Sentences, Books I–II

Chapter 1 (45).

1. That the procession of the Holy Spirit is twofold. Moreover, it must be carefully noted that the procession of the Holy Spirit is twofold: namely, eternal, ineffable, by which he proceeded from the Father and the Son from eternity; and temporal, by which he proceeds from the Father and the Son to sanctify the creature. And just as from eternity he proceeds jointly and simultaneously from the Father and the Son, so in time he proceeds jointly and simultaneously from both to the creature, not divided from the Father to the Son and from the Son to the creature. Hence Augustine says in Book XV of The Trinity¹: «The Holy Spirit does not proceed from the Son to the Son and from the Son to sanctify the creature, but proceeds simultaneously from both, although the Father gave this to the Son, that he should proceed from the Son as from himself».

2. The temporal procession is treated specifically. Concerning the temporal procession, Bede speaks in this way in his homily for the First Sunday after the Ascension²: «When the grace of the Spirit is given to human beings, the Spirit is certainly sent by the Father and is sent by the Son; he proceeds from the Father and proceeds from the Son, because his sending is itself his procession». By these words he plainly shows that the giving of the grace of the Holy Spirit is called his procession or sending. But since giving or donation is temporal, it is clear that this procession or sending is temporal too. — Augustine also indicates this temporal procession of the Spirit in Book XV of The Trinity³, saying that the Holy Spirit proceeded from Christ when, after the resurrection, he breathed upon the disciples, in these words: «When Christ had risen from the dead and appeared to the disciples, he breathed and said: Receive the Holy Spirit, so that he might also show that the Spirit proceeds from him. And he is the power that went out from him, as we read in the Gospel⁴, and he healed them all».

And to show that this procession of the Holy Spirit is nothing other than his giving or donation, he adds⁵: «After his resurrection the Lord Jesus gave the Holy Spirit twice: once on earth, on account of love of neighbor; and again from heaven, on account of love of God»; «because through this Gift charity is poured into our hearts⁶, by which we love God and neighbor».

⁷ in Filium et a Filio in Patrem M. || ab aeterno] aeternaliter et sine tempore NRTVW. 16 Spiritus] sancti add. BCV, add. interl. RTW.]

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Chapter 2 (46).

1. That some say that the Holy Spirit himself is not given, but his gifts. There are some who say that God the Holy Spirit himself is not given, but his gifts, which are not the Spirit himself. And, as they say, the Holy Spirit is said to be given when his grace, which nevertheless is not he himself, is given to a human being. They say that Bede meant this in the preceding words¹⁰, where he says that the Holy Spirit proceeds when his grace is given to human beings, as though it were not the Spirit himself who is given but his grace.

2. That the Holy Spirit himself, who is God, is given and sent. But that the Holy Spirit himself, who is God and the third person in the Trinity, is given is plainly shown by Augustine in Book XV of The Trinity¹¹, who says: «We must not doubt that the same Holy Spirit was given when Jesus breathed, of whom he soon says¹²: Go, baptize all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He, therefore, is the one who was also given from heaven on the day of Pentecost¹³. How, then, is God not the one who gives the Holy Spirit? Rather, how great is the God who gives God?» Behold, by these words he plainly says that the Holy Spirit himself, namely God, is given to human beings by the Father and the Son.

¹⁴ om. BCLTX. 14 Spiritus] sanctus add. OP. 26 Deum] eum OP, quod corr. O.]

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3. **That the Holy Spirit himself, who is God and the third person in the Trinity, is given to us and poured into and infused in our minds, is plainly shown by Ambrose in Book I of On the Holy Spirit¹⁷, who says: «Although many are called spirits, because it is written: He makes his angels spirits, there is nevertheless one Spirit of God. The Apostles and Prophets have therefore also received this one Spirit, just as the Chosen Vessel says¹⁸: We have drunk one Spirit, as though he could not be divided but were poured into souls and infused into the senses, so that he might restrain the burning thirst for worldly things. This Holy Spirit is not of bodily substance, nor of the substance of invisible creatures». By these words he plainly says that the Holy Spirit himself, who is not a creature, is infused into our minds.

4. That he himself is given, not merely his gifts. Likewise in the same work¹⁹: «Every creature is mutable, but the Holy Spirit is not mutable». «Why²⁰ should I hesitate to say that the Holy Spirit was given, when it is written²¹: The charity of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us?» «Although²² his nature is inaccessible²³, he is nevertheless receptive to us on account of his goodness, filling all things with power, but participated by each only according to the capacity of his simple substance, rich in virtues, present to each, distributing from his own gifts to each, and wholly present everywhere». «The Holy Spirit²⁴ is therefore unbounded and infinite; he infused himself into the senses of the separated disciples, and nothing can deceive him. Angels were sent to a few, but the Holy Spirit was poured into peoples. Who, then, would doubt that what is poured into many simultaneously and is not seen is divine?» «The Holy Spirit²⁵ who was given to all, to the Apostles, is one». Here too Ambrose plainly says that the Holy Spirit, who is simple substance, although one, is given to many.

5. The same is also established by another authority, namely, that the Holy Spirit, who is equal to the Son, is given to human beings. For Augustine says in On the Words of the Apostle²⁶: «The charity of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us²⁷. By whom is he given? By the one who gave gifts to human beings²⁸. What gifts? The Holy Spirit, who gives a gift such as he himself is. Great is his mercy: he gives a gift equal to himself, because his gift is the Holy Spirit».

6. From these and many other authorities it is plainly shown that the Holy Spirit, equal to the Father and the Son, is given to us. Yet he is not for that reason less than the Father and the Son; hence Augustine says in Book IV of The Trinity²⁹: «The Holy Spirit must not therefore be considered lesser because the Father and the Son also sent him».

³⁰ et OP. 8 saecularis] singularis OP, quod corr. O2. 22 igitur] ergo OPX. 28 Apostoli, si] apostoli: Sic OPW.]

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Chapter 3 (47).

1. Whether holy men, the prelates of the Church, give or can give the Holy Spirit. Here it is asked whether holy men also give or can give the Holy Spirit to others.

2. He first shows that the Holy Spirit is not given by them. If they give him to others, since his donation was above called procession, it seems that the Holy Spirit proceeds or is sent by them. But the Creator does not proceed or is not sent by a creature; it therefore remains that they neither give nor can give the Holy Spirit. — Hence Augustine says in Book XV of The Trinity³²: «None of Christ’s disciples gave the Holy Spirit. They prayed that he should come upon those on whom they laid hands; they did not themselves give him. The Church still observes this practice in its prelates. Finally, when Simon Magus³³ offered money to the Apostles, he did not say: Give me this power too, so that I may give the Holy Spirit; but: Whoever, he said, upon whom I lay hands will receive the Holy Spirit. For Scripture had not said above³⁴: Simon saw that the Apostles gave the Holy Spirit, but had said: Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the Apostles’ hands». Behold, by these words Augustine shows that neither the Apostles nor other prelates of the Church gave or give the Holy Spirit.

3. Here he teaches that they cannot give the Holy Spirit. What is more, he says in the same book³⁵ that they cannot give him, adding: «It is written of Christ that he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured him out; in this both natures are demonstrated, the human and the divine. He received as human, he poured out as God. We can indeed receive this gift according to our measure, but we certainly cannot pour it out upon others; rather, for this to happen, we invoke God upon them, from whom it is effected». By these words he expressly says that we cannot pour the Holy Spirit upon others, that is, give him to others.

³⁶ dant BCV. 14 ergo] igitur OP. 20 et om. BCX. 24 datur] daretur X (Vulg., Aug.). 27 non] nec LMRTVW.]

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