The occasion and date of the composition of this treatise are indicated in a statement which Augustin makes in the seventeenth chapter of the First Book of his Retractations.
From this we learn that, in its original form, it was a discourse which Augustin, when only a presbyter, was requested to deliver in public by the bishops assembled at the Council of Hippo-Regius, and that it was subsequently issued as a book at the desire of friends. The general assembly of the North African Church, which was thus convened at what is now Bona, in the modern territory of Algiers, took place in the year 393 A.D., and was otherwise one of some historical importance, on account of the determined protest which it emitted against the position elsewhere allowed to Patriarchs in the Church, and against the admittance of any more authoritative or magisterial title to the highest ecclesiastical official than that of simply "Bishop of the first Church" (primae sedis episcopus).
The work constitutes an exposition of the several clauses of the so-called Apostles' Creed. The questions concerning the mutual relations of the three Persons in the Godhead are handled with greatest fullness; in connection with which, especially in the use made of the analogies of Being, Knowledge, and Love, and in the cautions thrown in against certain applications of these and other illustrations taken from things of human experience, we come across sentiments which are also repeated in the City of God, the books on the Trinity, and others of his doctrinal writings.
The passage referred to in the Retractations is as follows: About the same period, in presence of the bishops, who gave me orders to that effect, and who were holding a plenary Council of the whole of Africa at Hippo-Regius, I delivered, as presbyter, a discussion on the subject of Faith and the Creed. This disputation, at the very pressing request of some of those who were on terms of more than usual intimacy and affection with us, I threw into the form of a book, in which the themes themselves are made the subjects of discourse, although not in a method involving the adoption of the particular connection of words which is given to the competenteshyperlink to be committed to memory. In this book, when discussing the question of the resurrection of the flesh, I say:hyperlink `Rise again the body will, according to the Christian faith, which is incapable of deceiving. And if this appears incredible to any one, [it is because] he looks simply to what the flesh is at present, while he fails to consider of what nature it shall be hereafter. For at that time of angelic change it will no more be flesh and blood, but only body;' and so on, through the other statements which I have made there on the subject of the change of bodies terrestrial into bodies celestial, as the apostle, when he spake from the same point, said, `Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God.'hyperlink But if any one takes these declarations in a sense leading him to suppose that the earthly body, such as we now have it, is changed in the resurrection into a celestial body, in any such wise as that neither these members nor the substance of the flesh will subsist any more, undoubtedly he must be set right, by being put in mind of the body of the Lord, who subsequently to His resurrection appeared in the same members, as One who was not only to be seen with the eyes, but also handled with the hands; and made His possession of the flesh likewise surer by the discourse which He spake, saying, `Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.'hyperlink Hence it is certain that the apostle did not deny that the substance of the flesh will exist in the kingdom of God, but that under the name of `flesh and blood' he designated either men who live after the flesh, or the express corruption of the flesh, which assuredly at that period shall subsist no more. For after he had said, `Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God,' what he proceeds to say next,-namely, `neither shall corruption inherit incorruption,'-is rightly taken to have been added by way of explaining his previous statement. And on this subject, which is one on which it is difficult to convince unbelievers, any one who reads my last book, On the City of God, will find that I have discoursed with the utmost carefulness of which I am capable.hyperlink The performance in question commences thus: `Since it is written,' etc."
[Additional Note by the American Editor.]
[Another English edition of this treatise De Fide et Symbolo was prepared by the Rev. Charles a. Heurtley, D.D., Margaret Professor of Divinity and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, and published by Parker & Co., Oxford and London, 1886.
The following text of the Apostles' Creed may be collected from this book of St. Augustin, and was current in North Africa towards the close of the fourth century:
1. I Believe in God the Father Almighty. Chs. 2 and 3.
2. (And) In Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-Begotten of the Father, or, His Only Son, Our Lord. Ch. 3.
3. Who Was Born Through the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary. Ch. 4 (§ 8.)
4. Who Under Pontius Pilate Was Crucified and Buried. Ch. 5 (§ 11.)
5. On the Third Day He Rose Again from the Dead. Ch. 5 (§ 12.)
6. He Ascended into Heaven. Ch. 6 (§ 13.)
7. He Sitteth at the Right Hand of the Father. Ch. 7 (§ 14.)
8. From Thence He Will Come and Judge the Living and the Dead. Ch. 8 (§ 15.)
9. (and I Believe) in the Holy Spirit. Ch. 9 (§ 16-19.)
