Chapter XIX
THE MYSTICAL ARK
crated and held daily. Is it therefore divided into parts, so that it may be held in so many places? How then will it be truly incapable of suffering and truly incorruptible? But when it is dispersed through so many places, where does it remain integral and uncorrupted and completely indivisible? Therefore if you pay attention to how many places it is, in how many places it is able to exist by the same power of sanctification, where, I ask, will your thinking lead you, except that it seems to you that one and the same body is able to exist in an infinite number of places at the same time? But you see how this is not only against the particular nature of bodies but also above every particular nature of spirits.
Therefore if those things which we believe with certainty concerning the body of Christ are so incomprehensible and seem so incredible, how much more and far more excellently do those things which are considered concerning the soul of Christ surpass all human reason. Nevertheless, incomparably more sublime are those things which come to mind to be considered concerning the Trinity of persons. And so all such things that seem not only to go beyond the narrowness of human reasoning but also to make it foolish are rightly said to pertain to the second cherub. And so it has been rightly said that those things which are considered concerning the unity of divine substance pertain especially to the first cherub. But those things which are considered concerning the Trinity of persons pertain especially to the second cherub. And so the first consideration pertains to the fifth kind of contemplation, but the second consideration pertains to the sixth and ultimate kind of contemplation.
Chapter XIX Concerning the mutual coming together of the two last speculations However, with respect to this twin consideration, that is the fifth and the sixth kinds of contemplation, we ought to observe carefully and take careful precautions so that as we affirm things pertaining to one, we do not destroy things pertaining to the other.
Thus, let us make the case for the unity of that supreme and divine substance in such a way that we do not empty the Trinity of
RICHARD OF ST. VICTOR
persons; let us prove the Trinity of persons in such a way that we do not disperse the unity of substance. And so those aforementioned cherubim should mutually look at each other and because of mutual consent in harmony, should not turn the eyes of their speculation in a contrary direction by means of any consideration of the part of their understanding. How many persons, in what they determine concerning the unity of supreme Divinity, strive to empty out the true faith in the Trinity? Again: How many, in what they affirm concerning the Trinity, wish to disperse the unity of the divine essence? Arius said: The Father is one thing; the Son is another; and the Holy Spirit is another. He would have spoken quite rightly if he had said "another person" and not "another thing." In any case, he dissolved the unity of Divinity by what he said.
Sabellius said: When God wishes. He is Father; when He wishes, He is Son; when He wishes. He is Holy Spirit; nevertheless He is one. In what he said, he truly undertook to empty out the faith of the Trinity.
Surely in matters of this sort our cherubim turn their faces aside from one or the other aspect, because by a contrary assertion they often maintain diverse conclusions and themselves give assent to opposites. According to the first cherub we say that it is the one and only God who created everything from nothing. According to the second cherub we affirm that it is one person who is begotten, and it is another person who proceeds from both. But these two cherubim look at each other mutually, because we say that one and the same God is one according to substance and three according to person. According to the first cherub we say that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are united in one substance, in one essence, and in one nature. According to the second cherub we say the Father is one in person, and the Son is another in person, and the Holy Spirit is another in person. Let the cherubim look at each other mutually, and we undoubtedly confess openly that Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit are not one thing and another thing, although they are truly one person and another person. One person is Father; another is Son; and another is Holy Spirit according to the second cherub; yet the Father is not one thing; the Son is not another thing; the Holy Spirit is not another thing according to the first cherub, when we affirm truly that according to mutual regard Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit are