Chapter VIII.

The Holy Spirit is given by God alone, yet not wholly to each person, since there is no one besides Christ capable of receiving Him wholly. Charity is shed abroad by the Holy Spirit, Who, prefigured by the mystical ointment, is shown to have nothing common with creatures; and He, inasmuch as He is said to proceed from the mouth of God, must not be classed with creatures, nor with things divisible, seeing He is eternal.

90. Observe at the same time that God gives the Holy Spirit. For this is no work of man, nor gift of man; but He Who is invoked by the priest is given by God, wherein is the gift of God and the ministry of the priest. For if the Apostle Paul judged that he was not able to give the Holy Spirit himself by his own authority, and considered himself so far unequal to this office that he wished us to be filled by God with the Spirit,121    Eph. v. 18.    1 Cor. viii. 6. who is sufficient to dare to arrogate to himself the conferring of this gift? So the Apostle uttered this wish in prayer, and did not claim a right by any authority of his own; he desired to obtain, he did not presume to command. Peter, too, says that he is not capable of compelling or restraining the Holy Spirit. For he spoke thus: “Wherefore if God has granted them the same grace as to us, who was I that I could resist God?”122    Acts xi. 17.    Rom. xi. 36.

91. But perchance they would not be moved by the example of apostles, and so let us use divine utterances; for it is written: “Jacob is My servant, I will uphold him; Israel is My elect, My soul hath upheld him, I put My Spirit upon him.”123    Isa. xlii. 1.    Isa. xl. 13. The Lord also said by Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me.”124    Isa. lxi. 1.    Isa. xl. 12.

92. Who, then, can dare to say that the substance of the Holy Spirit is created, at Whose shining in our hearts we behold the beauty of divine truth, and the distance between the creature and the Godhead, that the work may be distinguished from its Author? Or of what creature has God so spoken as to say: “I will pour out of My Spirit”?125    Joel ii. 28.    Ps. cxlv. [cxliv.] 15, 16. He said not Spirit, but “of My Spirit,” for we are not able to receive the fulness of the Holy Spirit, but we receive as much as our Master divides to us of His own according to His will.126    Phil. ii. 6.    Eph. iv. 15, 16. For as the Son of God thought it not robbery that He should be equal to God, but emptied Himself, that we might be able to receive Him in our minds; but He emptied Himself not that He was void of His own fulness, but in order that He, Whose fulness I could not endure, might infuse Himself into me according to the measure of my capacity, in like manner also the Father says that He pours out of the Spirit upon all flesh; for He did not pour Him forth wholly, but that which He poured forth abounded for all.

93. There was therefore a pouring out upon us of the Spirit, but upon the Lord Jesus, when He was in the form of man, the Spirit abode, as it is written: “Upon Whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending from heaven, and abiding upon Him, He it is Who baptizeth in the Holy Spirit.”127    S. John i. 33.    Col. ii. 19. Around us is the liberality of the Giver in abundant provision, in Him abides for ever the fulness of the Spirit. He shed forth then what He deemed to be sufficient for us, and what was shed forth is not separated nor divided; but He has a unity of fulness wherewith He may enlighten the sight of our hearts according to what our strength is capable of. Lastly, we receive so much as the advancing of our mind acquires, for the fulness of the grace of the Spirit is indivisible, but is shared in by us according to the capacity of our own nature.

94. God, then, sheds forth of the Spirit, and the love of God is also shed abroad through the Spirit; in which point we ought to recognize the unity of the operation and of the grace. For as God shed forth of the Holy Spirit, so also “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit;”128    Rom. v. 5.    S. John i. 16. in order that we may understand that the Holy Spirit is not a work, Who is the dispenser and plenteous Fount of the divine love.

95. In like manner that you may believe that that which is shed abroad cannot be common to the creatures but peculiar to the Godhead, the name of the Son is also poured forth, as you read: “Thy Name is as ointment poured forth.”129    Cant. i. 3.    S. John xvi. 14. Of which saying nothing can surpass the force. For as ointment closed up in a vase keeps in its perfume, so long as it is confined in the narrow space of that vase, though it cannot reach many, it yet preserves its strength. But when the ointment has been poured out of that vase wherein it was enclosed, it spreads far and wide; so, too, the Name of Christ before His coming amongst the people of Israel was enclosed in the minds of the Jews as in some vase. For “God is known in Judah, His Name is great in Israel;”130    Ps. lxxvi. [lxxv.] 1.    S. Luke viii. 46. that is, the Name which the vases of the Jews held confined in their narrow limits.

