heaven is turned about, the stars move, the sun displays his light, the moon runs her course, and the air is enlightened by it.' And the same father, expounding the Christian faith, begins it thus": We believe in one unbegotten God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things, visible and invisible, having his Being of himself.' The next is Theodoret°: Behold the providence of God bending itself, and prying into every particle of the creation, shining in them, sounding and even speaking in them.' The next is Chrysostom P; who, upon those words of our Saviour, " My Father worketh hitherto and I work," saith: What manner of work is this? He looks over and disposeth all things that are made. When thou seest, therefore, the sun rising, the moon running, the lakes, and fountains, and rivers, and showers, and the course of nature in seeds and in bodies, both ours, and beasts, and all things of which this universe consisteth; learn and consider the continual working of the Father.' For, as Cyril of Alexandria saith, Without God and the supreme will, the heavens would not water the earth; neither could the earth bring forth its fruit in season.' And therefore, passing by many other testimonies, which might be produced from the Fathers, I shall end these with that of Ecumenius': For it is from God that we have our being, our ability to act, and our preservation from destruction :' and therefore cannot but conclude that God" is the Maker and Preserver of all things, visible and invisible."

* Πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα ἀγέννητον Θεόν, Πατέρα παντοκράτορα, πάντων ποιητὴν, ὁρατῶν τε καὶ ἀορατῶν, τὸν ἔχοντα ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ τὸ εἶναι..— Id. in Expos. Fid. Init.

• Βλέπετε αὐτὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν πρόνοιαν, δι ̓ ἑκάστου μορίου τῆς κτίσεως διακύπο τουσαν, καὶ φαινομένην, καὶ φθεγγομένην, καὶ δι ̓ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων μονονουχὶ βοῶσαν, &c. Theodoret. de Provid. Orat. 1. tom. iv. p. 323. D. Par. 1642.

Ρ Τὶς οὖν ὁ τρόπος τῆς ἐργασίας; προνοεί, συγκροτεῖ τὰ γενόμενα πάντα· ὁρῶν τοίνυν ἥλιον ἀνατέλλοντα, καὶ σελήνην τρεχουσαν, καὶ λίμνας, καὶ πηγὰς, καὶ ποταμοὺς, καὶ ὑετοὺς, καὶ φύσεως δρόμον τὸν ἐν τοῖς σπέρμασι, τὸν ἐν τοῖς σώμασι τοῖς ἡμετέροις, καὶ τοῖς τῶν ἀλόγων, τὰ ἀλλὰ πάντα δι ̓ ὧν τόδε τὸ πᾶν συνέστηκε, μάνθανε την διηνεκῆ τοῦ Пargos igyaslav.—Chrysost. in Joh. Hom. 38. tom. ii. p. 708. lin. 20. Eton.

1612.

4 Θεοῦ γὰρ δέχα, καὶ βουλῆς τῆς ἄνωθεν, οὔτ ̓ ἂν αὐτὸς ποτε τοῖς ἐπὶ γῆς οὖσιν ὁ οὐρανὸς, οὔτ ̓ ἂν ἡ γῆ τὸν οἰκεῖον κατὰ καιροὺς ἀναφύοι καρπον. — Cyrill. Alex. in Oseam, ii. 22. tom. iii. p. 54. E. Par. 1638.

- Παρ ̓ αὐτοῦ γὰς ἐστιν ἡμῖν τὸ εἶναι, τὸ ἐνεργεῖν, τὸ μὴ ἀπολέσθαι. —— Ecum. in Act. 17.

AND IN UNITY OF THIS GODHEAD THERE BE THREE PERSONS, OF ONE SUBSTANCE, POWER, AND ETERNITY, THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY GHOST. That there is but one living and true God, was the first part of this article; that in this unity of God there be three persons, is the last: there the Unity of the Godhead; here the Trinity in the Godhead is expressly delivered. A mystery, which though it be not too great for a divine faith to believe, yet it is too high for our human understandings to conceive! And therefore having settled my faith firmly upon it, I am fearful to discourse much about it; being conscious to myself how easy, and withal how dangerous a thing it is, to mistake and err in so great and unspeakable a mystery as this is. If I think of it, how hard is it to contemplate upon one numerically divine nature in no more than one and the same person; or upon three divine Persons in no more than one and the same divine nature! If I speak of it, how difficult is it to find out fit words for the explication of it! If I say, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost be three, and every one distinctly God, it is true; but if I say, they be three, and every one a distinct God, it is false. I may say, the divine persons are distinct in the divine nature; but I cannot say, the divine nature is divided in these divine persons. I may say, God the Father is not the Son, God the Son is not the Father, and God the Holy Ghost is neither Father nor Son; yet I cannot say, the Father is not the same God with the Son, or the Son is not the same God with the Father, or the Holy Ghost is not the same God with

