Chapter VI.

To those who object that according to the words of Amos the Spirit is created, the answer is made that the word is there understood of the wind, which is often created, which cannot be said of the Holy Spirit, since He is eternal, and cannot be dissolved in death, or by an heretical absorption into the Father. But if they pertinaciously contend that this passage was written of the Holy Spirit, St. Ambrose points out that recourse must be had to a spiritual Interpretation, for Christ by His coming established the thunder, that is, the force of the divine utterances, and by Spirit is signified the human soul as also the flesh assumed by Christ. And since this was created by each Person of the Trinity, it is thence argued that the Spirit, Who has before been affirmed to be the Creator of all things, was the Author of the Incarnation of the Lord.

48. Nor does it escape my notice that heretics have been wont to object that the Holy Spirit appears to be a creature, because many of them use as an argument for establishing their impiety that passage of Amos, where he spoke of the blowing of the wind, as the words of the prophet made clear. For you read thus: “Behold, I am He that establish the thunders, and create the wind [spirit],283    Spiritus is Latin for wind and spirit. See note on § 63 of this book. and declare unto man his Christ, that make light and mist, and ascend upon high places, the Lord God Almighty is His Name.”284    Amos iv. 13.

49. If they make an argument of this, that he said “spirit” was created, Esdras taught us that spirit is created, saying in the fourth book: “And upon the second day Thou madest the spirit of the firmament,”285    2 [4] Esdras vi. 41. yet, that we may keep to our point, is it not evident that in what Amos said the order of the passage shows that the prophet was speaking of the creation of this world?

50. He begins as follows: “I am the Lord that establish the thunders and create the wind [spirit].” The order of the words itself teaches us; for if he had wished to speak of the Holy Spirit, he would certainly not have put the thunders in the first place. For thunder is not more ancient than the Holy Spirit; though they be ungodly, they still dare not say that. And then when we see what follows concerning light and mist, is it not plain that what is said is to be understood of the creation of this world? For we know by every-day experience, that when we have storms on this earth, thunders come first, blasts of wind follow on, the sky grows black with mists, and light shines again out of the darkness. For the blasts of wind are also called “spirits,” as it is written: “Fire and brimstone and the spirit of storm.”286    Ps. xi. [x.] 6.

51. And that you might know that he called this “spirit,” he says: “establishing thunders and creating the wind [spirit].” For these are often created, when they take place. But the Holy Spirit is eternal, and if any one dares to call Him a creature, still he cannot say that He is daily created like the blast of the wind. Then, again, Wisdom herself, speaking after the mystery of the assumed Body, says: “The Lord created Me.”287    Prov. viii. 22. Although prophesying of things to come, yet, because the coming of the Lord was predestined, it is not said “creates” but “created Me;” that men might believe that the Body of Jesus was begotten of the Virgin Mary, not often, but once only.

52. And so, as to that which the prophet declared as it were of the daily working of God in the thunder and the creation of the wind, it would be impious to understand any such thing of the Holy Spirit, Whom the ungodly themselves cannot deny to exist from before the world. Whence with pious asseveration we testify that He always exists, and abides ever. For neither can He Who before the world was moving upon the waters begin to be visible after the world’s creation; or else it would be allowable to suppose that there are many Holy Spirits, Who come into being by as it were a daily production. Far be it from any one to pollute himself with such impiety as to say that the Holy Spirit is frequently or ever created. For I do not understand why He should be frequently created; unless perchance they believe that He dies frequently and so is frequently created. But how can the Spirit of life die? If, then, He cannot die, there is no reason why He should be often created.

53. But they who think otherwise fall into this sacrilege, that they do not distinguish the Holy Spirit; who think that the Word Which was sent forth returns to the Father, and the Spirit Which was sent forth is reabsorbed into God, so that there should be a reabsorption288    St. Ambrose would seem to be alluding to a certain party amongst the Sabellians, who, to avoid the charge of being Patripassians, maintained that Christ before His Incarnation was one with the Father, from Whom He then emanated, in Whom after His Passion He was again reabsorbed. Cf. De Fide, V. 162. and a kind of alternation of one changing himself into various forms; whereas the distinction between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit always abiding and unchangeable, preserves the Unity of its power.

