Chapter 26.—The Holy Spirit Twice Given by Christ. The Procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and from the Son is Apart from Time, Nor Can He Be Called the Son of Both.

Further, in that Highest Trinity which is God, there are no intervals of time, by which it could be shown, or at least inquired, whether the Son was born of the Father first and then afterwards the Holy Spirit proceeded from both; since Holy Scripture calls Him the Spirit of both. For it is He of whom the apostle says, “But because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts:”1039    Gal. iv. 6 and it is He of whom the same Son says, “For it is not ye who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaketh in you.”1040    Matt. x. 20 And it is proved by many other testimonies of the Divine Word, that the Spirit, who is specially called in the Trinity the Holy Spirit, is of the Father and of the Son: of whom likewise the Son Himself says, “Whom I will send unto you from the Father;”1041    John xv. 26 and in another place, “Whom the Father will send in my name.”1042    John xiv. 26 And we are so taught that He proceeds from both, because the Son Himself says, He proceeds from the Father. And when He had risen from the dead, and had appeared to His disciples, “He breathed upon them, and said, Receive the Holy Ghost,”1043    John xx. 23 so as to show that He proceeded also from Himself. And Itself is that very “power that went out from Him,” as we read in the Gospel, “and healed them all.”1044    Luke vi. 19

46. But the reason why, after His resurrection, He both gave the Holy Spirit, first on earth,1045    John xx. 22 and afterwards sent Him from heaven,1046    Acts. ii. 4 is in my judgment this: that “love is shed abroad in our hearts,”1047    Rom. v. 5 by that Gift itself, whereby we love God and our neighbors, according to those two commandments, “on which hang all the law and the prophets.”1048    Matt. xxii. 37–40 And Jesus Christ, in order to signify this, gave to them the Holy Spirit, once upon earth, on account of the love of our neighbor, and a second time from heaven, on account of the love of God. And if some other reason may perhaps be given for this double gift of the Holy Spirit, at any rate we ought not to doubt that the same Holy Spirit was given when Jesus breathed upon them, of whom He by and by says, “Go, baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” where this Trinity is especially commended to us. It is therefore He who was also given from heaven on the day of Pentecost, i.e. ten days after the Lord ascended into heaven. How, therefore, is He not God, who gives the Holy Spirit? Nay, how great a God is He who gives God! For no one of His disciples gave the Holy Spirit, since they prayed that He might come upon those upon whom they laid their hands: they did not give Him themselves. And the Church preserves this custom even now in the case of her rulers. Lastly, Simon Magus also, when he offered the apostles money, does not say, “Give me also this power, that I may give” the Holy Spirit; but, “that on whomsoever I may lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit.” Because neither had the Scriptures said before, And Simon, seeing that the apostles gave the Holy Spirit; but it had said, “And Simon, seeing that the Holy Spirit was given by the laying on of the apostles’ hands.”1049    Acts viii. 18, 19 Therefore also the Lord Jesus Christ Himself not only gave the Holy Spirit as God, but also received it as man, and therefore He is said to be full of grace,1050    John i. 14 and of the Holy Spirit.1051    Luke ii. 52 and iv. 1 And in the Acts of the Apostles it is more plainly written of Him, “Because God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit.”1052    Acts x. 38 Certainly not with visible oil but with the gift of grace which is signified by the visible ointment wherewith the Church anoints the baptized. And Christ was certainly not then anointed with the Holy Spirit, when He, as a dove, descended upon Him at His baptism.1053    Matt. iii. 16 For at that time He deigned to prefigure His body, i.e. His Church, in which especially the baptized receive the Holy Spirit. But He is to be understood to have been then anointed with that mystical and invisible unction, when the Word of God was made flesh,1054    John i.14i.e. when human nature, without any precedent merits of good works, was joined to God the Word in the womb of the Virgin, so that with it it became one person. Therefore it is that we confess Him to have been born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary. For it is most absurd to believe Him to have received the Holy Spirit when He was near thirty years old: for at that age He was baptized by John;1055    Luke iii. 21–23 but that He came to baptism as without any sin at all, so not without the Holy Spirit. For if it was written of His servant and forerunner John himself, “He shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb,”1056    Luke i. 15 because, although generated by his father, yet he received the Holy Spirit when formed in the womb; what must be understood and believed of the man Christ, of whose flesh the very conception was not carnal, but spiritual? Both natures, too, as well the human as the divine, are shown in that also that is written of Him, that He received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, and shed forth the Holy Spirit:1057    Acts ii. 33 seeing that He received as man, and shed forth as God. And we indeed can receive that gift according to our small measure, but assuredly we cannot shed it forth upon others; but, that this may be done, we invoke over them God, by whom this is accomplished.

