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the mystery of Redemption; and it could not be placed before the tribunal of man's finite intellect;' since it is revealed in the Gospel, not in the form of a doctrinal system, but as the merciful achievement of Divine love, wisdom, holiness, justice and power. The triune God is revealed in the Bible, as the Father who resolves upon our redemption; as the Son who accomplishes the blessed work, and as the Holy Ghost who communicates its gracious and sanctifying influences to the Church in all ages; hence the formula of baptism, expressive of our Christian faith. defend the doctrine of the holy Trinity by arguments drawn from reason, cannot then be our object, being avowedly above its power and beyond its sphere.

To

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It would have been better for the interests of truth, if Christian apologists and Missionaries had never attempted to make this mystery acceptable to Mohammedans by illustrations and comparisons, which, moreover, have not always been the happiest or most elevated. The Scriptures simply reveal the fact, and

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60. “Mysterium Trinitatis quod est ὑπὲρ νοῦν, ὑπὲρ λόγον καὶ ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν κατάληψιν ex ratione naturali oppugnari non potest." Quenst.

61 "Es widerspricht 1) dem Denkgeseße, daß ein Theil gleich dem Ganzen, das Ganze gleich dem Theile sei; 2) dem Geseze der Causalität, daß generatio, wie auch gedacht, eine ursächliche Handlung außer der Zeit erfolge; 3) der Idee des Absoluten, indem der character hypostaticus entweder etwas Zufälliges, fonach Unvollkommenes ist, das in Gott nicht gedacht werden kann, oder etwas Wesentliches und Vollkommenes, dann würde diese Vollkommenheit den andern Personen abgehen. Das Dogma ist daher Mysterium, als über allen Verstand erhabenes Postulat des Christenthums, wenn die Gottheit des Sohnes und Persönlichkeit des Heiligen Geistes im religiösen Leben und der Heiligen Schrift nachgewiesen ist, so ruhig in seiner unvereinbaren Dreiheit und Einheit aufzustellen, als die gleichfalls in der Demonstration unvereinbaren Freiheit und Vorsehung." Hase.

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demand simple and childlike faith; any attempt therefore to expound a mystery therein revealed, must only "darken counsel by words without knowledge." We believe it to be so; how it is, we are not ashamed to say we cannot tell; nor can we understand why we should be expected to explain it. A revelation without miracles, and a faith without mysteries, such as is found in Islamism, present a most unreasonable anomaly. How little this was felt by the eclectic prophet of the Arabs, is clear, from his anxiety to expunge from his creed, every article which he could not square with his sharp but unsanctified intellect. As the doctrine of man's Redemption is so intimately connected with that of the holy Trinity, both were struck out from his system of faith. The belief of the Trinity will always be rejected, where neither the burden of sin is felt, nor the authority of Scripture acknowledged.

As if to revenge himself upon the holy mysteries of our faith, both the dogma of the Trinity, and the doctrine of the Incarnation of the Son of God were grossly and blasphemously misrepresented by Mohammed. It would be unjust to lay the teaching of a Moslem heresy to the charge of orthodox Islamism: equally unfair is it, to borrow from the Colyridian heresy, which flourished in Arabia and was convicted of Mariolatry, and to set forth its teaching as a Chris

82 The philosophical theory concerning the Дóyos; the ancient comparison of fire, brightness and heat in light, and the mysterious harmony of three sounds and forms, which run through creation, have been vainly resorted to, with a view to ellucidate this mysterious dogma.

tian dogma. Mohammed, therefore, from whom we . might have expected a better knowledge, is alone responsible for this misrepresentation. Our Lord and His Apostles might as well have rejected the old dispensation as unsound and heretical, because at certain periods the Israelites worshipped Baal and serv ed the host of heaven. Mohammed however was determined to reject certain doctrines; and the heretical views, which were current in his corrupt age within the Church, afforded him a plausible reason for so doing. All the Christian Missionary can do in this momentous dispute, is to remove those erroneous notions and prejudices, which the Koran has taken such pains to impress upon the minds of its followers; and to show that there is nothing unworthy of God in the teaching: that from God, the Father are all things, that' by the Son are all things and that to the Holy Ghost are all things; and also that it is not blasphemy to preach "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost;" avoiding "profane questions" upon so sacred subject; and shunning illustrations and comparisons with a view to render the mystery comprehensible to the limited powers of human intellect. 89

