Part 8
When we teach that faith must be certain and assured, we do not imagine a certainty untouched by any doubt, or an assurance assailed by no anxiety. On the contrary, we say that believers wage a perpetual battle against their own distrust. Far from placing their consciences in some peaceful repose disturbed by no storm, we affirm that they are continually exercised by unrest. Nevertheless,
however they may be assailed, we deny that they ever fall or depart from the assured confidence they have once conceived in the mercy of God.
To understand this better, we must return to the division between the Spirit and the flesh, of which we have spoken elsewhere and which is clearly displayed here. The heart of the believer therefore feels this division within itself: in part it is filled with gladness through the knowledge it possesses of God's goodness, and in part it is pierced with bitterness by the sense of its misery; in part it rests upon the promise of the Gospel, and in part it trembles at the sight of its iniquity; in part it apprehends life with joy, and in part it recoils in horror from death.
This conflict arises from the imperfection of faith, because during the present life we never attain to that blessed condition in which, being cleansed of all distrust, we possess the fullness of faith within us. From this arises the battle: the distrust still remaining in the flesh rises up to assail and overthrow faith.
But here someone will say: If such doubt is mingled with certainty in the heart of the believer, do we not always return to the conclusion that faith possesses no certain and clear knowledge of the will of God, but only an obscure and perplexed one? I answer, no. For although we are distracted by various thoughts, it does not follow that we are separated from faith. If we are driven here and there by the assaults of unbelief, it does not follow that we are cast into its abyss. If we are shaken, that does not mean we fall. For the outcome of this battle is always that faith rises above those difficulties by which it is besieged, even when it appears to be in danger.
In short, as soon as the smallest drop of faith imaginable is placed in our souls, we immediately begin to behold the face of God as gracious and favorable toward us. It is true that we behold it from afar, yet with so certain a gaze that we know there is no deception in it. Afterward, as we make progress—and we ought to make continual progress—we advance and draw nearer, so that our vision becomes more certain. Moreover, through continued contemplation, this knowledge becomes more familiar to us.
Thus we see that the understanding, when first enlightened with the knowledge of God, remains enveloped in great ignorance, which is gradually removed. Nevertheless, neither its ignorance nor the obscurity of its vision prevents it from enjoying a clear knowledge of the will of God. This is the first and principal point of faith.
It is as though someone confined in a deep prison received the light of the sun only indirectly and imperfectly through a high and narrow window. He would not have a full and unobstructed view of the sun, yet he would still possess its certain light and receive its benefit. In the same manner, although we are confined in the prison of this earthly body and surrounded on every side by much darkness, if we possess even the smallest spark of God's light revealing his mercy to us, we are sufficiently enlightened to possess firm assurance.
Both of these things are clearly shown to us by the Apostle in various places. For when he says:
"We know in part, and we prophesy in part," and, "We see obscurely, as through a mirror." —1 Corinthians 13:9, 12
he indicates how small a portion of divine wisdom is allotted to us in the present life. Yet elsewhere he shows how great is the certainty contained in even the smallest drop of such knowledge, testifying that through the Gospel:
"We behold the glory of God with unveiled face and without obstruction, and are transformed into the same image." —2 Corinthians 3:18
It is indeed inevitable that amid such ignorance there should be many doubts and fears, especially since our heart is naturally inclined toward unbelief. Moreover, temptations arise, infinite in number and diverse in kind, which from hour to hour make astonishing assaults upon us. Above all, the conscience, being burdened by the weight of its sins, now complains and groans within itself, now accuses itself, at times is silently pierced, and at other times is openly tormented.
Therefore, whether adversities present some appearance of God's wrath or the conscience finds an occasion for it within itself, unbelief arms itself with these things to fight against faith. It directs all its weapons toward this end: to make us think that God is opposed to us and angry with us, so that we expect no good from him and fear him as our mortal enemy.
To withstand such assaults, faith is armed with the word of God. When it is assailed by the temptation that God is opposed to us and is our enemy because he afflicts us, faith sets against it this defense: that even in afflicting us he is merciful, because his chastisements proceed from love rather than wrath. When it is attacked by the thought that God is a righteous Judge who punishes all iniquity, it
holds up this shield: that mercy is prepared for every sin whenever the sinner turns to the Lord's clemency.
In this manner, however severely the believing soul may be tormented, it ultimately overcomes every difficulty. It never permits its confidence in the mercy of God to be torn away or shaken from it. On the contrary, all the doubts by which it is exercised are turned into a greater certainty of that confidence.
We experience this in the saints, who, when they see themselves severely pressed by God's vengeance, nevertheless continue to address their complaints to him. Even when it appears that they will not be heard at all, they still call upon him. For why would they complain to one from whom they expected no relief? And how would they be moved to call upon him unless they hoped to receive some help from him?
In this way, the disciples whose weakness of faith Jesus Christ rebuked cried out that they were perishing, yet they still implored his help:
"Lord, save us; we are perishing." —Matthew 8:25
We therefore affirm again what was said above: that the root of faith is never entirely torn from the heart of the believer, but always remains firmly planted there, although, when shaken, it may appear to bend this way and that. Its light is never so completely extinguished that at least some spark does not always remain. Job shows this when he says:
"Though he should kill me, yet will I hope in him." —Job 13:15
For the saints never have greater cause for despair than when they feel the hand of God raised to destroy them, according to what they can judge from the present condition of things.
There is another kind of fear and trembling by which the certainty of faith is so far from being diminished that it is instead strengthened. This occurs when believers regard the examples of God's vengeance executed upon the wicked as warnings for themselves, so that they may not provoke God's wrath by committing the same offenses, and therefore guard themselves more diligently against doing evil.
Or else, when they acknowledge their misery, they learn to depend wholly upon God, without whom they see themselves to be more frail and unstable than a breath of wind. For when the Apostle, after setting forth the chastisements God had inflicted upon the people of Israel, warns the Corinthians not to fall into the same sins, he does not in any way overthrow their confidence. He merely awakens them from their indolence, which ordinarily tends to bury faith rather than establish it.
Likewise, when he takes occasion from the ruin of the Jews to exhort the person who stands to take heed lest he fall, he does not command us to waver as though uncertain of our steadfastness. He merely removes all arrogance and rash confidence in our own strength, so that we Gentiles may not triumph over the Jews whose place we have taken:
"Do not be proud, but fear." —Romans 11:20
Likewise, when he teaches us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling:
"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." —Philippians 2:12
he requires nothing else than that, in deep humility concerning ourselves, we should accustom ourselves to rely upon the power of the Lord.