• De hac re summâ et excellentissima modestia et timore agendum est, et attentissimis ac devotis auribus audiendum, ubi quæritur Unitas Trinitatis, Patris, Filii, et Spiritûs Sancti, quia nec periculosiùs alicubi erratur, nec laborosiùs quæritur, nec fructuosiùs invenitur.-Aug. de Trinit. l. i. And Athanasius excellently. Αλλ' ἄῤῥητον καὶ ἀνέκφραστον τὸ τῆς ἁγίας τριάδος ὑπάρχει μυστήριον· καὶ μὴ ἔιπῃς, πῶς; ὑπερ γὰρ τὸ πῶς ἐστὶ τοῦτο· μηδὲ ἔιπης, ποίῳ τρόπω; ὑπὲρ γὰρ τρόπον ὁ θεῖος τρόπος· μηδὲ ἔπης, ποίῳ λόγω; ὑπὲρ γὰρ λόγον ὁ Duos Xoyos.-Resp. Quest. I. ad Antioch. tom. ii. p. 269. A. Ed. Ben. Par. 1698. And therefore St. Basil gives it as a rule, wig IIargòs, xai Tioũ, καὶ ̔Αγίου Πνεύματος μὴ συζητεῖν, ἀλλὰ ἄκτιστον καὶ ὁμοούσιον τριάδα μετὰ παρρησίας λέγειν καὶ φρονεῖν, καὶ τοῖς ἐπερωτῶσι λέγειν, ὅτι βαπτίζεσθαι δεῖ ὡς παρελάβομεν, πιστεύειν δὲ ὡς βεβαπτίσμεθα, δοξάζειν δὲ ὡς πεπιστεύκαμεν. - In Serm. de Askesi. tom. ii. p. 383. C. Paris. 1637.

the Father and Son. I may say, in the sacred Trinity, or amongst the divine persons, there is one before another, and one greater than another; yet I cannot say, that in the sacred Deity, or in the divine nature, there is one greater than another, or one before another. I can say, God the Father is eternal, God the Son is eternal, God the Holy Ghost is eternal; yet I cannot say, there are three eternals. I may say, the Father is one God, the Son is one God, the Holy Ghost is one God; yet I cannot say, the Father is one God, the Son is another God, and the Holy Ghost is a third God. Again, I may say, the Father begot the Son, the Son was begotten of the Father, and the Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father and the Son; and so he that was God begot him that was God, and a third person, who was God too, proceeded from two, each of which was God; yet I cannot say, one God begot another God, or from two Gods issued forth a third God. Or thus, I may say ", the Father begot another, who was God; yet I cannot say, he begot another God: and, from the Father and Son proceeded another who is God; yet I cannot say, from the Father and the Son proceeded another God. For all this while, though their nature be the same, yet their persons are distinct; and though their persons be distinct, yet their nature is the same: so hard a thing is it to word so great a mystery aright, or to fit so high a truth with expressions suitable to it, without one way or other deviating from it.

Hence it is, that I shall not use many words about it, lest some or other slip from me, unbecoming of it. In brief, therefore, here it is said, that in the unity of the Godhead there be three persons; that is, though there be but one living and true God, yet there be three persons, who are that

ι Ἐπὶ τῆς ἁγίας τριάδος οὐδεὶς πρῶτος καὶ οὐδεὶς ὕστερος, ἀλλ ̓ ἀμὰ Πατὴρ, ἅμα Υἱὸς, ἅμα Πνεῦμα Αγιον· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ συνάναρχοι λέγονται, καὶ ἄναρχοι. ἄναρχον δὲ λέγεται τὸ πρὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς ὂν. ἄναρχος λοιπὸν ὁ Πατὴρ, ἄναρχος ὁ Υἱὸς, ἄναρχον τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ̔́Αγιον. καὶ οὐχ ̓ ὁ μὲν πρῶτος, ὁ δ ̓ ὕστερος. ἀλλ ̓ ἅμα οἱ τρεῖς, Πατὴρ, Υἱὸς, καὶ Πνεῦμα ̔́Αγιον. διὰ τοῦτο καὶ συνάναρχοι καὶ εἶσιν καὶ ὀνομάζονται, Athanas. Resp. Quest. XIII. tom. ii. p. $39. E. Ed. Ben. Par. 1698. Καὶ ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ τριάδι οὐδὲν πρῶτον, ἢ ὕστερον· οὐδὲν μεῖζον, ἢ ἔλαττον· ἀλλ ̓ ὅλαι αἱ τρεῖς ὑποστάσεις συνδιαιωνίζουσαι ἑαυταῖς εἶσι, καὶ ἴσαι. Id. in Symb. tom. ii. p. 728. D.

