Complete Works, Vol. XXXIV

From the aforementioned, it is clear that God is the highest, first, and only one principle: as much by reason of dignity, as by reason of priority, as by reason of causality.

CHAPTER IV.

That the eternal Father exists is shown by this: since God is most powerful, most wise, and best, He can, knows, and wills to communicate Himself in the highest degree; now this is to give to another the fullness of His majesty See Colossians 2:9: "In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.": therefore, God the Father eternally begot a Son equal to Himself, to whom He communicated the essence of His divinity. For the Lord says in Isaiah: If I, who grant generation to others, shall be barren? Isaiah 66:9 As if to say: No.

The Father is understood in many ways.

The Father is understood in many ways. For He is called Father by eternal generation, Isaiah 53:8: Who shall declare his generation? By predestination, Ephesians 1:2 and 5: Grace to you and peace from God our Father... who predestined you unto the adoption of children. By creation, Deuteronomy 32:6: Is not he thy father, that hath possessed thee, and made thee, and created thee? He made, I say, according to the body; He created according to the soul; He possessed according to both. By redemption, Isaiah 63:16: Thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer, from everlasting is thy name. By sacramental regeneration, 1 Peter 1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy hath regenerated us. By instruction of faith, John 1:12: He gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name. By adoption of grace, to the

Appropriation.

Romans 8:15: You have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba (Father). By the collation of glory, to the Galatians 4:7: Therefore now he is not a servant, but a son: and if a son, an heir also through God, that is, through the works of God: for our works are more meritorious of eternal life through God than through ourselves. In the first way, Father is taken personally, and this mode belongs to the Father alone. In the fourth way, namely by redemption, it is taken not only effectively, but also through the exhibition of ministry. It is also taken personally: and this mode belongs to the Son alone, according to which the mode of redemption was through the death of the Son. But all other modes belong to the three persons simultaneously, because the works of the Trinity are undivided: unless perhaps one of those modes belongs to a certain person by appropriation.

Theological Rule

Concerning generation, note four propositions in which it can be seen whether the divine essence generates or is generated. The first is: The essence generates the essence. The second is: The essence generates a person. The third is: A person generates the essence. The fourth is: A person generates a person. Of these propositions, the first three are false, but the fourth is true. For it is a rule in theology that the divine essence does not generate, nor is it generated; it must be said, however, that the Father, by the power of the essence existing in Himself, generates; and that the essence is communicated to the Son through generation, just as it is to the Holy Spirit through procession.

CHAPTER V.

Relation in the divine, and what is it?

Since Father and Son are correlatives, it is shown by the same reasons that the Son...