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Image of the Trinity.
The image of the Trinity is also found within us, namely in memory, intelligence, and will, or in mind, knowledge, and love, in which we are assimilated in order to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
CHAPTER VII.
That the Holy Spirit exists.
Twofold emanation.
There is a twofold emanation in divine matters. One is by way of nature, and this is generation, according to which the Son is from the Father. The other is by way of will, and this is an appropriated procession; strictly, it is called spiration, according to which Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son. the Holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son. This emanation is said to be by way of will because the Holy Spirit is love cf. John 16:7 and 15:26.. Love, moreover, pertains to the will.
The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father mediately and immediately. Mediately, because the Son breathes Him, a power He has from the Father; immediately, however, because the Father Himself breathes Him.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Holy Spirit is the love of the Father and the Son.
The Holy Spirit is the love of God, and this in three ways: essentially, personally, and exemplarily.
Essentially, the Holy Spirit is called love insofar as He is one God with the Father and the Son. For these three, insofar as they are one in essence, love each other with an essential love, which is appropriated to the Holy Spirit.
Personally, however, the Holy Spirit is called
love insofar as He is the bond of the Father and the Son. The Father and Son love one another. The Holy Spirit is the bond of the Father and Son. For the Father and the Son love each other with a love proceeding from them, which is neither the Father nor the Son, but the Holy Spirit. Regarding this bond, Augustine says: "There is in that Trinity an ineffable embrace, not begotten, but pouring forth upon all creatures, according to their capacity, the immense generosity of the sweetness of the Begetter and the Begotten."
Love proceeding from the Father and the Son.
The Holy Spirit is also called love exemplarily, since the Holy Spirit is not only the efficient cause of the gratuitous love that is in us, but also its exemplar and end. For the love that is in us is from the Holy Spirit efficiently, and this insofar as the Holy Spirit Himself is God. It is in us exemplarily, however, insofar as the Holy Spirit Himself is proceeding by way of love from the Father and the Son. But our love is in us finally, insofar as the Holy Spirit, from whom our love originates, has the character of the primary good, toward which our love tends.
It should be noted that love, which is the Holy Spirit, is the bond of the Trinity by its mode of proceeding; but because of this very procession, it is distinct from the Father and the Son. Because of the perfection of the divine nature, it is a person and a substance; because of the divine simplicity, it is God Himself, and supremely good. Therefore, the Spirit is the love by which the Father and the Son love one another.
When it is said that the Father and the Son love one another by the Holy Spirit, it can be interpreted in two ways. First, they love one another by the Holy Spirit, that is, by the love that is the Holy Spirit; according to this, the proposition is true. Second, they love one another by the Holy Spirit, that is, through the Holy Spirit or by the love that is the Spirit; in this sense, it should not be granted. For it would suggest the understanding that the Holy Spirit is a principle in the Trinity, which is false, because He proceeds from the Father and the Son; because there is not
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