Nothing can move us more powerfully to rest the certainty and confidence of our faith in God than distrust of ourselves and the distress we feel after recognizing our misery. In this sense we must understand the words of the Prophet:
"I will enter your temple in the abundance of your goodness, and there I will worship in fear." —Psalm 5:7
Here he very properly joins the boldness of faith, which rests upon the mercy of God, with that fear and holy trembling by which we must be affected whenever we appear before the majesty of God and, by its brightness, perceive the uncleanness within us.
Solomon therefore speaks truly:
"Blessed is the man who continually causes his heart to fear, but he who hardens his heart shall fall into ruin." —Proverbs 28:14
He means a fear that makes us more watchful and prudent, not one that afflicts us to the point of despair. This occurs when our courage, confused within itself, is comforted in God; cast down in itself, it is raised up in him; distrusting itself, it stands firm in the hope it possesses in him. There is therefore no obstacle preventing believers from feeling fear and trembling while at the same time enjoying the surest consolation, since on the one hand they consider their own vanity and on the other behold the truth of God.
The fear of God, which throughout Scripture is attributed to believers and is sometimes called the beginning of wisdom and sometimes wisdom itself, is one, yet it proceeds from a twofold affection. For God possesses the reverence due both to a father and to a master. Therefore, whoever wishes rightly to honor him will endeavor to conduct himself toward him as an obedient son and a servant ready to perform his duty.
Through his Prophet, God calls the obedience rendered to him as our Father "honor," and the service performed to him as our Master "fear":
"The son honors his father, and the servant his master. If I am your Father, where is the honor you owe me? If I am your Master, where is the fear?" —Malachi 1:6
Yet although he distinguishes the two, he joins them together at the beginning by comprehending both under the word "honor." Let the fear of God, therefore, be for us a reverence mingled with such honor and fear. It is no wonder that the same heart should receive both affections together.
It is indeed true that the person who considers what a Father God is to us has sufficient reason—even if there were no hell—to dread offending him more than death. Yet, on the other hand, because our flesh is inclined to cast off all restraint in doing evil, it is necessary, in order to restrain it, to keep this thought in mind: that the Lord, under whose power we are, abominates all iniquity, and that those who provoke his wrath by living wickedly will not escape his vengeance.
What Saint John says does not conflict with this:
"Fear is not in love, but perfect love casts out fear." —1 John 4:18
For he is speaking of the trembling produced by unbelief, from which the fear of believers is far removed. The wicked do not fear God because they dread offending him, if they could do so without punishment. Rather, because they know he has the power to avenge himself, they recoil in horror whenever his wrath is mentioned to them. Indeed, they fear his wrath because they think it near and expect from hour to hour that it will fall upon and overwhelm them.
Believers, on the contrary, as has been said, fear offending him more than they fear punishment. They are not terrified by the fear of punishment as though hell were already present to swallow them up, but by that fear they are drawn back from exposing themselves to danger. Therefore, when the Apostle speaks to believers, he says:
"Let no one deceive you concerning these things, for because of them the wrath of God comes upon the children
of disobedience." —Ephesians 5:6
He does not threaten that the wrath of God will descend upon them. Rather, he exhorts them to consider that God's wrath is prepared for the wicked because of the sins he had just recounted, so that they may not venture to follow them and thereby come to the same destruction.
Moreover, by the goodwill of God, upon which we say faith looks, we must understand that we obtain possession of salvation and eternal life. For if nothing can be lacking to us when God is gracious toward us, it ought to suffice for the certainty of our salvation that God assures us of his love toward us. As the Prophet says:
"Cause your face to shine, and we shall be saved." —Psalm 80:3
Scripture therefore places the sum of our salvation in this: that the Lord, having abolished all enmity, has received us into his grace:
"He is our peace, who has abolished the enmity, that he might reconcile us to God." —Ephesians 2:14–16
By this it signifies that, once God is reconciled to us, no danger remains that can prevent all things from turning to our good. Therefore, in apprehending the love of God, faith comprehends within it the promises of the present and future life and a firm assurance of every good thing—such assurance, that is, as may be obtained from the word of the Gospel.
For faith does not certainly promise itself either long life, great honors, or an abundance of riches in the present life, since the Lord has not willed to guarantee any of these things to us. Rather, it is content with this certainty: that although many supports of this life may fail us, God will never fail us. Its principal assurance rests in the expectation of the life to come, which has been placed beyond all uncertainty for us by the word of God.
Whatever calamity and misery may befall those whom our Lord has once received into his love, it cannot prevent the goodwill of God alone from being their complete blessedness. Therefore, when we wished to express the sum of all blessedness, we set forth the grace of God, as the fountain from which every kind of good flows to us. This is readily observed throughout Scripture, which always directs us back to the love of God whenever it speaks not only of eternal salvation but of any good thing we possess. For this reason David testifies that the goodness of God, when perceived by the believing heart, is sweeter and more desirable than life itself:
"Your goodness is better than life." —Psalm 63:3
We make the free promise the foundation of faith because faith properly rests upon it. For although faith regards God as truthful in everything and everywhere—whether he commands, forbids, promises, or threatens—and although it obediently receives his commandments, observes his prohibitions, and fears his threats, nevertheless, properly speaking, it begins with the promise, rests upon it, and ends in it. For faith seeks life in God, and life is not
found in the commandments or threats, but solely in the promise of mercy—and that promise must be free.
For conditional promises, insofar as they direct us back to our works, promise life only if we find it within ourselves. Therefore, if we do not wish faith to tremble and waver from side to side, we must support it upon such a promise of salvation as is offered to us freely and out of pure generosity by the Lord, in consideration of our misery rather than our worthiness.
For this reason, the Apostle gives the Gospel the particular title "the word of faith":
"This is the word of faith that we preach." —Romans 10:8
He grants this title neither to the commandments nor to the promises of the law, because nothing can assure faith except this message sent from the goodness of God, by which he reconciles the world to himself. From this arises the correspondence he frequently establishes between faith and the Gospel, as when he says:
"Through him we have received grace and apostleship for the obedience of faith." —Romans 1:5
Again:
"The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes." —Romans 1:16
And again:
"In it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith." —Romans 1:17
This is no wonder. For since the Gospel is the ministry of our reconciliation with God, there is no other sufficient testimony of God's goodwill toward us, the knowledge of which is required in faith:
"God has given us the ministry of reconciliation, declaring that he was in Christ reconciling the world to himself." —2 Corinthians 5:18–19
Therefore, when we say that faith must rest upon free promises, we do not deny that believers receive and reverence the word of God in all its parts. Rather, we appoint the promise of mercy as the proper object of faith.