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"Mysterium hoc ex naturali ratione nec a priori, nec a posteriori demonstrari potest; non a priori, quia Deus in se et prout ipse est, in hac imbecilitate cognosci nequit, quicquid de Deo scitur, id omne a posteriori tantum scitur. Non a posteriori h. e. ex operibus et creaturis Dei, nulla enim vera et plena similitudo vel imago Trinitatis in creaturis est expressa... Illaeque congruentiae naturales et analogia rerum creatarum cum hoc fidei mysterio non divinam fidem, sed opinionem tantum humanam generant...... Imo ne quidem possibilitas hujus mysterii e naturae lumine haberi potest, cum rationi,

3. In perfect accordance with this view, the Church in her symbols endeavours to express the mystery, as set forth in Scripture; not to embrace it with the intellect, but to protect it both against Unitarianism and Tritheism; so that a Christian may possess saving faith in the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit without the knowledge of these dogmatic forms; yet no one can reject these, without rejecting the Trinity. When modern theologians endeavour to shake these venerable safe-guards of our holy faith, we can only ascribe it to a secret leaning to Unitarianism; hence we have sufficient reason to hold fast the dogmatic representation of this doctrine in our creeds. That neither the doctrine of the Incarnation nor that of the Trinity are in themselves irrational, may be inferred from the religious speculations of Pagan antiquity. As true religion commenced with manifestations of the Deity and ended with the Incarnation of the blessed Godhead, so Paganism commenced with oracles and pseudo-prophetical revelations, and propria principia consulenti: ἀδύνατον καὶ ἀντιφατικόν, absurdum et impossibile videatur." Quenst. Theolog. Didactico-polemica Vol. I. pag. 318.

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84 "Fides Catholica non in hac loquendi formula praecise sita est, quod tres sint personae in una div. essentia, sed in eo ut sincere credamus, Patrem, Filium et Spiritum S. unum esse Deum,- ut per omnia et unitatem in Trinitate et Trinitatem in unitate veneremur. Gemina illic loquutionis illius necessitas statuitur a S. Augustino: altera ab humani eloquii inopia, altera ab haereticorum versutia Primo dictum ita fuit, quum non liceret aliter, ut aliquo saltem modo explicaretur ineffabilis illa Unitatis et Trinitatis ratio, non ut illud diceretur, sed ne taceretur.... Patet igitur, quo pacto necessaria sint illae formulae, non quidem absolute, sed ex hypothesi tum declarandae ὀρθοδοξίας, tum dignoscendae ἑτεροδοξίας, tametsi hujus videatur potior esse, quam illius ratio." Calovii Dog. III. pag. 4.

ended with incarnations of the Deity. Again, may we not go further, and admit that some image, ideal or material, exists in almost every false creed, by which the blessed Trinity is adumbrated. We find in almost every Mythology a divine Triad, and in some cases even a Monad in connection with a Triad; we refer to the Trimurti of the Hindoos, the Triads of the ancient Egyptians, and Scandinavians, also to the Neo-platonic philosophy. To this may be added the remarkable fact, that the Jewish philosophers B. C. assumed three lights, three names and one substance in God. 85 Errors, when universal, may be invariably traced to some perversion of truth; if so, we may recognise a corruption of the Trinity in all these Triads, if not in Polytheism itself.

As far then as the philosophico-religious speculations of the Pagan and Jewish world have any weight, we have their testimony, that it is precisely the abstract metaphysical Monotheism of the Koran which satisfies neither faith nor reason. 86 Waving however the question, whether the dogma of the Trinity or this rigid Unitarianism be the more opposed to rea

85 See Maraccio Prodrom. Pars III. cap. IX. Ex veterum Hebraeorum doctrina, Sanctissimae Trinitatis Mysterium comprobatur. pag. 26-28.

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"Es ist weniger Menschensache, den spekulativen Werth eines Lehrgebäudes zu verfolgen und zu ergründen; die Bemerkung dürfte demnach für Viele völlig unnüß sein, daß der Monotheismus des Islam die philosophirende Vernunft nicht befriedige und gerade dann verworfen werden müsse, wenn von der Denkbarkeit oder Undenkbarkeit einer bestimmten Vorstellung von Gott die Rede ist. Daß die Gottheit Eine Person sei, ist eben das ganz und gar Undenkbare, durchaus Unyernünftige, und aller wahren Spekulation Entgegengesezte. Daß Gott nicht Mensch geworden, ist eben das Widers sinnige." Möhler's Gesammelte Werke pag. 397.