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Dist. 21

Book I: On the Mystery of the Trinity · Distinction 21

Textus Latinus
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DISTINCTIO XXI.

Cap. I. Quomodo possit dici: solus Pater vel solus Filius vel solus Spiritus sanctus, cum sint inseparabiles.

Hic oritur quaestio trahens originem ex praedictis. Dictum est enim supra1, quod tantus est solus Pater vel solus Filius vel solus Spiritus sanctus, quantum simul illi tres, et quod duae vel tres personae simul non sunt maius aliquid quam una sola. Ideo quaerit Augustinus in sexto libro de Trinitate2: «Quomodo haec sane dici possint, cum nec Pater sit solus nec Filius nec Spiritus sanctus, sed semper et inseparabiliter et Filius cum Patre et Pater cum Filio et Spiritus sanctus cum utroque; inseparabiles enim sunt hae tres personae». Ad quod ita respondet Augustinus in eodem3: «Solum Patrem dicimus Patrem, non quia separatur a Filio vel a Spiritu sancto, sed hoc dicentes significamus, quia illi simul cum eo non sunt Pater». Solus enim Pater Pater est. Quod non dicitur, quia ipse sit solus, id est sine Filio vel Spiritu sancto, sed per hoc Filius et Spiritus sanctus a paternitatis consortio excluduntur. Ita et cum dicitur: solus Filius Filius est, vel solus Spiritus sanctus Spiritus sanctus est, non dividitur Filius a Patre vel Spiritus sanctus ab utroque, sed a consortio filialis proprietatis excluduntur Pater et Spiritus sanctus, et a consortio processibilis proprietatis Pater et Filius. Cum ergo dicitur: tantus est solus Pater, quantum simul illi tres4, per hoc quod dicitur solus non separatur Pater ab aliis, sed hic est sensus: solus Pater, id est Pater, qui ita Pater est, quod nec Filius nec Spiritus sanctus, tantus est etc. Similiter intellige, cum dicitur: solus est Filius vel solus est Spiritus sanctus. «Solus ergo Pater dicitur, ut ait Augustinus in eodem5, quia non nisi ipse ibi Pater est», et solus Filius, quia non nisi ipse ibi Filius est, et solus Spiritus sanctus, quia non nisi ipse ibi Spiritus sanctus est.

Cap. II. Utrum debeat dici: solus Pater est Deus, vel solus Filius est Deus, vel solus Spiritus sanctus est Deus; an, Pater est solus Deus, Filius est solus Deus, Spiritus sanctus est solus Deus.

Post hoc quaeritur, utrum, sicut dicitur: solus Pater est Pater, vel solus Filius est Filius, ita possit dici: solus Pater est Deus, vel solus Filius est Deus, ita et de Spiritu sancto; aut, Pater est solus Deus, Filius est solus Deus. Ad quod dicimus, quia Pater et Filius et Spiritus sanctus dicitur et est unus Deus, et haec Trinitas simul proprie dicitur esse solus Deus, sicut solus sapiens, solus potens. Sed non videtur debere dici a nobis verbis nostris utentibus, nisi ubi sermo auctoritatis6 occurrit: solus Pater est Deus, vel Pater est solus Deus; ita de Filio et Spiritu sancto dicimus. Unde Augustinus in sexto libro de Trinitate7 ait: «Quoniam ostendimus, quomodo possit dici solus Pater vel solus Filius, consideranda est illa sententia, qua dicitur, Deum verum solum non esse Patrem solum, sed Patrem et Filium et Spiritum sanctum». Ecce habes, quia non solus Pater dicendus est esse solus verus Deus. Item in eodem8: «Si quis interroget, utrum Pater solus sit Deus; quomodo respondebimus, non esse, nisi forte ita dicamus, esse quidem Patrem Deum, sed non eum esse solum Deum? Esse autem solum Deum dicamus Patrem et Filium et Spiritum sanctum». Ecce et hic habes, quia Pater non debet dici solus Deus; atque hic9 solum in parte subiecti tantum accipere quidam volunt, in parte vero praedicati si sit, concedunt, quod Pater est solus Deus. Sed ex verbis Augustini videtur ostendi, quod proprie solus Deus dici debeat tota Trinitas. Et haec Trinitas, ut ait Augustinus contra Maximinum10, intelligitur, cum Apostolus dicit: Beatus et solus potens; et ibi: Soli sapienti Deo; et: Invisibili soli

