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"description": "The quotations from St. Augustine are taken from On the Trinity, Book 1. Augustine will cite texts such as 1 John 5:20, where Jesus is called the true God and eternal life, to prove that Christ is one divine Person who operates in/by/through two natures since he is the God-Man. He will explain that Jesus, by virtue of becoming Man, not only became lesser than the Father and the Spirit, but also became lesser than himself. St. Augustine employs Philippians 2:5-8 to show that there are things that",
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"publishedAt": "2026-04-16T08:03:43.000Z",
"site": "https://answeringislam.blog",
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"St. Augustine on the Divine Monarchy & Blessed Trinity"
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"textContent": "The quotations from St. Augustine are taken from On the Trinity, Book 1. Augustine will cite texts such as 1 John 5:20, where Jesus is called the true God and eternal life, to prove that Christ is one divine Person who operates in/by/through two natures since he is the God-Man. He will explain that Jesus, by virtue of becoming Man, not only became lesser than the Father and the Spirit, but also became lesser than himself. St. Augustine employs Philippians 2:5-8 to show that there are things that apply to Jesus in regards to his being in the form of God, and others that relate to the form of a servant that he took upon. All emphasis will be mine.\n\n**Chapter 7.— In What Manner the Son is Less Than the Father, and Than Himself.**\n\n14. In these and like testimonies **of the** divine Scriptures, by free use of which, as I have said, **our predecessors exploded such sophistries or** errors**of the** heretics**, the unity and equality of the Trinity are intimated to our** faith**. But because, on account of the** incarnation**of the** Word of God**for the working out of our** salvation, that the man Christ Jesus might be the Mediator between God and men, many things are so said in the sacred books **as** **to signify, or even most expressly declare, the Father to be greater than the Son; men have erred through a want of careful examination or consideration of the whole tenor of the** Scriptures**, and have endeavored to transfer those things _which are said of_** Jesus Christ**_according to the flesh_ , to that substance of His which was **eternal**before the** incarnation**, and is** eternal. They say, for instance, that the Son is less than the Father, because it is written that the Lord Himself said, _My Father is greater than I_. **But the** truth**shows that after the same sense _the Son is less also than Himself_ ; for how was He not made less also than Himself, who _emptied Himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant?_** **For He did not so take the form of a servant as that He should lose the form of** God**, in which He was equal to the Father. If, then, the form of a servant was so taken _that the form of God was not lost_ , since both in the form of a servant and in the form of God He Himself is the same only-begotten **Son of God**the** Father**, in the form of God equal to the** Father**, in the form of a servant the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;__is there any one who cannot perceive that He Himself in the form of God is also greater than Himself, but yet likewise in the form of a servant less than Himself__?** And not, therefore, without cause the Scripture says both the one and the other, **both that the Son is equal to the** Father**, and that the Father is greater than the Son**. For there is no confusion **when the former is understood as on account of the form of** God**, and the latter as on account of the form of a servant**. And, in truth, **this rule for clearing the question through all the sacred Scriptures is set forth in one chapter of an epistle of the** Apostle Paul, where this distinction is commended to us plainly enough. For he says, _Who, being in the form of_ God_, thought it not_ robbery_to be equal with_ God_; but emptied Himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and was found in fashion as a_ man. **The** Son of God**, then, is equal to** God**the Father in nature, but less in _fashion_**. For **in the form of a servant** which He took He is less than the Father; but **in the form of** God**, in which also He was before He took the form of a servant** , He is equal to the Father. **In the form of God** He is the Word, _by whom all things are made;_ but **in the form of a servant** He was _made of a_ woman_, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law._ In like manner, **in the form of God** He made man; **in the form of a servant** He was made man. **_For if the Father alone had made man without the_** Son**_, it would not have been written,_Let us__** make**____** man**__in our image, after our likeness__. Therefore, because the form of God took the form of a servant, both is God and both is man**; but both God, on account of God who takes; and both man, on account of man who is taken. **__For neither by that taking is the one of them turned and changed into the other: the Divinity is not changed into the creature, so as to cease to be Divinity; nor the creature into Divinity, so as to cease to be creature__**...