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| How Difficult It is to Demonstrate the Trinity by Natural Reason.
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Chapter 5.—How Difficult It
is to Demonstrate the Trinity by Natural Reason.
7. But all that I have said, and
whatever else seems to be worthily said of God after the like
fashion of human speech, applies to the whole Trinity, which is one
God, and to the several Persons in that Trinity. For who would dare
to say either of the one God, which is the Trinity itself, or of
the Father, or Son, or Holy Spirit, either that He is not living,
or is without sense or intelligence; or that, in that nature in
which they are affirmed to be mutually equal, any one of them is
mortal, or corruptible, or changeable, or corporeal? Or is there
any one who would deny that any one in the Trinity is most
powerful, most righteous, most beautiful, most good, most blessed?
If, then, these things, and all others of the kind, can be
predicated both of the Trinity itself, and of each several one in
that Trinity, where or how shall the Trinity manifest itself? Let
us therefore first reduce these numerous predicates to some limited
number. For that which is called life in God, is itself His essence
and nature. God, therefore, does not live, unless by the life which
He is to Himself. And this life is not such as that which is in a
tree, wherein is neither understanding nor sense; nor such as is in
a beast, for the life of a beast possesses the fivefold sense, but
has no understanding. But the life which is God perceives and
understands all things, and perceives by mind, not by body, because
“God is a spirit.”950
And God does not perceive through a
body, as animals do, which have bodies, for He does not consist of
soul and body. And hence that single nature perceives as it
understands, and understands as it perceives, and its sense and
understanding are one and the same. Nor yet so, that at any time He
should either cease or begin to be; for He is immortal. And it is
not said of Him in vain, that “He only hath immortality.”951
For
immortality is true immortality in His case whose nature admits no
change. That is also true eternity by which God is unchangeable,
without beginning, without end; consequently also incorruptible. It
is one and the same thing, therefore, to call God eternal, or
immortal, or incorruptible, or unchangeable; and it is likewise one
and the same thing to say that He is living, and that He is
intelligent, that is, in truth, wise. For He did not receive wisdom
whereby to be wise, but He is Himself wisdom. And this is life, and
again is power or might, and yet again beauty, whereby He is called
powerful and beautiful. For what is more powerful and more
beautiful than wisdom, “which reaches from end to end mightily,
and sweetly disposes all things”?952
| 952 Wisdom 8.1" id="iv.i.xvii.v-p5.1" parsed="|Wis|8|1|0|0" osisRef="Bible:Wis.8.1">Wisd. viii. 1 | Or do goodness, again, and
righteousness, differ from each other in the nature of God, as they
differ in His works, as though they were two diverse qualities of
God—goodness one, and righteousness another?
Certainly not; but that which is righteousness is also itself
goodness; and that which is goodness is also itself blessedness.
And God is therefore called incorporeal, that He may be believed
and understood to be a spirit, not a body.
8. Further, if we say, Eternal,
immortal, incorruptible, unchangeable, living, wise, powerful,
beautiful, righteous, good, blessed spirit; only the last of this
list as it were seems to signify substance, but the rest to signify
qualities of that substance; but it is not so in that ineffable and
simple nature. For whatever seems to be predicated therein
according to quality, is to be understood according to substance or
essence. For far be it from us to predicate spirit of God according
to substance, and good according to quality; but both according to
substance.953
| 953 [In the Infinite Being, qualities
are inseparable from essence; in the finite being, they are
separable. If man or angel ceases to be good, or wise, or
righteous, he does not thereby cease to be man or angel. But if God
should lose goodness, wisdom or righteousness, he would no longer
be God. This is the meaning of Augustin, when he says that
“goodness” as well as “spirit” must be predicated of God,
“according to substance”—that is, that qualities in God are
essential qualities. They are so one with the essence, that
they are inseparable.—W.G.T.S.] | And so in
like manner of all those we have mentioned, of which we have
already spoken at length in the former books. Let us choose, then,
one of the first four of those in our enumeration and arrangement,
i.e. eternal, immortal, incorruptible, unchangeable; since
these four, as I have argued already, have one meaning; in order
that our aim may not be distracted by a multiplicity of objects.
And let it be rather that which was placed first, viz.
eternal. Let us follow the same course with the four that come
next, viz. living, wise, powerful, beautiful. And since life
of some sort belongs also to the beast, which has not wisdom; while
the next two, viz. wisdom and might, are so compared to one
another in the case of man, as that Scripture says, “Better is he
that is wise than he that is strong;”954
| 954 Wisdom 6.1" id="iv.i.xvii.v-p8.1" parsed="|Wis|6|1|0|0" osisRef="Bible:Wis.6.1">Wisd. vi. 1 | and beauty, again, is commonly
attributed to bodily objects also: out of these four that we have
chosen, let Wise be the one we take. Although these four are not to
be called unequal in speaking of God; for they are four names, but
one thing. But of the third and last four,—although it is the
same thing in God to be righteous that it is to be good or to be
blessed; and the same thing to be a spirit that it is to be
righteous, and good, and blessed; yet, because in men there can be
a spirit that is not blessed, and there can be one both righteous
and good, but not yet blessed; but that which is blessed is
doubtless both just, and good, and a spirit,—let us rather choose
that one which cannot exist even in men without the three others,
viz. blessed.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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