1:7). Accordingly, it is necessary for us to give thanks in the same manner as it is certain that we have received grace. For since we have received grace from God through Jesus Christ our Lord, by this rule of truth we give thanks to the Father through the Son; but since we have received grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord, by this rule of truth again we give thanks to the Father together with the Son. For just as we have received grace not only from the Father through the Son, but also from the Father and the Son, so we must render the act of thanksgiving of due service, with the humility owed, not only to the Father through the Son, but also to the Father and the Son. For that we give thanks to the Father through the Son pertains to the mystery of the incarnation;
but in that we give thanks to the Father and to the Son, the acknowledgment of one divinity shines forth. For just as the Son so took up our flesh that He did not lose the natural truth of unity with the Father, so He granted us both, that we should both give thanks to the Father through the Son, and give thanks to the Son together with the Father. For the grace which the Father gave us through the Son, the Son also gave, the Father giving it together with Him. It is therefore necessary that, just as through Him we have received the gift, so through Him we should render our homage;
and just as grace is given to us by God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord, so let the act of thanksgiving be rendered by us to the Father and the Son. For just as it is right and fitting to the faith to give thanks to the Father through Him through whom it is certain that we have received from the Father, so it is impious and contrary to true religion, if anyone should read in the apostolic writings that grace is given to the faithful by God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet be unwilling that the act of thanksgiving be paid together to the Father and the Son. For he who is unwilling to give thanks to the Father through the Son does not understand true flesh in the divinity of Christ; but if anyone does not give thanks to the Father and the Son, he refuses to acknowledge true Godhead in the flesh of Christ.
Since therefore both are impious and greatly contrary to the soul, the rule of true faith must be held: that both, on account of the form of a servant, in which the Son is less than the Father, we may rightly say that thanks are to be given to the Father through the Son, and no less, on account of the form of God, in which the Son is equal to the Father, we may know that thanks are to be given to the Father and to the Son. But since one grace has been bestowed on us by the holy Trinity, one act of thanksgiving is to be paid by us in common to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For just as it is said by the Apostle to the faithful, Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:7): so in the Acts of the Apostles (chap. 10:45) it is written: That upon the Gentiles also the grace of the Holy Spirit was poured out.
We have therefore received one grace of the holy Trinity; it is uniquely fitting that we pay one act of thanksgiving to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in the truth of faith and simplicity of heart. And one glory is to be chanted to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, just as holy Scripture does not cease to admonish, so also every Christian ought both to know and to render it. For in the apostolic writings we find glory ascribed no less not only to the Father, but also to the Lord Jesus Christ. We know indeed that the blessed apostle Jude said in his Epistle:
Now to Him who is able to preserve you without sin, and to set you immaculate before the presence of His glory in gladness, to the only Savior our God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be honor, power, glory, and dominion before all ages, and now, and unto all ages of ages. Amen (Jude 24-25). But this is rightly understood according to the mystery of the incarnation, whereby the Son of God is found to have been made for us both High Priest and sacrifice. For the truth of both natures, namely both divine and human, is to be acknowledged in the Son of God; so that, apart from the error of any unbelief, the Son may be rightly recognized both as less than the Father and as equal to the Father.
Whence blessed Peter says that glory is to be ascribed to Christ, not only in this present time, but also in that eternity, who ended his second Epistle with these words: Grow, he says, in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now, and unto the day of eternity (2 Pet. 3:18). And since one Spirit of faith was given to the apostles and the prophets—which blessed Paul affirms, saying: Having the same spirit of faith, as it is written, I believed, for which cause I have spoken; and we also believe, for which cause we also speak (2 Cor. 4:13)—blessed David, uttering a harmonious sentiment in faith and truth, says:
Let all Your works confess to You, O Lord, and let Your saints bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, and shall tell of Your power. That they may make known to the sons of men Your power, and the glory of the magnificence of Your kingdom (Ps. 144:10-12). And lest this be thought in no way to pertain to the person of the Son, in another place he says that glory is to be given to that God who ascended above the heaven of heavens. For thus he says: Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, sing praises to the Lord. Sing praises to God who ascended above the heavens of heavens to the east. Behold, He will give to His voice the voice of power: give glory to God (Ps. 67:33-35). In which place, if the darkness of unbelief does not close your eyes, it is necessary that the truth of the right faith become known to you.
