V.
Again, when one speaks of the Holy Spirit as an
object made holy,283
he will no
longer be able to
apprehend all things as being sanctified in (the)
Spirit. For he who has sanctified one, sanctifies all
things. That man, consequently, belies the
fountain of
sanctification, the
Holy Spirit, who denudes Him of the
power of
sanctifying, and he will thus be precluded from numbering Him with the
Father and the Son; he makes nought, too, of the holy (
ordinance of)
baptism, and will no more be able to acknowledge the holy and august
Trinity.
284
| 284
Trias. [See vol. ii. p. 101.] |
For either
we must
apprehend the
perfect Trinity285
| 285
Trias. [See vol. ii. p. 101.] |
in its
natural and genuine
glory, or we
shall be under the necessity of speaking no more of a
Trinity, but only
of a
Unity;
286
or else, not
numbering
287
created objects
with the Creator, nor the creatures with the
Lord of all, we must also
not number what is sanctified with what sanctifies; even as no object
that is made can be numbered with the
Trinity, but in the name of the
Holy
Trinity baptism and invocation and
worship are
administered.
For if there are three several glories, there must also be three
several forms of cultus with those who impiously
worship the creature;
for if there is a distinction in the
nature of the objects worshipped,
there ought to be also with these men a distinction in the
nature of
the
worship offered. What is recent
288
surely is not to be worshipped along
with what is
eternal; for the recent comprehends all that has had a
beginning, while mighty and measureless is He who is before the
ages. He, therefore, who supposes some beginning of times in the
life of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, therewith also
cuts off any
possibility of numbering the Son and the Spirit with the
Father.
For as we acknowledge the glory to be one, so ought we also to
acknowledge the substance in the Godhead to be one, and one also the
eternity of the Trinity.
E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
