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Dist. 12

Book I: On the Mystery of the Trinity · Distinction 12

Textus Latinus
p. 218

DISTINCTIO XII.

Caput I. Utrum Spiritus sanctus prius vel plenius procedat a Patre quam a Filio.

Item quaeritur, cum Spiritus sanctus procedat a Patre et1 Filio, utrum prius vel magis processerit a Patre quam a Filio; quod nititur haereticus ostendere ita dicens: si processit Spiritus sanctus a Patre, processit utique aut nato iam Filio, aut nondum nato Filio. Si vero iam nato Filio processit, ante natus est Filius, quam processerit Spiritus sanctus: praecessit igitur nativitas Filii processionem Spiritus sancti. Si autem processit a Patre non genito Filio, ante processit, quam Filius genitus fuerit.

Responsio Augustini. His et huiusmodi quaestionibus magis laboriosis quam fructuosis respondet Augustinus in decimo quinto libro de Trinitate2 dicens: «In illa summa Trinitate, quae Deus est, intervalla temporum nulla sunt, per quae possit ostendi aut saltem requiri, utrum prius de Patre natus sit Filius, et postea de ambobus processerit Spiritus sanctus». «Numquid ergo possumus quaerere, utrum iam processerat de Patre Spiritus sanctus, quando natus est Filius, an nondum processerat et, illo nato, de utroque processit? Non possunt prorsus ista ibi quaeri, ubi nihil ex tempore inchoatur, ut consequenti3 perficiatur in tempore. Ideo qui potest intelligere sine tempore generationem Filii de Patre, intelligat sine tempore processionem Spiritus sancti de utroque». Ecce his verbis absoluta est quaestio illa, qua quaerebatur, utrum prius processerit Spiritus sanctus a Patre quam a Filio.

Caput II. Quod Spiritus sanctus principaliter et proprie dicitur procedere a Patre.

Nunc tractandum est quod secundo quaerebatur, scilicet an plenius vel4 magis procedat Spiritus sanctus a Patre quam a Filio. Ad quod dicimus, quia sicut non ante procedit a Patre quam a Filio, ita non magis vel plenius procedit a Patre quam a Filio. Augustinus tamen in decimo quinto libro de Trinitate5 dicit, quod Spiritus sanctus principaliter procedit de Patre. «Non frustra, inquit, in hac Trinitate non dicitur Verbum Dei nisi Filius, nec Donum Dei nisi Spiritus sanctus, nec de quo genitum est Verbum, et de quo procedit principaliter Spiritus sanctus, nisi Deus Pater». Ecce audistis, quia Spiritus sanctus principaliter procedit a Patre. Sed ne te hoc turbaret, ipse continuo ex quo sensu dixerit aperit, subdens6: «Ideo addidi principaliter, quia et de Filio Spiritus sanctus procedere reperitur, sed hoc quoque illi Pater dedit, non iam existenti et nondum habenti. Sed quidquid unigenito Verbo dedit, gignendo dedit. Sic ergo eum genuit, ut etiam de illo Donum commune procederet, et Spiritus sanctus Spiritus esset amborum». Ecce exposuit ipsemet, quomodo Spiritus principaliter procedat a Patre, non quia prius vel magis procedat a Patre quam a Filio, sed quia, cum procedat a Filio, hoc ipsum habet Filius a Patre.

p. 219

Ex eodem sensu dicitur etiam proprie procedere de Patre. Unde Hieronymus in expositione catholicae fidei Nicaenique Symboli7 ait: «Credimus in Spiritum sanctum8, qui de Patre procedit proprie». Item: «Spiritum sanctum verum Deum invenimus in Scriptura, et de Patre proprie esse». Et item: «De Patre Filius, et Spiritus sanctus proprie et vere de Patre procedit». Ecce aperte dicit, Spiritum sanctum proprie esse de Patre et proprie procedere a Patre. Quod non ita est intelligendum, tanquam prius vel plenius a Patre procedat quam a Filio, sed quia hoc habet Pater a se, non ab alio, ut de ipso9 sit et procedat Spiritus sanctus; Filius autem non a se, sed a Patre hoc habet, ut de ipso sit et procedat Spiritus sanctus.

