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Dist. 2, Art. 3, Q. 3

Book III: On the Incarnation of the Word · Distinction 2

Textus Latinus
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Quaestio III. Utrum Verbum unitum sit humanae naturae mediante Spiritu sancto.

Tertio quaeritur, utrum Verbum sit unitum humanae naturae mediante Spiritu sancto. Et quod sic, videtur:

Ad oppositum.

1. Quia unio Verbi increati ad carnem est similis unioni verbi intelligibilis ad vocem; sed verbum intelligibile non unitur voci nisi mediante spiritu vel flatu spirato, qui est vehiculum verbi, sicut dicit Damascenus1: ergo nec Verbum unitur carni, nisi mediante Spiritu sancto.

2. Item, omnis unio voluntaria est mediante amore, sicut dicit Dionysius2, quia «amor nihil aliud est quam vis unitiva»; sed unio Verbi ad humanam naturam est voluntaria: ergo est mediante amore; aut ergo mediante amore creato, vel increato. Non mediante amore creato, quia amor creatus non potuit facere illam unionem; ergo mediante amore increato; sed amor iste est Spiritus sanctus: ergo unio in humana natura facta est mediante Spiritu sancto.

3. Item, maior est unio divinarum personarum ad invicem, quam naturae assumentis et assumtae; sed persona Patris et Filii nectuntur Spiritu sancto3: ergo multo fortius natura humana unitur divinae mediante Spiritu sancto.

4. Item, remotiora coniunguntur per propinquiora; sed inter personas tres propinquior est nobis persona Spiritus sancti, sicut vult Hilarius et Augustinus4 — nam omne donum et omnis usus doni est ex Munere — ergo videtur, quod persona Filii non uniatur humanae naturae nisi mediante persona Spiritus sancti.

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Sed contra:

Fundamenta.

1. Si persona Verbi unita est humanae naturae mediante Spiritu sancto, ergo Spiritus sanctus est unitus humanae naturae: ergo sicut Filius est incarnatus, ita et Spiritus sanctus.

2. Item, magis unitur medium extremo quam extremum extremo: ergo si unio Verbi ad humanam naturam est mediante Spiritu sancto, magis est facta unio in persona Spiritus sancti quam in persona Verbi; sed hoc est falsum: ergo etc.

3. Item, in unione divinae naturae cum humana5 non potest esse unitas essentiae, sed personae: ergo necesse est, quod illa unio fiat mediante una persona; sed Filius et Spiritus sanctus non conveniunt in persona: ergo impossibile est, Filium uniri humanae naturae mediante Spiritu sancto in unitate personae.

4. Item, infinita est distantia in persona Spiritus sancti, sicut in persona Filii; sed quandocumque aliqua sunt in aequali distantia respectu eiusdem, unum non est medium uniendi alterum, pro eo quod medium plus appropinquat extremis, quam extrema sibi invicem: ergo videtur, quod persona Verbi non habeat uniri mediante persona Spiritus sancti.

Conclusio

Verbum non est unitum animae humanae mediante Spiritu sancto ut vinculo interveniente, sed ut principio efficiente et per modum appropriationis.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod cum quaeritur, utrum persona Verbi habeat uniri humanae naturae mediante Spiritu sancto, hoc dupliciter potest intelligi (duplex sensus): aut ita, quod illa unio fiat mediante Spiritu sancto, sicut vinculo interveniente; aut ita, quod fiat sicut principio efficiente. Si primo modo intelligatur (conclusio 1), sic non habet veritatem, pro eo quod persona Verbi per se unitur humanae naturae, non persona aliqua mediante. Nequaquam enim persona Spiritus sancti intercidit media inter personam Verbi et naturam assumtam. — Si autem unio illa intelligatur fieri mediante Spiritu sancto6 sicut principio efficiente (conclusio 2), per modum cuiusdam subauctoritatis et appropriationis: sic veritatem habet; incarnatio enim Verbi fuit a Patre et a Filio mediante Spiritu sancto. — Sed hoc modo non est hic quaestio, sed (de hoc non quaeritur) infra7 erit suo loco, cum quaeretur, utrum incarnationis opus appropriari debeat Spiritui sancto. Nunc autem est quaestio, utrum unio Verbi fiat mediante Spiritu sancto sicut vinculo interveniente. Ad hanc quaestionem respondendum est (conclusio 3), quod hoc falsum est et non intelligibile, sicut ostendunt rationes ad hoc inductae.