10. I Believe the Holy Church (Catholic). Ch. 10 (§ 21.)
11. The Forgiveness of Sin. Ch. 10 (§ 23.)
12. The Resurrection of the Body. Ch. 10 (§ 23, 24.)
13. The Life Everlasting. Ch. 10 (§ 24.)]
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A Treatise on Faith and the Creed
Chapter 1.-Of the Origin and Object of the Composition.
1. Inasmuch as it is a position, written and established on the most solid foundation of apostolic teaching, "that the just lives of faith;"hyperlink and inasmuch also as this faith demands of us the duty at once of heart and tongue,-for an apostle says, "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation,"hyperlink -it becomes us to be mindful both of righteousness and of salvation. For, destined as we are to reign hereafter in everlasting righteousness, we certainly cannot secure our salvation from the present evil world, unless at the same time, while laboring for the salvation of our neighbors, we likewise with the mouth make our own profession of the faith which we carry in our heart. And it must be our aim, by pious and careful watchfulness, to provide against the possibility of the said faith sustaining any injury in us, on any side, through the fraudulent artifices [or, cunning fraud] of the heretics.
We have, however, the catholic faith in the Creed, known to the faithful and committed to memory, contained in a form of expression as concise as has been rendered admissible by the circumstances of the case; the purpose of which [compilation] was, that individuals who are but beginners and sucklings among those who have been born again in Christ, and who have not yet been strengthened by most diligent and spiritual handling and understanding of the divine Scriptures, should be furnished with a summary, expressed in few words, of those matters of necessary belief which were subsequently to be explained to them in many words, as they made progress and rose to [the height of] divine doctrine, on the assured and steadfast basis of humility and charity. It is underneath these few words, therefore, which are thus set in order in the Creed, that most heretics have endeavored to conceal their poisons; whom divine mercy has withstood, and still withstands, by the instrumentality of spiritual men, who have been counted worthy not only to accept and believe the catholic faith as expounded in those terms, but also thoroughly to understand and apprehend it by the enlightenment imparted by the Lord. For it is written, "Unless ye believe, ye shall not understand."hyperlink But the handling of the faith is of service for the protection of the Creed; not, however, to the intent that this should itself be given instead of the Creed, to be committed to memory and repeated by those who are receiving the grace of God, but that it may guard the matters which are retained in the Creed against the insidious assaults of the heretics, by means of catholic authority and a more entrenched defence.
Chapter 2.-Of God and His Exclusive Eternity.
2. For certain parties have attempted to gain acceptance for the opinion that God the Father is not Almighty: not that they have been bold enough expressly to affirm this, but in their traditions they are convicted of entertaining and crediting such a notion. For when they affirm that there is a naturehyperlink which God Almighty did not create, but of which at the same time He fashioned this world, which they admit to have been disposed in beautyhyperlink they thereby deny that God is almighty, to the effect of not believing that He could have created the world without employing, for the purpose of its construction, another nature, which had been in existence previously, and which He Himself had not made. Thus, forsooth, [they reason] from their carnal familiarity with the sight of craftsmen and house-builders, and artisans of all descriptions, who have no power to make good the effect of their own art unless they get the help of materials already prepared. And so these parties in like manner understand the Maker of the world not to be almighty, ifhyperlink thus He could not fashion the said world without the help of some other nature, not framed by Himself, which He had to use as His materials. Or if indeed they do allow God, the Maker of the world, to be almighty, it becomes matter of course that they must also acknowledge that He made out of nothing the things which He did make. For, granting that He is almighty, there cannot exist anything of which He should not be the Creator. For although He made something out of something, as man out of clay,hyperlink nevertheless He certainly did not make any object out of aught which He Himself had not made; for the earth from which the clay comes He had made out of nothing. And even if He had made out of some material the heavens and the earth themselves, that is to say, the universe and all things which are in it, according as it is written, "Thou who didst make the world out of matter unseen,"hyperlink or also "without form," as some copies give it; yet we are under no manner of necessity to believe that this very material of which the universe was, made, although it might be "without form," although it might be "unseen," whatever might be the mode of its subsistence, could: possibly have subsisted of itself, as if it were co-eternal and co-eval with God. But whatsoever that mode was which it possessed to the effect of subsisting in some manner, whatever that manner might be, and of being capable of taking on the forms of distinct things, this it did not possess except by the hand of Almighty God, by whose goodness it is that everything exists,-not only every object which is already formed, but also every object which is formable. This, moreover, is the difference between the formed and the formable, that the formed has already taken on form, while the formable is capable of taking the same. But the same Being who imparts form to objects, also imparts the capability of being formed. For of Him and in Him is the fairest figurehyperlink of all things, unchangeable; and therefore He Himself is One, who communicates to everything its I possibilities, not only that it be beautiful actually, but also that it be capable of being beautiful. For which reason we do most right to believe that God made all things of nothing. For, even although the world was made of some sort of material, this self-same material itself was made of nothing; so that, in accordance with the most orderly gift of God, there was to enter first the capacity of taking forms, and then that all things should be formed which have been formed. This, however, we have said, in order that no one might suppose that the utterances of the divine Scriptures are contrary the one to the other, in so far as it is written at once that God made all things of nothing, and that the world was made of matter without form.
