Chapter XII.

From the fact that St. Paul has shown that the light of the Godhead which the three apostles worshipped in Christ is in the Trinity, it is made clear that the Spirit also is to be worshipped. It is shown from the words themselves that the Spirit is intended by the apostles. The Godhead of the same Spirit is proved from the fact that He has a temple wherein He dwells not as a priest, but as God: and is worshipped with the Father and the Son; whence is understood the oneness of nature in Them.

86. But does any one deny that the Godhead of the eternal Trinity is to be worshipped? whereas the Scriptures also express the inexplicable Majesty of the Divine Trinity, as the Apostle says elsewhere: “Since God, Who said that light should shine out of darkness, shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”565    2 Cor. iv. 6.

87. The apostles truly saw this glory, when the Lord Jesus on the mount shone with the light of His Godhead: “The apostles,” it says, “saw it and fell on their face.”566    S. Matt. xvii. 6. Do not you think that they even, as they fell, worshipped, when they could not with their bodily eyes endure the brightness of the divine splendour, and the glory of eternal light dulled the keenness of mortal sight? Or what else did they who saw His glory say at that time, except, “O come let us worship and fall down before Him”?567    Ps. xcv. [xciv.] 6. For “God shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”568    2 Cor. iv. 6.

88. Who is He, then, Who shined that we might know God in the face of Jesus Christ? For he said, “God shined,” that the glory of God might be known in the face of Jesus Christ. Whom else do we think but the manifested Spirit? Or who else is there besides the Holy Spirit to Whom the power of the Godhead may be referred? For they who exclude the Spirit must necessarily bring in another, who may with the Father and the Son receive the glory of the Godhead.

89. Let us then go back to the same words: “It is God Who shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” You have Christ plainly set forth. For Whose glory is said to give light but that of the Spirit? So, then, he set forth God Himself, since he spoke of the glory of God; if of the Father, it remains that “He who said that light should shine out of darkness, and shine in our hearts,” be understood to be the Holy Spirit, for we cannot venerate any other with the Father and the Son. If, then, you understand the Spirit, Him also has the Apostle called God; it is necessary, then, that you also confess the Godhead of the Spirit, who now deny it.

90. But how shamelessly do you deny this, since you have read that the Holy Spirit has a temple. For it is written: “Ye are the temple of God, and the Holy Spirit dwelleth in you.”569    1 Cor. iii. 16. Now God has a temple, a creature has no true temple. But the Spirit, Who dwelleth in us, has a temple. For it is written: “Your members are temples of the Holy Spirit.”570    1 Cor. vi. 19.

91. But He does not dwell in the temple as a priest, nor as a minister, but as God, since the Lord Jesus Himself said: “I will dwell in them, and will walk among them, and will be their God, and they shall be My people.”571    Lev. xxvi. 12. And David says: “The Lord is in His holy temple.”572    Ps. xi. [x.] 4. Therefore the Spirit dwells in His holy temple, as the Father dwells and as the Son dwells, Who says: “I and the Father will come, and will make Our abode with him.”573    S. John xiv. 23.

92. But the Father abides in us through the Spirit, Whom He has given us. How, then, can different natures abide together? Certainly it is impossible. But the Spirit abides with the Father and the Son. Whence, too, the Apostle joined the Communion of the Holy Spirit with the grace of Jesus Christ and the love of God, saying: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the Communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”574    2 Cor. xiii. 14.

91. We observe, then, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit abide in one and the same [subject] through the oneness of the same nature. Therefore, He Who dwells in the temple has divine power, for as of the Father and of the Son, so are we also the temple of the Holy Spirit; not many temples, but one temple, for it is the temple of one Power.

683 CAPUT XII.

Ex eo quod in Trinitate divinitatis lucem, quam in Christo tres apostoli adoraverunt, inesse Paulus significaverit, adorandus etiam Spiritus declaratur. Ostenditur ex ipsis verbis Spiritum designatum ab Apostolo. Ejusdem Spiritus divinitas inde probatur, quod templum habeat, in quo non ut sacerdos habitet, sed ut Deus: nec non cum Patre ac Filio adoretur; unde in iisdem naturae unitas intelligitur.