Believers must indeed acknowledge God as the Judge and punisher of evildoers. Nevertheless, they look especially upon his clemency, since he is described to them in this manner:
"He is good and merciful, slow to anger and abundant in goodness, gracious to all, and extending his mercy over all his works." —Psalms 86:5, 15; 145:8–9
Moreover, it is not without reason that we enclose all the promises in Christ, since the Apostle comprehends the whole Gospel in the
knowledge of him. In another passage he teaches:
"All the promises of God are in him Yes and Amen." —2 Corinthians 1:20
That is to say, they are ratified in him. The reason for this is evident. For whatever good the Lord promises, he thereby testifies to his goodwill, so that there are no promises from him that are not testimonies of his love.
This is not contradicted by the fact that the more benefits the wicked receive from his hand, the more guilty they become and the more severe the judgment they incur. For since they neither consider nor acknowledge that the blessings they possess come to them from the hand of God—or, if they acknowledge it, do not ponder his goodness in their hearts—they can no more comprehend his truth than brute beasts, which, according to the nature given them, receive the same fruit of his generosity without acknowledging it in any way.
Nor does it contradict what we have said that, by rejecting the promises addressed to them, they thereby gather a more severe vengeance against themselves. For although the power of the promises is finally displayed when they are received by us, their truth and proper character are never extinguished by our unbelief or ingratitude.
Therefore, since the Lord by his promises invites and summons men not only to receive the fruits of his goodness but also to recognize and esteem them, he likewise declares his love toward them. We must therefore return to this point: every promise is a testimony of God's love toward us.
Now it is beyond dispute that no one is loved by God outside Christ, since he is the beloved Son in whom the Father's affection rests:
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." —Matthew 17:5
Therefore, this love must come to us through him. For this reason the Apostle calls him our peace:
"He is our peace." —Ephesians 2:14
And in another passage he presents him as the bond by which the Father's goodwill is joined to us:
"Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ our Lord." —Romans 8:39
It follows that we must always look to Christ whenever any promise is offered to us. Saint Paul therefore speaks rightly when he teaches that all God's promises are confirmed and fulfilled in him.
The bare declaration that we possess the word of God ought indeed to be sufficient to engender faith within us, were it not that our blindness and stubbornness hindered it. But because our mind is inclined to vanity, it can never adhere to the truth of God; and because it is stupefied, it cannot behold his light. Therefore, the word by itself profits nothing without the illumination of the Holy Spirit. From this it is evident that faith surpasses all human understanding.
Nor is it enough for the understanding to be illuminated by the Spirit of God unless the heart is also strengthened by his power. In this matter the Sorbonne theologians err most grievously, for they think that faith is merely an assent to the word of God residing in the understanding, while leaving behind the confidence and certainty of the heart.
Faith, therefore, is a singular gift of God in two respects: first, because the human understanding is illuminated to perceive the truth of God; and then because the heart is strengthened in that truth.
It is indeed an opinion very strange to the world when it is said that no one can believe in Christ except the person to whom it is particularly given. This is partly because men do not consider how lofty and difficult to comprehend heavenly wisdom is, nor how great their dullness and weakness are in comprehending the mysteries of God. It is also partly because they do not regard that firmness of heart which is the principal part of faith.
This error is easily refuted. For, as Saint Paul says:
"Who knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man that is within him?" —1 Corinthians 2:11
How, then, could a creature be certain of the will of God? And if the truth of God is doubtful to us even in the things we presently see with our eyes, how could it be firm and indubitable when the Lord promises us things the eye does not see and the understanding cannot comprehend?
Human wisdom is so stupefied and bewildered here that the first step toward making progress in the Lord's school is to renounce it. For by it, as by an intervening veil, we are prevented from comprehending the mysteries of God, which are revealed only to little children:
"You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and have revealed them to little children." —Matthew 11:25; Luke 10:21
Indeed, flesh and blood do not reveal them:
"Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." —Matthew 16:17
And the natural man is incapable of understanding spiritual things. On the contrary, the doctrine of God is foolishness to him, because it can be known only spiritually:
"The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot know them because they are spiritually discerned." —1 Corinthians 2:14
Therefore, the help of the Holy Spirit is necessary to us here—or rather, his power alone reigns here.
"Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" —Romans 11:34
But:
"The Spirit searches all things, even the hidden things of God," and through him "we know the mind of Christ." —1 Corinthians 2:10, 16
The Lord Jesus says:
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. Therefore, everyone who has heard my Father and learned from him comes to me—not that anyone has seen the Father except him who is sent from God." —John 6:44–46
Therefore, just as we cannot approach Christ unless we are drawn by the Spirit of God, so when we are drawn, we are carried altogether beyond our own understanding. For the soul, being enlightened by him, receives, as it were, a new eye with which to behold the heavenly mysteries, by whose brightness it was formerly dazzled.
Thus, when the human understanding is illumined by the light of the Holy Spirit, it then begins to taste the things belonging to the kingdom of God, of which it could previously have no perception. Therefore, although our Lord Jesus Christ explains the mysteries of his kingdom most clearly and properly to the two disciples mentioned by Saint Luke, he accomplishes nothing until:
"He opens their minds to understand the Scriptures." —Luke 24:45
In the same manner, after the Apostles had been instructed by his divine mouth, it was still necessary for the Spirit of truth to be sent to them, to give entrance into their understandings to the doctrine they had previously received through their ears:
"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth." —John 16:13
The word of God is like the sun, for it shines upon all to whom it is proclaimed, but without effect among the blind. Now we are all naturally blind in this respect. Therefore, the word cannot enter our minds unless the Spirit of God, who is the inward teacher, gives it entrance by his illumination.
It remains, then, that what the understanding has received should be planted in the heart. For if the word of God merely flutters about in the head, it has not yet been received by faith. Its true reception occurs only when it has taken root in the depths of the heart, so as to become an invincible fortress for withstanding and repelling every assault of temptation.
Now, if it is true that the proper understanding of our mind comes from the illumination of the Spirit of God, his power appears much more evidently in such a strengthening of the heart. For there is more distrust in the heart than blindness in the mind, and it is more difficult to give assurance to the heart than to instruct the understanding.