(Solutio oppositorum.)

Ad 1. Ad illud vero quod obiicitur in contrarium, quod verbum intelligibile unitur voci mediante spiritu; dicendum, quod similitudo est inter creaturam et Creatorem, ita tamen, quod maior reperitur dissimilitudo; unde quodam modo est simile et quodam modo non (notandum). In hoc inquam est simile, quod sicut mens format vocem exteriorem mediante spiritu8; sic Deus Pater formavit carnem assumtam mediante Spiritu sancto. In hoc est dissimile, quia spiritus est vehiculum verbi; non sic Spiritus sanctus personae Filii. Nusquam enim est persona Spiritus sancti, ubi non sit persona Verbi; et ideo quantum ad hoc similitudo non potest nec debet attendi.

Ad 2. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod unio voluntaria est mediante amore; dicendum, quod unio voluntaria dicitur dupliciter (duplex unio voluntaria): aut quia est a voluntate, aut quia est secundum voluntatem. Illa unio, quae est voluntaria9 a voluntate, est mediante amore sicut efficiente; illa vero, quae est voluntaria secundum voluntatem, illa habet fieri mediante amore sicut glutino coniungente. Dico igitur, quod unio Verbi ad humanam naturam est voluntaria, quia est a voluntate; sed non est voluntaria, quia fit secundum conformitatem voluntatum, sed potius secundum coniunctionem naturarum in una persona. Et ideo non sequitur, quod talis unio fiat mediante Spiritu sancto sicut vinculo interveniente, sed potius sicut principio efficiente.

Ad 3. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod divinae personae nectuntur mediante Spiritu sancto; dicendum, quod non est simile: quia nexus duarum personarum attenditur secundum productionem personae unius per voluntatis fecunditatem, ita quod inter illas personas et earum nexum10 est distinctio personarum. Non sic autem est in proposito, quia duae naturae concurrunt in unitatem personae.

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Ad 4. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod propinquior est nobis persona Spiritus sancti; dicendum, quod11 dictum est per appropriationem (notandum), non quia persona Spiritus sancti magis accedat ad naturam creatam quam persona Verbi, sed quia tantum procedit, ita quod non producit aliam personam; et procedit per modum fecunditatis voluntatis. Et quoniam omnes creaturae productae sunt voluntarie et ex divina liberalitate; hinc est, quod persona Spiritus sancti dicitur nobis magis appropinquare. Et ideo secundum quandam appropriationem, concedi potest, quod unio illa fiat mediante Spiritu sancto, cum sit gratuita12, Spiritu sancto, inquam, efficiente secundum appropriationem, non interveniente tamen secundum personalem discretionem13.

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English Translation

Question III. Whether the Word was united to human nature through the medium of the Holy Spirit.

Thirdly it is asked whether the Word was united to human nature through the medium of the Holy Spirit. And that it was, seems to be the case:

To the contrary.

1. Because the union of the uncreated Word to flesh is similar to the union of the intelligible word to the voice; but the intelligible word is not united to the voice except through the medium of breath or of exhaled spirit, which is the vehicle of the word, as Damascene says1: therefore neither is the Word united to flesh except through the medium of the Holy Spirit.

2. Likewise, every voluntary union is through the medium of love, as Dionysius says2, because "love is nothing other than a unitive power"; but the union of the Word to human nature is voluntary: therefore it is through the medium of love; either therefore through the medium of created or of uncreated love. Not through the medium of created love, because created love could not effect that union; therefore through the medium of uncreated love; but that love is the Holy Spirit: therefore the union in human nature was made through the medium of the Holy Spirit.