47. Are we therefore able to ask whether the Holy Spirit had already proceeded from the Father when the Son was born, or had not yet proceeded; and when He was born, proceeded from both, wherein there is no such thing as distinct times: just as we have been able to ask, in a case where we do find times, that the will proceeds from the human mind first, in order that that may be sought which, when found, may be called offspring; which offspring being already brought forth or born, that will is made perfect, resting in this end, so that what had been its desire when seeking, is its love when enjoying; which love now proceeds from both, i.e. from the mind that begets, and from the notion that is begotten, as if from parent and offspring? These things it is absolutely impossible to ask in this case, where nothing is begun in time, so as to be perfected in a time following. Wherefore let him who can understand the generation of the Son from the Father without time, understand also the procession of the Holy Spirit from both without time. And let him who can understand, in that which the Son says, “As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself,”1058    John v. 26 not that the Father gave life to the Son already existing without life, but that He so begat Him apart from time, that the life which the Father gave to the Son by begetting Him is co-eternal with the life of the Father who gave it:1059    [Says Turrettin, III. xxix. 21. “The Father does not generate the Son either as previously existing, for in this case there would be no need of generation; nor yet as not yet existing, for in this case the Son would not be eternal; but as co-existing, because he is from eternity in the God-head.”—W.G.T.S.] let him, I say, understand, that as the Father has in Himself that the Holy Spirit should proceed from Him, so has He given to the Son that the same Holy Spirit should proceed from Him, and be both apart from time: and that the Holy Spirit is so said to proceed from the Father as that it be understood that His proceeding also from the Son, is a property derived by the Son from the Father. For if the Son has of the Father whatever He has, then certainly He has of the Father, that the Holy Spirit proceeds also from Him. But let no one think of any times therein which imply a sooner and a later; because these things are not there at all. How, then, would it not be most absurd to call Him the Son of both: when, just as generation from the Father, without any changeableness of nature, gives to the Son essence, without beginning of time; so procession from both, without any changeableness of nature, gives to the Holy Spirit essence without beginning of time? For while we do not say that the Holy Spirit is begotten, yet we do not therefore dare to say that He is unbegotten, lest any one suspect in this word either two Fathers in that Trinity, or two who are not from another. For the Father alone is not from another, and therefore He alone is called unbegotten, not indeed in the Scriptures,1060    [The term “unbegotten” is not found in Scripture, but it is implied in the terms “begotten” and “only-begotten,” which are found. The term “unity” is not applied to God in Scripture, but it is implied in the term “one” which is so applied.—W.G.T.S.] but in the usage of disputants, who employ such language as they can on so great a subject. And the Son is born of the Father; and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father principally, the Father giving the procession without any interval of time, yet in common from both [Father and Son].1061    [The spiration and procession of the Holy Spirit is not by two separate acts, one of the Father, and one of the Son—as perhaps might be inferred from Augustin’s remark that “the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father principally.” As Turrettin says: “The Father and Son spirate the Spirit, not as two different essences in each of which resides a spirative energy, but as two personal subsistences of one essence, who concur in one act of spiration.” Institutio III. xxxi. 6.—W.G.T.S.] But He would be called the Son of the Father and of the Son, if—a thing abhorrent to the feeling of all sound minds—both had begotten Him. Therefore the Spirit of both is not begotten of both, but proceeds from both.

CAPUT XXVI.