96. Even then that Name was indeed great, when it remained in the narrow limits of the weak and few, but it had not yet poured forth its greatness throughout the hearts of the Gentiles, and to the ends of the whole world. But after that He by His coming had shone throughout the whole world, He spread abroad that divine Name of His throughout all creatures, not filled up by any addition (for fulness admits not of increase), but filling up the empty spaces, that His Name might be wonderful in all the world. The pouring forth, then, of His Name signifies a kind of abundant exuberance of graces and copiousness of heavenly goods, for whatever is poured forth flows over from abundance.

97. So as wisdom which proceeds from the mouth of God cannot be said to be created, nor the Word Which is uttered from His heart, nor the power in which is the fulness of the eternal Majesty; so, too, the Spirit which is poured forth from the mouth of God cannot be considered to be created, since God Himself has shown their unity to be such that He speaks of His pouring forth of His Spirit. By which we understand that the grace of God the Father is the same as that of the Holy Spirit, and that without any division or loss it is divided to the hearts of each. That, then, which is shed abroad of the Holy Spirit is neither severed, nor comprehended in any corporeal parts, nor divided.

98. For how can it be credible that the Spirit should be divided by any parcelling out? John says of God: “Hereby know we that He abides in us by the Spirit which He hath given us.”131    1 John iii. 24.    Gal. vi. 8. But that which abides always is certainly not changed, therefore if it suffers no change it is eternal. And so the Holy Spirit is eternal, but the creature is liable to fault, and therefore subject to change. But that which is subject to change cannot be eternal, and there cannot therefore be anything in common between the Spirit and the creature, because the Spirit is eternal, but every creature is temporal.

99. But the Apostle also shows that the Holy Spirit is eternal, for: “If the blood of bulls and of goats, and the sprinkling the ashes of an heifer sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God?”132    Heb. ix. 13, 14.    1 John iv. 13. Therefore the Spirit is eternal.

CAPUT VIII.

A Deo solo dari Spiritum; neque tamen totum singulis, cum praeter Christum nemo fuerit qui totum eum capere posset. Per Spiritum effundi charitatem, quae per mysticum unguentum figurata, nihil commune cum creaturis habere ostenditur: ipsum autem cum ex ore Dei dicatur procedere, inter creata non reponendum; nec inter divisibilia, cum sit aeternus.

90. Simul illud adverte, quia Deus dat Spiritum sanctum (Rom. V, 5). Non enim humanum hoc opus, neque ab homine datur: sed qui invocatur a 0726B sacerdote, a Deo traditur, in quo Dei munus, ministerium sacerdotis est. Nam si Paulus apostolus judicavit (Ephes. V, 18) quod ipse donare Spiritum sanctum sua auctoritate non posset, et in tantum se huic officio imparem credidit, ut a Deo nos Spiritu optaret impleri; quis tantus est, qui hujus traditionem muneris sibi audeat arrogare? Itaque Apostolus votum precatione detulit, non jus auctoritate aliqua vindicavit: impetrare optavit, non imperare praesumpsit. Petrus quoque ait quia non erat idoneus qui posset Spiritum sanctum vel cogere, vel arcere. Sic enim dixit: Ergo si eamdem gratiam concessit illis Deus sicut et nobis, ego quis eram, qui possem prohibere Deum (Act. XI, 17)?

91. Sed fortasse apostolicis non moveantur 0726C exemplis, et ideo divinis utamur oraculis; scriptum est enim: Jacob puer meus, suscipiam eum: Israel electus meus, suscepit eum anima mea, dedi Spiritum meum in ipsum (Esai. XLII, 1). Dominus quoque per Esaiam dixit: Spiritus Domini super me, propter quod unxit me (Esai. LXI, 1).

92. Quis ergo audeat dicere creatam Spiritus sancti esse substantiam, qui cum illuxerit in cordibus nostris, divinae cernimus pulchritudinem veritatis, et distantiam creaturae divinitatisque cognoscimus, ut opus segregetur ab auctore? Aut de qua creatura Deus ita locutus est, quod aut Dominationes aut Potestates effundat aut Angelos? Sed de Spiritu, inquit, meo effundam (Joel II, 28). Non Spiritum ait, sed de Spiritu; neque enim nos capere 0726D possumus plenitudinem Spiritus sancti, sed tantum accipimus, quantum de suo arbiter nostri pro sua voluntate diviserit. Sicut enim Dei Filius non rapinam arbitratus est esse se aequalem Deo, sed semetipsum exinanivit (Philipp. II, 6), ut nos eum nostris animis percipere 620 possemus: exinanivit autem non quod ipse esset vacuus suae plenitudinis; sed quo mihi qui plenitudinem ejus sustinere non possem, pro eo quod capere possem, infunderetur: 0727A ita etiam de Spiritu sancto Pater se dicit effundere super omnem carnem; non enim totum effudit, sed quod effudit, omnibus abundavit.

