AUTHOR: Hilary of Poitiers,
early church Bishop of Gaul (France)
Translator : D.H. Williams, Baylor Univ.
Appendix in FC, Volume 125 (publ. 2012)
Commentary on Matthew.
Hilary's theological work De Trinitate
Book 2, section 1
For believers it was enough that the utterance of God
entered into our ears through the witness of the Gosepl
by the power of its truth, when the Lord said:
Go now and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever
I command you. And lo, I am with you
for all days unto the end of the age!
What is not included in that utterance concerning
the sacrament of human salvation? Or is there anything
that remains, or is hard to understand? It is entirely
complete from completeness, and has proceeded
from perfection / perfect from the perfect.
For the utterance compromises the words'
significance, the realization of the issues involved,
the proper ordering (Latin ordinem) of sequences,
and an understanding of the [divine] nature.
It orders [us] to baptize in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, that is,
with a confession of the Author, of the Only-begotten,
and the Gift. There is one Author of all things, for
there is one God the Father, from whom all things
come; and one Only-begotten, our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom are all things; and one Spirit, the
Gift in all things.
Everything, therefore, has been arranged according
to its powers and benefits: one Authority from
whom is all; one Offspring (Latin progenies) through
whom is all; one Gift who is the perfect hope. Nothing
is found to be lacking in such fulfillment; within
which the eternal infinite is in the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, resemblance in the image, the benefit in
the Gift.
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