Whether It Should Be Said That Christ Was Conceived of (_de_) the
Holy Ghost?
Objection 1: It would seem that we should not say that Christ was
conceived of (_de_) the Holy Ghost. Because on Rom. 11:36: "For of
Him (_ex ipso_) and by Him, and in Him, are all things," the gloss of
Augustine says: "Notice that he does not say, 'of Him' (_de ipso_),
but 'of Him' (_ex ipso_). For of Him (_ex ipso_), are heaven and
earth, since He made them: but not of Him [de ipso, since they are
not made of His substance." But the Holy Ghost did not form Christ's
body of (_de_) His own substance. Therefore we should not say that
Christ was conceived of (_de_) the Holy Ghost.
Obj. 2: Further, the active principle of (_de_) which something is
conceived is as the seed in generation. But the Holy Ghost did not
take the place of seed in Christ's conception. For Jerome says
(Expos. Cathol. Fidei) [*Written by Pelagius]: "We do not say, as
some wicked wretches hold, that the Holy Ghost took the place of
seed: but we say that Christ's body was wrought," i.e. formed, "by
the power and might of the Creator." Therefore we should not say that
Christ's body was conceived of (_de_) the Holy Ghost.
Obj. 3: Further, no one thing is made of two, except they be in some
way mingled. But Christ's body was formed of (_de_) the Virgin Mary.
If therefore we say that Christ was conceived of (_de_) the Holy
Ghost, it seems that a mingling took place of the Holy Ghost with the
matter supplied by the Virgin: and this is clearly false. Therefore
we should not say that Christ was conceived of (_de_) the Holy Ghost.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Matt. 1:18): "Before they came
together, she was found with child, of (_de_) the Holy Ghost."
_I answer that,_ Conception is not attributed to Christ's body alone,
but also to Christ Himself by reason of His body. Now, in the Holy
Ghost we may observe a twofold habitude to Christ. For to the Son of
God Himself, who is said to have been conceived, He has a habitude of
consubstantiality: while to His body He has the habitude of efficient
cause. And this preposition of (_de_) signifies both habitudes: thus
we say that a certain man is "of (_de_) his father." And therefore we
can fittingly say that Christ was conceived of the Holy Ghost in such
a way that the efficiency of the Holy Ghost be referred to the body
assumed, and the consubstantiality to the Person assuming.
Reply Obj. 1: Christ's body, through not being consubstantial with
the Holy Ghost, cannot properly be said to be conceived "of" (_de_)
the Holy Ghost, but rather "from (_ex_) the Holy Ghost," as Ambrose
says (De Spir. Sanct. ii.): "What is from someone is either from his
substance or from his power: from his substance, as the Son who is
from the Father; from his power, as all things are from God, just as
Mary conceived from the Holy Ghost."
Reply Obj. 2: It seems that on this point there is a difference of
opinion between Jerome and certain other Doctors, who assert that the
Holy Ghost took the place of seed in this conception. For Chrysostom
says (Hom. i in Matth. [*Opus Imperf., among the supposititious
writings]): "When God's Only-Begotten was about to enter into the
Virgin, the Holy Ghost preceded Him; that by the previous entrance of
the Holy Ghost, Christ might be born unto sanctification according to
His body, the Godhead entering instead of the seed." And Damascene
says (De Fide Orth. iii): "God's wisdom and power overshadowed her,
like unto a Divine seed."
But these expressions are easily explained. Because Chrysostom and
Damascene compare the Holy Ghost, or also the Son, who is the Power
of the Most High, to seed, by reason of the active power therein;
while Jerome denies that the Holy Ghost took the place of seed,
considered as a corporeal substance which is transformed in
conception.
Reply Obj. 3: As Augustine says (Enchiridion xl), Christ is said to
be conceived or born of the Holy Ghost in one sense; of the Virgin
Mary in another--of the Virgin Mary materially; of the Holy Ghost
efficiently. Therefore there was no mingling here.
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