3. Likewise, the union of the divine persons to one another is greater than that of the assuming nature and the assumed; but the person of the Father and of the Son are bound together by the Holy Spirit3: therefore much more strongly is human nature united to the divine through the medium of the Holy Spirit.

4. Likewise, things more remote are joined through things nearer; but among the three persons the person of the Holy Spirit is nearer to us, as Hilary and Augustine hold4 — for every gift and every use of a gift is from the Giver — therefore it seems that the person of the Son is not united to human nature except through the medium of the person of the Holy Spirit.

Sed contra:

The foundations.

1. If the person of the Word is united to human nature through the medium of the Holy Spirit, then the Holy Spirit is united to human nature: therefore just as the Son is incarnate, so too is the Holy Spirit.

2. Likewise, the medium is more united to an extreme than one extreme to the other: therefore if the union of the Word to human nature is through the medium of the Holy Spirit, the union is made more in the person of the Holy Spirit than in the person of the Word; but this is false: therefore etc.

3. Likewise, in the union of the divine nature with the human5 there cannot be a unity of essence, but of person: therefore it is necessary that that union be made through the medium of one person; but the Son and the Holy Spirit do not coincide in person: therefore it is impossible that the Son be united to human nature through the medium of the Holy Spirit in unity of person.

4. Likewise, the distance in the person of the Holy Spirit is infinite, just as in the person of the Son; but whenever some things are at an equal distance with respect to the same thing, the one is not a medium for uniting the other, on the ground that a medium approaches the extremes more than the extremes approach one another: therefore it seems that the person of the Word is not to be united through the medium of the person of the Holy Spirit.

Conclusio

The Word is not united to the human soul through the medium of the Holy Spirit as an intervening bond, but as an efficient principle and by way of appropriation.

Respondeo: It must be said that when it is asked whether the person of the Word is to be united to human nature through the medium of the Holy Spirit, this can be understood in two ways (a twofold sense): either so that that union is made through the medium of the Holy Spirit as an intervening bond; or so that it is made as an efficient principle. If it be understood in the first way (conclusion 1), thus it does not hold true, on the ground that the person of the Word is united to human nature by itself, and not through the medium of any person. For in no way does the person of the Holy Spirit fall in between, as a medium, between the person of the Word and the assumed nature. — But if that union be understood to be made through the medium of the Holy Spirit6 as an efficient principle (conclusion 2), by way of a certain sub-authority and appropriation: thus it holds true; for the incarnation of the Word was from the Father and from the Son through the medium of the Holy Spirit. — But in this way the question is not here at issue, but (of this it is not asked) it will be in its place below7, when it will be asked whether the work of the incarnation ought to be appropriated to the Holy Spirit. Now, however, the question is whether the union of the Word is made through the medium of the Holy Spirit as an intervening bond. To this question it must be answered (conclusion 3) that this is false and unintelligible, as the reasons adduced for it show.

(The solution of the opposing arguments.)

Ad 1. To that indeed which is objected to the contrary, that the intelligible word is united to the voice through the medium of breath; it must be said that there is a likeness between creature and Creator, yet in such a way that a greater unlikeness is found; whence in a certain way it is similar and in a certain way not (note). In this, I say, it is similar, that just as the mind forms the exterior voice through the medium of breath8; so God the Father formed the assumed flesh through the medium of the Holy Spirit. In this it is unlike, because breath is the vehicle of the word; not so is the Holy Spirit of the person of the Son. For nowhere is the person of the Holy Spirit where there is not the person of the Word; and therefore in this respect the likeness cannot and ought not to be pressed.