Spiritus sanctus a Christo bis datus. Processio Spiritus sancti a Patre et a Filio est sine tempore, nec amborum filius dici potest. Deinde in illa summa Trinitate quae Deus est, intervalla temporum nulla sunt, per quae possit ostendi aut saltem requiri, utrum prius de Patre natus sit Filius, et postea de ambobus processerit Spiritus sanctus. Quoniam Scriptura sancta Spiritum eum dicit amborum. Ipse est enim de quo dicit Apostolus, Quoniam autem estis filii, misit Deus Spiritum Filii sui in corda vestra (Galat. IV, 6): et ipse est de quo dicit idem Filius, Non enim vos estis qui loquimini; sed Spiritus Patris vestri, qui loquitur in vobis (Matth. X, 20). Et multis aliis divinorum eloquiorum testimoniis comprobatur Patris et Filii esse Spiritum, qui proprie dicitur in Trinitate Spiritus sanctus: de quo item dicit ipse Filius, Quem ego mittam vobis a Patre (Joan. XV, 26); et alio loco, Quem mittet Pater in nomine meo (Id. XIV, 26). De utroque autem procedere 1093 sic docetur; quia ipse Filius ait, De Patre procedit. Et cum resurrexisset a mortuis et apparuisset discipulis suis, insufflavit et ait, Accipite Spiritum sanctum (Joan. XX, 22), ut eum etiam de se procedere ostenderet. Et ipsa est virtus quae de illo exibat, sicut legitur in Evangelio, et sanabat omnes (Luc. VI, 19).

46. Quid vero fuerit causae, ut post resurrectionem suam, et in terra prius daret (Joan. XX, 22), et de coelo postea mitteret Spiritum sanctum (Act. II, 4); hoc ego existimo, quia per ipsum donum diffunditur charitas in cordibus nostris (Rom. V, 5), qua diligimus Deum et proximum, secundum duo illa praecepta in quibus tota Lex pendet et Prophetae (Matth. XXII, 37-40). Hoc significans Dominus Jesus, bis dedit Spiritum sanctum; semel in terra propter dilectionem proximi, et iterum de coelo propter dilectionem Dei. Et si forte alia ratio reddatur de Spiritu sancto bis dato, eumdem tamen Spiritum sanctum datum, cum insufflasset Jesus, de quo mox ait, Ite, baptizate omnes gentes in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti (Id. XXVIII, 19), ubi maxime commendatur haec Trinitas, ambigere non debemus. Ipse est igitur qui de coelo etiam datus est die Pentecostes, id est, post dies decem quam Dominus ascendit in coelum. Quomodo ergo Deus non est qui dat Spiritum sanctum? Imo quantus Deus est qui dat Deum? Neque enim aliquis discipulorum ejus dedit Spiritum sanctum. Orabant quippe ut veniret in eos quibus manum imponebant, non ipsi eum dabant. Quem morem in suis praepositis etiam nunc servat Ecclesia. Denique et Simon Magus offerens Apostolis pecuniam, non ait, Date et mihi hanc potestatem, ut dem Spiritum sanctum; sed, cuicumque, inquit, imposuero manus, accipiat Spiritum sanctum. Quia neque Scriptura superius dixerat, Videns autem Simon quod Apostoli darent Spiritum sanctum; sed dixerat, Videns autem Simon quod per impositionem manuum Apostolorum daretur Spiritus sanctus (Act. VIII, 19, 18). Propter hoc et Dominus ipse Jesus Spiritum sanctum non solum dedit ut Deus, sed etiam accepit ut homo; propterea dictus est plenus gratia (Joan. I, 14) et Spiritu sancto (Luc. XI, 52, et IV, 1). Et manifestius de illo scriptum est in Actibus Apostolorum: Quoniam unxit eum Deus Spiritu sancto (Act. X, 38). Non utique oleo visibili, sed dono gratiae, quod visibili significatur unguento quo baptizatos ungit Ecclesia. Nec sane tunc unctus est Christus Spiritu sancto, quando super eum baptizatum velut columba descendit (Matth. III, 16): tunc enim corpus suum, id est, Ecclesiam suam praefigurare dignatus est, in qua praecipue baptizati accipiunt Spiritum sanctum: sed ista mystica et invisibili unctione tunc intelligendus est unctus, quando Verbum Dei caro factum est (Joan. I, 14); id est, quando humana natura sine ullis praecedentibus bonorum operum meritis Deo 1094 Verbo est in utero virginis copulata, ita ut cum illo fieret una persona. Ob hoc eum confitemur natum de Spiritu sancto et virgine Maria. Absurdissimum est enim, ut credamus eum cum jam triginta esset annorum (ejus enim aetatis a Joanne baptizatus est [Luc. III, 21-23]), accepisse Spiritum sanctum: sed venisse illum ad baptisma, sicut sine ullo omnino peccato, ita non sine Spiritu sancto. Si enim de famulo ejus et praecursore ipso Joanne scriptum est, Spiritu sancto replebitur jam inde ab utero matris suae (Id. I, 15), quoniam quamvis seminatus a patre, tamen Spiritum sanctum in utero formatus accepit; quid de homine Christo intelligendum est vel credendum, cujus carnis ipsa conceptio non carnalis, sed spiritualis fuit? In eo etiam quod de illo scriptum est, quod acceperit a Patre promissionem Spiritus sancti et effuderit (Act. II, 33), utraque natura monstrata est, et humana scilicet et divina: accepit quippe ut homo, effudit ut Deus. Nos autem accipere quidem hoc donum possumus pro modulo nostro, effundere autem super alios non utique possumus; sed ut hoc fiat, Deum super eos, a quo hoc efficitur, invocamus.

