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Latin · Treatises ·

De Divinitate Spiritus Sancti [Fragmenta]

Avitus Viennensis Episcopus · ogl-pl

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machine-draft · no human review 2 passages · 424 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

De Divinitate Spiritus Sancti [Fragmenta] is a fragmentary Latin treatise by Avitus of Vienne (c. 450–518), written during his episcopate (c. 490–518) amid post-Chalcedonian theological disputes. The work argues for the divinity of the Holy Spirit, likely against Arian views, and affirms the double procession from Father and Son. Surviving only in fragments, its manuscript tradition is sparse, with no complete copy known. Modern recovery depends on early modern editions, notably the Patrologia Latina. The fragmentary state prevents full reconstruction of its argument, and doctrinal conclusions remain tentative.

The fragments are significant for documenting early medieval Latin theology on the Holy Spirit, particularly the double procession from Father and Son, which later became a key point in the Filioque controversy between Eastern and Western Christianity. They also illustrate Avitus's role in anti-Arian polemic within the Burgundian kingdom, offering rare insight into theological debates at a post-Roman court.

Historical context

Avitus of Vienne served as bishop of Vienne in the Burgundian kingdom from around 490 to 518. The Burgundian king Gundobad (c. 480–516) was an Arian Christian, and Avitus wrote several works to counter Arian theology, including this treatise on the Holy Spirit. The work dates uncertainly within Avitus's episcopate, a period marked by the aftermath of the Council of Chalcedon (451) and ongoing debates about the nature of the Holy Spirit, especially the Filioque controversy. The text survives only in fragments, likely from a longer treatise, and was not widely cited in medieval scholasticism. Its transmission depends on early modern printed editions of Avitus's collected works, with no critical apparatus for the fragmentary tradition. The edition used is from the Patrologia Latina (OGL-PL), which reprints earlier editions.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

12 commentary units 6 scripture2 background2 reception1 structure1 term 0 derived notes 3 open questions 2 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • coverageNo English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed.
  • limitThe English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve.
  • registerRegister: treatise in Latin; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 2 narrative.
  • sourceSource edition: ogl-pl — Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
tmp965.tmp965.opp-lat1:1 · narrativehigh
Source
FRAGMENTA LIBRI DE DIVINITATE SPIRITUS SANCTI. Sanctus Avitus in illo libro quem de Divinitate Spi- I ritus sancti contra Gundobadum Arianum regem scripsit, processionem Spiritus sancti a Patre et Filio ita declaral. De divinitate Spiritus sancti, quem nec factum legimus, nec genitum, nec creatum, Deus est, Deus qui operatur omnia in omnibus. Et eodem loco: Omnia aulem hæc operatur unus atque idem Spiritus, dividens singulis prout vult (I Cor. XII, 11). Et Petrus in AcUbus apostolorum: Quid convenit, inquit, inter vos mentiri Spiritui sancto (Act. v, 5)? Et post: Non es mentitus hominibus, sed Deo (Ibid., 4). Item alio loco: Nescitis quia templum Dei estis, et Spiritus Dei habitat in vobis (I Cor. III, 16)? Et alibi: Si quis Spiritum Dei non habet, hic non est ejus Rom. VIII, 9). Nos vero Spiritum sanctum dicimus a Filio et Patre procedere.
English
Fragments of the Book On the Divinity of the Holy Spirit. Saint Avitus, in that book which he wrote on the Divinity of the Holy Spirit against Gundobad, the Arian king, declares the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son as follows. Concerning the divinity of the Holy Spirit, whom we read is neither made, nor begotten, nor created, He is God, God who works all things in all. And in the same place: Now all these things one and the same Spirit works, distributing to each as He wills (1 Cor. 12:11). And Peter in the Acts of the Apostles: What is fitting, he says, for you to lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:5)? And later: You have not lied to men, but to God (Ibid., 4). Likewise in another place: Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you (1 Cor. 3:16)? And elsewhere: If anyone does not have the Spirit of God, he is not of Him (Rom. 8:9). We, however, say that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son and the Father.
tmp965.tmp965.opp-lat1:2 · narrativemedium
Source
IDEM AVITUS IN EODEM LIBRO. Ipse certe per se Dominus, Spiritum, inquit, veritatis qui a Patre procedit (Joan. xv, 26). Enim vero non dicendo processit, sed procedit, non tempus procedentis docuit, sed præterito futuroque submoto, sub inicrminabilis æternitate præsentiae virtutem processionis ostendit; ut sicut est proprium Spiritui sancto a Patre Filioque procedere, istud catholica fides, etiamsi renuentibus non persuaserit, in sune tamen disciplinæ regula non excedit. ITEM AVITUS. Spirituin sanctum æque Patris et Filii esse confiteor, eumque a Patre vel Filio similiter niti: quod mecum prolata quoque Apostoli sententia videtur approbasse. Nam legimus: Paraclitus, quem mittet Pater in nomine meo (Joan. XIV, 26). Et alio loco: Quem ego mittam vobis a Patre (J oan. xv, 26). Nec tamen ut nuper habita collocutione tractavimus, scinditur una personarum discretione Divinitas. Quia si Spiritus, ut acquiescitis, a Patrc Filioque vel init. titur vel procedit, non potest missus mittensque misceri, et ea quo procedit procedensque confundi.
English
The same Avitus in the same book. He Himself indeed through Himself, the Lord, says, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father (John 15:26). For indeed by not saying "proceeded" but "proceeds," he taught not the time of the one proceeding, but with the past and future removed, he showed the power of the procession under the unending eternity of presence; so that, just as it is proper for the Holy Spirit to proceed from the Father and the Son, this Catholic faith, even if it does not persuade those who refuse, still does not exceed the rule of its discipline. Likewise Avitus. I confess the Holy Spirit to be equally of the Father and the Son, and that he proceeds similarly from the Father or the Son: which the Apostle's cited opinion also seems to have approved with me. For we read: The Paraclete, whom the Father will send in my name (John 14:26). And in another place: Whom I will send to you from the Father (John 15:26). And yet, as we have discussed in a recent conversation, the Divinity is not divided by the distinction of one person. Because if the Spirit, as you concede, either originates or proceeds from the Father and the Son, the one sent and the one sending cannot be mixed, nor can that from which it proceeds and that which proceeds be confused.
Citation. Tergwame, “De Divinitate Spiritus Sancti [Fragmenta]”, tmp965.tmp965.opp-lat1:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/tmp965.tmp965.opp-lat1#s1
Colophon. Source: ogl-pl · licence: Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0015 · generated 2026-11-15.