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Deo. Non enim de solo Patre haec accipienda sunt, ut contendebat Maximinus et alii haeretici, sed de Trinitate. Sicut et illud: Solus habet immortalitatem, quia secundum rectam fidem ipsa Trinitas est unus solus Deus, beatus, potens, sapiens, invisibilis. Unde Augustinus in eodem11: «Cum unus Deus sit Trinitas, haec sit nobis solutio quaestionis, ut intelligamus solum Deum sapientem, solum potentem Patrem et Filium et Spiritum sanctum, qui est unus et solus Deus».

Cap. III. Quomodo Trinitas dicatur solus Deus, cum ipsa sit cum spiritibus et animabus sanctis.

Sed iterum quaeritur, quomodo ipsam Trinitatem dicimus solum Deum, cum sit cum spiritibus et animabus sanctis. Ad quod respondet Augustinus in sexto libro de Trinitate12 ita dicens: «Trinitatem dicimus Deum solum, quamvis semper sit cum spiritibus et animabus sanctis, sed solum dicimus, quia non aliud quam ipsa Trinitas Deus est. Non enim illi cum illa Deus sunt», vel aliqua alia, sed ipsa Trinitas tantum, non illi vel alia Deus est.

«Verumtamen, ut ait Augustinus13, etsi de solo Patre praedicta dicerentur, non tamen excluderetur Filius vel Spiritus sanctus, quia illi tres unum sunt, sicut in Apocalypsi de Filio legitur, quod habet nomen scriptum, quod nemo scit nisi ipse. Non enim inde separatur Pater vel Spiritus sanctus. Et cum dicitur: Nemo novit Patrem nisi Filius; non inde separatur Pater[?] et Spiritus sanctus, quia inseparabiles sunt». Aliquando etiam nominantur Pater et Filius, et tacetur Spiritus sanctus; sicut Veritas ad Patrem loquens ait14: Ut cognoscant te et quem misisti Iesum Christum esse unum verum Deum. «Cur ergo, inquit Augustinus15, tacuit de Spiritu sancto? Quia consequens est, ut ubicumque nominatur unus, sicut Pater et Filius, tanta pace uni adhaerens intelligatur etiam ipsa Pax, quamvis non commemoretur». Uno ergo istorum nominato, etiam reliqui intelliguntur; quod in pluribus Scripturae locis occurrit.

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English Translation

DISTINCTION XXI.

Cap. I. How it can be said: the Father alone, or the Son alone, or the Holy Spirit alone, since they are inseparable.

Here arises a question drawing its origin from what has been said before. For it has been said above1 that the Father alone, or the Son alone, or the Holy Spirit alone, is as great as those three together, and that two or three persons together are not anything greater than one alone. Therefore Augustine asks in the sixth book On the Trinity2: "How can these things rightly be said, since neither is the Father alone, nor the Son, nor the Holy Spirit, but always and inseparably both the Son is with the Father, and the Father with the Son, and the Holy Spirit with both? — for these three persons are inseparable." To which Augustine in the same place responds thus3: "We say that the Father alone is Father, not because He is separated from the Son or from the Holy Spirit, but in saying this we signify that those who are with Him are not Father." For the Father alone is Father. Which is not said because He is alone, that is, without the Son or the Holy Spirit, but by this the Son and the Holy Spirit are excluded from the company of paternity. So also when it is said: the Son alone is Son, or the Holy Spirit alone is the Holy Spirit, the Son is not divided from the Father, nor the Holy Spirit from both, but the Father and the Holy Spirit are excluded from the company of the filial property, and the Father and the Son from the company of the processional property. When therefore it is said: the Father alone is as great as those three together4, by what is said alone the Father is not separated from the others, but this is the sense: the Father alone — that is, the Father, who is so Father that He is neither Son nor Holy Spirit — is as great, etc. Understand similarly when it is said: the Son alone is, or the Holy Spirit alone is. "The Father therefore is called alone, as Augustine says in the same place5, because no one but Himself is there Father," and the Son alone, because no one but Himself is there Son, and the Holy Spirit alone, because no one but Himself is there the Holy Spirit.