Therefore, the Holy Spirit serves as a seal to imprint upon our hearts the same promises he first impressed upon our understanding, and
as a pledge to confirm and ratify them. As the Apostle says:
"After you believed, you were sealed with the promised Spirit, who is the pledge of your inheritance." —Ephesians 1:13–14
Do you see how he shows that the hearts of believers are marked by the Holy Spirit as by a seal, and how he calls him the Spirit of promise because he makes the Gospel certain to us? Likewise, he says to the Corinthians:
"God, who has anointed us, has also sealed us and given the pledge of his Spirit in our hearts." —2 Corinthians 1:21–22
Again, in another place, when speaking of the confidence and boldness of our hope, he places its foundation in the pledge of the Spirit:
"He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the pledge of the Spirit." —2 Corinthians 5:5
From this we may judge how pernicious the doctrine of the Sophistical theologians is when they teach that we can determine nothing concerning the grace of God within us except by moral conjecture, according as each person considers himself not unworthy of it.
Certainly, if we must judge from our works what disposition God has toward us, I confess that we cannot comprehend it by even the
slightest conjecture. But since faith must correspond to the simple and free promise of God, no room remains for doubt. For with what confidence shall we be armed against the devil if we think that God is gracious toward us only under the condition that we deserve his favor?
But since we have reserved a separate discussion for this subject, we will not pursue it further at present, especially because it is evident that nothing is more contrary to faith than conjecture or any other persuasion approaching doubt and uncertainty.
To confirm this error, they always have upon their lips a passage from Ecclesiastes, which they wickedly corrupt:
"No one knows whether he is worthy of hatred or love." —Ecclesiastes 9:1
Even if I leave aside the fact that this sentence has been poorly rendered in the common translation, little children can still see what Solomon intended to say. His meaning is that if anyone attempts to judge from present circumstances who is loved and who is hated by God, he will labor in vain, since prosperity and adversity are common both to the righteous and the wicked, both to the person who serves God and to the person who pays him no regard.
It follows that God does not always testify his love toward those whom he causes to prosper temporally, nor does he declare his hatred toward those whom he afflicts. Solomon says this to rebuke the vanity of the human understanding, since it is so stupefied when considering matters of the greatest importance. As he had said
shortly before, one cannot discern how the soul of man differs from the soul of a beast, because it appears that both die the same death:
"As the one dies, so dies the other." —Ecclesiastes 3:19
If anyone wished to infer from this that the doctrine we hold concerning human immortality rests upon nothing but conjecture, would we not rightly judge him to be mad? Are these men, then, of sound mind when they argue that there is no certainty of God's grace among men simply because it cannot be comprehended by a fleshly examination of present circumstances?
But they allege that it is rash presumption to attribute to ourselves an undoubted knowledge of the divine will. I would grant them this if we undertook to subject the incomprehensible counsel of God to the narrow limits of our understanding. But when we simply say with Saint Paul:
"We have received, not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit who proceeds from God, that we might know the things God has given us." —1 Corinthians 2:12
what can they murmur against this without insulting the Spirit of God? If it is a horrible sacrilege to suspect any revelation proceeding from him of falsehood, uncertainty, or ambiguity, how do we err by affirming the certainty of what he has revealed to us?
But they again maintain that we act rashly in daring thus to glory in the Spirit of Christ. In this they display their profound stupidity.
Who would imagine that those who wish to make themselves teachers of the whole world could be so ignorant as to err so grossly in the first elements of Christianity? Indeed, I would find it unbelievable if their writings did not bear witness to it.
Saint Paul declares that none are children of God except those who are led by his Spirit:
"As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God." —Romans 8:14
These men would have the children of God guided by their own spirits while being empty of the Spirit of God.
Saint Paul teaches that we cannot call God our Father unless the Spirit impresses this cry within us, for he alone can bear witness to our souls that we are the children of God:
"You have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." —Romans 8:15–16
These men, although they do not forbid us to call upon God, deprive us of the Spirit by whose guidance we must invoke him.
Saint Paul denies that anyone who is not led by the Spirit of Christ belongs to him:
"If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his." —Romans 8:9
These men invent a Christianity that has no need of the Spirit of Christ.
Saint Paul gives us no hope of the blessed resurrection unless we know the Holy Spirit to be dwelling within us:
"If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead shall also give life to your mortal bodies by his Spirit dwelling in you." —Romans 8:11
These men imagine a hope empty of any such knowledge.
Perhaps they will reply that they do not deny the necessity of the Holy Spirit, but that in humility and modesty we ought to suppose we do not possess him. But what, then, does the Apostle mean when he commands the Corinthians:
"Examine yourselves and prove whether Jesus Christ dwells in you,"
adding that whoever does not possess this knowledge is reprobate?
"Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you are reprobates?" —2 Corinthians 13:5
Saint John likewise says:
"By the Spirit whom he has given us, we know that he dwells in us." —1 John 3:24
And what else do we do but call the promises of Jesus Christ into doubt when we wish to be his servants without his Spirit, seeing that he declared he would pour him out upon all his people?
"I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh." —Joel 2:28
What else do we do but rob the Holy Spirit of his glory when we separate faith from him, although faith is properly his work?
Since these things are the first lessons we must learn in our religion, it is great blindness to accuse Christians of arrogance when they glory in the presence of the Holy Spirit, without whom there is no Christianity. Indeed, by their own example these men demonstrate the truth of what the Lord says: that his Spirit is unknown to the world and is known only by those in whom he dwells:
"The world cannot receive him, because it neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he dwells with you and shall be in you." —John 14:17
And so that they may overthrow the foundations of faith on every side, they attack them from yet another direction. They say that although we may judge the grace of God according to the righteousness in which we presently stand, the certainty of our hope must nevertheless remain in suspense.
A fine confidence of salvation would remain to us if we could do nothing more than suppose, by what they call "moral conjecture,"
that we are presently in the grace of God while not knowing what may happen tomorrow. The Apostle speaks very differently:
"I am certain that neither angels nor powers nor principalities, neither death nor life, neither things present nor things to come, shall be able to separate us from the love with which God embraces us in Jesus Christ." —Romans 8:38–39
They attempt to escape by a frivolous answer, saying that the Apostle possessed this certainty by a special revelation. But they are held too firmly by his words to escape so easily. For there he treats the blessings that proceed from faith generally to all believers, not something he experienced only in his own person.
