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State of the question. The difficulty, as presented by the first
objection, is that assumption, being a certain external operation,
pertains to all three persons, who operate externally by a common
omnipotence. Thus it has been shown[671] that the Trinity of
persons cannot be known from creatures by natural reason; for "the
creative power of God is common to the whole Trinity."[672]
Reply. Nevertheless it is of faith that only the Son of God became
incarnate, neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit. The Eleventh
Council of Toledo says: "We believe that of these three persons,
only the person of the Son... true man... assumed[our
nature]."[673]
The body of the article contains the solution of the difficulty arising
from the definition of assumption, or to assume.
Assumption implies two things: the act of assuming and the term of the
assumption. But revelation says that only the person of the Son is
the term of the assumption. Therefore assumption, considered as the
term, applies only to the person of the Son, although considered as
an act, it is common to the three persons.
Thus we said that the Father and the Holy Ghost united the human
nature with the Word, but They did not assume it in the sense of
term.
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