Cap. II. Whether it ought to be said: the Father alone is God, or the Son alone is God, or the Holy Spirit alone is God; or rather, the Father is the only God, the Son is the only God, the Holy Spirit is the only God.

After this it is asked whether, just as it is said: the Father alone is Father, or the Son alone is Son, so it can be said: the Father alone is God, or the Son alone is God, and likewise of the Holy Spirit; or, the Father is the only God, the Son is the only God. To which we say that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is called and is one God, and this Trinity together is properly said to be the only God, just as the only wise, the only powerful. But it does not seem that it ought to be said by us using our own words, except where the language of authority6 occurs: the Father alone is God, or the Father is the only God; so we speak of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Whence Augustine in the sixth book On the Trinity7 says: "Since we have shown how it can be said the Father alone or the Son alone, that sentence is to be considered by which it is said that the only true God is not the Father alone, but the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Behold, you have it that the Father alone is not to be said to be the only true God. Likewise in the same place8: "If anyone should ask whether the Father alone is God; how shall we reply? — that He is not, unless perchance we say thus, that the Father is indeed God, but that He is not the only God? But let us say that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are the only God." Behold, here too you have it that the Father ought not to be called the only God; and yet here9 some wish to take it only on the side of the subject, but on the side of the predicate, if it is so, they concede that the Father is the only God. But from Augustine's words it seems shown that properly the whole Trinity ought to be called the only God. And this Trinity, as Augustine says against Maximinus10, is understood, when the Apostle says: Blessed and only powerful; and there: To the only wise God; and: To the only invisible

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God. For these are not to be taken of the Father alone, as Maximinus and other heretics contended, but of the Trinity. So also that: He alone has immortality — since according to right faith the Trinity itself is one only God, blessed, powerful, wise, invisible. Whence Augustine in the same place11: "Since one God is the Trinity, let this be for us the solution of the question, that we understand the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who is one and the only God, to be the only wise God, the only powerful."

Cap. III. How the Trinity is called the only God, although it is with the holy spirits and souls.

But again it is asked, how we call the Trinity itself the only God, since it is with the holy spirits and souls. To which Augustine in the sixth book On the Trinity12 responds, saying thus: "We call the Trinity the only God, although it is always with the holy spirits and souls, but we say only because nothing other than the Trinity itself is God. For those are not God with it" — nor any other things, but the Trinity itself only; not those, nor others, is God.

"Nevertheless, as Augustine says13, even if the things stated were said of the Father alone, the Son or the Holy Spirit would not however be excluded, because those three are one, just as in the Apocalypse it is read of the Son that He has a name written, which no one knows but Himself. For the Father or the Holy Spirit is not separated from there. And when it is said: No one knows the Father except the Son; the Father[?] and the Holy Spirit are not separated from there, since they are inseparable." Sometimes also the Father and the Son are named, and the Holy Spirit is left in silence; as Truth, speaking to the Father, says14: That they may know Thee and Him whom Thou hast sent, Jesus Christ, to be one true God. "Why therefore," says Augustine15, "did He keep silent about the Holy Spirit? Because it follows that wherever one is named, just as the Father and the Son, by such peace adhering to the One there is also understood the Peace itself, although it be not mentioned." When therefore one of these is named, the rest also are understood; which occurs in many places of Scripture.