\n\n**Chapter 11.— By What Rule in the Scriptures It is Understood that the Son is Now Equal and Now Less.**\n\n22. Wherefore, having mastered this rule for interpreting the Scriptures concerning the Son of God, **that we are to distinguish in them what relates to the form of** God**, in which He is equal to the** Father**, and what to the form of a servant which He took, in which He is less than the Father** ; we shall not be disquieted by apparently contrary and mutually repugnant sayings of the sacred books. **For both the Son and the** Holy Spirit**, according to the form of** God**, are equal to the** Father**, because neither of them is a creature, as we have already shown:_but according to the form of a servant He is less than the_** Father**_, because He Himself has said,_My Father is greater than I_ ; and He is less than Himself, because it is said of Him_, _He emptied _Himself_ _; and He is less than the__** Holy Spirit**_, because He Himself says_ , _Whosoever speaks a word against the_** Son of man**_, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaks against the_** Holy Ghost**_, it shall not be forgiven Him_**. And in the Spirit too He wrought miracles, saying: _But if I with the_ Spirit of God_cast out devils, no_ doubt_the kingdom of God has come upon you_. And in Isaiah He says — in the lesson which He Himself read in the synagogue, and showed without a scruple of doubt to be fulfilled concerning Himself — _The Spirit of the_ Lord God, He says, _is upon me: because He has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives,_ etc.: for the doing of which things He therefore declares Himself to be _sent,_ because the Spirit of God is upon Him. **According to the form of** God, all things were made by Him; **according to the form of a servant** , He was Himself made of a woman, made under the law. **According to the form of** God, He and the Father are one; **according to the form of a servant** , _He came not to do His own will, but the_ will_of Him that sent Him_. **According to the form of** God**,_As the Father has life in Himself, so has He given to the Son to have life in Himself_** ; according to the form of a servant, His soul is sorrowful even unto death; and, _O my Father_ , He says, _if it be possible, let this cup pass from me_. ** _According to the form of_** God**_,_He is the True__** God**__, and__** eternal_**_life_**_ ; according to the form of a servant, _He became_ obedient_unto death, even the death of the cross_. — 23. **According to the form of** God, all things that the Father has are His, and _All mine_ , He says, _are Yours, and Yours are mine_ ; according to the form of a servant, the doctrine is not His own, but His that sent Him.\n\n**Chapter 12.— In What Manner the Son is Said Not to Know the Day and the Hour Which the Father Knows. Some Things Said of Christ According to the Form of God, Other Things According to the Form of a Servant. In What Way It is of Christ to Give the Kingdom, in What Not of Christ. Christ Will Both Judge and Not Judge.**\n\nAgain, _Of that day and that hour_ knows_no man, no, not the_ angels_which are in heaven; neither the_ Son_, but the Father_. ** _For He is_** ignorant**_of this, as _making others__** ignorant**_; that is, in that He did not so_** know**_as at that time to show His_** disciples: as it was said to Abraham, _Now I_ know_that you fear_ God**, that is, now I have caused you to** know**it** ; because he himself, being tried in that temptation, became known to himself. For He was certainly going to tell this same thing to His disciples at the fitting time; speaking of which yet future as if past, He says, _Henceforth I call you not servants, but friends; for the servant_ knows_not what his Lord does: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made_ known_unto you_ ; which He had not yet done, but spoke as though He had already done it, because He certainly would do it. For He says to the disciples themselves, _I have yet many things to say unto you; but you cannot bear them now_. **Among which is to be understood also,_Of the day and hour_. For the apostle also says, _I determined not to_** know**_anything among you, save_** Jesus Christ**_, and Him crucified_ ; because he was speaking to those who were not able to receive higher things concerning the Godhead of **Christ. To whom also a little while after he says, _I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal_**. He was** ignorant**, therefore, among them of that which they were not able to** know**from him**. And that only he said that he knew, which it was fitting that they should know from him**. In short, he** knew**among the perfect what he** knew**not among babes** ; for he there says: _We speak wisdom among them that are perfect_. **For a man is said not to** know**what he hides** , after that kind of speech, after which a ditch is called blind which is hidden. For the Scriptures do not use any other kind of speech than may be found in use among men, because they speak to men.