1 Objection 1: It would seem that a divine person is sent only by the one whence He proceeds eternally. For as Augustine says De Trin. iv), The Father is sent by no one because He is from no one. Therefore if a divine person is sent by another, He must be from that other.
1 Ad octavum sic proceditur. Videtur quod nulla persona divina mittatur nisi ab ea a qua procedit aeternaliter. Quia, sicut dicit Augustinus, IV de Trin., pater a nullo mittitur, quia a nullo est. Si ergo aliqua persona divina mittitur ab alia, oportet quod sit ab illa.
2 Objection 2: Further, the sender has authority over the one sent. But there can be no authority as regards a divine person except from origin. Therefore the divine person sent must proceed from the one sending.
2 Praeterea, mittens habet auctoritatem respectu missi. Sed respectu divinae personae non potest haberi auctoritas nisi secundum originem. Ergo oportet quod divina persona quae mittitur, sit a persona mittente.
3 Objection 3: Further, if a divine person can be sent by one whence He does not proceed, then the Holy Ghost may be given by a man, although He proceeds not from him; which is contrary to what Augustine says De Trin. xv). Therefore the divine person is sent only by the one whence He proceeds.
3 Praeterea, si persona divina potest mitti ab eo a quo non est, nihil prohibebit dicere quod spiritus sanctus detur ab homine, quamvis non sit ab eo. Quod est contra Augustinum, XV de Trin. Ergo divina persona non mittitur nisi ab ea a qua est.
4 On the contrary, The Son is sent by the Holy Ghost, according to Is. 48, 16, Now the Lord God hath sent Me and His Spirit. But the Son is not from the Holy Ghost. Therefore a divine person is sent by one from Whom He does not proceed.
4 Sed contra est quod filius mittitur a spiritu sancto, secundum illud Isaiae XLVIII, et nunc misit me dominus Deus, et spiritus eius. Filius autem non est a spiritu sancto. Ergo persona divina mittitur ab ea a qua non est.
5 I answer that, There are different opinions on this point. Some say that the divine person is sent only by the one whence He proceeds eternally; and so, when it is said that the Son of God is sent by the Holy Ghost, this is to be explained as regards His human nature, by reason of which He was sent to preach by the Holy Ghost. Augustine, however, says De Trin. ii, 5) that the Son is sent by Himself, and by the Holy Ghost; and the Holy Ghost is sent by Himself, and by the Son; so that to be sent in God does not apply to each person, but only to the person proceeding from another, whereas to send belongs to each person.
There is some truth in both of these opinions; because when a person is described as being sent, the person Himself existing from another is designated, with the visible or invisible effect, applicable to the mission of the divine person. Thus if the sender be designated as the principle of the person sent, in this sense not each person sends, but that person only Who is the principle of that person who is sent; and thus the Son is sent only by the Father; and the Holy Ghost by the Father and the Son.
If, however, the person sending is understood as the principle of the effect implied in the mission, in that sense the whole Trinity sends the person sent. This reason does not prove that a man can send the Holy Ghost, forasmuch as man cannot cause the effect of grace. The answers to the objections appear from the above.
5 Respondeo dicendum quod circa hoc inveniuntur aliqui diversimode locuti esse. Secundum quosdam enim, persona divina non mittitur nisi ab eo a quo est aeternaliter. Et secundum hoc, cum dicitur filius Dei missus a spiritu sancto, referendum est hoc ad humanam naturam, secundum quam missus est ad praedicandum a spiritu sancto. Augustinus autem dicit, II de Trin., quod filius mittitur et a se et a spiritu sancto; et spiritus sanctus etiam mittitur et a se et a filio, ut sic mitti in divinis non conveniat cuilibet personae, sed solum personae ab alio existenti; mittere autem conveniat cuilibet personae. Utrumque autem habet aliquo modo veritatem. Quia cum dicitur aliqua persona mitti, designatur et ipsa persona ab alio existens, et effectus visibilis aut invisibilis, secundum quem missio divinae personae attenditur. Si igitur mittens designetur ut principium personae quae mittitur, sic non quaelibet persona mittit, sed solum illa cui convenit esse principium illius personae. Et sic filius mittitur tantum a patre, spiritus sanctus autem a patre et filio. Si vero persona mittens intelligatur esse principium effectus secundum quem attenditur missio, sic tota Trinitas mittit personam missam. Non autem propter hoc homo dat spiritum sanctum, quia nec effectum gratiae potest causare. Et per hoc patet solutio ad obiecta.