3. As we believe, therefore, in God the Father Almighty, we ought to uphold the opinion that there is no creature which has not been created by the Almighty. And since He created all things by the Word,hyperlink which Word is also designated the Truth, and the Power, and the Wisdom of God,hyperlink -as also under many other appellations the Lord Jesus Christ, whohyperlink is commended to our faith, is presented likewise to our mental apprehensions, to wit, our Deliverer and Ruler,hyperlink the Son of God; for that Word, by whose means all things were founded, could not have been begotten by any other than by Him who founded all things by His instrumentality;-
Chapter 3.-Of the Son of God, and His Peculiar Designation as the Word.
-Since this is the case, I repeat, we believe also in Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Only-Begotten of the Father, that is to say, His Only Son, our Lord. This Word however, we ought not to apprehend merely in the sense in which we think of our own words, which are given forth by the voice anti the mouth, and strike the air and pass on, and subsist no longer than their sound continues. For that Word remains unchangeably: for of this very Word was it spoken when of Wisdom it was said, "Remaining in herself, she maketh all things new."hyperlink Moreover, the reason of His being named the Word of the Father, is that the Father is made known by Him. Accordingly, just as it is our intention, when we speak truth, that by means of our words our mind should be made known to him who hears us, and that whatever we carry in secrecy in our heart may be set forth by means of signs of this sort for the intelligent understanding of another individual; so this Wisdom that God the Father begot is most appropriately named His Word, inasmuch as the most hidden Father is made known to worthy minds by the same.hyperlink
4. Now there is a very great difference between our mind and those words of ours, by which we endeavor to set forth the said mind. We indeed do not beget intelligible words,hyperlink but we form them; and in the forming of them the body is the underlying material. Between mind and body, however, there is the greatest difference. But God, when He begot the Word, begot that which He is Himself. Neither out of nothing, nor of any material already made and founded did He then beget; but He begot of Himself that which He is Himself. For we too aim at this when we speak, (as we shall see) if we carefully consider the inclinationhyperlink of our will; not when we lie, but when we speak the truth. For to what else do we direct our efforts then, but to bring our own very mind, if it can be done at all, in upon the mind of the hearer, with the view of its being apprehended and thoroughly discerned by him; so that we may indeed abide in our very selves, and make no retreat from ourselves, and yet at the same time put forth a sign of such a nature as that by it a knowledge of ushyperlink may be effected in another individual; that thus, so far as the faculty is granted us, another mind may be, as it were, put forth by the mind, whereby it may disclose itself? This we do, making the attempthyperlink both by words, and by the simple sound of the voice, and by the countenance, and by the gestures of the body,-by so many contrivances, in sooth, desiring to make patent that which is within; inasmuch as we are not able to put forth aught of this nature [in itself completely]: and thus it is that the mind of the speaker cannot become perfectly known; thus also it results that a place is open for falsehoods. God the Father, on the other hand, who possessed both the will and the power to declare Himself with the utmost truth to minds designed to obtain knowledge of Him, with the purpose of thus declaring Himself begot this [Word] which He Himself is who did beget; which [Person] is likewise called His Power and Wisdom,hyperlink inasmuch as it is by Him that He has wrought all things, and in order disposed them; of whom these words are for this reason spoken: "She (Wisdom) reacheth from one end to another mightily, and sweetly doth she order all things."hyperlink
Chapter 4.-Of the Son of God as Neither Made by the 'father Nor Less Than the Father, and of His Incarnation.