\n\n24. **According to the form of** God, it is said _Before all the hills He begot me_ , that is, before all the loftinesses of things created and, ** __Before the dawn I begot You_ , that is, before all times and temporal things_: but according to the form of a servant, it is said,** __The Lord created me in the beginning of His ways__. Because, **according to the form of** God, He said, _I am the_ truth; and **according to the form of a servant** , _I am the way_. For, because He Himself, being the first-begotten of the dead, made a passage to the kingdom of God to life eternal for His Church, to which He is so the Head as to make the body also immortal, therefore He was _created in the beginning of the ways_ of God in His work. For, **according to the form of** God, He is the beginning, that also speaks unto us, in which _beginning_ God created the heaven and the earth; but according to the form of a servant, _He is a bridegroom coming out of His chamber._ **According to the form of** God**,_He is the_** first-born**_of every creature, and He is before all things and by him all things consist_** ; **according to the form of a servant** , _He is the head of the body, the_ Church. **According to the form of** God**,_He is the Lord of_** glory. From which it is evident that He Himself glorifies His saints: for, _Whom He did_ predestinate_, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also_ glorified. Of Him accordingly it is said, that _He justifies the ungodly_ ; of Him it is said, that _He is just and a justifier_. If, therefore, He has also glorified those whom He has justified, He who justifies, Himself also glorifies; who is, as I have said, the Lord of glory. Yet, according to the form of a servant, He replied to His disciples, when inquiring about their own glorification: _To sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but_ [it shall be given to them] _for whom it is prepared by my Father_.\n\n25. But that which is prepared by His Father **is prepared also by the Son Himself, because He and the Father are one**. For we have already shown, by many modes of speech in the divine Scriptures, that, in this Trinity, **_what is said of each is also said of all, on account of the indivisible working of the one and same substance_**. As He also says of the Holy Spirit, _If I depart, I will send Him unto you_. He did not say, _We_ will send; but in such way as if the Son only should send Him, and not the Father; while yet He says in another place, _These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you; but the Comforter, which is the_ Holy Ghost_, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things_. Here again it is so said as if the Son also would not send Him, but the Father only. As therefore in these texts, so also where He says, _But for them for whom it is prepared by my Father_ , **He meant it to be understood that He Himself, with the** Father**, prepares seats of** glory**for those for whom He will**. But some one may say: There, when He spoke of the Holy Spirit, He so says that He Himself will send Him, as not to deny that the Father will send Him; and in the other place, He so says that the Father will send Him, as not to deny that He will do so Himself; but here He expressly says, _It is not mine to give,_ and so goes on to say that these things are prepared by the Father. **But this is the very thing which we have already laid down to be said according to the form of a servant:_viz._ , that we are so to understand _It is not mine to give,_ as if it were said, _This is not in the power of man to give_ ; that so He may be understood to give it through that wherein He is God equal to the Father**. _It is not mine_ , He says, _to give_ ; that is, _I do not give these things by_ human_power, but to those for whom it is prepared by my Father_ ; but then take care you understand also, that if _all things which the Father has are mine_ , then this certainly is mine also, and I with the Father have prepared these things.\n\n26. For I ask again, in what manner this is said, _If any man hear not my words, I will not judge him_? For perhaps He has said here, _I will not judge him,_ in the same sense as there, _It is not mine to give_. But what follows here _? I came not_ , He says, _to judge the world, but to save the world;_ and then He adds, _He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him_. Now here we should understand the Father, unless He had added, _The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day_. Well, then, will neither the Son judge, because He says, _I will not judge him_ , nor the Father, but the word which the Son has spoken? Nay, but hear what yet follows: _For I_ , He says, _have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak; and I_ know_that His commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said to me, so I speak_. If therefore the Son judges not, but _the word which the Son has spoken;_ and the word which the Son has spoken therefore judges, because the Son _has not spoken of Himself, but the Father who sent Him gave Him a commandment what He should say, and what He should speak:_ then the Father assuredly judges, whose word it is which the Son has spoken; and the same Son Himself