54. But if any one thinks that the word of the prophet is to be explained with reference to the Holy Spirit, because it is said, “declaring unto men His Christ,”289    Amos iv. 13. he will explain it more easily of the Lord’s Incarnation. For if it troubles you that he said Spirit, and therefore you think that this cannot well be explained of the mystery of the taking of human nature, read on in the Scriptures and you will find that all agrees most excellently with Christ, of Whom it is thoroughly fitting to think that He established the thunders by His coming, that is, the force and sound of the heavenly Scriptures, by the thunder, as it were, of which our minds are struck with astonishment, so that we learn to be afraid, and pay respect to the heavenly oracles.

55. Lastly, in the Gospel the brothers of the Lord were called Sons of Thunder; and when the voice was uttered of the Father, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again,”290    S. John xii. 28. the Jews said that it thundered on Him. For although they could not receive the grace of the truth, yet they confessed unwillingly, and in their ignorance were speaking mysteries, so that there resulted a great testimony of the Father to the Son. And in the Book of Job, too, the Scripture says: “And who knows when He will make the power of His thunder?”291    Job xxvi. 14 [LXX.]. Certainly if these words pertained to the thunders of the heavens, he would have said that their force was already made, not about to be made.

56. Therefore he referred the thunders to the words of the Lord, the sound of which went out into all the earth, and we understand the word “spirit” in this place of the soul, which He took endowed with reason and perfect;292    It has been generally held that our Lord’s Soul was from the first endowed with all the fulness of which a human soul is capable, having, for instance, perfect knowledge of all things past, present, and to come: the only limit being that a finite nature cannot possess the infinite attributes of the Godhead. for Scripture often designates the soul of man by the word spirit, as you read: “Who creates the spirit of man within him.”293    Zech. xii. 1. So, too, the Lord signified His Soul by the word Spirit, when He said: “Into Thy hands I commend My Spirit.”294    S. Luke xxiii. 46.

57. And that you might know that he spoke of the coming down of Jesus, he added that He declared His Christ to men, for in His baptism He declared Him, saying: “Thou art My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.”295    S. Matt. iii. 17. He declared Him on the mount, saying: “This is My beloved Son, hear ye Him.”296    S. Mark ix. 7. He declared Him in His Passion, when the sun hid itself, and sea and earth trembled. He declared Him in the Centurion, who said: “Truly this was the Son of God.”297    S. Mark xv. 39.

58. We ought, then, to take this whole passage either to be simply to be understood of that state in which we here live and breathe, or of the mystery of the Lord’s Body; for if here it had been stated that the Holy Spirit was created, undoubtedly Scripture would elsewhere have declared the same, as we often read of the Son of God, Who according to the flesh was both made and created.

59. But it is fitting that we should consider His Majesty in the very fact of His taking flesh for us, that we may see His divine power in the very taking of the Body. For as we read that the Father created the mystery of the Lord’s Incarnation, the Spirit too created it; and so too we read that Christ Himself created His own Body. For the Father created it, as it is written: “The Lord created Me,”298    Prov. viii. 12. and in another place, “God sent His Son, made of a woman, made under the law.”299    Gal. iv. 4. And the Spirit created the whole mystery, according to that which we read, for “Mary was found with child of the Holy Spirit.”300    S. Matt. i. 18.

60. You find, then, that the Father created and the Spirit created; learn, too, that the Son of God also created, when Solomon says: “Wisdom hath made herself a house.”301    Prov. ix. 1. How, then, can the Holy Spirit Who created the mystery of the Lord’s Incarnation, which is above all created things, be Himself a creature?

61. As we have shown above302    Ch. V. generally that the Holy Spirit is our Creator according to the flesh in the outer man, let us now show that He is our Creator also according to the mystery of grace. And as the Father creates, so too does the Son create, and so too the Holy Spirit creates, as we read in the words of Paul: “For it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any one should boast. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus in good works.”303    Eph. ii. 8 ff.

643 CAPUT VI.

Objicientibus ex verbis Amos creari Spiritum, reponitur hanc vocem illic intelligendam de vento, qui saepius 0753A creatur: quod sane dici non potest de Spiritu sancto; quippe qui et aeternus sit, nec morte, aut haeretica in Patrem refusione resolvi possit. Quod si urgeant pervicacius eumdem locum de Spiritu sancto scriptum fuisse, docet recurrendum ad expositionem spiritualem; Christum enim adventu suo tonitrua, id est, verborum divinorum vim firmavisse: per Spiritum autem humanam animam significari, sicut et carnem a Christo susceptam. Hujus porro cum quaelibet Trinitatis persona vere sit creatrix, inde astruitur Spiritum similiter incarnationis Domini auctorem esse, qui rerum omnium creator jam ante assertus est.

