§14Credimus etiam, quod sedet ad dexteram patris.
We believe also that He sits at the right hand of the Father.
nec ideo tamen quasi humana forma circumscriptum esse deum patrem arbitrandum est, ut de illo cogitantibus dextrum aut sinistrum latus animo occurrat; aut id ipsum, quod sedere pater dicitur, flexis poplitibus fieri putandum est, ne in illud incidamus sacrilegium, in quo exsecratur apostolus eos, qui commutauerunt gloriam incorruptibilis dei in similitudinem corruptibilis hominis. tale enim simulacrum deo nefas est christiano in templo conlocare; multo magis in corde nefarium est, ubi uere est templum dei, si a terrena cupiditate atque errore mundetur.
Nor yet because of this must we think that God the Father is circumscribed as it were by a human form, so that to those thinking of Him a right or a left side should occur to the mind; or that very thing, that the Father is said to sit, must be thought to happen with bended knees, lest we fall into that sacrilege in which the Apostle execrates those who "changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of corruptible man." For it is unlawful for a Christian to place such an image for God in a temple; much more is it wicked in the heart, where there is truly the temple of God, if it be cleansed from earthly cupidity and error.
ad dexteram ergo intellegendum est dictum esse (in summa beatitudine\', ubi iustitia, pax et gaudium est, sicut ad sinistram haedi constituuntur, id est in miseria, propter iniquitatis labores atque cruciatus.
Therefore, "at the right hand" must be understood to be said "in the highest beatitude," where there is justice, peace, and joy, just as the goats are placed on the left, that is, in misery, on account of the labors and torments of iniquity.
sedere ergo quod dicitur deus, non membrorum positionem, sed iudiciariam significat potestatem, qua illa maiestas numquam caret, semper dignis digna tribuendo, quamuis in extremo iudicio multo manifestius inter homines unigeniti filii dei iudicis uiuorum atque mortuorum claritas indubitata fulsura sit.
Therefore, that God is said to sit does not signify a position of limbs, but judicial power, which that majesty never lacks, always attributing worthy things to the worthy, although in the final judgment the undoubted clarity of the only-begotten Son of God, the judge of the living and the dead, is to shine much more manifestly among men.
§15Credimus etiam inde uenturum conuenientissimo tempore et iudicaturum uiuos et mortuos.
We believe also that He will come from thence at the most convenient time and will judge the living and the dead.
siue istis nominibus iusti et peccatores significentur, siue quos tunc ante mortem in terris inuenturus est, appellati sint uiui, mortui uero, qui in eius aduentu resurrecturi sunt, haec dispensatio temporalis non tantum est sicut illa generatio secundum deum, sed etiam fuit et erit.
Whether by these names the just and the sinners are signified, or those whom He is then to find on earth before death are called the living, and the dead indeed those who are to rise at His coming, this temporal dispensation is not only like that generation according to God, but also was, and is, and shall be.
nam fuit dominus noster in terris et nunc est in caelo et erit in claritate iudex uiuorum atque mortuorum.
For our Lord was on earth, and now is in heaven, and shall be in clarity the judge of the living and the dead.
ita enim ueniet, sicut ascendit, secundum auctoritatem, quae apostolorum actibus continetur.
For He shall so come as He ascended, according to the authority which is contained in the Acts of the Apostles.
ex hac itaque temporali dispensatione loquitur in Apocalypsi, ubi scriptum est: haec dicit qui est et qui fuit et qui uenturus est. §16Digesta itaque fideique commendata et diuina generatione domini nostri et humana dispensatione adiungitur confessioni nostrae ad perficiendam fidem, quae nobis de deo est, spiritus sanctus non minore natura quam pater et filius, sed, ut ita dicam, consubstantialis et coaeternus, quia ista trinitas unus est deus: non ut idem sit pater, qui est filius et spiritus sanctus, sed ut pater sit pater et filius sit filius et spiritus sanctus sit spiritus sanctus, sed haec trinitas unus deus, sicut scriptum est: audi, Israhel: dominus deus tuus deus unus est. tamen si interrogemur de singulis et dicatur nobis: deus est pater? Respondebimus: deus.
And so from this temporal dispensation He speaks in the Apocalypse, where it is written: "These things says He who is, and who was, and who is to come." Therefore, both the divine generation and the human dispensation of our Lord having been set in order and commended to faith, there is added to our confession, for the perfecting of the faith which we have concerning God, the Holy Spirit, of no lesser nature than the Father and the Son, but, so to speak, consubstantial and co-eternal, because this Trinity is one God: not so that the Father is the same who is the Son and the Holy Spirit, but that the Father is the Father, and the Son is the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit, but this Trinity is one God, as it is written: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord thy God is one God." Yet if we are questioned concerning each one, and it is said to us: "Is the Father God?" we shall answer: "God." If it is asked whether the Son is God, we shall answer this.
si quaeratur, utrum deus sit filius, hoc respondebimus. nec si fuerit de spiritu sancto talis interrogatio, aliud eum esse debemus respondere quam deum, uehementer cauentes sic accipere, quomodo de hominibus dictum est: dii estis. non enim sunt naturaliter dii, quicumque sunt facti atque conditi ex patre per filium dono spiritus sancti.
Nor if there should be such a questioning concerning the Holy Spirit, ought we to answer that He is anything else than God, vehemently taking care not to receive it in the way it was said concerning men: "Ye are gods." For they are not gods by nature, whoever have been made and created from the Father through the Son by the gift of the Holy Spirit.
ipsa enim significatur trinitas, cum apostolus dicit: quoniam ex ipso et per ipsum et in ipso sunt omnia. quamquam ergo de singulis interrogati respondeamus deum esse, de quo quaeritur, siue patrem siue filium siue spiritum sanctum, non tamen tres deos a nobis coli quisquam existimauerit.
For that very Trinity is signified when the Apostle says: "For of Him, and through Him, and in Him are all things." Therefore, although when questioned concerning each we answer that He concerning whom the question is is God, whether the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit, yet no one should think that three gods are worshiped by us.