is the very Word of the Father. For the commandment of the Father is not one thing, and the word of the Father another; for He has called it both a word and a commandment. Let us see, therefore, whether perchance, when He says, _I have not spoken of myself_ , He meant to be understood thus — I am not born of myself. For if He speaks the word of the Father, then He speaks Himself, because He is Himself the Word of the Father. For ordinarily He says, _The Father gave to me_ ; by which He means it to be understood that the Father begot Him: not that He gave anything to Him, already existing and not possessing it; but that the very meaning of, _To have given_ _that He might have_ , is, _To have begotten that He might be_. For it is not, as with the creature so with the Son of God before the incarnation and before He took upon Him our flesh, the Only-begotten by whom all things were made; that He _is_ one thing, and has another: but He _is_ in such way as to _be_ what He _has_. And this is said more plainly, if any one is fit to receive it, in that place where He says: _For as the Father has life in Himself, so has He given to the Son to have life in Himsel_ f. **For He did not give to Him, already existing and not having life, that He should have life in Himself; inasmuch as, in that He _is_ , He is life. Therefore _He gave to the Son to have life in Himself_ means, He begot the Son to be unchangeable life, which is life **eternal. Since, therefore, the Word of God is the Son of God, **_and the_** Son of God**_is _the__** true**__God and__** eternal**__life_ , as John says in his Epistle_**; so here, what else are we to acknowledge when the Lord says, _The word which I have spoken, the same shall judge him at the last day,_ and calls that very word the word of the Father and the commandment of the Father, and that very commandment everlasting life? _And I_ know_,_ He says, _that His commandment is life everlasting._\n\n27. I ask, therefore, how we are to understand, _I will not judge him; but the Word which I have spoken shall judge him_ : which appears from what follows to be so said, as if He would say, _I will not judge; but the Word of the Father will judge_. But the Word of the Father is the Son of God Himself. Is it to be so understood: I will not judge, but I will judge? How can this be true, **unless in this way:_viz_., I will not judge by **human**power, because I am the** Son of man**; but I will judge by the power of the Word, because I am the** Son of God**?** Or if it still seems contradictory and inconsistent to say, _I will not judge, but I will_ judge; what shall we say of that place where He says, _My doctrine is not mine_? How _mine,_ when _not mine?_ For He did not say, _This_ doctrine is not mine, but _My_ doctrine is not mine: that which He called His own, the same He called not His own. How can this be true**, unless He has called it His own in one relation; not His own, in another? According to the form of** God**, His own** ; according to the form of a servant, not His own. For when He says, _It is not mine, but His that sent me_ , He makes us recur to the Word itself. For the doctrine of the Father is the Word of the Father, which is the Only Son. And what, too, does that mean, _He that_ believes_in me,_ believes_not on me_? How believe in Him, yet not believe in Him? How can so opposite and inconsistent a thing be understood — _Whoever_ believes_in me, He says,_ believes_not on me, but on Him that sent me_ ;— unless you so understand it, Whoever believes in me believes not on that which he sees, lest our hope should be in the creature; **but on Him who took the creature, whereby He might appear to** human**eyes, and so might cleanse our hearts by** faith**, to contemplate Himself as equal to the Father**? So that in turning the attention of believers to the Father, and saying, _Believes not on me, but on Him that sent me_ , He certainly did not mean Himself to be separated from the Father, that is, from Him that sent Him; **but that men might so** believe**in Himself, as they** believe**in the** Father**, to whom He is equal**. And this He says in express terms in another place, _You_ believe_in_ God_,_ believe_also in me_ : that is, in the same way as you believe in God, so also believe in me; **because I and the Father are One Go** d. As therefore, here, He has as it were withdrawn the faith of men from Himself, and transferred it to the Father, by saying, _Believes not on me, but on Him that sent me_ , from whom nevertheless He certainly did not separate Himself; so also, when He says, _It is not mine to give, but_ [it shall be given to them] _for whom it is prepared by my Father_ , it is I think plain in what relation both are to be taken. For that other also is of the same kind, _I will not judge_ ; whereas He Himself shall judge the quick and dead. But because He will not do so by human power, **therefore, reverting to the Godhead** , He raises the hearts of men upwards; which to lift up, He Himself came down.\n\n**Further Reading**\n\nSt. Augustine on the Divine Monarchy & Blessed Trinity",
"title": "Augustine, Hypostatic Union & Christ as Lesser than Himself",
"updatedAt": "2026-04-16T08:03:44.600Z"
}