Chapter X.

The Divinity of the Holy Spirit is supported by a passage of St. John. This passage was, indeed, erased by heretics, but it is a vain attempt, since their faithlessness could thereby more easily be convicted. The order of the context is considered in order that this passage may be shown to refer to the Spirit. He is born of the Spirit who is born again of the same Spirit, of Whom Christ Himself is believed to have been born and born again. Again, the Godhead of the Spirit is inferred from two testimonies of St. John; and lastly, it is explained how the Spirit, the water, and the blood are called witnesses.

59. Nor does the Scripture in this place alone bear witness to the θεότης, that is, the Godhead of the Holy Spirit; but also the Lord Himself said in the Gospel: “The Spirit is God.”523    S. John iii. 6. See below § 63, n. 4. Which passage you, Arians, so expressly testify to be said concerning the Spirit, that you remove it from your copies,524    “The charge is an admirable illustration of the groundlessness of such accusations of wilful corruption of Scripture. The words in question have no Greek authority at all, and are obviously a comment.” Westcott on S. John v. 6. and would that it were from yours and not also from those of the Church! For at the time when Auxentius525    Auxentius, a Cappadocian, was ordained priest a.d. 343 by Gregory, the violent opponent of St. Athanasius. After the synod of Milan a.d. 355, when the bishop of that see, Dionysius, having refused to renounce Athanasius and the Nicene faith, was banished, Auxentius was forcibly intruded as bishop, and, in spite of the efforts of St. Hilary of Poitiers and other Catholics, maintained his position till his death in 374. had seized the Church of Milan with the arms and forces of impious unbelief, the Church of Sirmium526    The reference must be to the synods of Sirmium. In one held a.d. 351, against Photinus, there was a great attempt to make the semi-Arians appear orthodox, and St. Hilary accepted, while St. Athanasius rejected, their formula. Another synod was held a.d. 357, when the aged Hosius was tormented into accepting a formula, called by St. Hilary the “Sirmian blasphemy.” Another, no less injurious to the faith, was held in 358, by the desire of Constantius. During this time—but forgeries and the loss of some patristic writings make the history of the whole period somewhat uncertain—dates the weakness of Liberius, so that St. Ambrose may well speak of nutantibus sacerdotibus. See Hefele, Conc. Geschichte, I. on the Sirmian synods; Athanasius, Vol. IV. in this series, p. 464 ff.; Dict. Chr. Biog. III. 171, art. “Hosius;” Socrates, H. E., in this series, Vol. II. pp. 56, 57, 58. was attacked by Valens and Ursatius, when their priests [i.e. bishops] failed in faith; this falsehood and sacrilege of yours was found in the ecclesiastical books. And it may chance that you did the same in the past.

60. And you have indeed been able to blot out the letters, but could not remove the faith. That erasure betrayed you more, that erasure condemned you more; and you were not able to obliterate the truth, but that erasure blotted out your names from the book of life. Why was the passage removed, “For God is a Spirit,” if it did not pertain to the Spirit? For if you will have it that the expression is used of God the Father, you, who think it should be erased, deny, in consequence, God the Father. Choose which you will, in each the snare of your own impiety will bind you if you confess yourselves to be heathen by denying either the Father or the Spirit to be God. Therefore your confession wherein you have blotted out the Word of God remains, while you fear the original.

61. You have blotted it out, indeed, in your breasts and minds, but the Word of God is not blotted out, the Holy Spirit is not blotted out, but turns away from impious minds; not grace but iniquity is blotted out; for it is written: “I am He, I am He that blot out thine iniquities.”527    Isa. xliii. 25. Lastly, Moses, making request for the people, says: “Blot me out of Thy book, if Thou sparest not this people.”528    Ex. xxxii. 32. And yet he was not blotted out, because he had no iniquity, but grace flowed forth.

62. You are, then, convicted by your own confession that you cannot say it was done with wisdom but with cunning. For by cunning you know that you are convicted by the evidence of that passage, and that your arguments cannot apply against that testimony. For whence else could the meaning of that place be derived, since the whole tenour of the passage is concerning the Spirit?

63. Nicodemus enquires about regeneration, and the Lord replies: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again by water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”529    S. John iii. 5. And that He might show that there is one birth according to the flesh, and another according to the Spirit, He added: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, because it is born of the flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit, because the Spirit is God.”530    S. John iii. 6. This is the full reading of the passage according to St. Ambrose, referred to above in § 59. Follow out the whole course of the passage, and you will find that God has shut out your impiety by the fulness of His statement: “Marvel not,” says He, “that I said, Ye must be born again. The Spirit breatheth where He listeth, and thou hearest His voice, but knowest not whence He cometh or whither He goeth, so is every one who is born of the Spirit.”531    S. John iii. 7, 8.

