Chapter 47 — That Christ was not the Son of the Holy Spirit according to the flesh

Although we speak of Christ as having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin, the Holy Spirit cannot be called his father in respect of his human generation, as the Virgin is called his mother.

For the Holy Spirit did not produce the human nature in Christ out of his own substance, but by his power alone was he the active principle in its production. Consequently, the Holy Spirit cannot be called Christ’s father in respect of his human generation.

Moreover, we should be led to a false conclusion if Christ were called the Son of the Holy Spirit. For it is clear that the Word of God has a distinct personality inasmuch as he is the Son of God the Father. Hence, if he were called Son of the Holy Spirit according to his human nature, we might conclude that Christ was two sons, since the Word of God cannot be the Son of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, since sonship refers to the person and not to the nature, it would follow that there are two persons in Christ, which is contrary to the Catholic faith.

It would also be unfitting if the Father’s authority and name were transferred to another person, and this would be the case if the Holy Spirit were called the father of Christ.