Chapter V.

The writer sums up the argument he had commenced, and confirms the statement that unity is signified by the terms finger and right hand, from the fact that the works of God are the same as are the works of hands; and that those of hands are the same as those of fingers; and lastly, that the term hand applies equally to the Son and the Spirit, and that of finger applies to the Spirit and the Son.

29. But what wonder is it if He Who Himself needs no sanctification, but abounds therewith, sanctifies each man; since, as I said, we have been taught that His Majesty is so great, that the Holy Spirit seems to be as inseparable from God the Father as the finger is from the body?

30. But if any one thinks that this should be referred not to the oneness of power, but to its lessening, he indeed will fall into such madness as to appear to fashion the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as it were into one bodily form, and to picture to himself certain distinctions of its members.

31. But let them learn, as I have often said, that not inequality but unity of power is signified by this testimony; inasmuch as things which are the works of God are also the works of hands, and we read that the same are the works of fingers. For it is written: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth the work of His hands;”485    Ps. xix. [xviii.] 1. and elsewhere: “In the beginning Thou didst found the earth, O Lord; and the heavens are the works of Thy hands.”486    Ps. cii. [ci.] 26. So, then, the works of the hands are the same as the works of God. There is not therefore any distinction of the work according to the kind of bodily members, but a oneness of power.

32. But those which are the works of the hands are also the works of the fingers, for it is equally written: “For I will behold Thy heavens, the works of Thy fingers, the moon, and the stars, which Thou hast established.”487    Ps. viii. 3. What less are the fingers here said to have made than the hands, since they made the same as the hands, as it is written: “For Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Thy work, and in the works of Thy hands will I rejoice.”488    Ps. xcii. [xci.] 4.

33. And yet since we read that the Son is the hand (for it is written: “Hath not My Hand made all these things?”489    Isa. lxvi. 2. and elsewhere: “I will place thee in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover thee with Mine hand, I have placed My hand under the covering of the rock,”490    Ex. xxxiii. 22. which refers to the mystery of the Incarnation, because the eternal Power of God took on Itself the covering of a body), it is certainly clear that Scripture used the term hand both of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

34. And again, since we read that the Spirit is the finger of God, we think that fingers [in the plural] are spoken of to signify the Son and Spirit. Lastly, that he may state that he received the sanctification both of the Son and of the Spirit, a certain saint says: “Thy hands have made me and fashioned me.”491    Ps. cxix. [cxviii.] 73.

CAPUT V.

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Colligit coeptum argumentum, et unitatem per digitum atque dexteram significari inde confirmat, quod eadem opera Dei sint, quae sunt manuum; et quae manuum, eadem etiam sint digitorum: ac demum quod manus Filio et Spiritui perinde conveniat, ac Spiritui et Filio digitus.

29. [Alias cap. VI.] Sed quid mirum si sanctificat singulos ipse sanctificatione non indigens, sed redundans; quando tantam, ut dixi, majestatem ejus accepimus, ut tamquam digitus a corpore, ita a Deo Patre inseparabilis videatur Spiritus sanctus?

30. Quod si quis ad diminutionem, non ad unitatem potestatis putat esse referendum, is profecto in eam amentiam cadet, ut tamquam in unam velut corporis formam Patrem et 671 Filium et Spiritum sanctum 0783C videatur effingere, et distinctiones quasdam figurare membrorum.

31. Sed accipiant, ut saepius dixi, non inaequalitatem, sed unitatem potestatis hac testificatione signari; quandoquidem quae opera Dei sunt, eadem sint opera manuum, eadem etiam legerimus opera esse digitorum. Scriptum est enim: Coeli enarrant gloriam Dei, et opera manuum ejus annuntiat firmamentum (Psal. XVIII, 1); et alibi: Initio terram tu fundasti, Domine, et opera manuum tuarum sunt coeli (Psalm. CI, 26). Eadem igitur sunt opera manuum, quae sunt opera Dei. Non ergo aliqua pro membrorum corporalium qualitate discretio operationis, sed unitas potestatis est.

32. Quae autem opera sunt manuum, eadem opera 0783D digitorum; quia aeque scriptum est: Quoniam videbo coelos tuos, opera digitorum tuorum, lunam et stellas quas tu fundasti (Psal. VIII, 4). Quid hic igitur digiti minus quam manus fecisse produntur; cum idem fecerint digiti, quod manus; sicut scriptum est: Quoniam delectasti me, Domine, in factura tua, et in operibus manuum tuarum delectabor (Psal. XCI, 5).

0784A 33. Et tamen quia manum legimus Filium (scriptum est enim: Nonne manus mea fecit haec omnia (Esai. LXVI, 2)? et alibi: Ponam te in foramine petrae, et protegam manum meam super te. Posui manum meam sub tegumento petrae (Exod. XXXIII, 22); quod ad incarnationis mysterium spectat, quia integumentum corporis virtus Dei sempiterna suscepit) utique liquet manus et de Filio Dei et de Spiritu sancto Scripturam locutam.

34. Et rursus quia digitum Dei Spiritum legimus (Luc. XI, 20), ideo appellatos digitos aestimamus, ut Filium Spiritumque signaret. Denique ut et Filii et Spiritus sanctificationem se habere memoraret, ait quidam sanctus: Manus tuae fecerunt me, et plasmaverunt me (Job. X, 8).