168. When we say that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the three essentials of a single God, in the same way as soul, body and activity are in man, it may look to the human mind as if the three essentials are three persons. This is impossible. But when we understand that the Father's Divine which makes up the soul, and the Son's Divine which makes up the body, and the Holy Spirit's Divine or the Divine which proceeds and makes up the activity, are the three essentials of a single God, then it can be grasped by the understanding. For God the Father is His own Divine, the Son out of the Father is His own, and the Holy Spirit out of both is His own. Since these are of one essence and one mind, they make up a single God. If, however, those three Divines are called persons, and each has attributed to Him His own property, imputation to the Father, mediation to the Son, and activity to the Holy Spirit, then the Divine essence is divided. Yet it is one and indivisible. In this case none of the three is fully God, but each is God to the power of one third 1 , a proposition no sane understanding can accept.
脚注:
1. i.e. the cube root.