For since we, when we sing and chant, give glory to the Son just as to the Father; but you, when you sing, ascribe glory not to the Father and the Son, but glory to the Father through the Son: this most holy prophet, full of the Spirit of God, did this—that he might show that we, singing and chanting, rightly give glory to the Father and the Son; and that he might reveal you, who while singing and chanting do not give glory to God who ascended above the heaven of heavens, to be ungrateful and stubborn. For blessed David foresaw that glory would be sung to God the Father not only by catholic Christians, but also by heretics. Therefore he took care that those be admonished and corrected whom he knew would deny glory to the Son in canticles and psalms; therefore he says:
Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, sing praises to the Lord. Sing praises to God who ascended above the heaven of heavens to the east. Behold, He will give to His voice the voice of power: give glory to God. As if he were saying: I know that you all sing and chant to God the Father, and singing and chanting you give Him glory; but as you chant to God the Father, chant at the same time to God the Son; and giving glory to the Father, give glory to God who ascended above the heaven of heavens. This is what we, doing it, obey the prophetic oracles; but when you do not do it, you stubbornly resist the faith of the prophets. It is certain, therefore, that glory is to be ascribed not to the Father alone, but also to the Son.
But lest, being utterly convicted by these testimonies, you should say indeed that glory is to be given to the Son, but not when it is given to the Father, in this too the divine authority resists you, which shows that one glory is spoken to the Father and the Son by the holy angels in heaven. Of this matter the blessed apostle John is a witness, who in the Apocalypse, when he was speaking of the four living creatures, said: And those four living creatures had each of them six wings round about; and within they were full of eyes, and they had no rest day and night, saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.
And when those living creatures gave glory and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who lives forever and ever, immediately the twenty-four elders fell down before the throne, and adored Him that lives forever and ever, casting their crowns before the throne, and adoring Him that lives forever and ever, saying: You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You have created all things, and by Your will they were and were created (Apoc. 4:8ff). Here perhaps you will answer that all these things ought to be taken of the person of the Father only.
Here you ought first to consider that which we read as spoken by the four living creatures, Who was, and who is, and who is to come, fits the Son rather than the Father. For that the Son is to come, the series of both the Old and the New Testament attests. But there it is said, And when those living creatures gave glory and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who lives forever and ever. That the Son sits upon the throne you in no way deny, to whom blessed David says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever (Ps. 44:7). And if you should wish to deny that the Son is here called Him who lives forever and ever, you are refuted by the word of the Son Himself, who said to the same blessed John: Fear not. I am the first and the last, and He that lives and was dead:
and behold, I am living forever and ever (Apoc. 1:17-18). But if you still think this is to be contended against, and are unwilling that this be said of the Son, hear what the same blessed apostle John says in what follows: And I beheld, he says, and I heard as it were the voice of many angels round about the throne, and round about the living creatures, and about the elders. And the number of them was thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and that is in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard all saying:
To Him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and power forever and ever. And the four living creatures said: Amen (Apoc. 5:11ff). At least now, Fabianus, acknowledge how great an impiety it is to struggle against not only apostolic, but also angelic voices. Hear the thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and whatsoever is in the sea, and all that are in them. And lest you think that thanks ought to be given, or glory ascribed, separately to the Father and separately to the Son,
hear what blessed John immediately added: All, he says, I heard saying: To Him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and power forever and ever. And the four living creatures said: Amen. Behold, by the testimony of angelic devotion it is known that glory ought to be ascribed to the Father and the Son, that thanks ought to be given to the Father and the Son, that one power also ought to be spoken of the Father and the Son. For blessed John heard all at once saying: To Him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and power forever and ever.
Moreover, by this word, in which is added, Forever and ever, it is clearly shown that those angels of God will attain the eternal fellowship and blessedness who acknowledge one honor of the Father and the Son, who pay one act of thanksgiving to the Father and the Son, who sing one glory to the Father and the Son, who proclaim one power of the Father and the Son. For whoever in this world shall have been unwilling to give all these things together to the Father and the Son, will not cleave to the fellowship of all the angels who speak forever and ever those things which are mentioned above. For those, of whom blessed David says to God, will speak nothing else in that eternity: Your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God.