"Yes," they say, "but he himself endeavors to make us afraid by reminding us of our weakness and instability when he says":
"Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." —1 Corinthians 10:12
That is true. Yet he does not give us a fear intended to terrify us, but only to teach us to humble ourselves beneath the mighty hand of God, as Saint Peter declares:
"Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God." —1 Peter 5:6
Moreover, what madness is it to limit the certainty of faith to a brief period of time, when it properly belongs to faith to pass beyond the present life and extend into future immortality?
Therefore, when believers acknowledge that it comes from the grace of God that, being enlightened by his Spirit, they enjoy by faith the contemplation of the life to come, such glorying is so far from deserving the charge of arrogance that anyone ashamed to confess it displays extreme ingratitude rather than modesty or humility, since he suppresses and obscures the goodness of God that he ought to magnify.
By the same reasoning, two other falsehoods of the Sophists are likewise overthrown. The first is their notion that faith is "formed" when a good affection is added to the knowledge of God. The second is that, by bestowing the name of faith upon ignorance and lack of knowledge of God, they deceive ordinary people, persuading them that ignorance does not prevent a person from possessing what they call "implicit faith."
As to the first, they show plainly enough that they do not understand the nature of faith's assent in receiving the truth of God, since they fabricate an "unformed faith" consisting of a bare and frivolous assent. For we have already declared that the assent of faith belongs more to the heart than to the mind, and more to the affections than to mere understanding.
For this reason, faith is called obedience, above which the Lord prefers no other service:
"Through Jesus Christ we have received grace and apostleship for the obedience of faith." —Romans 1:5
And rightly so, since nothing is more precious to him than his truth, which Jesus Christ says is sealed and approved by believers:
"He who has received his testimony has set his seal that God is true." —John 3:33
Since this matter admits of little doubt, we conclude in a word that the Sorbonnists speak foolishly when they say that faith is formed when a good affection is joined to assent, seeing that the assent described in Scripture cannot exist without a good affection.
But there is another and much clearer reason. For faith receives Christ as he is offered by the Father, and he is offered not only as righteousness, forgiveness of sins, and peace, but also as sanctification and a fountain of living water. Faith therefore cannot properly acknowledge him without apprehending the sanctification of his Spirit.
Or, if someone wishes to have this stated still more clearly: faith consists in the knowledge of Christ, and Christ cannot be known without the sanctification of his Spirit. It follows that faith must never be separated from a good affection.
Those who customarily allege Saint Paul's words:
"If anyone had such perfect faith that he could remove mountains, but had no love, he would be nothing." —1 Corinthians 13:2
and who use them to construct an unformed faith devoid of love, do not consider what the word "faith" signifies in this passage.
Saint Paul had been discussing the various gifts of the Spirit, among which he had named tongues, powers, and prophecies. He had exhorted Christians to devote themselves to the more excellent and profitable gifts—that is, those from which greater fruit and benefit might come to the whole body of the Church:
"Earnestly desire the more excellent gifts, and I will show you a still more excellent way." —1 Corinthians 12:31
He then adds that he will show them a still more excellent way: namely, that although all these gifts are excellent in their own nature, they are to be esteemed as nothing unless they serve love. For they are given for the edification of the Church, and if they are not directed toward that end, they lose their beauty and value.
To prove this, he sets forth a division, repeating the same graces he had mentioned before but calling them by different names. Thus, what he had first called "power," he afterward calls "faith," signifying by both words the power to perform miracles.
Now, since this power—whether it is called faith or power—is a particular gift of God which a wicked man may possess and abuse, as he may the gift of tongues, prophecy, and other similar gifts, it is no wonder that it can be separated from love.
The whole error of these poor men is that, although the word "faith" has various meanings, they fail to observe this diversity and argue as
though it were always used in precisely the same sense. The passage from Saint James that they also cite to confirm their error will be explained elsewhere.
Their fantasy of implicit faith not only buries true faith but utterly destroys it. Is this what it means to believe: to understand nothing, provided that one submits one's judgment to the Church? Certainly, faith does not consist in ignorance but in knowledge—and that not only of God, but also of his will.
For we do not obtain salvation because we are prepared to receive as true everything the Church may determine, or because we commit to it the responsibility of inquiring and knowing. Rather, we obtain salvation because we know that God is a benevolent Father toward us through the reconciliation accomplished in Christ, and because we receive Christ as given to us for righteousness, sanctification, and life.
It is through this knowledge, and not by submitting our minds to unknown things, that we obtain entrance into the heavenly kingdom. For when the Apostle says:
"With the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." —Romans 10:10
he does not mean that it is sufficient for someone implicitly to believe what he does not understand. Rather, he requires a pure and clear knowledge of the goodness of God, in which our righteousness consists.
It is true that I do not deny that, since we are enveloped in ignorance, many things are and will remain hidden from us until, having laid aside this mortal body, we are brought nearer to God. In such matters, I confess that nothing is more fitting than to suspend our judgment and meanwhile remain firmly resolved to continue in unity with the Church.
But it is mockery to bestow the name of faith, under this pretext, upon sheer ignorance. For faith consists in the knowledge of God and Christ, not in reverence for the Church.
Indeed, we see what an abyss they have opened by such implication: the ignorant receive without any discernment everything presented to them under the name of the Church, even the grossest errors that can be offered to them. Although such thoughtless readiness causes a man to stumble into ruin, it is nevertheless excused by them on the ground that he believes nothing definitively, but only with this condition added: "if such is the faith of the Church."
In this manner they pretend that truth is possessed in error, light in blindness, and knowledge in ignorance. But so that we may not spend too long refuting these follies, we merely admonish readers to compare them with our doctrine, for the very clarity of the truth will furnish arguments enough to confound them.
Because it seemed to me that the nature of faith could not be better explained than by considering the promises upon which it is so firmly founded that, if they are removed, faith is ruined—or rather, vanishes altogether—I have therefore drawn our definition from them. Nevertheless, this definition does not differ from that of the Apostle, when he teaches:
"Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the proof of things not seen." —Hebrews 11:1
For by the word hypostasis, which he uses, he means a support upon which the believer's soul rests. It is as though he said that faith is a certain and assured possession of the things God has promised us.
Yet to signify that these things are too lofty to be apprehended by our senses, beheld by our eyes, or touched by our hands until the last day, when their full revelation will be made—and that meanwhile we possess them only by surpassing the whole capacity of our minds, raising our understanding above everything in this world, and finally rising above ourselves—he adds that this assurance concerns things that lie in hope and therefore are not seen. As Saint Paul says:
"What is seen is not hope, for we do not hope for what we see." —Romans 8:24
When he calls faith the proof or demonstration of things not seen, he speaks as though he were saying that it is evidence of what does not appear, a vision of what is not seen, a clear perception of obscure things, a presence of things absent, and a demonstration of things hidden.