Forte etiam iuxta hanc intelligentiam dicitur Spiritus sanctus10 mitti per Filium et a Patre esse per Filium. Unde Hilarius ad Deum Patrem de Spiritu sancto et Filio loquens in duodecimo libro de Trinitate11 ait: «In sancto Spiritu tuo ex te profecto et per eum misso». Item: «Ante tempora Unigenitus tuus ex te natus manet, ita quod ex te per eum Spiritus sanctus tuus est; quod etsi sensu non percipiam, tamen teneo conscientia. In spiritualibus enim rebus tuis hebes sum». Item in eodem: «Conserva hanc, oro, fidei meae religionem, ut quod in regenerationis meae Symbolo professus sum, semper obtineam: Patrem scilicet te12 et Filium tuum una tecum adorem; sanctum Spiritum tuum, qui ex te per Unigenitum tuum est, promerear». Ecce aperte dicit, Spiritum sanctum a Patre per Filium et13 mitti et esse; quod non est intelligendum, quasi a Patre per Filium minorem mittatur vel sit, sed quia ex Patre et Filio est et mittitur ab utroque. Sed hoc ipsum habet Filius a Patre, ut ab ipso et sit et mittatur Spiritus sanctus. Hoc ergo voluit significare Hilarius, distinctionem faciens in locutione, ut ostenderet in Patre esse auctoritatem. Inde est etiam, quod Veritas ostendens, Patrem esse auctorem processionis, qua procedit Spiritus sanctus a Filio, dixit in Evangelio14: De Patre procedit, cum de Patre et Filio procedat Spiritus sanctus. Unde Augustinus in decimo quinto libro de Trinitate15: «Si de Patre et Filio procedit Spiritus sanctus, cur Filius dixit: De Patre procedit? Cur putas, nisi quia solet ad eum referre etiam quod ipsius est, de quo et ipse est, sicut ait16: Mea doctrina non est mea, sed eius, qui misit me? Si ergo hic intelligitur eius doctrina, quam tamen non dixit suam, sed Patris, quanto magis illic intelligendus est Spiritus sanctus de ipso procedere, ubi sic ait: De Patre procedit, ut non diceret: De me non procedit. A quo autem habet Filius, ut sit Deus — est enim Deus de Deo — ab illo utique habet, ut etiam de illo procedat Spiritus sanctus. Et ideo Spiritus sanctus, ut etiam de Filio procedat, sicut procedit de Patre, ab ipso habet Patre». «Quapropter, qui potest intelligere in eo, quod ait Filius17: Sicut habet Pater vitam in semetipso, sic dedit et Filio vitam habere in semetipso, non sine vita existenti iam Filio vitam Patrem dedisse, sed ita eum sine tempore genuisse, ut vita, quam Pater Filio gignendo dedit, coaeterna sit vitae Patris, qui dedit; intelligat etiam, sicut habet Pater in semetipso, ut de illo procedat Spiritus sanctus, sic dedisse Filio, ut etiam de isto procedat idem Spiritus sanctus, et utrumque sine tempore. Ita ergo dictum est, Spiritum sanctum de Patre procedere, ut intelligatur, quod etiam procedit de Filio de Patre esse Filio18. Si enim quidquid habet, de Patre habet Filius, de Patre habet utique, ut et de illo procedat Spiritus sanctus. Sed nulla ibi tempora cogitentur, quae habeant prius et posterius, quia ibi omnino nulla sunt».

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English Translation

DISTINCTION XII.

Chapter 1. Whether the Holy Spirit proceeds prior or more fully from the Father than from the Son.

Likewise it is asked, since the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and1 the Son, whether He has proceeded prior or more fully from the Father than from the Son; which the heretic strives to show, speaking thus: if the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father, He proceeded either when the Son was already born, or when the Son was not yet born. If when the Son was already born, then the Son was born before the Holy Spirit proceeded: therefore the nativity of the Son preceded the procession of the Holy Spirit. But if He proceeded from the Father when the Son was not yet generated, He proceeded before the Son was generated.

The reply of Augustine. To these and the like questions — more laborious than fruitful — Augustine replies in the fifteenth book On the Trinity2, saying: «In that supreme Trinity which is God, there are no intervals of time through which it can be shown, or even inquired, whether the Son was first born of the Father, and afterwards the Holy Spirit proceeded from both». «Can we then ask whether the Holy Spirit had already proceeded from the Father when the Son was born, or had not yet proceeded, and, the Son having been born, He proceeded from both? These things cannot at all be asked there, where nothing is begun in time so as to be perfected3 in [a subsequent] time. Therefore he who is able to understand the generation of the Son from the Father without time, let him understand without time the procession of the Holy Spirit from both». Behold, by these words that question is settled, by which it was asked whether the Holy Spirit proceeded prior from the Father than from the Son.

Chapter 2. That the Holy Spirit is said principally and properly to proceed from the Father.