5. Wherefore The Only-Begotten Son of God was neither made by the Father; for, according to the word of an evangelist, "all things were made by Him:"hyperlink nor begotten instantaneously;hyperlink since God, who is eternallyhyperlink wise, has with Himself His eternal Wisdom: nor unequal with the Father, that is to say, in anything less than He; for an apostle also speaks in this wise, "Who, although He was constituted in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God."hyperlink By this catholic faith, therefore, those are excluded, on the one hand, who affirm that the Son is the same [Person] as the Father; for [it is clear that] this Word could not possibly be with God, were it not with God the Father, and [it is just as evident that] He who is alone is equal to no one, And, on the other hand, those are equally excluded who affirm that the Son is a creature, although not such an one as the rest of the creatures are. For however great they declare the creature to be, if it is a creature, it has been fashioned and made.hyperlink For the terms fashion and createhyperlink mean one and the same thing; although in the usage of the Latin tongue the phrase create is employed at times instead of what would be the strictly accurate word beget. But the Greek language makes a distinction. For we call that creatura (creature) which they call ktisma or ktisij; and when we desire to speak without ambiguity, we use not the word creare (create), but the word condere (fashion, found). Consequently, if the Son is a creature, however great that may be, He has been made. But we believe in Him by whom all things (omnia) were made, not in Him by whom the rest of things (cetera) were made. For here again we cannot take this term all things in any other sense than as meaning whatsoever things have been made.
6. But as "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,"hyperlink the same Wisdom which was begotten of God condescended also to be created among men.hyperlink There is a reference to this in the word, "The Lord created me in the beginning of His ways."hyperlink For the beginning of His ways is the Head of the Church, which is Christhyperlink endued with human nature (homine indutus), by whom it was purposed that there should be given to us a pattern of living, that is, a surehyperlink way by which we might reach God. For by no other path was it possible for us to return but by humility, who fell by pride, according as it was said to our first creation, "Taste, and ye shall be as gods."hyperlink Of this humility, therefore, that is to say, of the way by which it was needful for us to return, our Restorer Himself has deemed it meet to exhibit an example in His own person, "who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant;"hyperlink in order that He might be created Man in the beginning of His ways, the Word by whom all things were made. Wherefore, in so far as He is the Only-begotten, He has no brethren; but in so far as He is the First-begotten, He has deemed it worthy of Him to give the name of brethren to all those who, subsequently to and by means of His pre-eminence,hyperlink are born again into the grace of God through the adoption of sons, according to the truth commended to us by apostolic teaching.hyperlink Thus, then, the Son according to nature (naturalis filius) was born of the very substance of the Father, the only one so born, subsisting as that which the Father is,hyperlink God of God, Light of Light. We, on the other hand, are not the light by nature, but are enlightened by that Light, so that we may be able to shine in wisdom. For, as one says, "that was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."hyperlink Therefore we add to the faith of things eternal likewise the temporal dispensationhyperlink of our Lord, which He deemed it worthy of Him to bear for us and to minister in behalf of our salvation. For in so far as He is the only-begotten Son of God, it cannot be said of Him that He was and that He shall be, but only that He is; because, on the one hand, that which was, now isnot; and, on the other, that which shall be, as yet is not. He, then, is unchangeable, independent of the condition of times and variation. And it is my opinion that this is the very consideration to which was due the circumstance that He introduced to the apprehension of His servant Moses the kind of name [which He then adopted]. For when he asked of Him by whom he should say that he was sent, in the event of the people to whom he was being sent despising him, he received his answer when He spake in this wise: "I Am that I Am." Thereafter, too, He added this: "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, He that is (Qui est) has sent me unto you."hyperlink
7. From this, I trust, it is now made patent to spiritual minds that there cannot possibly exist any nature contrary to God. For if He is,-and this is a word which can be spoken with propriety only of God (for that which truly is remains unchangeably; inasmuch as that which is changed has been something which now it is not, and shall be something which as yet it is not),-it follows that God has nothing contrary to Himself. For if the question were put to us, What is contrary to white? we would reply, black; if the question were, What is contrary to hot? we would reply, cold; if the question were, What is contrary to quick? we would reply, slow; and all similar interrogations we would answer in like manner. When, however, it is asked, What is contrary to that which is? the right reply to give is, that which is not.