-

"Pater genuit alium, viz. Filium, non autem alium deum, sed aliam personam.-August.

one living and true God. Though the true God be but one in substance, yet he is three in subsistence; and so three in subsistence, as still to be but one in substance. And these three persons, every one of which is God, and yet all three but one God, are really related to one another: as they are termed in Scripture, one is a Father, the other a Son, the other an Holy Ghost. The first is Father to the second, the second is Son to the first, the third is neither Father nor Son, but the issue or Spirit of both. The first was a Father from eternity, as well as God; the second was God from eternity, as well as a Son; the third was both Holy Ghost and God from eternity, as well as either of them. The Father is the first person in the Deity; not begotten, nor proceeding, but begetting the Son, the second; not begetting, nor proceeding, but begotten: the Holy Ghost, the third; not begotten, nor begetting, but proceeding. The first is called the Father, because he begot the second; the second is called the Son, because he is begotten of the Father; the third is called the Holy Ghost, because breathed both from the Father and the Son.

And though these be thus really amongst themselves distinct from one another, yet are they not distinct in the divine nature they are not distinct in essence, though they be distinct in the manner of their subsisting in it. The Father subsists as a Father, the Son as a Son, the Holy Ghost as a Spirit, and so have distinct subsistences; yet have all the same numerical substance. I say numerical or individual substance; for otherwise they might have all the same divine nature, and yet not be the same God. As Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were three distinct persons, and had all the same human nature; yet they could not all be called one man; because, though they had but one human nature, yet they had it specifically, as distinguished into several individuals; not numerically, so as to be the same individual man: and therefore, though they had but one specifical, they had several numerical natures; by which means, Abraham was one man, Isaac another, Jacob a third. And upon the same account is it, that amongst the angels, Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, though they have the same angelical nature, yet they are not the same angel. But here the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost have not only the same.

1

divine nature in specie,' but in numero;' and so have not only one and the same nature, but are one and the same God. The Father is the self-same individual God with the Son; the Son is the self-same individual God with the Father; and the Holy Ghost is the self-same individual God with them both. I say, individual God; for the divine nature is not divided into several Gods, as the human is into several men; but only distinguished into several persons, every one of which hath the same undivided divine nature, and so is the same individual God. And thus it is, that in the unity of the Godhead, there be three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; which great mystery, though we be not able adequately to conceive of it, yet the Scriptures give a sufficient testimonial to it.

1. Confirmation from SCRIPTURE.-Now though this mystery hath received great light by the rising of the sun of righteousness upon the world, yet it did not lie altogether undiscovered before, there being sufficient testimonies in the law as well as in the Gospel of it. I shall make use of both, that by the mouth of two infallible witnesses, the law and Gospel, this great truth may be established. First, we will consult the Old Testament, which will furnish us with several testimonies of it, though not with so many as commonly are forced from it; God being so frequently styled Elohim, and saying in the first of Genesis, "Let us make

* Αδιαίρετος γὰρ ἐν ταῖς τρισὶν ὑποστάσεσιν ἡ τῆς μιᾶς ουσίας Θεότης. Individua enim est in tribus personis unius essentiæ Deitas. Athan. in Resp. Quast. I. ad Antioch. tom. ii. p. 268. B. Ed. Ben. Par. 1698.

▾ Tertullian makes use of this place to prove the Trinity. Si te adhuc numerus scandalizat Trinitatis, quasi non conpexæ in unitate simplici, interrogo quomodo unus et singularis pluraliter loquitur? Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram ; cùm debuerit dixisse, Faciam hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem meam; utpote unicus singularis. Sed et in sequentibus, Ecce Adam factus est tanquam unus ex nobis. Fallit aut ludit; ut, cùm unus, et solus, et singularis esset, numerosè loqueretur: aut nunquid angelis loquebatur, ut Judæi interpretantur: quia nec ipsi Filium agnoscunt; an quia ipse erat Pater, Filius, Spiritus, ideò pluralem se præstans, pluraliter sibi loquebatur? Immò quia jam adhærebat ei Filius, secunda persona, Sermo ipsius; et tertia Spiritus in sermone, ideò pluraliter pronunciavit, Faciamus, et Nostrum, et Nobis. Cum quibus enim faciebat hominem, et quibus faciebat similem? cum Filio quidem, qui erat induturus hominem; Spiritu verò, qui erat sanctificaturus hominem, quasi cum ministris VOL. IX.

F