Blessed are all who dwell in Your house, they shall praise You forever and ever (Ps. 83:4-5). For since they will be equal to the angels of God (Luke 20:36), it is certain that they will speak forever and ever that which the holy angels always say in praise of God. And lest anyone think that the praise of the Father is one thing, the praise of the Son another, the same blessed John, concerning those who dwell in that heavenly Jerusalem on high, which is the house of God, and who will praise God forever and ever, thus says in the aforementioned book: After these things I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and of all tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and in the sight of the Lamb: and they were clothed;
white robes, and palms were in their hands; and with a great voice they cried, saying: Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb (Apoc. 7:9-10). Where he immediately followed that God the Father and the Lamb are one God, saying: And all the angels who stood round about the throne, and about the elders, and about the four living creatures, presently fell down before the throne upon their faces, and adored, all saying: Amen. Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and strength to our God forever and ever (Ibid. 7:11-12). Is not what they had said above, To Him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and power forever and ever;
and the four living creatures said, Amen—is not this now the same thing which all the angels are recognized to have confirmed, under the profession of one God, adoring God Himself? For attend to what they said; nay, consider intently what they say: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen. But all these things the same angels said above ought to be given to the Lamb, whose is that loud voice: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and glory, and blessing:
all which things they immediately gave to God, saying, To Him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and power forever and ever. Know that the same again gave them under the name of one God, since they adored God, saying, Amen. Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen. Attend to these three places, and you will find the truth of our faith confirmed by angelic devotion. For first, honor, and glory, and blessing, and power is said to be given by all the angels to the Lamb, that is, to the Son; then by all, blessing, and honor, and power is given as one to Him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb:
which is nothing else than to the Father and to the Son. After these, blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and strength are given to one God, which above were given to Him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb, that is, to the Father and to the Son. Acknowledge therefore both that glory is to be given to the Son, and that one glory is to be given together to the Father and to the Son, and that our one God is the Father and the Son. For this she ever chants, that Jerusalem which is above, free, which is our mother (Gal. 4:26): whose part which labors in the pilgrimage of this world, for that reason strives by a straight course toward that delightful countenance of hers, and sweet fellowship;
because she imitates that mother not only in good works, but also in these praises. This part, singing this, walks in faith, which that part, singing it, rests in vision. This part of that Church, singing, is refreshed with the bread of the journey, with whose fullness that Jerusalem is satisfied, continual and unwearied. But how does that Church dare to believe or to call herself the daughter of the holy heavenly Jerusalem, when she thinks that ought not to be said by her on earth, which that holy mother does not cease to say in heaven? Or how will she be able to have common blessedness with her, with whom she does not share the praise of God Himself?
since assuredly no one can attain the fellowship of that holy Jerusalem, whoever now does not imitate her homage; since the very host of heaven, when the Son was born according to the flesh, sang nothing else on earth than, Glory to God in the highest (Luke 2:14). But if anyone asks, to which God, that angelic multitude immediately answers, To Him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb. This is said by the angels in the highest, this is sung on earth by men of good will; so that it might be shown that one and the same is that Christ, to whom both by the angels is said, Glory to God in the highest, and who was made on earth peace to men of good will. For He Himself is our peace, who made both one (Eph. 2:14).
From Him whom we have as peace, we have received good will, through which, by the gift of gratuitous justification, we ascribe glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the one God, that we may be able to attain the fellowship of the angels: where, having received the gift of glorification, we may be able to say glory to Him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb, our God, forever and ever. But let no one be troubled that in all these things nothing has been said of the Holy Spirit. For the evangelical doctrine, whatever service it commands to be rendered to the Father and to the Son, shows to be rendered at the same time also to the Holy Spirit. This our Savior demonstrated by one precept, saying: Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt.
28:19). By saying this, He surely implied that to the same Trinity all the service of religion is at the same time owed by us, in whose name the beginning of salvation is bestowed on those who believe and are baptized. Yet especially in that passage of the prophet Isaiah is the one glory of the Trinity recognized, in which the Seraphim cry, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts (Isa. 6:3); where they show the Trinity to be one Lord God, and immediately add, The whole earth is full of His glory. Blessed David, implying to us something of this kind, sings: The voice of the Lord preparing the stags, and He will reveal the thick woods, and in His temple all shall say glory (Ps. 28:9).
But that we are the temple not only of the Father and of the Son, but also of the Holy Spirit, as we have already recalled in this work, the apostolic authority confirms. For blessed Paul says: Know you not that your members are the temple in you of the Holy Spirit, whom you have from God? (1 Cor. 6:19). How then can it come to pass that the glory which is spoken in the temple of the Holy Spirit be not spoken to the Holy Spirit Himself? Since assuredly whatever shall have been spoken for the praising of God in the temple of God cannot be alien from that very God, whose temple it is. This therefore blessed David said, that the Trinity itself, to whom glory is spoken in His temple, may be recognized to be by nature one Lord.
That you may know this more fully, look at the divine praises in the Psalms, and in the book of the prophet Daniel diligently attend to the benedictions of the three young men (Dan. 3:57ff); and when, among all the things that were named, you in no way find the Holy Spirit named, acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is the Creator, not created; the maker of all things, not made: and from this understand that with the Father and the Son He is by nature one Lord God. For in the Psalms, where all things that were made are called together to praise the Lord, the beginning is made from the angels, that is, from that very Wisdom of which it is written: Before all things Wisdom was created, and the understanding of prudence from everlasting (Ecclus. 1:4);
and of which a little after it is said, He Himself created her by the Holy Spirit (Ps. 148:1, cf.). But the blessed prophet says: Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the high places; and beginning from that first and chief creature, above which alone by nature is the substance of the Creator, he places the angels at the beginning of this praising, saying (v. 2): Praise Him, all His angels, praise Him, all His powers; then he says (vv. 3-4): Praise Him, sun and moon. Praise Him, all stars and light. Praise Him, heavens of heavens, and let the waters that are above the heavens praise the name of the Lord: and showing the cause of this praising he says (v. 5): For He spoke, and they were made: He commanded, and they were created.