64. Who is he who is born of the Spirit, and is made Spirit, but he who is renewed in the Spirit of his mind?532    Eph. iv. 23. This certainly is he who is regenerated by water and the Holy Spirit, since we receive the hope of eternal life through the laver of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.533    Tit. iii. 5. And elsewhere the Apostle Peter says: “Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”534    Acts xi. 16. For who is he that is baptized with the Holy Spirit but he who is born again through water and the Holy Spirit? Therefore the Lord said of the Holy Spirit, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again by water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. And therefore He declared that we are born of Him in the latter case, through Whom He said that we were born in the former. This is the sentence of the Lord; I rest on what is written, not on argument.

65. I ask, however, why, if there be no doubt that we are born again by the Holy Spirit, there should be any doubt that we are born of the Holy Spirit, since the Lord Jesus Himself was both born and born again of the Holy Spirit. And if you confess that He was born of the Holy Spirit, because you are not able to deny it, but deny that He was born again, it is great folly to confess what is peculiar to God, and deny what is common to men. And therefore that is well said to you which was said to the Jews: “If I told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things?”535    S. John iii. 12.

66. And yet we find each passage so written in Greek, that He said not, through the Spirit, but of the Spirit. For it stands thus: ἀμήν, ἀμήν, λέγω σοι, ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὓδατος και Πνεύματος, that is, of water and the Spirit. Therefore, since one ought not to doubt that “that which is born of the Spirit” is written of the Holy Spirit; there is no doubt but that the Holy Spirit also is God, according to that which is written, “the Spirit is God.”

67. But the same Evangelist, that he might make it plain that he wrote this concerning the Holy Spirit, says elsewhere: “Jesus Christ came by water and blood, not in the water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth; for there are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three are one.”536    1 John v. 6, 7, 8.

68. Hear how they are witnesses: The Spirit renews the mind, the water is serviceable for the laver, and the blood refers to the price. For the Spirit made us children by adoption, the water of the sacred Font washed us, the blood of the Lord redeemed us. So we obtain one invisible and one visible testimony in a spiritual sacrament, for “the Spirit Himself beareth witness to our spirit.”537    Rom. viii. 16. Though the fulness of the sacrament be in each, yet there is a distinction of office; so where there is distinction of office, there certainly is not equality of witness.

CAPUT X.

Spiritus sancti divinitatem astrui ex Joannis loco. Hunc quidem deletum fuisse ab haereticis, at inani conatu; cum inde facilius eorum perfidia convinci possit. Ut ostendatur hic idem locus esse de Spiritu, contextus series expenditur. Eum de Spiritu sancto nasci, qui renascitur de eodem Spiritu, de quo Christus ipse natus ac renatus creditur. Iterum ex duobus Joannis testimoniis colligitur Spiritus divinitas, ac demum 0789C quomodo Spiritus, aqua et sanguis testes dicantur, exponitur.

59. [Alias cap. XI.] Nec solum hoc loco evidenter sancti Spiritus θεότητα, hoc est, deitatem Scriptura testatur; sed etiam ipse Dominus dixit in Evangelio: Quoniam Deus Spiritus est (Joan. III, 6). Quem 0790A locum ita expresse, Ariani, testificamini esse de Spiritu; ut eum de vestris codicibus auferatis: atque utinam de vestris, et non etiam de Ecclesiae codicibus tolleretis! Eo enim tempore quo impiae infidelitatis Auxentius Mediolanensem 677 Ecclesiam armis exercituque occupaverat, vel a Valente atque Ursatio, nutantibus sacerdotibus suis, incursabatur Ecclesia Sirmiensis, falsum hoc, et sacrilegium vestrum in Ecclesiasticis codicibus deprehensum est. Et fortasse hoc etiam in Oriente fecistis.

60. Et litteras quidem potuistis abolere, sed fidem non potuistis auferre. Plus vos illa litura prodebat, plus vos illa litura damnabat; neque enim vos poteratis oblinire veritatem, sed illa litura de libro vitae nomina vestra radebat. Cur auferebatur: Quoniam 0790B Deus Spiritus est; si non pertinebat ad Spiritum? Si enim de Deo Patre vultis expressum, ergo et Deum Patrem negatis, qui putatis esse delendum. Utrum vultis, eligite: in utroque vos laqueus vestrae impietatis astringet, si gentiles vos esse fateamini vel Patrem Deum negando, vel Spiritum. Tenetur igitur vestra confessio, qua delestis oraculum, dum formidatis exemplum.