For the mysteries of God, and especially those pertaining to our salvation, cannot be contemplated in their own nature. We behold them only in the word of God, of whose truth we must be so firmly persuaded that we regard everything it declares as already done and accomplished.
How, then, can a heart rise to acknowledge and taste such goodness in God without also being inflamed with love for him? For such an abundance of sweetness as God has laid up for those who fear him cannot be truly understood without moving the heart. Moreover, it cannot move the heart without drawing and raising it to itself.
It is therefore no wonder that this affection never enters a perverse and crooked heart, since it opens our eyes and gives us access to all the treasures of God and the holy mysteries of his kingdom, which must not be polluted by the entrance of an unclean heart.
Now, what the Sorbonnists teach—that love precedes faith and hope —is sheer fantasy, since faith alone first engenders love within us. But this matter and others like it will be treated elsewhere. For now, let it suffice for us to understand what faith is.
Although it is true that the proper nature of faith is most clearly displayed when it is directed toward the Gospel as its goal, we must nevertheless inquire what faith ought principally to behold in that Gospel. We briefly touched upon this when we showed how the sum of the Gospel is contained in Jesus Christ. By this we meant that all the promises are not only comprehended in him but also presented to us in him. But since this matter deserves a clearer explanation, we must now pursue it.
"This is eternal life: to know the only God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent." —John 17:3
It is therefore a matter of great importance to possess a right knowledge of the Father and of Christ. What must be understood
concerning the Father is seen only in the Son. For the Father dwells in inaccessible light, yet through his Son he sheds upon us the brightness of that light. He is invisible not only to the eye but also to the understanding; nevertheless, in his Son he gives us his living image to contemplate.
Therefore, the Apostle places the illumination of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ:
"God has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ." —2 Corinthians 4:6
Nor would Christ rightly be called the light of the world unless through him the brightness of divine glory were revealed to men:
"I am the light of the world." —John 8:12
Thus, not only is what the Apostle says true—namely, that Christ is the brightness of his Father's glory and the living image of his substance:
"He is the brightness of his glory and the express image of his substance." —Hebrews 1:3
but we must also add that in him the Father's glory is displayed to us and the image of his substance appears to us. For the Father willed to place in him everything he possessed, so that through him he might communicate himself to us and glorify his name.
If, therefore, we seek access to the Father, we must turn to the one who alone can reveal him to us. When he calls himself the Way, he shows that it belongs to him alone to direct us:
"I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me." —John 14:6
When he calls himself the Door, he declares that it is his office to grant us entrance:
"I am the door; if anyone enters through me, he shall be saved." —John 10:9
And, as it is said elsewhere:
"No one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal him." —Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22
For just as it has been said that we must be drawn by the Spirit of the Father in order to be moved to seek and receive Jesus Christ, so, on the other hand, we must understand that the invisible Father is to be sought nowhere except in Jesus Christ, who is his image.
Now, the true knowledge of Christ consists in receiving him as he is offered to us by the Father: namely, with the whole fullness of heavenly riches, so that he may be to us a treasure of blessedness and every good thing.
Nevertheless, in order to enter into possession of these riches, we must first know the means by which they were acquired for us: namely, the obedience of Christ, which he displayed by doing and accomplishing everything necessary for our salvation according to the eternal counsel of God.
Therefore, just as the Gospel is the object of our faith, and Christ is presented through the Gospel as its particular object, so in Christ faith looks upon what he did and suffered for our salvation. To obtain a complete explanation of faith, therefore, we must keep before our eyes everything in Christ that serves to confirm it. For after we have understood its matter and substance, it will be easy to perceive its whole nature and proper character as in a picture.
The Apostles' Creed will serve us as such a picture, for in it the whole ordering of our salvation is set forth in all its parts, without a single point being omitted. I call it the Apostles' Creed without troubling myself greatly about who composed it.
Certainly, the ancients attributed it to the Apostles with broad agreement, whether because they believed it had been written by them collectively, or because they regarded it as a summary of their doctrine arranged by others and wished to give it authority by that title.
However that may be, I do not doubt that, from whatever source it proceeded, it was received from the very beginning of the Church, even from the time of the Apostles, as a public and established confession of faith. Nor is it likely that it was composed by any private individual, since it has always possessed inviolable authority among believers.
The principal matter is beyond dispute: the whole history of our faith is briefly and beautifully arranged within it, and nothing contained in it lacks confirmation by sure testimonies of Scripture. Once this is understood, there is no need to torment ourselves greatly over who composed it or to dispute the matter with others—unless someone is not satisfied to possess the settled truth of the Holy Spirit but also insists upon knowing through whose mouth it was declared or by whose hand it was written.
Before proceeding to its exposition, however, we must consider two points. The first is that when this history is set before us, it is not so that we should stop at a bare knowledge of it, but rather that through it our understanding should rise to the comprehension of something higher.
For since the things recounted in it are of two kinds, some visible and others invisible, what we have said applies to both. The power of God, the Holy Spirit, the forgiveness of sins, and other similar matters are spiritual things that cannot be seen with the eye. When they are recounted to us, it is not enough merely to believe them true unless from that belief we derive confidence and hope.
Thus, we must not merely regard God as almighty but acknowledge him as the one who sustains us by his power. Nor must we merely conceive of the Holy Spirit in our imagination, but receive him together with his power. The same rule must apply to the other similar articles, which we will explain in their proper time and place. For now, we have wished only to give a brief example.
Again, the birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ were events openly visible to men. Yet when they are related to us, the
believing soul must not remain fixed upon their outward appearance. Since it knows that all the works of God are done in wisdom, it must consider and understand the reason for which they were done.
Thus, the object upon which our faith looks is the history, while its end and purpose is the contemplation of the invisible and incomprehensible things derived from that history. In this way, our soul conceives from the death of Christ confidence in his satisfaction, and from his resurrection the hope of immortality.
The second point that I said we must observe is the division of the Creed. It contains three parts describing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, upon whom the whole mystery of our redemption depends. The fourth shows the things in which our salvation consists.
This order must not be neglected. For to arrive at the knowledge of our salvation, we must first consider these three points, which are its foundation and substance.
