The Theological Tractates and The Consolation of Philosophy | Page 4

rivendicato, Rome, 1900.
M. Schanz. Gesch. der röm. Litteratur. Teil iv. Boethius. Berlin, 1921.
H.F. Stewart. Boethius: an Essay. Edinburgh, 1891.
Usener. Anecdoton Holderi. Leipsic, 1877.

BOETHIUS
THE THEOLOGICAL TRACTATES AND THE CONSOLATION OF
PHILOSOPHY

ANICII MANLII SEVERINI BOETHII V.C. ET INL. EXCONS. ORD.
PATRICII
INCIPIT LIBER QVOMODO TRINITAS VNVS DEVS AC NON
TRES DII
AD Q. AVRELIVM MEMMIVM SYMMACHVM V.C. ET INL.
EXCONS. ORD. ATQVE PATRICIVM SOCERVM
Investigatam diutissime quaestionem, quantum nostrae mentis
igniculum lux diuina dignata est, formatam rationibus litterisque
mandatam offerendam uobis communicandamque curaui tam uestri
cupidus iudicii quam nostri studiosus inuenti. Qua in re quid mihi sit

animi quotiens stilo cogitata commendo, tum ex ipsa materiae
difficultate tum ex eo quod raris id est uobis tantum conloquor, intellegi
potest. Neque enim famae iactatione et inanibus uulgi clamoribus
excitamur; sed si quis est fructus exterior, hic non potest aliam nisi
materiae similem sperare sententiam. Quocumque igitur a uobis deieci
oculos, partim ignaua segnities partim callidus liuor occurrit, ut
contumeliam uideatur diuinis tractatibus inrogare qui talibus hominum
monstris non agnoscenda haec potius quam proculcanda proiecerit.
Idcirco stilum breuitate contraho et ex intimis sumpta philosophiae
disciplinis nouorum uerborum significationibus uelo, ut haec mihi
tantum uobisque, si quando ad ea conuertitis oculos, conloquantur;
ceteros uero ita submouimus, ut qui capere intellectu nequiuerint ad ea
etiam legenda uideantur indigni. Sane[7] tantum a nobis quaeri oportet
quantum humanae rationis intuitus ad diuinitatis ualet celsa
conscendere. Nam ceteris quoque artibus idem quasi quidam finis est
constitutus, quousque potest uia rationis accedere. Neque enim
medicina aegris semper affert salutem; sed nulla erit culpa medentis, si
nihil eorum quae fieri oportebat omiserit. Idemque in ceteris. At
quantum haec difficilior quaestio est, tam facilior esse debet ad ueniam.
Vobis tamen etiam illud inspiciendum est, an ex beati Augustini
scriptis semina rationum aliquos in nos uenientia fructus extulerint. Ac
de proposita quaestione hinc sumamus initium.
[7] sed ne codices optimi.

THE TRINITY IS ONE GOD NOT THREE GODS
A TREATISE BY ANICIUS MANLIUS SEVERINUS BOETHIUS
MOST HONOURABLE, OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS ORDER OF
EX-CONSULS, PATRICIAN
TO HIS FATHER-IN-LAW, QUINTUS AURELIUS MEMMIUS
SYMMACHUS MOST HONOURABLE, OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS
ORDER OF EX-CONSULS, PATRICIAN
I have long pondered this problem with such mind as I have and all the

light that God has lent me. Now, having set it forth in logical order and
cast it into literary form, I venture to submit it to your judgment, for
which I care as much as for the results of my own research. You will
readily understand what I feel whenever I try to write down what I
think if you consider the difficulty of the topic and the fact that I
discuss it only with the few--I may say with no one but yourself. It is
indeed no desire for fame or empty popular applause that prompts my
pen; if there be any external reward, we may not look for more warmth
in the verdict than the subject itself arouses. For, apart from yourself,
wherever I turn my eyes, they fall on either the apathy of the dullard or
the jealousy of the shrewd, and a man who casts his thoughts before the
common herd--I will not say to consider but to trample under foot,
would seem to bring discredit on the study of divinity. So I purposely
use brevity and wrap up the ideas I draw from the deep questionings of
philosophy in new and unaccustomed words which speak only to you
and to myself, that is, if you deign to look at them. The rest of the
world I simply disregard: they cannot understand, and therefore do not
deserve to read. We should not of course press our inquiry further than
man's wit and reason are allowed to climb the height of heavenly
knowledge.[8] In all the liberal arts we see the same limit set beyond
which reason may not reach. Medicine, for instance, does not always
bring health to the sick, though the doctor will not be to blame if he has
left nothing undone which he ought to do. So with the other arts. In the
present case the very difficulty of the quest claims a lenient judgment.
You must however examine whether the seeds sown in my mind by St.
Augustine's writings[9] have borne fruit. And now let us begin our
inquiry.
[8] Cf. the discussion of human ratio and divine intellegentia in Cons. v.
pr. 4 and 5.
[9] e.g. Aug. De Trin.

I.
Christianae religionis reuerentiam plures usurpant, sed ea fides pollet

maxime ac solitarie quae cum propter uniuersalium praecepta
regularum, quibus eiusdem religionis intellegatur auctoritas, tum
propterea, quod eius cultus per omnes paene mundi terminos emanauit,
catholica uel uniuersalis uocatur. Cuius haec de trinitatis unitate
sententia est: "Pater," inquiunt, "deus filius deus spiritus sanctus deus."
Igitur pater filius spiritus sanctus unus non tres