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was deposed, as we shall have occasion to quote it again. in a subsequent chapter. Our present extract is from Mansi Concil. Tom. 1. p. 1037. as follows:

man.

(g) 'But the Son who is with the Father, is truly God and Lord of all created things, who, being sent from heaven by the Father, and having assumed flesh, was made Wherefore, in his body, taken from the Virgin, dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, for it was unchangeably united to the Divinity, and Deified. For which cause the same Jesus Christ was predicted to be both God and man in the law and the Prophets, and he is believed truly to be God by the whole Church under heaven, who emptied himself, though he was equal with God, and became a man of the seed of David, according to the flesh.' This extract is sufficient to demonstrate the perfect unity of doctrine, in accordance with the other Creeds of the Primitive Church.

$ 7. The next exposition of the Primitive faith is derived from the celebrated Gregory, Bishop of Neocasarea, surnamed Thaumaturgus, (see Mansi, 1 vol. p. 1030,) and is as follows, viz.

(h) There

There is one God, the Father of the living Word, the guiding wisdom, and the everlasting power and image : the perfect begetter of the perfect begotten, the Father of

(g) Τον δὲ ύιον παρὰ τῷ πατρὶ ὄντα Θεον μὲν και κύριον τῶν γεννητῶν ἁπάντων· ὑπο δὲ του πατρος αποσταλέντα ἐξ ουρανῶν, και σαρκωθέντα ἐνηνθρωπηκέναι· διόπερ και το ἐκ τῆς παρθένου σωμα χωρῆσαν πᾶν το πλήρωμα τῆς θέοτητος σωματικως τη θέοτητι ατρέπτως ἥνωται, και τεθεα ποίηται· ου χαρινό αυτος Θεος και άνθρωπος Ιησούς Χριστος προεφη τεύετο ἐν νόμῳ και προφήταις, και ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τῇ ύπο τον ουρανόν παση πεπιστευται Θεος μὲν κενώσας ἑαυτον απο του ειναι ἶσα Θεω ἄνθρωπος δε, και ἐκ σπέρματος Δαβιδ το κατὰ σαρκα.

(h) Εἷς Θεὸς πατὴς λόγου ζῶντος, σοφίας ύφεςώσης, καιδυνάμεως, καὶ χαρακτῆρος ἀϊδίου τέλειος τελείου γεννητωρ πατήρ υἱοῦ μονογενοῦς· εἰς

the only begotten Son. There is one Lord, the only one from the only one, God of God, the character and image of Deity, the efficacious Word, the comprehensive wisdom of the constitution of all things, and the effective virtue and power of every creature, the true Son of the true Father, the invisible of him who is invisible, and the incorruptible of the incorruptible, and the undying of the undying, and the eternal of the eternal. There is one Holy Spirit having existence from God, and who appeared by the Son to men, the image of the Son, the perfect of the perfect, the worthy life of the living, the holy fountain of holiness, in whom God the Father is manifested who is over all and in all, and God the Son who is through all, the perfect Trinity, whose glory, and kingdom, and government is never divided or destroyed. There is therefore nothing created or servile in the Trinity, nor is there any thing superinduced and adventitious as if it had not existed before, although coming (or made manifest to our world) afterwards. For never was the Father without the Son, nor the Son without the Spirit, but the Trinity immutable and invariable remains always the same.'

§ 8. We meet with a recognition of the use made of the Creed, in the 8th Canon of the Council of Arles,