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Apparatus Criticus
  1. Dist. XIX. — Mox solummodo Vat. et ed. 1 illae tres; supple: personae. Deinde Vat. cum paucis edd. post una superflue addit persona.
    Distinction XIX. — Just after, the Vatican edition alone and edition 1 read illae tres ("those three"); supply: personae ("persons"). Then the Vatican edition with a few editions, after una, superfluously adds persona.
  2. Cap. 7. n. 9, secundum sensum; Magister extendit quaestionem etiam ad Spiritum sanctum, sicut et in sequente textu.
    Chapter 7, n. 9, according to the sense; the Master extends the question also to the Holy Spirit, just as in the following text.
  3. Ibid., paucis interpositis. — In principio edd. praeter Vat. et ed. 1 male et contra omnia codd. et originale legunt: Solum Deum Patrem dicimus, non quia.
    Same place, with a few words intervening. — At the beginning, the editions besides the Vatican edition and edition 1 wrongly, and against all the manuscripts and the original, read: Solum Deum Patrem dicimus, non quia ("We say the Father alone God, not because").
  4. Supple cum codd. A G: quantum illi tres.
    Supply with codices A, G: quantum illi tres ("as much as those three").
  5. Cap. 9. n. 10.
    Chapter 9, n. 10.
  6. Vat. et edd. 2, 3, 7 non bene auctoritatibus.
    The Vatican edition and editions 2, 3, 7 read, not well, auctoritatibus (in the plural).
  7. Cap. 9. n. 10; in quo textu Vat. et aliae edd. contra 1, 8, codd. et originale male legunt posset pro possit. Finito textu, ante verus Deus Vat. et plures edd. contra codd. male omittunt solus.
    Chapter 9, n. 10; in which text the Vatican edition and other editions, against editions 1, 8, the manuscripts, and the original, wrongly read posset in place of possit. At the end of the text, before verus Deus, the Vatican edition and several editions, against the manuscripts, wrongly omit solus.
  8. Loc. cit. — Vat. et edd. 4, 6 interrogat, contradicentibus aliis edd., codd. et Augustino. Deinde post sed non sola Vat. omittit eum.
    Same place. — The Vatican edition and editions 4, 6 read interrogat, against the other editions, the manuscripts, and Augustine. Then after sed non, the Vatican edition alone omits eum.
  9. Edd. 2, 3, 7, 9 hoc; ed. 6 hic solus. In qualicumque lectione verba Magistri ob brevitatem sunt subobscura. Lectionem hic sic interpretari possumus: hic, id est in hac resolutione negativa, aliqui distinguunt, admittentes eam, si verbum solum ex parte subiecti accipitur. Similiter etiam lectio hoc fortasse intelligi potest. De ipsa sententia Magistri cfr. S. Bonaventura, hic dub. 1. — Mox Vat. et ed. 5 post praedicati non bene legunt sic, et edd. 3, 7 peius si sic.
    Editions 2, 3, 7, 9 read hoc; edition 6 hic solus. Under whichever reading, the Master's words are somewhat obscure on account of brevity. We can interpret the reading here thus: hic, that is, in this negative resolution, some distinguish, admitting it if the word solum is taken on the side of the subject. The reading hoc likewise can perhaps be understood similarly. On the Master's sentence itself, cf. St. Bonaventure, here dub. 1. — Just after, the Vatican edition and edition 5 wrongly read after praedicati the word sic, and editions 3, 7 worse si sic.