93. Supra nos ergo effusum est de Spiritu: at vero super Dominum Jesum, cum in forma esset hominis, manebat Spiritus, sicut scriptum est: Supra quem videris Spiritum descendentem de coelo, et manentem super eum, hic est qui baptizat in Spiritu sancto (Joan. I, 33). Circa nos ex affluenti commodo liberalitas largientis est, in illo totius manet in aeternum Spiritus plenitudo. Quod igitur nobis satis esse judicavit, effudit: et quod effusum est, non separatum est, nec incisum: sed unitatem habet plenitudinis, quo aciem nostri cordis illuminet pro nostrae possibilitate virtutis. Denique tantum capimus, 0727B quantum profectus nostrae mentis acquirit; inseparabilis est enim plenitudo gratiae spiritalis, sed nobis pro nostrae participatur facultate naturae.

94. Effundit ergo Deus de Spiritu, effunditur etiam charitas Dei per Spiritum: quo loco unitatem debemus agnoscere operationis et gratiae. Sicut enim de Spiritu sancto Deus effudit, ita etiam, Charitas Dei effusa est in cordibus nostris per Spiritum sanctum (Rom. V, 5); ut intelligamus non esse opus sanctum Spiritum, qui divinae arbiter et fons profluus charitatis est.

95. Similiter autem ut credas id quod effunditur, cum creaturis non posse esse commune, sed speciale divinitatis; etiam et Filii nomen effunditur, sicut habes: Unguentum exinanitum est nomen tuum (Cant. 0727C I, 2). Cujus virtute sermonis nihil potest esse praestantius. Nam sicut inclusum in vase aliquo unguentum cohibet odorem suum, qui odor quamdiu vasis illius angustiis coercetur, etsi ad plures non potest pervenire, tamen vim suam servat; cum vero de vase illo, quo claudebatur, unguentum fuerit effusum, longe lateque diffunditur: ita et Christi nomen ante ejus adventum in Israel populo, quasi in vase aliquo Judaeorum mentibus claudebatur: Notus enim in Judaea Deus, in Israel magnum nomen ejus (Psalm. LXXV, 1): hoc utique nomen, quod vasa Judaeorum angustiis suis coercitum continebant.

96. Magnum quidem et tunc nomen, cum infirmiorum atque paucorum haereret angustiis: sed magnitudinem sui nondum per corda gentium, et in fines 0727D totius orbis effuderat. Postea vero quam per omnem mundum suo illuxit adventu, per omnem utique creaturam divinum illud suum nomen extendit, non repletum accessione aliqua (plenitudo enim nescit augmentum) sed replens vacua, ut esset admirabile nomen ejus in universa terra. Hujus igitur effusio nominis abundantem quamdam exuberantiam gratiarum, bonorumque coelestium significat largitatem; ex abundantia enim superfluit, quidquid effunditur.

0728A 97. Itaque sicut creata non potest dici sapientia, quae ex ore Dei procedit, nec Verbum, quod eructatur ex corde, nec virtus, in qua plenitudo 621 majestatis aeternae est: ita etiam creatus non potest Spiritus aestimari, qui ex ore Dei funditur; cum ipse Deus tantam ostenderit unitatem, ut effundere se de Spiritu suo dicat. Quo intelligamus quia etiam Dei Patris eadem gratia sit, quae Spiritus sancti est, et quod sine incisione ac detrimento aliquo dividatur mentibus singulorum. Quod ergo de Spiritu Dei effunditur, nec inciditur, nec partibus aliquibus corporalibus comprehenditur, aut secatur.

98. [Alias cap. VIII]. Quomodo enim credibile est, quod Spiritus sectilibus aliquibus dividatur? Dicit Joannes de Deo: Ex hoc cognoscimus quia manet 0728B in nobis de Spiritu quem dedit nobis (I Joan. III, 24). Quod autem manet semper, utique nec mutatur: ergo si mutationem non habet, aeternitatem habet. Et ideo Spiritus sanctus sempiternus est; creatura autem obnoxia vitio, ideoque mutabilis. Quod autem mutabile est, esse non potest sempiternum (Rom. VIII, 20): et ideo non potest Spiritui sancto et creaturae esse consortium; quia sempiternus est Spiritus, creatura autem omnis in tempore est.

99. Sempiternum autem Spiritum sanctum, etiam Apostolus ostendit: Si enim sanguis taurorum et hircorum, et cinis vitulae aspersus inquinatos sanctificat ad carnem emundandam; quanto magis sanguis Christi, qui per Spiritum sempiternum se obtulit immaculatum 0728C Deo (Hebr. IX, 13, 14)! Ergo sempiternus est Spiritus.