κύριος, μόνος εκ μόνε, Θεὸς ἐκ Θεοῦ, χαρακτὶρ καὶ εἰκὼν τῆς θέοτητος, λόγος ενεργός, σοφία τῆς τῶν ὅλῶν συςάσεως περιεκτή· καὶ δύναμις τῆς ὁλῆς κτίσεως ποιητική. υιος αληθινὸς ἀληθινοῦ πατρὸς, ἄορατος ἀοράτε, καὶ ἄφθαρτος ἀφθάρτε, καὶ ἀθάνατος ἀθανάτε, καὶ αἴδιος ἀϊδίω· καὶ ἓν πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐκ Θεοῦ τὴν ὑπαρξιν ἔχον, και δὲ ὑῖς πεφηνος δηλαδὴ τοῖς ανθρώποις· εἰκὼν τοῦ ύιου τελείς τελεία, ζωή ζώντων αἰτία, ἅγιο της ἁγιασμοῦ χορηγός ἐν ᾧ φανεροῦται Θεος ὁ πατὴρ ὁ ἐπι πάντων και εν πᾶσι, και Θεος ὁ υἱὸς ὁ διὰ πάντων, τριὰς τελεία δόξα καὶ ἀϊδιότητι, και βασιλεία μὴ μεριζομενή, μηδέ απαλλοτριωμένη· οὔτε οὖν κτιςόν τι ἢ δοῦλον ἐν τῇ τριάδι, οὔτε ἐπείσακτον, ὡς πρότερον μὲν οὐχ ὑπάρχον, ὕφερον δὲ ἐπεισελθόν· οὔτε οὖν ἐνέλιπέ ποτε ύιος πατρι, οὔτε υἱῳ πνεῦμα, ἀλλὰ ἄτρεπτος και αναλλοί ωτος ἡ ἀντὶ τοιὰς ἀεί.

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which is set forth as having assembled in the year A. D. 314, soon after the conversion of the emperor Constantine. The passage is as follows. (See Mansi's Councils, 2 vol. p. 472.)

(i) 'It was decreed that if any one came to the Church from the heretics, they should examine him in the Creed, and if they found that he had been baptized in the Father the Son, and the Holy Ghost, he should only have hands laid upon him that he may receive the Holy Ghost. But if, on being interrogated, he does not answer this Trinity, he should be baptized.'

This Canon clearly shows the regard paid to the Creed, and the established custom of appealing to it as the standard of the Christian faith, at a period only two centuries from the death of St. John.

$9. Another interesting statement of the Primitive Creed is that which Eusebius, Bishop of Cesarea, made in his public epistle addressed to his Diocese after the final decree of the Council of Nice, in which he explains his reasons for adopting the word consubstantial. The passage to which we refer is as follows. (See Mansi's Councils 2 vol. p. 914, letter C.)

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(k) As we received it from the Bishops who preceded us, when the foundations of the faith were first placed in our minds, as we heard it when we were washed in the laver of baptism, as we learned it from the Divine Scrip

(i) -placuit ut si ad ecclesiam aliquis de hæresi venerit, interrogent eum symbolum, et si perviderint eum in Patre, et Filio, et Spiritu sancto esse baptizatum, manus ei tantum imponatur, ut accipiat Spiritum sanctum. Quod si interrogatus non responderit hanc trinitatem, baptizetur.

(*) Καθώς παρελάβομεν παρὰ τῶν πρὸ ἡμῶν ἐπισκόπων, καὶ ἐν τῇ πρώτη κατηχήσει, καὶ ὅτε το λετρὸν ἐλαμβάνομεν, και καθώς ἀπὸ τῶν θείων γραφῶν μεμαθήκαμεν, καὶ ὡς ἐν τῷ πρεσβυτερίῳ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ἐπισκο

tures, and as, when we discharged the office of presbyter and obtained the episcopate, we believed and taught, even so now believing, we make known our faith, which is this:

We believe in one God the Father Almighty, the Creator of all things visible and invisible: and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, God of God, light of light, life of life, the only begotten Son, the first born of every creature, begotten of his Father before all ages, by whom all things were made, who for our salvation was incarnate, and conversed among men, who suffered and rose again the third day, and ascended to the Father, and who shall come again in glory to judge both the quick and the dead. We believe also in one Holy Ghost, truly the Holy Ghost, as our Lord when he sent his disciples to preach, said, Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Which doctrines we affirm that we hold and have held and are ready to insist on this faith, even unto death, denouncing an anathema against every impious heresy.'

