Translation Hide
De la trinité

Livre VIII

Non-seulement le Père n’est pas plus grand que le Fils, mais les deux ensemble ne sont pas plus grands que le Saint-Esprit. — Quelle est la nature même de Dieu d’après l’idée de la vérité, la notion du souverain bien, et l’amour inné de la justice, qui fait aimer l’âme juste par l’âme qui n’est pas encore juste. — On doit chercher la connaissance de Dieu par l’amour, puisque, d’après les Ecritures, Dieu est amour, et que l’amour porte une certaine empreinte de la Trinité.

Translation Hide
The Fifteen Books of Aurelius Augustinus, Bishop of Hippo, on the Trinity

Book VIII.

Explains and proves that not only the Father is not greater than the Son, but neither are both together anything greater than the Holy Spirit, nor any two together in the same trinity anything greater than one, nor all three together anything greater than each severally. It is then shown how the nature itself of God may be understood from our understanding of truth, and from our knowledge of the supreme good, and from the innate love of righteousness, whereby a righteous soul is loved even by a soul that is itself not yet righteous. But it is urged above all, that the knowledge of God is to be sought by love, which God is said to be in the Scriptures; and in this love is also pointed out the existence of some trace of a trinity.