86. An vero negat aliquis adorandam divinitatem Trinitatis aeternae? cum et Scripturae divinae inexplicabilem majestatem exprimant Trinitatis, sicut alibi Apostolus dicit: Quoniam Deus, qui dixit de tenebris 0797C lumen splendescere, illuxit in cordibus nostris ad illuminationem scientiae claritatis Dei in facie Jesu Christi (II Cor. IV, 6).

87. Nempe hanc claritatem viderunt apostoli, cum Dominus Jesus divinitatis suae luce in monte fulgeret: Viderunt, inquit, apostoli, et in faciem prociderunt (Matth. XVII, 6). Putasne illos vel cum prociderent, adorasse; cum fulgorem divini luminis corporalibus oculis sustinere non possent, et splendor lucis aeternae aciem visus mortalis obduceret? Aut quid aliud tunc temporis dixerunt illi videntes gloriam ejus, nisi: Venite adoremus, et procidamus ante eum (Psal. XCIV, 6)? [Alias cap. XIII.] Illuxit enim Deus in cordibus nostris ad illuminationem scientiae claritatis Dei in facie Jesu Christi (II Cor. IV, 6).

0797D 88. Quis est ergo qui illuxit, ut cognoscamus Deum in facie Christi Jesu? Dixit enim, Illuxit Deus, ut cognoscatur claritas Dei in facie Christi Jesu: quem putamus alium praeter Spiritum declaratum? Aut quis est alius praeter Spiritum sanctum, cui divinitatis potentia deferatur? Qui enim Spiritum excludunt, necesse est inducant alium, qui cum Patre et Filio gloriam divinitatis accipiat.

89. Eadem igitur verba repetamus: Deus est qui illuxit ad illuminationem claritatis Dei in facie Jesu 0798A Christi. Habes Christum evidenter expressum. Cujus ergo claritas illuminare dicitur, nisi Spiritus? Ipsum ergo Deum expressit, quia claritatem Dei dixit: si Patris, superest ut qui dixit de tenebris lumen splendescere, et illuxit in cordibus nostris, Spiritus sanctus intelligatur; alium enim non possumus cum Patre Filioque venerari. Si igitur Spiritum intelligis, et hunc Apostolus Deum dixit; necesse est igitur deitatem Spiritus etiam vos fateamini, qui negatis.

90. Sed quam impudenter negatis, cum legeritis quia templum habet Spiritus sanctus! Scriptum est enim: Templum Dei vos estis, et Spiritus sanctus habitat in vobis (I Cor. III, 16). Deus ergo templum habet, creatura templum non habet verum. Spiritus autem habet templum, qui habitat in nobis. Nam 0798B scriptum est: Quia membra vestra templum sunt Spiritus sancti (I Cor. VI, 15).

91. In templo autem non quasi sacerdos, nec quasi minister, sed quasi Deus inhabitat; quoniam ipse Dominus dixit Jesus: Inhabitabo in illis, et inter eos ambulabo; et ero illorum Deus, 684 et ipsi erunt mihi populus (Levit. XXVI, 12). Et David dicit: Dominus in templo sancto suo (Psal. X, 5). Ergo Spiritus habitat in templo sancto suo, sicut habitat Pater, habitat et Filius, qui ait: Ego et Pater veniemus, et mansionem apud eum faciemus (Joan. XIV, 23).

91*. Advertimus igitur quod Pater et Filius et Spiritus sanctus in uno eodemque per naturae ejusdem maneant unitatem. Ergo divinae est potestatis, qui 0798C habitat in templo; sicut enim Patris et Filii, ita et Spiritus sancti sumus templum: non multa templa, sed unum templum; quia unius templum est potestatis.

92. Manet autem in nobis Pater per Spiritum, quem dedit nobis. Quomodo igitur potest simul dispar manere natura? Utique non potest. Manet autem cum Patre et Filio Spiritus sanctus. Unde et Apostolus cum gratia Jesu Christi et charitate Dei communicationem sancti Spiritus copulavit dicens: Gratia Domini nostri Jesu Christi, et charitas Dei, et communicatio Spiritus sancti cum omnibus vobis (II Cor. XIII, 13).