§ 10. Having these distinct and unquestionable proofs

πῃ ἐπιςεύομέν τε καὶ ἐδιδάσκομεν, οὕτω και' νῦν πιςένοντες τὴν ἡμετέραν πίςιν ὑμῖν προαναφέρομεν· ἔστι δὲ αὔτη.

Πιςένομεν εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν πατέρα παντοκράτορα, τὸν τῶν ἁπάντων ὁρατῶν τε καὶ ἀοράτων· καὶ εἰς ἕνα κύριον Ιησοῦν Χριςόν, τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγον Θεὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ· φῶς ἐκ φωτός, ζωὴν ἐκ ζωῆς, ὑἱον μονογενῆ, πρωτότοκον πάσης κτίσεως, προ πάντων των αἰώνων ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς γεγενημένον, δὲ οὗ καὶ ἐγένετο τὰ πάντα· τὸν διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν σαρκωθέντα, καὶ ἐν ἀνθρώποις πολιτευσάμενον, και παθόντα, καὶ ἀναςάντα τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρα, καὶ ἀνελθόντα πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, καὶ ἥξοντα πάλιν ἐν δόξῃ κρῖναι ζωντας και νεκρούς· πιςέυομεν και εις ἓν πνεῦμα ἅγιον, ἀληθῶς πνεῦμα ἅγιον, καθῶς καὶ ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν αποςέλλων εις το κήρυγμα τοὺς ἑαυτε μαθητάς, ειπε· πορευθέντες μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αυτούς εις τὸ ὄνομα τε πατρος, και το υἱς, και τε ἁγίω πνέυματος· περι ὧν και διαβεβαιούμεθα οὕτως ἔχειν, και οὕτω φρονεῖν, και πάλιν οὕτως ἐςχηκέναι και μέχρι θανάτε ὑπὲρ ταύτης ενίςασθαι τῆς πίςεως, αναθεματίζοντες πα' σαν ἄθεον αἵρεσιν.

of the existence and substantial unity of the Creed, prior to the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, we pass on to the celebrated formulary decreed by the Council of Nice, A. D. 325, which was more precise than the others on the great point of Christ's Divinity, on account of the newly broached heresy of Arius. It will be evident, however, that it does not differ at all from what has already been cited, being, indeed, only intended to enlarge upon and guard that fundamental doctrine which appears more or less prominent in them all. It may be found in various authors-Athan. in Epist. ad Jovian. Socrat. 1. 5. Theod. 1. 12. Mansi Concil. tom. 2. p. 666. Rufin. appendic. ad hist. Euseb. lib. 1. c. 6.—and is as follows, viz.

(1) 'We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, that is, of the Substance of the Father: God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things were made which are in heaven and in earth. Who for us men, and for our salvation, descended, and was incarnate, and made man; he suffered, and the third day he rose again, and ascended into heaven: and he shall come again to judge the living and the dead. And in the Holy Ghost. But those who say that there was a time when the Son of God was not, and that before

(1) Πιζένομεν εἰς ἕνα Θεον, πατέρα παντοκράτορα, παντων όρατων τε και αοράτων ποιητήν· και εις ἕνα κύριον Ιησούν Χριςόν τον ύιον του Θε8, γεννηθέντα ἐκ τε πατρος μονογενῆ, τουτέςιν ἐκ της ουσίας του πατρός. Θεον ἐκ Θεοῦ, φως ἐκ φωτος, Θεον αλήθινον ἐκ Θες αληθινε γεννηθέντα, α' ποιηθέντα,ὁμοούσιον τω πατρι, δὲ οὗ τὰ παντα εγενετο, τα τε εν τα σύρανω, και επι τῆς γῆς· τον δι ἡμᾶς τες ανθρωπους, και διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν κατελθόντα, και σαρκωθεντα, και ενανθρωπήσαντα παθόντα, και αναξαντα τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρα, και ανελθοντα εἰς τοὺς οὐρανούς· και ερχόμενον

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