Ad 2. To that which is objected, that a voluntary union is through the medium of love; it must be said that a voluntary union is so called in two ways (a twofold voluntary union): either because it is from the will, or because it is according to the will. That union which is voluntary9 as from the will is through the medium of love as an efficient cause; but that which is voluntary according to the will, that has to be made through the medium of love as a conjoining glue. I say therefore that the union of the Word to human nature is voluntary, because it is from the will; but it is not voluntary in that it is made according to a conformity of wills, but rather according to a conjunction of natures in one person. And therefore it does not follow that such a union is made through the medium of the Holy Spirit as an intervening bond, but rather as an efficient principle.

Ad 3. To that which is objected, that the divine persons are bound together through the medium of the Holy Spirit; it must be said that it is not similar: because the binding of two persons is regarded according to the production of one person through the fecundity of the will, in such a way that between those persons and their binding10 there is a distinction of persons. But it is not so in the matter at hand, because two natures concur into the unity of person.

Ad 4. To that which is objected, that the person of the Holy Spirit is nearer to us; it must be said that11 it has been said by appropriation (note), not because the person of the Holy Spirit approaches a created nature more than the person of the Word, but because it merely proceeds, in such a way that it does not produce another person; and it proceeds by way of the fecundity of the will. And since all creatures have been produced voluntarily and out of the divine liberality; hence it is that the person of the Holy Spirit is said to approach us more nearly. And therefore, according to a certain appropriation, it can be granted that that union is made through the medium of the Holy Spirit, since it is gratuitous12 — the Holy Spirit, I say, being the efficient cause according to appropriation, yet not intervening according to personal distinction13.

