Chapter 8.—The Entire Trinity Invisible.

14. Let us therefore say nothing of those who, with an over carnal mind, have thought the nature of the Word of God, and the Wisdom, which, “remaining in herself, maketh all things new,”254    Wisd. vii. 27 whom we call the only Son of God, not only to be changeable, but also to be visible. For these, with more audacity than religion, bring a very dull heart to the inquiry into divine things. For whereas the soul is a spiritual substance, and whereas itself also was made, yet could not be made by any other than by Him by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing is made,255    John i. 3 it, although changeable, is yet not visible; and this they have believed to be the case with the Word Himself and with the Wisdom of God itself, by which the soul was made; whereas this Wisdom is not only invisible, as the soul also is, but likewise unchangeable, which the soul is not. It is in truth the same unchangeableness in it, which is referred to when it was said, “Remaining in herself she maketh all things new.” Yet these people, endeavoring, as it were, to prop up their error in its fall by testimonies of the divine Scriptures, adduce the words of the Apostle Paul; and take that, which is said of the one only God, in whom the Trinity itself is understood, to be said only of the Father, and neither of the Son nor of the Holy Spirit: “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever;”256    1 Tim. i. 17 and that other passage, “The blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see.”257    1 Tim. vi. 15, 16 How these passages are to be understood, I think we have already discoursed sufficiently.258    [For an example of the manner in which the patristic writers present the doctrine of the divine invisibility, see Irenæus, Adv. Hæreses, IV. xx.—W.G.T.S.]

CAPUT VIII.

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14. Tota Trinitas invisibilis. Omittamus igitur eos qui nimis carnaliter naturam Verbi Dei atque Sapientiam, quae in se ipsa manens innovat omnia, quem unicum Dei Filium dicimus, non solum mutabilem, verum etiam visibilem esse putaverunt. Hi enim multum crassum cor divinis rebus inquirendis audacius quam religiosius attulerunt. Anima quippe cum sit substantia spiritualis, cumque etiam ipsa facta sit, nec per alium fieri potuerit, nisi per quem facta sunt omnia, et sine quo factum est nihil (Joan. I, 3) quamvis sit mutabilis, non est tamen visibilis quod illi de Verbo ipso atque ipsa Dei Sapientia, pequam facta est anima, crediderunt; cum sit illa non invisibilis tantum, quod et anima est; sed etiam incommutabilis, quod anima non est. Eadem quippe incommutabilitas ejus commemorata est ut diceretur, In se ipsa manens innovat omnia (Sap. VII, 27). Et isti quidem ruinam erroris sui divinarum Scripturarum testimoniis quasi fulcire conantes, adhibent Pauli apostoli sententiam; et quod dictum est de uno solo Deo, in quo ipsa Trinitas intelligitur, tantum de Patre, non et de Filio et de Spiritu sancto dictum accipiunt, Regi autem saeculorum immortali, invisibili, soli Deo honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum (I Tim. I, 17); et illud alterum, Beatus et solus potens, Rex regum, et Dominus dominantium; qui solus habet immortalitatem, et lucem habitat inaccessibilem; quem nemo hominum vidit, nec videre potest (Id. VI, 15, 16). Haec quemadmodum intelligenda sint, jam satis nos disseruisse arbitror.