All these things therefore are said to owe praise to the Lord, because by Him they were made. But if the Holy Spirit had also been made, He would have been placed by the prophetic word in that order of praising, before the angels and powers. Or does this please you, that the Holy Spirit, who according to your opinion is said to be made through the Son, should be left without the service of divine praise? and that He who is asserted by you to have been made through the Son more excellent than the other creatures, while all things praise the Creator, should remain ungrateful without praise? and that the Lord be not praised by that very one in whom, according to your belief, His creator is found more praiseworthy? Attend also prudently, as I said above, to the benedictions of the three young men:
in which first the maker of all things Himself is thus blessed, so that it is said to Him: Blessed are You, O Lord God of our fathers, and praiseworthy, and glorious forever (Dan. 3:52). Behold, those three, as with one mouth, do not cease to bless and praise and glorify the Lord God. Where the authority of the divine Scriptures does not permit that the Father alone be understood; for first it is set by those three young men: Blessed is the name of Your glory, which is holy, and praiseworthy and glorious forever (Ibid.); but that holy name is not of the Father alone, but is the one natural name of the Trinity: which was above demonstrated by us by the testimony of holy Isaiah, who recalls the Seraphim thus crying to one another:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory (Isa. 6:3). But if you should assert that this name, which is holy, is not one of the holy Trinity, it remains that you are compelled (whether you will or not) to assign this holy name to the Holy Spirit alone: for He in the Trinity is properly called the Holy Spirit; although both the Father and the Son, according to the right faith, are by nature not denied to be also Spirit and holy. Whence the blessed Apostle, knowing that the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is one holy name, testified that the faithful are sanctified in it, saying: But you are washed, but you are justified, but you are sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God (1 Cor. 6:11).
Recall therefore in what name holy baptism is given, and you will find that in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit everyone is justified and sanctified—whoever, rightly believing in that same name, is washed into the one substance of the Trinity. Whence whoever understands that the gift of true sanctification is conferred in that same name, acknowledges that there is by nature one holy name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Then in the benedictions he says: Blessed are You in the holy temple of Your glory, and praiseworthy and glorious forever (Dan. 3:55).
That we are the temple, not of the Father alone, but of the holy Trinity itself, we have already sufficiently shown in this work by the testimony of the holy Scriptures. The Trinity, therefore, is one Lord God, blessed and worthy of praise, and glorious unto the ages; and in the holy temple of His glory those truly bless Him who acknowledge themselves to be one temple of the holy Trinity. Then it is said by those three young men: 'Blessed art Thou that beholdest the depths, sitting upon the Cherubim; and worthy of praise, and glorious unto the ages' (ibid., 55). And the Father, moreover, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit so behold the whole equally, even as the Trinity itself fills the whole. Neither, therefore, from the Son, nor from the Holy Spirit is the sight of the depths denied;
for the holy Trinity itself embraces at once all things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, by the knowledge proper to its natural omnipotence; and it discerns all things in most manifest vision, because by the fullness of its knowledge it knows things past and present, and likewise all things to come. And when it is further said among the benedictions, 'Blessed art Thou upon the throne of Thy kingdom, and worthy of praise, and glorious unto the ages' (ibid., 54), who would be so senseless as to strive to separate the Son or the Holy Spirit from this benediction? seeing that blessed Isaiah intimates that the throne of the holy Trinity is one, saying: 'I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up' (Isa. VI, 1).
And that Lord, as the Seraphim cried one to another, he records to be thus proclaimed: 'Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.' The prophet therefore knew that same one Lord to be sitting upon one throne; and by the revelation of spiritual grace he heard Him called holy three times in the mystery of the Trinity, and once named Lord God. Hence it is that apostolic authority never ceases to proclaim one kingdom and one throne of the Father and the Son. For blessed Paul, showing forth one kingdom of the Son and of the Father, says: 'For know this, understanding, that no'—
a fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous man, which is the service of idols, shall not have inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God (Eph. V, 5). Saint John also, in the Apocalypse, plainly shows that the throne is one, saying, concerning the angel by whom he testifies the holy city was shown to him: 'And he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of its street, and on either side of the river, the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it' (Apoc. XXII, 1, 2, 3).