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Apparatus Criticus
  1. Libr. I. de Fide orthod. c. 7. Cfr. ibid. c. 13. et II. c. 21; nec non August., XV. de Trin. c. II. n. 20, et Serm. 187. (alias 27. de Tempore) c. 3. n. 3. — Pro similis unioni, quam lectionem invenimus in codd. K bb, alii codd. et edd. 1, 2 exhibent similis modi, Vat. similis modi unioni. Vat. etiam bis pro intelligibilis substituit intellectualis.
    John Damascene, On the Orthodox Faith bk. I, c. 7. Cf. ibid. c. 13 and bk. II, c. 21; and also Augustine, On the Trinity bk. XV, c. 2, n. 20, and Sermon 187 (otherwise 27, On the Season) c. 3, n. 3. — For similis unioni ("a similar union"), which reading we find in codices K bb, the other codices and editions 1, 2 give similis modi ("of a similar mode"), the Vatican edition similis modi unioni. The Vatican edition also twice substitutes intellectualis for intelligibilis.
  2. De Div. Nom. c. 4. § 15. — Aliquantulum inferius pro non potuit codd. G K Z non potest.
    On the Divine Names c. 4, § 15. — A little further down, for non potuit ("could not"), codices G K Z read non potest ("cannot").
  3. Cfr. I. Sent. d. 10. a. 2. q. 2. — In maiori cod. Q post quam repetit unio.
    Cf. I Sent., d. 10, a. 2, q. 2. — In the larger codex Q, after quam it repeats unio.
  4. Hilar., II. de Trin. n. 1. et 35; August., VI. de Trin. c. 10. n. 11, Enchirid. c. 40. n. 12. August. ait: «Quae gratia [ut in incarnatione filius hominis esset Filius Dei] propterea per Spiritum sanctum fuerat significanda, quia ipse proprie sic est Deus, ut dicatur etiam Dei donum». Et in libro de Spiritu et anima (inter opera August.) c. 6. haec habentur: Quodam modo namque quasi proprior [aliqui codd. propior] videtur nobis esse Spiritus sanctus, utpote Patris et Filii munus. Ex ipso nimirum est omnis usus gratiae cum Patre et Filio.
    Hilary, On the Trinity bk. II, n. 1 and 35; Augustine, On the Trinity bk. VI, c. 10, n. 11, Enchiridion c. 40, n. 12. Augustine says: "This grace [namely, that in the incarnation the son of man should be the Son of God] had on that account to be signified through the Holy Spirit, because he himself is properly God in such a way that he is also called the Gift of God." And in the book On the Spirit and the Soul (among the works of Augustine) c. 6 these things are found: For in a certain way the Holy Spirit seems to us to be as it were more proper [some codices, nearer] to us, inasmuch as he is the gift of the Father and of the Son. From him indeed is every use of grace, together with the Father and the Son.
  5. Post humana codd. G K inserunt terminus. Cfr. infra d. 6. a. 2. q. 1. — Subinde pro unitas essentiae cod. Q unitas naturae. Mox pro una persona edd. cum codd. H L U aa una sola persona.
    After humana codices G K insert terminus. Cf. below d. 6, a. 2, q. 1. — Thereafter, for unitas essentiae ("unity of essence") codex Q reads unitas naturae ("unity of nature"). Soon after, for una persona ("one person") the editions, together with codices H L U aa, read una sola persona ("one sole person").
  6. Cod. F mediante persona Spiritus sancti. Post pauca pro subauctoritatis codd. H M O T V X auctoritatis.
    Codex F reads through the medium of the person of the Holy Spirit. A little after, for subauctoritatis ("sub-authority") codices H M O T V X read auctoritatis ("authority").
  7. Dist. 4. a. 1. q. 1.
    Distinction 4, a. 1, q. 1.
  8. Cod. K addit spirato, Vat. id est, flatu spirato a creatura. Paulo inferius iterum cod. K cum cod. H post quia spiritus adiicit spiratus, et Vat. spiratus a creatura. Cod. T hoc secundo loco voci spiritus primitus cum codd. A G U V et edd. 1, 2 adiunxerat sanctus, pro illo nunc exhibet noster. Subinde pro Nusquam codd. A G H L X T U V Z et edd. 1, 2 substituunt Nunquam.
    Codex K adds spirato, the Vatican edition that is, by breath exhaled by a creature. A little further down, again, codex K together with codex H after quia spiritus adds spiratus, and the Vatican edition spiratus a creatura. Codex T, in this second place, had originally joined to the word spiritus, together with codices A G U V and editions 1, 2, the word sanctus; in place of it it now exhibits noster. Thereafter, for Nusquam codices A G H L X T U V Z and editions 1, 2 substitute Nunquam.
  9. Hic et in seq. propositione post voluntaria codd. A F G K N T U V Z bb et edd. 1, 2 repetunt quae est (quia est?), et paulo inferius pro quia est a voluntate codd. F G U Z substituunt quae est a voluntate.
    Here and in the following clause, after voluntaria, codices A F G K N T U V Z bb and editions 1, 2 repeat quae est (perhaps quia est?), and a little further down, for quia est a voluntate codices F G U Z substitute quae est a voluntate.
  10. Cfr. I. Sent. d. 10. a. 1. et 2. — Pro earum nexum, quod cod. K et Vat. exhibent, in ceteris edd. et codd. legitur non apte earum nexus, et in fine solut. pro in unitatem cod. A in unitate.
    Cf. I Sent., d. 10, a. 1 and 2. — For earum nexum ("their binding," accusative), which codex K and the Vatican edition exhibit, in the other editions and codices is read, inaptly, earum nexus ("their binding," nominative), and at the end of the solution, for in unitatem codex A reads in unitate.
  11. Cod. bb et Vat. subiiciunt hoc.
    Codex bb and the Vatican edition append hoc ("this").
  12. Edd. 1, 2 cum sit facta a Spiritu sancto tanquam efficiente etc. In fine solut. pro discretionem codd. G W Z et edd. 1, 2 habent distinctionem, in Vat. legitur distinctionem vel discretionem.
    Editions 1, 2 read since it was made by the Holy Spirit as by an efficient cause, etc. At the end of the solution, for discretionem ("distinction") codices G W Z and editions 1, 2 have distinctionem; in the Vatican edition is read distinctionem vel discretionem.
  13. Vide scholion ad praecedentem quaest.
    See the scholion to the preceding question.
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