8. But whereas, in a temporal dispensation, as I have said, with a view to our salvation and restoration, and with the goodness of God acting therein, our changeable nature has been assumed by that unchangeable Wisdom of God, we add the faith in temporal things which have been done with salutary effect on our behalf, believing in that Son of God Who Was Born Through the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary. For by the gift of God, that is, by the Holy Spirit, there was granted to us so great humility on the part of so great a God, that He deemed it worthy of Him to assume the entire nature of man (totum hominem) in the womb of the Virgin, inhabiting the material body so that it sustained no detriment (integrum), and leaving ithyperlink without detriment. This temporal dispensation is in many ways craftily assailed by the heretics. But if any one shall have grasped the catholic faith, so as to believe that the entire nature of man was assumed by the Word of God, that is to say, body, soul, and spirit, he has sufficient defense against those parties. For surely, since that assumption was effected in behalf of our salvation, one must be on his guard lest, as he believes that there is something belonging to. our nature which sustains no relation to that assumption, this something may fail also to sustain any relation to the salvation.hyperlink And seeing that, with the exception of the form of the members, which has been imparted to the varieties of living objects with differences adapted to their different kinds, man is in nothing separated from the cattle but in [the possession of] a rational spirit (rationali spiritu), which is also named mind (mens), how is that faith sound, according to which the belief is maintained, that the Wisdom of God assumed that part of us which we hold in common with the cattle, while He did not assume that which is brightly illumined by the light of wisdom, and which is man's peculiar gift?
9. Moreover, those partieshyperlink also are to be abhorred who deny that our Lord Jesus Christ had in Mary a mother upon earth; while that dispensation has honored both sexes, at once the male and the female, and has made it plain that not only that sex which He assumed pertains to God's care, but also that sex by which He did assume this other, in that He bore [the nature of] the man (virum gerendo), [and] in that He was born of the woman. Neither is there anything to compel us to a denial of the mother of the Lord, in the circumstance that this word was spoken by Him: "Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come."hyperlink But He rather admonishesus to understand that, in respect of His being God, there was no mother for Him, the part of whose personal majesty (cujus majestatis personam) He was preparing to show forth in the turning of water into wine. But as regards His being crucified, He was crucified in respect of his being man; and that was the hour which had not come as yet, at the time when this word was spoken, "What have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not vet come;" that is, the hour at which I shall recognize thee. For at that period, when He was crucified as man, He recognized His human mother (hominem matrem), and committed her most humanely (humanissime) to the care of the best beloved disciple.hyperlink Nor, again, should we be moved by the fact that, when the presence of His mother and His brethren was announced to Him, He replied, "Who is my mother, or who my brethren?" etc.hyperlink But rather let it teach us, that when parents hinder our ministry wherein we minister the word of God to our brethren, they ought not to be recognized by us. For if, on the ground of His having said, "Who is my mother?" every one should conclude that He had no mother on earth, then each should as matter of course be also compelled to deny that the apostles had fathers on earth; since He gave them an injunction in these terms: "Call no man your father upon the earth; for one is your Father, which is in heaven."hyperlink
10. Neither should the thought of the woman's womb impair this faith in us, to the effect that there should appear to be any necessity for rejecting such a generation of our Lord for the mere reason that worthless men consider it unworthy (sordidi sordidam putant). For most true are these sayings of an apostle, both that "the foolishness of God is wiser than men,"hyperlink and that "to the pure all things are pure."hyperlink Those,hyperlink therefore, who entertain this opinion ought to ponder the fact that the rays of this sun, which indeed they do not praise as a creature of God, but adore as God, are diffused all the world over, through the noisomenesses of sewers and every kind of horrible thing, and that they operate in these according to their nature, and yet never become debased by any defilement thence contracted, albeit that the visible light is by nature in closer conjunction with visible pollutions. How much less, therefore, could the Word of God, who is neither corporeal nor visible, sustain defilement from the female body, wherein He assumed human flesh together with soul and spirit, through the incoming of which the majesty of the Word dwells in a less immediate conjunction with the frailty of a human body!hyperlink Hence it is manifest that the Word of God could in no way have been defiled by a human body, by which even the human soul is not defiled. For not when it rules the body and quickens it, but only when it lusts after the mortal good things thereof, is the soul defiled by the body. But if these persons were to desire to avoid the defilements of the soul, they would dread rather these falsehoods and profanities.
