far as God grants, into that which a little mentioned all. It is asked, then, whether
BOO ve
THE QUESTION IS EXPLAINED, WHICH HAD BEEN DEFERRED IN THE PREVIOUS BOOK, VIZ. THAT
GOD THE FATHER, WHO BEGAT THE SON, HIS POWER AND WISDOM, IS NOT ONLY THE FATHER
OF POWER AND WISDOM, BUT ALSO HIMSELF POWER AND WISDOM ; AND SIMILARLY THE HOLY
SPIRIT : YET THAT THERE ARE NOT THREE POWERS OR THREE WISDOMS, BUT ONE POWER
AND ONE WISDOM, AS THERE IS ONE GOD AND ONE ESSENCE. INQUIRY IS THEN MADE, WHY
THE LATINS SAY ONE ESSENCE, THREE PERSONS, IN GOD ; BUT THE GREEKS, ONE ESSENCE,
THREE SUBSTANCES OR HYPOSTASES : AND BOTH MODES OF EXPRESSION ARE SHOWN TO ARISE
FROM THE NECESSITIES OF SPEECH, THAT WE MIGHT HAVE AN ANSWER TO GIVE WHEN ASKED,
WHAT THREE, WHILE TRULY CONFESSING THAT THERE ARE THREE, VIZ. THE FATHER, AND
THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT,
CHAP, I.—AUGUSTIN RETURNS TO THE QUESthe same wisdom and power, so that that is greatness which is power, that is goodness which is wisdom, and that again is wisdom which is power, as we have already argued; then let us remember, that when I mention any one of these, I am to be taken as if I mentioned all. It is asked, then, whether the Father also by Himself is wise, and is Himself His own wisdom itself; or whether He is wise in the same way as He speaks. For He speaks by the Word which He begat, not by the word which is uttered, and sounds, and passes away, but by the Word which was with God, and the Word was God, and all things were made by Him:? by the Word which is equal to Himself, by whom He always and unchangeably utters Himself. For He is not Himself the Word, as He is not the Son nor the image. But in speaking (putting aside those words of God in time which are produced in the creature, for they sound and pass away,—-in speaking then) by that co-eternal Word, He is not understood singly, but with that Word itself, without whom certainly He does not speak. Is He then in such way wise as He is one who speaks, so as to be in such way wisdom, as He is the Word, and so that to be the Word is to be wisdom, that is, also to be power, so that power and wisdom and the Word may be
TION, WHETHER EACH PERSON OF THE TRINITY BY ITSELF IS WISDOM. WITH WHAT DIFFICULTY, OR IN WHAT WAY, THE PROPOSED QUESTION IS TO BE SOLVED.
1. Let us now inquire more carefully, so far as God grants, into that which a little before we deferred; whether each person also in the Trinity can also by Himself and not with the other two be called God, or great, or wise, or true, or omnipotent, or just, or anything else that can be said of God, not relatively, but absolutely; or whether these things cannot be said except when the Trinity is understood. For the question is raised, —because it is written, '' Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God," ?—whether He is so the Father of His own wisdom and His own power, as that He is wise with that wisdom which He begat, and powerful with that power which He begat; and whether, since He is always powerful and wise, He always begat power and wisdom. For if it be so, then, as we have said, why is He not also the Father of His own greatness by which He is great, and of His own goodness by which He is good, and of His own justice by which He is just, and whatever else there is? Or if all these things are understood, although under more names than one, to be in rx Cor, i. 24.
2 John i. 1, 3.