Now must be treated what was asked second, namely whether the Holy Spirit proceeds more fully or4 more from the Father than from the Son. To which we say that, just as He does not proceed prior from the Father than from the Son, so He does not proceed more or more fully from the Father than from the Son. Augustine, however, in the fifteenth book On the Trinity5, says that the Holy Spirit principally proceeds from the Father. «Not in vain, he says, in this Trinity is none called Word of God except the Son, nor Gift of God except the Holy Spirit; nor [is anyone] He from whom the Word is begotten and from whom the Holy Spirit principally proceeds except God the Father». Behold, you have heard that the Holy Spirit principally proceeds from the Father. But lest this disturb you, he immediately reveals in what sense he said it, adding6: «Therefore I added principally, because the Holy Spirit is also found to proceed from the Son; but this also the Father gave to Him, not to one already existing and not yet having, but whatever He gave to the only-begotten Word, He gave by begetting. So therefore He begot Him, that the common Gift might also proceed from Him, and the Holy Spirit be the Spirit of both». Behold, he himself has expounded how the Spirit principally proceeds from the Father — not because He proceeds prior or more from the Father than from the Son, but because, since He proceeds from the Son, the Son has this very [property] from the Father.

In the same sense [the Spirit] is also said to proceed properly from the Father. Hence Jerome, in the exposition of the Catholic faith and the Nicene Symbol7, says: «We believe in the Holy Spirit8, who properly proceeds from the Father». Likewise: «We find in Scripture the Holy Spirit to be true God, and to be properly from the Father». And again: «From the Father is the Son, and the Holy Spirit properly and truly proceeds from the Father». Behold, he plainly says that the Holy Spirit is properly from the Father and properly proceeds from the Father. Which is not to be understood as if He proceeds prior or more fully from the Father than from the Son, but because the Father has this from Himself, not from another, that the Holy Spirit be from Him and proceed; whereas the Son has this not from Himself, but from the Father, that from Him9 also the Holy Spirit be and proceed.

Perhaps also according to this same understanding the Holy Spirit10 is said to be sent through the Son and to be from the Father through the Son. Hence Hilary, addressing God the Father concerning the Holy Spirit and the Son, in the twelfth book On the Trinity11, says: «In Thy Holy Spirit, gone forth from Thee and sent through Him». Likewise: «Before times, Thy Only-begotten, born from Thee, abides, in such wise that from Thee through Him is Thy Holy Spirit; which, even if I do not perceive by sense, yet I hold by conscience. For in Thy spiritual things I am dull». Likewise in the same book: «Preserve, I pray, this religion of my faith, that what I professed in the Symbol of my regeneration I may always retain: namely that the Father — Thee12 — and Thy Son together with Thee I may adore; that Thy Holy Spirit, who is from Thee through Thy Only-begotten, I may merit to receive». Behold, he plainly says that the Holy Spirit is from the Father through the Son both13 sent and existent; which is not to be understood as though He were sent or were from the Father through the Son as a lesser, but because He is from the Father and the Son and is sent by both. But this very thing the Son has from the Father, that from Him the Holy Spirit both is and is sent. This therefore Hilary wished to signify by making a distinction in mode of speech, in order to show that in the Father is the authority. Hence also it is, that the Truth, showing that the Father is the author of the procession by which the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son, said in the Gospel14: He proceeds from the Father, although the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. Hence Augustine in the fifteenth book On the Trinity15: «If the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, why did the Son say: He proceeds from the Father? Why think you, except that He is wont to refer to Him even what is His own — Him from whom He Himself is — as He says16: My doctrine is not mine, but His who sent me? If, then, here is to be understood His doctrine, which He yet did not call His own, but the Father's, how much more there is the Holy Spirit to be understood as proceeding from Him, where He thus says: He proceeds from the Father, in such wise as not to say: He does not proceed from me. From Him, however, from whom the Son has it, that He is God — for He is God from God — from Him certainly He has it that from Him also the Holy Spirit proceeds. And therefore the Holy Spirit, that He may also proceed from the Son, just as He proceeds from the Father, has from the Father Himself». «Wherefore, he who is able to understand, in that which the Son says17: Just as the Father has life in himself, so He gave to the Son also to have life in himself, that the Father did not give life to the Son already existing without life, but begot Him without time, in such wise that the life which the Father gave the Son in begetting is co-eternal with the life of the Father who gave; let him understand also that, just as the Father has it in Himself that the Holy Spirit proceeds from Him, so He has given to the Son that from Him also the same Holy Spirit proceeds, and both without time. So therefore it has been said that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, in such wise that it may be understood that He also proceeds from the Son [as] from the Father — [this being given] to the Son18. For if the Son has whatever He has from the Father, He has from the Father certainly that from Him also the Holy Spirit proceeds. But let no times be thought of there which would have prior and posterior, because there are altogether none there».