The first is the great goodness and kindness of the heavenly Father and his love toward the human race, demonstrated in that he did not spare his own Son but delivered him to death for us, that he might restore us to life:
"He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all." —Romans 8:32
The second is the obedience of the Son, which fulfills the mercy of God for the accomplishment of our salvation.
The third is the power of the Spirit, through whom the fruit of God's goodness in Jesus Christ is communicated to us.
Saint Paul had these things in view when he wished for the Corinthians the love of God, the grace of Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit:
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." —2 Corinthians 13:14
For every good thing we possess proceeds from the love of God and is given and offered to us in Jesus Christ as the sole fountain of grace. By the power of the Spirit, we are made partakers of all the blessings presented to us by the goodness of God.
From this follows the faith we possess concerning the Church, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the flesh, and eternal life, which form the fourth part of the Creed.
Now, because Satan, desiring to destroy all faith from its root, has always stirred up great disturbances, partly concerning the divinity of Jesus Christ and partly concerning the personal distinction within God, and has in almost every age raised up wicked minds to trouble believers with these disputes, even attempting to overthrow the whole of Scripture, it seems good to me to begin the exposition of the Creed with this point.
Nevertheless, because I have resolved to instruct those who render themselves teachable rather than to contend against the rebellious, I will not engage in as lengthy a disputation as the importance of the
matter might require. I will content myself with showing what must be followed and what must be avoided in this matter, yet in such a way that the truth may be defended against the slanders of the wicked. As I have said, my principal endeavor will be to instruct in true and firm doctrine those who willingly submit themselves in obedience to the truth.
First, if we must inquire soberly into all the profound mysteries contained in Scripture, we must above all exercise exceptional sobriety in this matter, taking great care that neither our thoughts nor our words pass beyond the limits of the word of God.
For how can the human understanding reduce the infinite essence of God to its own narrow measure, seeing that it has not yet been able to comprehend the nature of the sun, which is continually visible to the eye? Indeed, how can it investigate the subsistence of God when it does not even understand its own?
Let us therefore leave to God the knowledge of himself. He alone, as Saint Hilary says, can bear competent witness concerning himself, since he is known only through himself. We will leave this knowledge to him when we conceive of him as he manifests himself to us and inquire concerning him only through his word.
There are five excellent homilies by Saint Chrysostom on this subject against a sect of heretics called the Anomoeans. Yet even these could not restrain the audacity of the Sophists from giving free rein to their tongues and prattling senselessly about the majesty of God. They have shown no more modesty here than they ordinarily do in all other matters.
Since our Lord has punished their recklessness by permitting them to fall into many follies, we must be warned by their example to content ourselves with learning what Scripture teaches us, without embracing any subtle speculation. Indeed, we must not even allow it to enter our minds to seek anything concerning God except in his word, to think anything concerning him except in accordance with his word, or to speak anything concerning him except by his word.
Scripture so frequently and so clearly declares that there is one God, of an eternal, infinite, and spiritual essence, that there is no need to prove it at length. For the Manichaeans' abuse of certain testimonies to establish two first principles was an utterly outrageous folly.
Likewise, the Anthropomorphites, who imagined God to be bodily because Scripture attributes to him a mouth, ears, hands, and feet, erred most grossly. For who is so lacking in understanding that he cannot see that our Lord attributes these things to himself in order to condescend to our capacity, just as a nurse lisps with a little child to accommodate herself to its limited understanding?
Such expressions, therefore, do not so much describe what God is as accommodate the knowledge of him to our ignorance. To do this, he must descend far beneath his own greatness and majesty. It is therefore evident how foolishly those men rave who seek to measure his essence by such descriptions.
We hold it as settled, then, that there is one God and that his essence is infinite, eternal, and spiritual. But the distinction of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit within the Godhead is not so easy to comprehend and greatly troubles many minds.
Let us therefore divide this question into two parts. The first will confirm the divinity of the Son and the Spirit; the second will explain the nature of the distinction among the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
Scripture provides no lack of testimonies to establish both. For when we hear it speak of the Word of God, it would be a great absurdity to imagine a voice cast into the air and immediately vanishing, as the oracles and prophecies given of old to the fathers did with respect to their outward utterance. Rather, it signifies the eternal wisdom residing in God, from which all the ancient oracles and prophecies proceeded.
For, as Saint Peter testifies, the prophets under the Old Testament spoke by the Spirit of Christ no less than the Apostles who came after them and all those who have ministered the truth of God to men:
"The Spirit of Christ who was in them testified beforehand." —1 Peter 1:11
Moses sufficiently shows that the world was not created by some sudden and temporary will in God, but by his eternal counsel and, if it is permissible to speak in this way, by his abiding and immutable heart.
Yet if this should remain doubtful or obscure to anyone, it is expressed still more clearly in Solomon, where he introduces the wisdom of God, which, having been begotten from all eternity, presided over the creation of the world and presides over all the works of God.
But Saint John declares it more plainly than either of them when he says:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." —John 1:1
For in each of these two clauses he attributes a permanent essence to the Word. Therefore, although all revelations proceeding from heaven are rightly given the title "words of God," we must nevertheless acknowledge the essential Word, who is the origin and fountain of all revelations and is subject to no change. He always remains in God and is himself God.
Nevertheless, there are some who, not daring openly to deprive the Son of God of his divinity, endeavor secretly to rob him of his eternity. For they say that the Word began to exist when God opened his mouth at the creation of the world and commanded all things to be made.
But they sin most recklessly against the majesty of God by imagining some novelty in his substance. For just as the names of God that relate to his works were first attributed to him when those works began to exist—as when he is called the Creator of heaven and earth —so, on the contrary, godliness acknowledges no name signifying that something new has arisen within God himself.
But they quibble in this manner: Moses, by relating that God then began to speak, indicates that previously there was no Word in him. But must we infer that because something began to be manifested at a particular time, it had no prior existence?
I conclude precisely the opposite: since the power of his Word was manifested at the very moment when light was created, that Word must already have existed. If anyone asks how long before, no beginning will be found. For Jesus Christ, who is that Word, sets no limit of time when he says:
"Father, glorify your Son with the glory that I had with you before the world was created." —John 17:5
In speaking thus, he passes beyond all time and all years. We therefore conclude again that the Word of God, having been conceived in him without any beginning, has always remained in him. By this his eternity, majesty, and true divine essence are established.
But since, once his divinity has been proved, everything else follows, we must concentrate principally upon establishing it, having first briefly considered in what sense he is called the Son of God.
