Chapter 3.—Why the Son Chiefly is Intimated in the Scriptures by the Name of Wisdom, While Both the Father and the Holy Spirit are Wisdom. That the Holy Spirit, Together with the Father and the Son, is One Wisdom.

4. Why, then, is scarcely anything ever said in the Scriptures of wisdom, unless to show that it is begotten or created of God?—begotten in the case of that Wisdom by which all things are made; but created or made, as in men, when they are converted to that Wisdom which is not created and made but begotten, and are so enlightened; for in these men themselves there comes to be something which may be called their wisdom: even as the Scriptures foretell or narrate, that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us;”622    John i. 14 for in this way Christ was made wisdom, because He was made man. Is it on this account that wisdom does not speak in these books, nor is anything spoken of it, except to declare that it is born of God, or made by Him (although the Father is Himself wisdom), namely, because wisdom ought to be commended and imitated by us, by the imitation of which we are fashioned [rightly]? For the Father speaks it, that it may be His Word: yet not as a word producing a sound proceeds from the mouth, or is thought before it is pronounced. For this word is completed in certain spaces of time, but that is eternal, and speaks to us by enlightening us, what ought to be spoken to men, both of itself and of the Father. And therefore He says, “No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him:”623    Matt. xi. 27 since the Father reveals by the Son, that is, by His Word. For if that word which we utter, and which is temporal and transitory, declares both itself, and that of which we speak, how much more the Word of God, by which all things are made? For this Word so declares the Father as He is the Father; because both itself so is, and is that which is the Father, in so far as it is wisdom and essence. For in so far as it is the Word, it is not what the Father is; because the Word is not the Father, and Word is spoken relatively, as is also Son, which assuredly is not the Father. And therefore Christ is the power and wisdom of God, because He Himself, being also power and wisdom, is from the Father, who is power and wisdom; as He is light of the Father, who is light, and the fountain of life with God the Father, who is Himself assuredly the fountain of life. For “with Thee,” He says, “is the fountain of life, and in Thy light shall we see light.”624    Ps. xxxvi. 9 Because, “as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself:”625    John v. 2 and, “He was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world:” and this light, “the Word,” was “with God;” but “the Word also was God;”626    John i. 9, 1 and “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all:”627    1 John i. 5 but a light that is not corporeal, but spiritual; yet not in such way spiritual, that it was wrought by illumination, as it was said to the apostles, “Ye are the light of the world,”628    Matt. v. 14 but “the light which lighteth every man,” that very supreme wisdom itself who is God, of whom we now treat. The Son therefore is Wisdom of wisdom, namely the Father, as He is Light of light, and God of God; so that both the Father singly is light, and the Son singly is light; and the Father singly is God, and the Son singly is God: therefore the Father also singly is wisdom, and the Son singly is wisdom. And as both together are one light and one God, so both are one wisdom. But the Son is “by God made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification;”629    1 Cor. i. 30 because we turn ourselves to Him in time, that is, from some particular time, that we may remain with Him for ever. And He Himself from a certain time was “the Word made flesh, and dwelt among us.”

5. On this account, then, when anything concerning wisdom is declared or narrated in the Scriptures, whether as itself speaking, or where anything is spoken of it, the Son chiefly is intimated to us. And by the example of Him who is the image, let us also not depart from God, since we also are the Image of God: not indeed that which is equal to Him, since we are made so by the Father through the Son, and not born of the Father, as that is. And we are so, because we are enlightened with light; but that is so, because it is the light that enlightens; and which, therefore, being without pattern, is to us a pattern. For He does not imitate any one going before Him, in respect to the Father, from whom He is never separable at all, since He is the very same substance with Him from whom He is. But we by striving imitate Him who abides, and follow Him who stands still, and walking in Him, reach out towards Him; because He is made for us a way in time by His humiliation, which is to us an eternal abiding-place by His divinity. For since to pure intellectual spirits, who have not fallen through pride, He gives an example in the form of God and as equal with God and as God; so, in order that He might also give Himself as an example of returning to fallen man who on account of the uncleanness of sins and the punishment of mortality cannot see God, “He emptied Himself;” not by changing His own divinity, but by assuming our changeableness: and “taking upon Him the form of a servant”630    Phil. ii. 7 He came to us into this world,”631    1 Tim. i. 15 who “was in this world,” because “the world was made by Him;”632    John i. 10 that He might be an example upwards to those who see God, an example downwards to those who admire man, an example to the sound to persevere, an example to the sick to be made whole, an example to those who are to die that they may not fear, an example to the dead that they may rise again, “that in all things He might have the pre-eminence.”633    Col. i. 18 So that, because man ought not to follow any except God to blessedness, and yet cannot perceive God; by following God made man, he might follow at once Him whom he could perceive, and whom he ought to follow. Let us then love Him and cleave to Him, by charity spread abroad in our hearts, through the Holy Spirit which is given unto us.634    Rom. v. 5 It is not therefore to be wondered at, if, on account of the example which the Image, which is equal to the Father, gives to us, in order that we may be refashioned after the image of God, Scripture, when it speaks of wisdom, speaks of the Son, whom we follow by living wisely; although the Father also is wisdom, as He is both light and God.

