Chapter XIV.
Each Person of the Trinity is said in the sacred
writings to be Light. The Spirit is designated Fire by Isaiah, a
figure of which Fire was seen in the bush by Moses, in the tongues of
fire, and in Gideon’s pitchers. And the Godhead of the same
Spirit cannot be denied, since His operation is the same as that of the
Father and of the Son, and He is also called the light and fire of the
Lord’s countenance.
160. But why should
I argue that as the Father is light, so, too, the Son is light, and the
Holy Spirit is light? Which certainly pertains to the power of
God. For God is Light, as John said: “For God is
Light, and in Him is no darkness.”968
161. But the Son, too, is Light, because
“the Life was the Light
of men.”969
And the
Evangelist, that he might show that he was speaking of the Son of God,
says of John the Baptist: “He was not light, but [was sent]
to be a witness of the Light. That was the true Light, which
lighteth every man that cometh into this world.”970
So, then, since God is Light, and the
Son of God the true Light, without doubt the Son of God is true
God.
162. And you find elsewhere that the Son of
God is Light: “The people that sat in darkness and in the
shadow of death have seen a great light.”971
But, which is still more clear, it
is said: “For with Thee is the fount of Life, and in Thy
light we shall see light,”972
which means
that with Thee, O God the Father Almighty, Who art the Fount of Life,
in Thy Son Who is the Light, we shall see the light of the Holy
Spirit. As the Lord Himself shows, saying: “Receive
ye the Holy Spirit,”973
and
elsewhere: “Virtue went out from Him.”974
163. But who can doubt that the Father is Light,
when we read of His Son that He is the Brightness of eternal
Light? For of Whom but of the Father is the Son the Brightness,
Who both is always with the Father, and always shines, not with unlike
but with the same radiance.
164. And Isaiah shows that the Holy Spirit
is not only Light but also Fire, saying: “And the light of
Israel shall be for a fire.”975
So the
prophets called Him a burning Fire, because in those three points we
see more intensely the majesty of the Godhead; since to sanctify is of
the Godhead, to illuminate is the property of fire and light, and the
Godhead is wont to be pointed out or seen in the appearance of
fire: “For our God is a consuming Fire,” as Moses
said.976
165. For he himself saw the fire in the
bush, and had heard God when the voice from the flame of fire came to
him saying: “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob.”977
The voice
came from the fire, and the voice was in the bush, and the fire did no
harm. For the bush was burning but was not consumed, because in
that mystery the Lord was showing that He would come to illuminate the
thorns of our body, and not to consume those who were in misery, but to
alleviate their misery; Who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with
fire, that He might give grace and destroy sin.978
So in the symbol of fire God
keeps His intention.
166. In the Acts of the Apostles, also, when
the Holy Spirit had descended upon the faithful, the appearance of fire
was seen, for you read thus: “And suddenly there was a
sound from heaven, as though the Spirit were borne with great
vehemence, and it filled all the house where they were sitting, and
there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of
fire.”979
167. For the same reason was it that when Gideon
was about to overcome the Midianites, he commanded three hundred men to
take pitchers, and to hold lighted torches inside the pitchers, and
trumpets in their right hands. Our predecessors have preserved
the explanation received from the apostles, that the pitchers are our
bodies, fashioned of clay, which know not fear if they burn with the
fervour of the grace of the Spirit, and bear witness to the passion of
the Lord Jesus with a loud confession of the Voice.
168. Who, then, can doubt of the Godhead of the
Holy Spirit, since where the grace of the Spirit is, there the
manifestation of the Godhead appears. By which evidence we infer
not a diversity but the unity of the divine power. For how can
there be a severance of power, where the effect of the working in all
is one?
169. What, then, is that fire? Not
certainly one made up of common twigs, or roaring with the burning of
the reeds of the woods, but that fire which improves good deeds like
gold, and consumes sins like stubble. This is undoubtedly the
Holy Spirit, Who is called both the fire and light of the countenance
of God; light as we said above: “The light of Thy
countenance has been sealed upon us, O Lord.”980
What is, then, the light that is
sealed, but that of the seal of the Spirit, believing in Whom,
“ye were sealed,” he says, “with the Holy Spirit of
promise.”981
170. And as there is a light of the divine
countenance, so, too, does fire shine forth from the countenance of
God, for it is written: “A fire shall burn in His
sight.”982
For the
grace of the day of judgment shines beforehand, that forgiveness may
follow to reward the service of the saints. O the great fulness
of the Scriptures, which no one can comprehend with human genius!
O greatest proof of the Divine Unity! For how many things are
pointed out in these two verses!E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
