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A Treatise on Faith and the Creed
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 and 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." 1 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. 2
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Wisd. vii. 27 ↩
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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. ↩
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De la foi et du symbole
CHAPITRE III. EGALITÉ DU PÈRE ET DU FILS.
Nous croyons aussi en Jésus-Christ, Fils de Dieu, Fils unique du Père, notre Seigneur. Ce mot de Verbe cependant ne doit pas s'entendre ici dans le sens des paroles, que nous prononçons de la voix et de la bouche, qui passent en frappant l'air et ne durent pas plus que le son qui les produit. Car ce Verbe est permanent et immuable; c'est de lui qu'on a dit, en parlant de la Sagesse « Immuable en elle-même, elle renouvelle toutes choses 1. » Or on lui a donné le nom de Verbe du Père, parce que c'est par lui que le Père se manifeste. De même donc que, quand nous disons la vérité, nous faisons connaître noire âme à celui qui nous écoute, et que tout ce que nous avons de secret dans le coeur parvient à la connaissance d'un autre, au moyen de signes de ce genre : ainsi la Sagesse, que le Père a engendrée, est très-justement nommée Verbe du Père, parce que c'est par elle qu'il manifeste ses secrets les plus intimes aux âmes qui en sont dignes.
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Sag. VII, 37. ↩