6. The Holy Spirit also, whether we are to call Him that absolute love which joins together Father and Son, and joins us also from beneath, that so that is not unfitly said which is written, “God is love;”635    1 John iv. 8 how is He not also Himself wisdom, since He is light, because “God is light”? or whether after any other way the essence of the Holy Spirit is to be singly and properly named; then, too, since He is God, He is certainly light; and since He is light, He is certainly wisdom. But that the Holy Spirit is God, Scripture proclaims by the apostle, who says, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?” and immediately subjoins, “And the Spirit of God dwelleth in you;”636    1 Cor. iii. 16 for God dwelleth in His own temple. For the Spirit of God does not dwell in the temple of God as a servant, since he says more plainly in another place, “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, and which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a great price: therefore glorify God in your body.”637    1 Cor. vi. 19, 20 But what is wisdom, except spiritual and unchangeable light? For yonder sun also is light, but it is corporeal; and the spiritual creature also is light, but it is not unchangeable. Therefore the Father is light, the Son is light, and the Holy Spirit is light; but together not three lights, but one light. And so the Father is wisdom, the Son is wisdom, and the Holy Spirit is wisdom, and together not three wisdoms, but one wisdom: and because in the Trinity to be is the same as to be wise, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are one essence. Neither in the Trinity is it one thing to be and another to be God; therefore the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are one God.

CAPUT III.

4. Sapientiae nomine cur Filius potissimum insinuetur in Scripturis cum et Pater et Spiritus 0937 sanctus sit sapientia. Spiritum sanctum simul cum Patre et Filio unam sapientiam esse. Cur ergo in Scripturis nunquam fere de sapientia quidquam dicitur, nisi ut ostendatur a Deo genita vel creata? genita scilicet, per quam facta sunt omnia: creata vero vel facta, sicut in hominibus, cum ad eam quae non creata et facta, sed genita est, convertuntur et illustrantur; in ipsis enim fit aliquid quod vocetur eorum sapientia: vel illud Scripturis praenuntiantibus aut narrantibus, quod Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis (Joan. I, 14); hoc modo enim Christus facta sapientia est, quia factus est homo. An propterea non loquitur in illis Libris sapientia, vel de illa dicitur aliquid, nisi quod eam de Deo natam ostendat, aut factam, quamvis sit et Pater ipse sapientia, quia illa nobis sapientia commendanda erat et imitanda, cujus imitatione formamur? Pater enim eam dicit, ut Verbum ejus sit; non quomodo profertur ex ore verbum sonans, aut ante pronuntiationem cogitatur: spatiis enim temporum hoc completur, illud autem aeternum est, et illuminando dicit nobis et de se et de Patre, quod dicendum est hominibus. Ideoque ait, Nemo novit Filium, nisi Pater; et nemo novit Patrem, nisi Filius, et cui voluerit Filius revelare (Matth. XI, 27): quia per Filium revelat Pater, id est, per Verbum suum. Si enim hoc verbum quod nos proferimus temporale et transitorium, et se ipsum ostendit, et illud de quo loquimur; quanto magis Verbum Dei, per quod facta sunt omnia? Quod ita ostendit Patrem sicuti est Pater: quia et ipsum ita est, et hoc est quod Pater, secundum quod sapientia est et essentia. Nam secundum quod Verbum, non hoc est quod Pater: quia Verbum non est Pater, et Verbum relative dicitur, sicut Filius, quod utique non est Pater. Et ideo Christus virtus et sapientia Dei, quia de Patre virtute et sapientia etiam ipse virtus et sapientia est, sicut lumen de Patre lumine, et fons vitae apud Deum Patrem, utique fontem vitae. Quoniam apud te, inquit, est fons vitae, et in lumine tuo videbimus lumen (Psal. XXXV, 10): quia sicut Pater habet vitam in semetipso, sic dedit Filio habere vitam in semetipso (Joan. V, 26): et erat lumen verum quod illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum, et lumen hoc Verbum erat apud Deum; sed et Deus erat Verbum (Id. I, 9, 1). Deus autem lumen est, et tenebrae in eo non sunt ullae (I Joan. I, 5): lumen vero non corporale, sed spirituale: neque ita spirituale, ut illuminatione factum sit, quemadmodum dictum est Apostolis, Vos estis lumen mundi (Matth. V, 14); sed lumen quod illuminat Omnem hominem, ea ipsa et summa sapientia Deus, unde nunc agimus. Sapientia ergo Filius de sapientia Patre, sicut lumen de lumine, et Deus de Deo, ut et singulus Pater lumen, et singulus Filius lumen; et singulus Pater Deus, et singulus Filius Deus: ergo et singulus Pater sapientia, et singulus Filius sapientia. Et sicut utrumque simul unum lumen, et unus Deus, sic utrumque una sapientia. Sed Filius factus est nobis 0938 sapientia a Deo, et justitia et sanctificatio (I Cor I, 30), quia temporaliter nos ad eum convertimus, id est, ex aliquo tempore, ut cum illo maneamus in aeternum. Et ipse ex quodam tempore Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis.