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Apparatus Criticus
  1. Solummodo edd. omnes repetunt hic a. Infra post Spiritus sanctus codd. B C D E legunt de loco a.
    Only the editions all repeat here [the preposition] a. Below, after Spiritus sanctus, codices B C D E read de loco a.
  2. Cap. 26, n. 43; sequens locus ibid. n. 47. — Contra nostros codd. et textum Augustini omnes edd. in primo loco posset ostendi pro possit ostendi.
    [Augustine, De Trin. XV] cap. 26, n. 43; the following passage [is] in the same place, n. 47. — Against our codices and the text of Augustine, all editions in the first passage [read] posset ostendi in place of possit ostendi.
  3. Edd. praeter 1 ponunt ex consequenti; sed delendum ex auctoritate omnium codd. et textus Augustini. Paulo supra nonnulli codd. bis ponunt processerit pro processerat.
    Editions other than ed. 1 place ex consequenti; but it is to be deleted on the authority of all the codices and of Augustine's text. A little above, some codices twice place processerit in place of processerat.
  4. Vat. cum paucis edd. aut. In principio propositionis post tractandum est cod. D adiicit de eo.
    The Vatican with a few editions reads aut. At the beginning of the proposition, after tractandum est, codex D adds de eo.
  5. Cap. 17, n. 29.
    [Augustine, De Trin. XV] cap. 17, n. 29.
  6. Vat. cum nonnullis codd. dicens, et paulo ante, post sensu addit hoc.
    The Vatican with some codices reads dicens, and a little before, after sensu it adds hoc.
  7. [Hieronymi] Explan. ad Cyrillum c. 1 et 3.
    [Pseudo-]Jerome, Explanation to Cyril (= Exposition of the Catholic Faith and Nicene Symbol), cc. 1 and 3.
  8. Omnes codd. omittunt sanctus.
    All the codices omit sanctus.
  9. Codd. D E cum sola Vat. de se ipso, quod antea, ubi prima vice occurrit, habet cod. C.
    Codices D E with only the Vatican read de se ipso, which earlier — at its first occurrence — codex C has.
  10. Omnes codd. bene addunt a Patre, sed cum hoc desit in omnibus nostris edd., nihil immutavimus in textu.
    All the codices well add a Patre, but since this is missing in all our editions, we have changed nothing in the text.
  11. [Hilar., de Trin. XII] num. 55; sequens locus n. 56, tertius n. 57.
    [Hilary, On the Trinity XII] n. 55; the following passage [is at] n. 56, the third [at] n. 57.
  12. Edd. omnes contra originale et codd. sic transponunt verba: te Patrem scilicet.
    All the editions, against the original and the codices, transpose the words thus: te Patrem scilicet.
  13. Vat. cum paucis edd. omittit et.
    The Vatican with a few editions omits et.
  14. Ioan. 15, 26; Vulgata a Patre. — Mox multae edd. contra edd. 1, 7 et mss. addunt et post cum; insuper edd. pleraeque omittunt sanctus post Spiritus.
    John 15:26; the Vulgate has a Patre. — Just after, many editions, against editions 1, 7 and the manuscripts, add et after cum; moreover most editions omit sanctus after Spiritus.
  15. Cap. 27, n. 48.
    [Augustine, De Trin. XV] cap. 27, n. 48.
  16. Ioan. 7, 16. — Immediate antea Vat. cum paucis edd. contra originale et mss., addendo sicut et transponendo et, sic habet: ipsius est, sicut et de quo.
    John 7:16. — Immediately before, the Vatican with a few editions, against the original and the manuscripts, by adding sicut and transposing et, has thus: ipsius est, sicut et de quo.
  17. Ioan. 5, 26.
    John 5:26.
  18. Vat. cum aliis edd., excepta 1, perperam et contradicentibus mss. et textu Augustini praemittit et ante Filio. Sensus est: intelligatur, a Patre datum esse Filio, quod Spiritus sanctus etiam de ipso procedit. — Paulo post Vat. cum nonnullis edd. omittit et ante de illo procedat. Denique edd. 2, 3 cogitantur loco cogitentur.
    The Vatican with the other editions, except ed. 1, wrongly and against the manuscripts and the text of Augustine prefixes et before Filio. The sense is: «let it be understood that it has been given to the Son by the Father that the Holy Spirit also proceeds from Him». — A little after, the Vatican with some editions omits et before de illo procedat. Finally, editions 2 and 3 read cogitantur in place of cogitentur.
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