Fulgentius of Ruspe (circa AD 465 – 530) was a bishop in the 6th century in the city of Ruspe, in the Roman province of North Africa, in what is modern day Tunisia. His doctrinal writings include the polemic against the Arian doctrines of the Vandal rulers of Africa.
Responsio contra Arianos, or Against the Arians, replies to ten questions proposed by the Arian ruler King Thrasamund. Part of his response, below, seems to (1) say that John the apostle wrote, “There are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and these three are one,” and (2) that Cyprian believed that was authoritative Scripture.
In the Father, therefore, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we acknowledge unity of substance, but dare not confound the persons.
For St. John the apostle, testifieth saying, “There are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and these three are one.” Which also the blessed martyr Cyprian, in his epistle de unitate Ecclesiae (Unity of the Church), confesseth, saying, Who so breaketh the peace of Christ, and concord, acteth against Christ: whoso gathereth elsewhere beside the Church, scattereth. And that he might shew, that the Church of the one God is one, he inserted these testimonies, immediately from the scriptures; The Lord said, “I and the Father are one.” And again, “of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, it is written, ‘And these three are one.’ (1 John 5:7).”
In the book on the Lord’s Prayer as well, to show that the Trinity is of one divinity and does not have any separateness among itself, he mentioned Daniel and the three boys who would say a prayer every three hours. Thus, by the course of three hours and the service of one prayer, he evidently showed that the Trinity is one God. We, therefore, do not worship one God, [consisting] of three parts; but retaining without beginning, of the perfect and eternal Father, not unequal in power, and equal in nature; and we also confess, that the Holy Spirit is no other than God, neither different from the Father, nor the Son, nor confounded in the Son, nor in the Father. (Fulgentius, Against the Arians; Translated by Thomas Hartwell Horne,1825; Horne, “IV. Sect. V. On the First General Epistle of John” in Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, 1825, Volume 4, page 448.
In Patre ergo et Filio et Spiritu sancto unitatem substantiae accipimus, personas confundere non audemus.
Beatus enim Ioannes apostolus testatur, dicens: Tressunt qui testimonium perhibent in coelo, Pater, Verbum, et Spiritus; et tres unum sunt (I Ioan. V, 7) . Quod etiam beatissimus martyr Cyprianus, in epistola de Unitate Ecclesiae confitetur, dicens: Qui pacem Christi et concordiam rumpit, adversus Christum facit; qui alibi praeter Ecclesiam colligit, Christi Ecclesiam spargit. Atque ut unam Ecclesiam unius Dei esse monstraret, haec confestim testimonia de Scripturis inseruit. Dicit Dominus: Ego et Pater unum sumus. Et iterum: De Patre et Filio et Spiritu sancto scriptum est: Ettres unum sunt.
Nam et in libro de Oratione dominica, ut ostenderet Trinitatem unius deitatis,esse nec inter se aliquam diversitatem habere, Danielem et tres pueros, ternarum horarum circulis revolutis, orationem fundere solitos memoravit. Ubi et in trium horarum curriculo, et inunius orationis officio, unum Deum esse Trinitatem evidenter ostendit. (0224C) Non ergo extribus partibus unum colimus Deum, sed apostolicae fidei regulam retinentes, perfectum et consempiternum Filium, de perfecto et sempiterno Patre, sine initio genitum, et potestate non imparem, et natura fatemur aequalem. Sanctum quoque Spiritum non aliud fatemur esse quam Deum, nec a Filio nec a Patre diversum, nec in Filio nec in Patre confusum. (Fulgentius, Responsio contra Arianos; Migne Latina, PL 65.224)
De Trinitate ad Felicem, or, Of the Trinity to Felix, also mentions the three heavenly witnesses.
See, in short you have it that the Father is one, the Son another, and the Holy Spirit another, in Person, each is other, but in nature they are not other. In this regard He says: “The Father and I, we are one.” He teaches us that “one” refers to Their nature, and ”we are” to Their persons. In like manner it is said: “There are three who bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit; and these three are one.” Let Sabellius hear “we are” [plural], let him hear “three", and let him believe that there are three Persons.
Let him not blaspheme in his sacrilegious heart by saying that the Father is the same in Himself as the Son is the same in Himself and as the Holy Spirit is the same in Himself, as if in some way He could beget Himself, or in some way proceed from Himself. Even in created natures it is never able to be found that something is able to beget itself. Let also Arius hear one; and let him not say that the Son is of a different nature, if one cannot be said of that, the nature of which is different.” (Fulgentius, On the Trinity, chapter 4; Translated by William A. Jurgens, 1970, vol 3, p. 291-292)
In Latin:
En habes in brevi alium esse Patrem, alium Filium, alium Spiritum sanctum: alium etalium in persona, non aliud et aliud in natura; et idcirco Ego, inquit, et Pater unum sumus (Ioan. X, 30). Unum, ad naturam referre nos docet, Sumus, ad personas. Similiter et illud: Tres sunt, inquit, qui testimonium dicunt in coelo, Pater, Verbum, et Spiritus, et hitres unum sunt (I Ioan. V, 7). Audiat Sabellius sumus, audiat tres, et credat esse tres personas, et non sacrilego corde blasphemet, dicendo ipsum sibi esse Patrem, ipsum sibi Filium, ipsum sibi Spiritum sanctum: tanquam modo quodam seipsum gignat, aut modo quodam a seipso ipse procedat; cum hoc etiam in naturis creatis minime invenire possit, ut aliquid seipsum gignere valeat. Audiat scilicet et Arius, Unum, et non differentis Filium dicat essenaturae, cum natura diversa unum dici nequeat. (Fulgentius, De Trinitate, chap iv; Migne Latina, PL 65.500)
Other notes about Fulgentius of Ruspe.
- Fulgentius wrote frequently against Arianism and Pelagianism.
- Eight of the doctrinal treatises ascribed to him are solidly considered to be authentic (i.e., ascribed correctly).
- Pseudo-Fulgentius, by an anonymous Nicene author, was incorrectly attributed to Fulgentius of Ruspe in the17th century.
- De fide ad Petrum was formerly attributed to Augustine, but now understood to be by Fulgentius.
The important point to take away from Fulgentius of Ruspe is not whether he was “doctrinally sound all around,” but that he, in the 6th century, knew of and is witness to Scripture (manuscripts) that contained what we call the Johannine Comma, Comma Johanneum, or the Three Heavenly Witnesses.
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