  10. Libr. II, c. 12, n. 2. Magister ex hoc et tribus sequentibus locis excerpsit Augustini doctrinam, quod semper tota Trinitas intelligatur in citatis locis sacrae Scripturae. Verba Augustini haec sunt: Ac per hoc quod ait Apostolus (I. Tim. 6, 15.): Beatus et solus potens, non cogor de Patre tantummodo accipere, sed de Deo, quod est ipsa Trinitas. Cap. 13. n. 2: Soli sapienti Deo (Rom. 16, 27.). Deus itaque, quod est ipsa Trinitas propterea solus sapiens recte dicitur, quia solus secundum substantiam suam sapiens est. Cap. 9. n. 1: Invisibili soli Deo (1. Tim. 1, 17.). Si dixisset soli Patri, difficilius forsasse quaestio solveretur; quia vero dixit soli Deo, non est utique contra nos; et Unigenitus quippe in Dei forma et Spiritus sanctus in sua natura est invisibilis. Unus enim et solus Deus a nobis ipsa Trinitas praedicatur. Cap. 12. n. 2: Beatus et solus potens, Rex regum etc. (I. Tim. 6, 16.). Nihil hic video dictum, quod non conveniat Trinitati. — Etiam alibi eadem docet Augustinus, cfr. libr. I. de Trinitate c. 6. n. 10. et 11, ex quo Magister mutuavit ultima verba.
    Book II, c. 12, n. 2. The Master excerpted from this and the three following passages Augustine's doctrine that the whole Trinity is always to be understood in the cited passages of sacred Scripture. Augustine's words are these: And by this, that the Apostle says (1 Timothy 6:15): "Blessed and only powerful," I am not compelled to take it of the Father only, but of God, which is the Trinity itself. C. 13, n. 2: "To the only wise God" (Romans 16:27). Therefore God, which is the Trinity itself, is rightly called the only wise on this account, because He alone, according to His substance, is wise. C. 9, n. 1: "To the invisible, only God" (1 Timothy 1:17). Had he said "to the Father alone," the question would perhaps have been harder to solve; but since he said "to God alone," it is not at all against us; for both the Only-Begotten in the form of God and the Holy Spirit in His own nature is invisible. For by us the Trinity itself is preached as the one and only God. C. 12, n. 2: "Blessed and only powerful, King of kings, etc." (1 Timothy 6:16). I see nothing here said which does not befit the Trinity. — Augustine teaches the same elsewhere as well; cf. book I On the Trinity c. 6, nn. 10 and 11, from which the Master borrowed the final words.
  11. Cap. 13. n. 1. Ultimis verbis codd. BCD haec adiciunt: Non ergo Pater solus, nec solus Filius, nec solus Spiritus sanctus Deus est, sed ipsa Trinitas unus Deus solus est.
    Chapter 13, n. 1. To the final words codices BCD add these: "Therefore not the Father alone, nor the Son alone, nor the Holy Spirit alone is God, but the Trinity itself is one God alone."
  12. Cap. 7. n. 9. — Vat. et ed. 4 ante dicens omittunt ita.
    Chapter 7, n. 9. — The Vatican edition and edition 4 omit ita before dicens.
  13. Libr. II. contra Maximinum c. 13. n. 1; sed Magister nonnulla omisit vel addidit. Tres in hoc textu occurrentes loci sacrae Scripturae sunt: I. Ioan. 3, 7; Apocal. 19, 12; et Matth. 11, 27, ubi Vulgata: Et nemo novit Filium nisi Pater; neque Patrem quis novit nisi Filius. S. Bonav. (hic dub. 3.), uti testantur codd., in Magistro legit: Nemo novit Filium nisi Pater.
    Book II Against Maximinus c. 13, n. 1; but the Master omitted or added some things. The three Scripture passages that occur in this text are: 1 John 3:7; Apocalypse 19:12; and Matthew 11:27, where the Vulgate reads: And no one knows the Son but the Father; nor does anyone know the Father but the Son. St. Bonaventure (here, dub. 3), as the manuscripts attest, reads in the Master: No one knows the Son but the Father.
  14. Ioan. 17, 3.
    John 17:3.
  15. Libr. VI. de Trinitate c. 9. n. 10. Etiam propositio praecedens secundum sensum inde excerpta est. — In fine sola Vat. addit: ut ibidem amplificat Augustinus.
    Book VI On the Trinity c. 9, n. 10. Also the preceding proposition is excerpted from there according to the sense. — At the end, the Vatican edition alone adds: as Augustine amplifies in the same place.
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