The ancients, who held that Jesus Christ was begotten of the Father by an eternal generation, endeavored to prove it by this testimony from Isaiah:
"Who shall declare his generation?" —Isaiah 53:8
But they misunderstood the passage. For the Prophet does not there treat of how the Son was begotten of the Father, but of the abundance of offspring by which the kingdom of Jesus Christ would be multiplied.
What they allege from the Psalms is scarcely more certain:
"I have begotten you from my womb before the morning star." —Psalm 110:3, common translation
For this is taken solely from the common translation, which in this place does not correspond to the Hebrew truth. The Hebrew reads in this manner:
"The dew of your birth is like the rising of the morning star." —Psalm 110:3
The argument possessing the greatest appearance of strength, then, is drawn from the Apostle's words, where it is said:
"All things were created through the Son." —Colossians 1:16
For if the Son had not then existed, he could not have manifested his power. Nevertheless, it appears from other similar expressions that this argument is not altogether firm. None of us would grant that the title "Christ" belonged to our Lord Jesus while the Jews were in the wilderness, since that title possesses a proper significance belonging particularly to his human nature. Yet Saint Paul attributes it to him at that time:
"They drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ." —1 Corinthians 10:4
Likewise, when he says elsewhere:
"Jesus Christ was yesterday, is today, and shall be forever." —Hebrews 13:8
if anyone wished to prove from this that the name "Christ" had always properly belonged to our Savior, he would accomplish nothing.
What else do we do by misusing testimonies of Scripture that, in their natural sense, contribute little to our cause, except expose the articles of our faith to the mockery of heretics? As for me, this one argument will always suffice as much as any other to confirm my conscience in the eternity of the Son of God.
It is that God is Father to men only through his only Son, to whom alone this honor properly belongs and through whose benefit it is communicated to us. Now God has always willed to be invoked as Father. It follows, therefore, that the Son already existed through whom this fellowship was established.
Let us now proceed to demonstrate his divinity, which rests upon two kinds of proof. For the name and honor of God are clearly attributed to the Son of God by evident testimonies of Scripture, and he is proved to be God by the power of his works.
First, David speaks to him in this manner:
"Your throne, O God, shall endure forever; the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness." —Psalm 45:6
Perhaps some wicked man will attempt to evade this passage by saying that the name Elohim, which is used there, is also applied to angels and rulers. But there is no passage in Scripture where an eternal throne is thus erected for a creature. For he is not simply called God, but also an eternal ruler.
Moreover, this title is never given to anyone else without some qualification, as Moses is called a god to Pharaoh. Thus, in this passage the believer can understand none other than the one true God. That this is spoken of the Son of God is evident from what follows:
"Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness." —Psalm 45:7
The one spoken of here is therefore God, yet he has God above him. This is Jesus Christ, who in his humanity willed to appear as a servant, submitting himself to God his Father.
In Isaiah he is presented as God and as invested with power, which belongs only to the living God:
"This is the name by which he shall be called: Mighty God, Father of the age to come." —Isaiah 9:6
The Jews must not be permitted, merely to quibble, to overturn the Prophet's passage by rendering it in this manner: "This is the name by which the mighty God, the Father of the age to come, shall call
him," leaving to Jesus Christ nothing except the title "Prince of Peace."
For what purpose would the Prophet, contrary to the whole custom of Scripture, have gathered so many titles together to bestow them upon God in a single passage? On the contrary, it is clear that he intended to adorn Jesus Christ with the titles properly belonging to him.
Still more evident is what is said in Jeremiah: that he shall be called the Branch of David, raised up for the salvation of the people, and:
"The Eternal, our righteousness." —Jeremiah 23:5–6
Since the Jews themselves teach that the other names of God are like titles honoring his glory, while the name used here by the Prophet is the proper name of his essence, we have proof that the Son of God is also our one and eternal God.
Elsewhere God himself testifies:
"I will not give my glory to another." —Isaiah 42:8
The Jews maliciously attempt to overturn this passage, alleging that Moses gave this same name to the altar he had erected and that Ezekiel attributes it to the Church of God. But this quibble is utterly vain.
For who does not see that the altar was erected as a memorial and sign that God was the exaltation of Moses? Likewise, the name of
God is not properly assigned to the Church, but rather signifies the presence of God within it. For the Prophet's words are:
"The name of the city shall be: The Eternal dwells there." —Ezekiel 48:35
And Moses speaks in this manner:
"He built an altar to God and named it: The Eternal is my exaltation." —Exodus 17:15
What else does Jeremiah mean except that Jerusalem is the place where the Lord dwells? And what else does Moses mean except that God is his strength, in testimony of which he erects an altar?
But it may be said that there is greater difficulty in another passage, in Jeremiah 33, where what had previously been said of Jesus Christ is transferred to the Church:
"This is the name by which she shall be called: The Eternal, our righteousness." —Jeremiah 33:16
I answer that this passage is so far from opposing us that it is instead well suited to defend our cause. For the Prophet, having first testified that Jesus Christ is our true God, from whom all righteousness must proceed to us, consequently adds that the Church will possess such certain knowledge of this truth that she will even be able to glory in his name.
The New Testament is filled with countless testimonies. I must therefore take care to select some of the most appropriate rather than gather them all.
First, it is worthy of notice that the Apostles show that the things foretold concerning the eternal God were either fulfilled or would finally be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. For example, Isaiah predicts that the God of hosts would be a stumbling stone to the Jews and Israelites:
"He shall be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both houses of Israel." —Isaiah 8:14
Saint Paul says that this was fulfilled in Christ:
"They stumbled at the stumbling stone, as it is written: Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense." —Romans 9:32–33
By this he signifies that Christ is the same God of hosts of whom Isaiah spoke.
Likewise, in another place he says:
"We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, for it is written: As I live, every knee shall bow before me, and every tongue shall confess to God." —Romans 14:10–11
Since God said this of himself in Isaiah:
"Every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall swear by my name." —Isaiah 45:23
and since it is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, it follows that he is the same God whose glory cannot be transferred elsewhere.
Moreover, what the Apostle declares to have been spoken of Jesus Christ in Ephesians clearly belongs to God alone:
"Ascending on high, he led his enemies captive." —Ephesians 4:8
The Prophet had spoken this of God, who had given his people victory over their enemies:
"You have ascended on high; you have led captivity captive." —Psalm 68:18
Saint Paul, knowing that this was only a shadow and that its fulfillment is found in Jesus Christ, attributes it to him.
In the same manner, Saint John testifies that it was the glory of the Son of God that appeared to Isaiah: