone possesses the truth of simplicity, who believes the substance of the Trinity to be one, true, and simple.
But we pray God to render the ears of your clemency favourable to the word of truth, and to pour into your pious heart the light of spiritual wisdom, that you may honour the Son of God, God, and our Lord Jesus Christ, even as you honour the Father: for He deserves this of you, that you should confess Him, who made you better than your father, to be equal to His own Father according to the divine nature. I ask, glorious king, that you consider in yourself the bounty of the divine gift, and diminish not the power of the Giver; that He who has given you a temporal kingdom may give also an eternal one. For He Himself says: 'Them that glorify me I will glorify' (1 Sam. 2:30). Which may that Trinity do, which is the one and true God:
He who is able to do all things above what we ask or understand (Eph. 3:20); for of Him, and through Him, and in Him are all things (Rom. 11:36). To Him be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.