On the Trinity 7
Summary: Calling God “Spirit,” “Love,” “Light,” or “Fire” does not define his substance; these are figures that lead the mind beyond them to a God greater than all.
Latin text · PL 3:924a–925a
Sed illud quod dicit Dominus Spiritum Deum, puto ego sic locutum Christum de Patre, ut adhuc aliquid plus intelligi velit quam Spiritum Deum, Hominibus enim licet in Evangelio suo intelligendi incrementa faciens disputet; sed tamen et ipse sic adhuc de Deo loquitur hominibus, quomodo possunt adhuc audire vel capere; licet, ut diximus, in agnitionem Dei religiosa jam facere incrementa nitatur. Invenimus enim scriptum esse quod Deus Charitas dictus sit; nec ex hoc tamen Dei substantia Charitas expressa est: et quod Lux dictus est; nec tamen in hoc substantia Dei est, sed totum hoc de Deo dictum est quantum dici potest; ut merito et quando Spiritus dictus est, non omne id quod est, dictus sit: sed ut dum mens hominum intelligendo usque ad ipsum proficit Spiritum, conversa jam ipsa in spiritu, aliud quid amplius per Spiritum conjicere Deum esse possit. Id enim quod est, secundum id quod est, nec humano sermone edici, nec humanis auribus percipi, nec humanis sensibus colligi potest. Nam si quae praeparavit Deus his qui diligunt illum, nec oculus vidit, nec auris audivit, nec cor hominis, aut mens ipsa percepit; qualis et quantus est ille ipse qui haec repromittit, ad quae intelligenda et mens hominis et natura defecit? Denique si acceperis Spiritum substantiam Dei, creaturam feceris Deum. Omnis enim spiritus creatura est. Erit ergo jam factus Deus. Quomodo et si secundum Moysen Ignem acceperis Deum, creaturam illum esse dicendo, institutum expresseris, non institutorem docueris. Sed haec figurantur potius quam ita sunt. Nam et in Veteri Testamento ideo Deus Ignis dicitur, ut peccatori populo metus incutiatur, dum judex ostenditur. Et in Novo Testamento Spiritus esse profertur, ut refector et creator in delictis suis mortuorum, per hanc bonitatem collatae credentibus indulgentiae, comprobetur.
English · Claude translation
But as for the Lord's saying that God is Spirit, I think that Christ spoke thus of the Father meaning that something still more should be understood than that God is Spirit. For although in his Gospel he reasons with men so as to increase their understanding, yet he too still speaks of God to men in such a way as they are still able to hear or grasp, although, as we have said, he strives to make them advance devoutly in the knowledge of God. For we find it written that God has been called Love; yet the substance of God is not expressed by this as Love. And that he has been called Light; yet the substance of God is not in this either; but all this has been said of God so far as it can be said. So that rightly, when he has been called Spirit, he has not been called all that he is; but when the mind of man, by understanding, has advanced as far as Spirit itself, having itself now been turned into spirit, it may be able to infer through the Spirit that God is something still greater. For that which he is, as he is, can neither be spoken by human speech, nor perceived by human ears, nor gathered by human senses. For if the things that God has prepared for those who love him neither eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man or the mind itself perceived, of what kind and how great is he who promises these things, to understand which both the mind and the nature of man have failed?
Finally, if you take Spirit as the substance of God, you will have made God a creature. For every spirit is a creature. God, then, will now have been made. Just so, if according to Moses you take God to be Fire, by calling him a creature you will have described something established, and will not have taught of the Establisher. But these things are figurative expressions rather than what he actually is. For in the Old Testament God is called Fire so that fear may be struck into a sinful people, since he is shown as Judge. And in the New Testament he is declared to be Spirit, so that he may be proved to be the restorer and creator of those dead in their sins, through this goodness of the pardon bestowed on believers.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations and allusions are John 4:24; 1 John 4:8; 1 John 1:5; 1 Cor 2:9 (cf. Isa 64:4); Deut 4:24 (cf. Heb 12:29); Eph 2:1, 5. “Every spirit is a creature”: here “spirit” means a created spiritual being; Novatian does not deny that God is Spirit, but that the word defines his substance.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: e for o; OCR: i for t; split word; OCR: l for t; OCR: misread letter and word divided at a line end; OCR: o for e; OCR: stray dot; OCR: stray mark in a word; OCR: uncertain character; OCR: uncertain characters; OCR: words run together): inlelligi velit → intelligi velit; sicadhuc → sic adhuc; Vei ca. pere → vel capere; dic(??)s → dictus; lotum hoc → totum hoc; merite et → merito et; intelligondo → intelligendo; Spiri” tum → Spiritum; inlelligenda → intelligenda; nat(??)ra → natura; Deum·. → Deum.; esi. Erit er go → est. Erit ergo.
Cite this passage
Novatian, Trin. 7 (PL 3:924a–925a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/novatian-trinitate/7/).
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Plain text
Novatian, Trin. 7 (PL 3:924a–925a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/novatian-trinitate/7/).
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