48. [Alias cap. VII.] Nec me praeterit haereticos objectare consuevisse ideo videri creatum Spiritum 0753B sanctum, quia plerique eorum ad argumentum astruendae suae impietatis adsciscunt illud, quod Amos de flatu ventorum locutus est, ut ipse propheticus sermo declarat. Sic enim habes: Ecce ego firmans tonitruum, et creans spiritum, et nuntians in homines Christum suum, faciens lucem et nebulam, et ascendens super excelsa, Dominus Deus omnipotens nomen est ei (Amos. IV, 13).

49. Si hinc faciunt quaestionem, quod creatum Spiritum dixit, quia creatur Spiritus Esdras nos docuit, dicens in quarto libro: Et in die secundo iterum creasti spiritum firmamenti (IV Esdr. VI, 41); tamen ut propositis inhaereamus, his videlicet quae Amos dixit, nonne evidenter dictorum testificatur series de istius creatura mundi locutum prophetam?

0753C 50. Denique ita coepit: Ego Dominus firmans tonitruum, et creans spiritum. Ipse ordo nos doceat; nam si de Spiritu sancto dicere voluisset, non de tonitruo utique praemisisset. Neque enim antiquiora tonitrua sunt, quam Spiritus sanctus: quamvis impii sint, tamen id non audent dicere. Deinde cum subjectum videamus esse de luce et nebula, nonne manifestum est quod de creatura mundi dictum intelligendum sit? Cum enim fiunt aliquae tempestates istius mundi, praecedere tonitrua, sequi ventorum flatus, coelum nebulis caligare, lucem refundi ex tenebris, ipso usu quotidiano, exemploque cognoscimus. Nam etiam flatus ventorum spiritus dicitur, sicut scriptum est: Ignis et sulphur, et Spiritus procellae (Psal. X, 7).

51. Et ut scires quia hunc spiritum dixit, ait: 0753D Firmans tonitruum, et creans spiritum; quia frequenter creantur ista, cum fiunt: Spiritus autem sanctus aeternus est; quem si quis audet dicere creatum, non potest tamen dicere quod quotidie creatur, sicut flabra ventorum. Denique ipsa Sapientia secundum suscepti locuta corporis sacramentum, ait: Dominus creavit me (Prov. VIII, 22). Quamvis ventura prophetaret, 0754A tamen quia praedestinatus erat Domini Salvatoris adventus; 644 non dixit, creat me, sed creavit, ne frequenter, sed semel crederent ex virgine Maria Jesu corpus esse generandum.

52. Et hoc igitur quod velut quotidianam operationem Dei in tonitrui firmamento, et in Spiritus creatione propheta declaravit, intelligere nefas est, ut de Spiritu sancto tale aliquid aestimemus, quem ipsi impii ante saecula esse negare non possunt; unde et semper eum esse, et semper manere pia assertione testamur. Neque enim qui ante mundum superferebatur super aquas (Gen. I, 2), potest videri coepisse post mundum: aut multos esse Spiritus sanctos aestimari fas est, qui veluti quotidiana generatione generentur. Absit ut se quisquam tali impietate contaminet; 0754B ut dicat frequenter creari, aut umquam creari Spiritum sanctum. Cur enim frequenter creari videatur, non intelligo; nisi forte et mori eum credant frequenter, et frequenter creari. Sed quemadmodum mori potest Spiritus vitae? Ergo si mori non potest, causam non habet cur saepius sit creandus.

53. At qui aliter putant, in illud sacrilegium recidunt, ut non distinguant Spiritum sanctum, qui prolativum Verbum putant in Patrem redire, prolativum Spiritum in Deum refundi; ut unius refusio sit, et quaedam vicissitudo in varias formas se saepe mutantis: cum Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti manens semper immutabilisque distinctio, unitatem suae teneat potestatis.

54. Si quis tamen propheticum dictum ideo derivandum 0754C putat ad interpretationem Spiritus sancti, quia habet: Annuntians in homines Christum suum (Amos IV, 15); is ad incarnationis Dominicae mysterium dictum facilius derivabit. Nam si te movet quia spiritum dixit, et ideo non hoc putas derivandum ad mysterium assumptionis humanae; prosequere Scripturas, et invenies optime congruere de Christo, de quo bene convenit aestimari quia firmavit tonitrua adventu suo, vim videlicet et sonum coelestium Scripturarum, quarum velut quodam tonitruo mentes nostrae redduntur attonitae, ut timere discamus, et reverentiam coelestibus deferamus oraculis.

55. Denique in Evangelio fratres Domini filii tonitrui dicebantur; et cum vox Patris facta esset dicentis 0754D ad Filium: Et honorificavi, et iterum honorificabo (Joan. XII, 28); Judaei dicebant: Tonitruum factum est illi (Ibid., 29). Nam licet gratiam veritatis haurire non possent, tamen confitebantur inviti, et ignari mysterium loquebantur; eo quod magnum Patris de Filio testimonium resultabat. In Job quoque libro Scriptura dicit: Firmamentum quoque tonitrui 0755A sui quis scit quando faciet (Job. XXVI, 14)? Utique si ad haec commotionum coelestium tonitrua pertinerent, non futura eorum firmamenta, sed facta dixisset.

56. Ergo tonitrua ad sermones Domini retulit, quorum in omnem terram exivit sonus: spiritum autem hoc loco animam, quam suscepit rationabilem atque perfectam, intelligimus; quia Scriptura frequenter et animam hominis 645 spiritus vocabulo designat, sicut habes: Qui creat spiritum hominis in ipso (Zach. XII, 1). Unde et Dominus animam suam spiritus appellatione significans ait: In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum (Luc. XXIII, 46).

57. Et ut scires quia de Jesu Domini descensione memoravit, addidit quod nuntiaret in homines Christum 0755B suum (Amos IV, 13); annuntiavit enim in baptismate, dicens: Tu es Filius meus dilectissimus, in quo bene complacui (Matth. III, 17). Annuntiavit in monte, dicens: Hic est Filius meus dilectus, ipsum audite (Matth. XVII, 17). Annuntiavit in passione, cum sol recessit, maria terraeque tremuerunt. Annuntiavit in centurione, qui ait: Vere Dei Filius erat iste (Matth. XIV, 33).

58. Totum igitur hunc locum aut ad simplicem intellectum istius flatus qui vivendo hauritur, aut ad mysterium Dominici corporis referre debemus, nam si hic creatum dixisset Spiritum sanctum, utique et alibi idem Scriptura declarare potuisset, sicut de Filio Dei frequenter legimus quia secundum carnem et factus est et creatus (Rom. I, 3).

0755C 59. Cujus tamen majestatem in eo ipso quod carnem pro nobis suscepit, considerare nos convenit; ut divinam potentiam in ipsa corporis assumptione videamus [Alias cap. VIII]. Etenim sicut legimus quia creavit Pater Dominicae incarnationis sacramentum, creavit et Spiritus; ita etiam legimus quod et ipse Christus suum corpus creavit; creavit enim Pater, secundum quod scriptum est: Dominus creavit me (Prov. VIII, 23); et alibi: Misit Deus Filium suum factum ex muliere, factum sub Lege (Gal. IV, 4). Creavit et Spiritus illud omne mysterium, secundum quod legimus, quia inventa est Maria in utero habens ex Spiritu sancto (Matth. I, 18).

60. Habes quia creavit Pater, creavit et Spiritus: accipe quia creavit et Filius Dei, dicente Salomone: 0755D Sapientia fecit sibi domum (Prov. IX, 1). Ergo Spiritus sanctus qui creavit Dominicae incarnationis sacramentum, quod super omnes est creaturas, quomodo esse potest creatura?

61. De generalitate autem supra ostendimus (Sup. cap. 5) quia secundum carnem creator est noster Spiritus sanctus in homine exteriore: nunc ostendamus quia creator est noster, etiam secundum gratiae sacramentum. Et sicut creat Pater, ita creat et 0756A Filius, ita creat et Spiritus sanctus, sicut legimus, dicente Paulo: Dei enim donum est, non ex operibus, ne quis glorietur; ipsius enim sumus factura, creati in Christo Jesu in operibus bonis (Ephes, II. 8 et seq.).