5. Propterea igitur cum pronuntiatur in Scripturis, aut enarratur aliquid de sapientia, sive dicente ipsa sive cum de illa dicitur, Filius nobis potissimum insinuatur. Cujus imaginis exemplo et nos non discedamus a Deo, quia et nos imago Dei sumus: non quidem aequalis, facta quippe a Patre per Filium, non nata de Patre sicut illa. Et nos , quia illuminamur lumine; illa vero, quia lumen illuminaus: et ideo illa sine exemplo nobis exemplum est. Neque enim imitatur praecedentem aliquem ad Patrem a quo nunquam est omnino separabilis, quia idipsum est quod ille de quo est. Nos autem nitentes imitamur manentem, et sequimur stantem, et in ipso ambulantes tendimus ad ipsum: quia factus est nobis via temporalis per humilitatem , quae mansio nobis aeterna est per divinitatem. Quoniam quippe spiritibus mundis intellectualibus, qui superbia non lapsi sunt, in forma Dei et Deo aequalis et Deus praebet exemplum: ut se idem exemplum redeundi etiam lapso praeberet homini, qui propter immunditiam peccatorum poenamque mortalitatis Deum videre non poterat, semetipsum exinanivit, non mutando divinitatem suam, sed nostram mutabilitatem assumendo; et formam servi accipiens (Philipp. II, 7), venit ad nos in hunc mundum (I Tim. I, 15), qui in hoc mundo erat, quia mundus per eum factus est (Joan. I, 10); ut exemplum sursum videntibus Deum, exemplum deorsum mirantibus hominem, exemplum sanis ad permanendum, exemplum infirmis ad convalescendum, exemplum morituris ad non timendum, exemplum mortuis ad resurgendum esset, in omnibus ipse primatum tenens (Coloss. I, 18). Quia enim homo ad beatitudinem sequi non debebat nisi Deum, et sentire non poterat Deum; sequendo Deum hominem factum, sequeretur simul et quem sentire poterat, et quem sequi debebat. Amemus ergo eum et inhaereamus illi, charitate diffusa in cordibus nostris per Spiritum sanctum, qui datus est nobis (Rom. V, 5). Non igitur mirum, si propter exemplum quod nobis ut reformemur ad imaginem Dei praebet imago aequalis Patri, cum de sapientia Scriptura loquitur, de Filio loquitur, quem sequimur vivendo sapienter: quamvis et Pater sit sapientia, sicut lumen et Deus.

6. Spiritus quoque sanctus sive sit summa charitas utrumque conjungens nosque subjungens, quod ideo non indigne dicitur quia scriptum est, Deus charitas est (I Joan. IV, 8): quomodo non est etiam ipse sapientia; cum sit lumen, quoniam Deus lumen est? sive alio modo essentia Spiritus sancti singillatim ac proprie nominanda est: quoniam Deus est, utique lumen est: et quoniam lumen est, utique sapientia est: Deum autem esse Spiritum sanctum, Scriptura clamat 0939 apud Apostolum qui dicit, Nescitis quia templum Dei estis? Statimque subjicit, Et Spiritus Dei habitat in vobis (I Cor. III, 16). Deus enim habitat in templo suo. Non enim tanquam minister habitat Spiritus Dei in templo Dei, cum alio loco evidentius dicat: Nescitis quia corpora vestra templum in vobis est Spiritus sancti, quem habetis a Deo, et non estis vestri? Empti enim estis pretio magno: glorificate ergo Deum in corpore vestro (Id. VI, 19, 20). Quid est autem sapientia, nisi lumen spirituale et incommutabile? Est enim et sol iste lumen, sed corporale est; et spiritualis creatura lumen, sed non incommutabile. Lumen ergo Pater, lumen Filius, lumen Spiritus sanctus: simul autem non tria lumina, sed unum lumen. Et ideo sapientia Pater, sapientia Filius, sapientia Spiritus sanctus; et simul non tres sapientiae, sed una sapientia: et quia hoc est ibi esse quod sapere, una essentia Pater et Filius et Spiritus sanctus. Nec aliud est ibi esse quam Deum esse: unus ergo Deus Pater et Filius et Spiritus sanctus.