47. Numquid ergo possumus quaerere utrum jam processerat de Patre Spiritus sanctus quando natus est Filius, an nondum processerat, et illo nato de utroque processit, ubi nulla sunt tempora; sicut potuimus quaerere ubi invenimus tempora, voluntatem prius de humana mente procedere, ut quaeratur quod inventum proles vocetur; qua jam parta seu genita, voluntas illa perficitur, eo fine requiescens, ut qui fuerat appetitus quaerentis, sit amor fruentis, qui jam de utroque, id est, de gignente mente et de genita notione tanquam de parente ac prole procedat? Non possunt prorsus ista ibi quaeri, ubi nihil ex tempore inchoatur, ut consequenti perficiatur in tempore. Quapropter, qui potest intelligere sine tempore generationem Filii de Patre, intelligat sine tempore processionem Spiritus sancti de utroque. Et qui potest intelligere in eo quod ait Filius, Sicut habet Pater vitam in semetipso, sic dedit Filio vitam habere in semetipso (Joan. V, 26); non sine vita existenti jam Filio vitam Patrem dedisse, sed ita eum sine tempore genuisse, ut vita quam Pater Filio gignendo dedit, coaeterna sit vitae Patris qui dedit: intelligat sicut habet Pater in semetipso ut de illo procedat Spiritus sanctus, sic dedisse Filio ut de illo procedat idem Spiritus sanctus, et utrumque sine tempore; atque ita dictum Spiritum sanctum de Patre procedere, ut intelligatur, quod etiam procedit de Filio, de Patre esse Filio . Si enim quidquid habet, de Patre habet Filius; de Patre habet utique ut et de illo procedat Spiritus sanctus. Sed nulla ibi tempora cogitentur, quae habent prius et posterius: quia omnino nulla ibi sunt. Quomodo ergo non absurdissime filius diceretur amborum, cum sicut Filio praestat essentiam sine initio temporis, sine ulla mutabilitate 1095 naturae de Patre generatio; ita Spiritui sancto praestet essentiam sine ullo initio temporis, sine ulla mutabilitate naturae de utroque processio? Ideo enim cum Spiritum sanctum genitum non dicamus, dicere tamen non audemus ingenitum, ne in hoc vocabulo vel duos patres in illa Trinitate, vel duos qui non sunt de alio quispiam suspicetur. Pater enim solus non est de alio, ideo solus appellatur ingenitus, non quidem in Scipturis, sed in consuetudine disputantium, et de re tanta sermonem qualem valuerint proferentium. Filius autem de Patre natus est: et Spiritus sanctus de Patre principaliter, et ipso sine ullo temporis intervallo dante, communiter de utroque procedit. Diceretur autem filius Patris et Filii, si, quod abhorret ab omnium sanorum sensibus, cum ambo genuissent. Non igitur ab utroque est genitus, sed procedit ab utroque amborum Spiritus.