Footnotes
1 i.e. the third order of catechumens, embracing those thoroughly prepared for baptism.
2 Chap. x. §0 24.
3 I Cor. xv. 50
4 Luke xxiv. 39.
5 City of God, Bk. xxii. Ch. 21.
1 Hab. ii. 4; Rom. i. 17; Gal. iii. 11; Heb. x. 38.
2 Rom. x. 10.
3 Isa. vii. 9, according to the rendering of the Septuagint.
4 Naturam.
5 Reading pulchre ordinatum. Some editions give pulchre ornatum = beautifully adorned.
6 Si mundum fabricare non posset. For si some Mss. give qui = inasmuch as He could not, etc.
7 De limo = of mud.
8 Wisd. xi. 17.
9 Speciosissima species = the seemliest semblance.
10 John i. 3.
11 John xiv. 6; 1 Cor. 1. 24.
12 For qui several Mss. give quibus here = under many other appellations is the Lord Jesus Christ introduced to our mental apprehensions, by which He is commended to our faith.
13 For Rector we also find Creator = Creator.
14 Wisd. vii. 27.
15 Adopting the Benedictine version per ipsam innotescit dignis animis secretissimus Pater. There is, however, great variety of reading here. Some Mss. give ignis for dignis = the most hidden fire of the Father is made known to minds. Others give signis = the most hidden Father is made known by signs to minds, Others have innotescit animus secretissimus Patris, or innotescit signis secretissimus Pater = the most hidden mind of the Father is made known by the same, or = the most hidden Father is made known by the same in signs.
16 Sonantia verba = sounding, vocal words.
17 Appetitum.
18 Nostra notitia = our knowledge.
19 Reading conantes et verbis, etc. Three gooD Mss. give conante fetu verbi = as the offspring of the word makes the attempt. The Benedictine editors suggest conantes fetu verbi = making the attempt by the offspring of the word.
20 1 Cor. i. 24.
21 Wisd viii. 1.
22 John i. 3.
23 According to the literal meaning of the phrase ex tempore. It may, however, here be used as = under conditions of time, or in time.
24 Reading sempiterne: for which sempiternus = the eternal wise God, is also given
25 Phil. ii. 6
26 Condita et facta est.
27 Condere and creare.
28 John i. 14.
29 Adopting in hominibus creavi. One important Ms. gives in omnibus = amongst all.
30 Prov. viii. 22, with creavit me instead of the possessed me of the English version.
31 Various editions give principium et caput Ecclesiae est Christus = the beginning of His ways and the Head of the Church is Christ.
32 For via certa others give via recta = a right way.
33 Gen. iii. 5.
34 Phil. ii. 6, 7.
35 Per ejus primatum = by means of His standing as the First-born. We follow the Benedictine reading, qui post ejus et per ejus primatum in Dei gratiam renascuntur. But there is another, although less authoritative, version, viz. qui post ejus primitias in Dei gratia nascimur = all of us who, subsequently to His first-fruits, are born in the grace of God.
36 Luke viii. 21; Rom. viii. 15-17; Gal. iv. 5; Eph. i. 5; Heb. ii. 11.
37 Id existens quod Pater est, etc. Another version is, idem existens quod Pater Deus = subsisting as the same that God the Father is.
38 John i. 9.
39 The term dispensatio occurs very frequently as the equivalent of the Greek oi0konomi/a = economy, designating the Incarnation.
40 Ex. iii. 14.
41 Deserens. With less point, deferens has been suggested = bearing it, or delivering it.
42 Or it may = he should fail to have any relation to the salvation.
43 Referring to the Manicheans.
44 John ii. 4.
45 John xix. 26, 27.
46 Matt. xii. 48.
47 Matt. xxiii. 9.
48 1 Cor. i. 25.
49 Tit. i. 15.
50 In reference to the Manicheans.
51 The Benedictine text gives, quibus intervenientibus habitat majestas Vervi ab humani corporis fragilitate secretius. Another well-supported version is, ad humani corporis fragilitatem, etc. = more retired in relation to the frailty of the human body.