61. Delestis quidem in pectoribus animisque vestris: caeterum divinum non deletur oraculum, non deletur Spiritus sanctus, sed aversatur impias mentes: non deletur gratia, sed iniquitas; quia scriptum est: Ego sum, ego sum, qui deleo iniquitates tuas (Esai. XLIII, 25). Denique Moyses pro populo petens: Dele, inquit, me de libro tuo, si non parcis huic populo 0790C (Exod. XXXII, 32). Nec tamen deletus est; quia non habebat iniquitatem, sed gratiam profluebat.

62. Vestra igitur estis confessione convicti, quod sapienter factum non potestis dicere, sed astute. Astute enim cognovistis loci istius vos attestatione convinci, nec argumenta vestra adversus id posse 0791A testimonium convenire. Quo enim possit alio intellectus loci istius derivari, cum series lectionis tota de Spiritu sit?

63. Nicodemus quaerit de regeneratione, respondet Dominus: Amen, amen dico tibi, nisi quis renatus fuerit per aquam et Spiritum, non potest introire in regnum Dei (Joan. III, 5). Et ut ostenderet aliam generationem secundum carnem esse, aliam secundum Spiritum, addidit: Quod natum est ex carne caro est; quia de carne natum est; et quod natum est de Spiritu, Spiritus est; quia Deus Spiritus est (Ibid., 6). Pro sequere ergo totam seriem lectionis, et invenies quod Dominus impietatem vestram plenitudine assertionis excluserit. Noli, inquit, mirari quia dixi: Oportet vos nasci denuo. Spiritus ubi vult spirat, et 0791B vocem ejus audis: sed nescis unde veniat, aut quo vadat; sic est omnis qui natus est de Spiritu (Ibid., VII, 8).

64. Quis est qui nascitur de Spiritu, et qui efficitur Spiritus, nisi qui renovatur Spiritu mentis suae? Hic est utique qui per aquam regeneratur 678 et Spiritum sanctum; quoniam per lavacrum regenerationis et renovationis Spiritus sancti spem vitae capimus aeternae. Et alibi Petrus apostolus ait: Vos autem Spiritu sancto baptizabimini (Act. XI, 16). Quis est autem qui baptizatur Spiritu sancto, nisi qui renascitur per aquam et Spiritum sanctum? Ergo de sancto Spiritu Dominus dixit: Amen, amen dico tibi, nisi quis renatus fuerit per aquam et Spiritum, non potest introire in regnum Dei. Et ideo de ipso nasci 0791C nos in posterioribus definivit, per quem renasci nos in superioribus est locutus. Haec Dominica sententia est: scripto nitor, non argumento.

65. Quaero tamen cur si non dubitatur per Spiritum sanctum nos renasci, dubitetur de Spiritu sancto nos nasci; cum ipse Dominus Jesus de Spiritu sancto et natus sit et renatus? Quem si natum de Spiritu sancto confitemini (Matth. I, 20), quia non potestis negare: renatum autem (Matth. III, 16) negatis; magna insipientia, ut quod singulare Dei est, confiteamini: quod commune est hominum, denegetis. Et ideo bene vobis dicitur quod Judaeis dictum est: Si terrena vobis dixi, et non creditis; quomodo si dixero vobis coelestia credetis (Joan. III, 12)?

66. Sed tamen utrumque locum ita scriptum invenimus 0791D in Graeco, ut non per Spiritum dixerit, sed de Spiritu. Denique sic habet: Ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν, λέγω σοι, ἐὰν μή τις γεννήθη ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ Πνεύματος, hoc 0792A est, de aqua et Spiritu. Ergo cum dubitari non debeat de sancto scriptum esse Spiritu, quod natum est de Spiritu; non est dubium quin Deus sit et sanctus Spiritus, secundum quod scriptum est, quia Deus Spiritus est.

67. Alibi quoque ut hoc de sancto Spiritu scripsisse se idem evangelista reseraret: Per aquam, inquit, et Spiritum venit Christus Jesus, non solum in aqua sed per aquam et sanguinem. Et spiritus testimonium dicit, quoniam Spiritus est veritas; quia tres sunt testes, Spiritus, aqua, sanguis: et hi tres unum sunt (I Joan. V, 6 et seq.).

68. Audi quomodo testes: Spiritus mentem renovat, aqua proficit ad lavacrum, sanguis spectat ad pretium. Spiritus enim nos per adoptionem filios 0792B Dei fecit, sacri fontis unda nos abluit, sanguis Domini nos redemit. Alterum igitur invisibile, alterum visibile testimonium sacramento consequimur spiritali; quia Spiritus testimonium reddit spiritui nostro (Rom. VIII, 16). Etsi in utroque plenitudo sit sacramenti, distinctio tamen muneris est: ergo ubi distinctio est muneris, non est utique testificationis aequalitas.