selves, but that which from the beginning even till then the ecclesiastical tradition taught, and prudent Christians did evidently set forth.” And so forth. 2
Therefore away with the pope’s champions to the place of whereof they are worthy, which, when we teach that all in points of true godliness and salvation are fully contained and taught in the canonical scriptures, by the way of objection do demand; in what place of the scripture we find the names of Trinity, person, essence, and substance; and finally, where we find that Christ hath a reasonable soul? For although those very words consisting in those syllables are not to be found in the canonical books (which were by the prophets and apostles written in another and not in the Latin tongue), yet the things, the matter, or substance, which those words do signify, are most manifestly contained and taught in those books: which things likewise all and every nation may in their language express, and for their commodity and necessity speak and pronounce them. Away also with all sophisters, which think it a great point of learning to make the reverend mystery of the sacred Trinity dark and intricate with their strange, their curious, and pernicious questions. It is sufficient for the godly, simply, according to the scriptures and the apostles’ creed to believe and confess, that there is one divine nature or essence, wherein are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Neither is it greatly material whether ye call them substances, or subsistences, or persons, so that ye do plainly express the distinction betwixt them, and each one’s several properties; confessing so the unity, that yet ye confound not the Trinity, nor spoil the persons of their properties.
And here now it will do very well? out of the scriptures to cite such evident testimonies as may evidently preve the mystery of the Trinity with the distinction and several properties of the three persons. The Lord in the Gospel after St Matthew saith: “All power is given to me in heaven and in earth: go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing
[οὐ yap νεαράν τινα θρησκείαν ἐπινοήσαντες els τὴν ἐκκλησίαν εἰσήγαγον,]
[ἀλλὰ ἅπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς καὶ ἡ ἐκκλησιαστικὴ παράδοσις ἔλεγε, καὶ ἀποδεικτικῶς]
[παρὰ τοῖς Χριστιανῶν σοφοῖς ἐφιλοσοφεῖτο.--- δοογαῖθ5, H. E. Lib. 1. cap.]
[7 p- 178. ed. Reading.] (2 preestat, Lat.; it is better. ]]
Pr 11. OF GOD, AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 161 them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” Tertullian, alleging those words against Praxea, saith: “He did last of all command his disciples to baptize into the Father, and the Son, and the Haly Ghost. We are baptized not into one, nor once, but thrice at every name, into every several person” Thus much Tertullian. Now as every several person is severally expressed, so the divinity of them all is therein singularly taught to be one and common to them all, because he biddeth to baptize, not only into the name of the Father, but also of the Son, and? the Holy Ghost. The apostle and elected vessel, Paul, doth flatly deny that any man either ought to be, or ever was, baptized into the name of any man which is nothing else but mere man. “Were ye,” saith he, “” baptized in the name of Paul?” So then the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God, into whose name we are baptized.
The same Lord in the Gospel after St John saith: “When the Comforter cometh, whom I will send unto you from the Father, that is, the Spirit of truth, he will lead you into all truth. He shall not speak of himself: but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I unto you, that he shall take of mine, and shew unto you.” In these words of the Lord’s thou hearest mention made of the person of the Father from whom the Spirit is sent, of the person of the Son which sendeth him, and of the person of the Holy Spirit which cometh unto us. Thou hearest also of the mutual and equal communion of the divinity and all good things betwixt the three persons. For the Holy Ghost speaketh not of himself, but that which he heareth. He shall,” saith the Son, “take of mine.” And again: “All things that the Father hath are mine.” And therefore what
[3 Novissime mandans (Christus) ut tinguerent (discipuli) in Patrem]
[et Filium et Spiritum Sanctum, non in unum: nam nec semel, sed ter,]
[ad singula nomina in personas singulas tinguimur.—Tertull. ady. Prax.]
[cap. XxVL Tom. τι. p. 199. ed. Semler. ] [2 and of, ed. 1577.) [> ab Apostolis, Lat. omitted; by the Apostles.] 11 [BULLINGER, IIL]]
things the Son hath, those are the Father’s: and the divinity, glory, and majesty of them all is co-equal.
With these most evident speeches do these two manifest testimonies of John! Baptist agree. First he saith: He whom God hath sent doth speak the words of God; for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, &c.” Lo, here again, in the one Godhead thou hearest the three persons distinguished by their properties: for the Father loveth and sendeth the Son, and giveth all things into his hand; the Son is sent, and receiveth all things; but the Holy Ghost is given of the Father, and received of the Son according to fulness. Then again the same Baptist crieth the second time, and saith: “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like unto a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whomsoever thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and tarrying still upon him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.” Here again are shewed unto us, as clearly as the day-light, the three persons distinguished and not confounded. For he that sendeth John is the Father: the Holy Ghost is neither the Father, nor the Son, but appeareth upon the head of Christ in the likeness of a dove: and the Son is the Son, not the Father, and that too the Son of the Father, upon whose head the Holy Ghost did abide. And now to this place doth belong the testimony of i. the Father, uttered from heaven upon his Son Christ. For he saith: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” But one and the same cannot be both father and son unto himself. The Father is one, and the Son is one: and yet not divers things, but one and the same God, of one and the same nature. For the Son in one place doth most plainly say: “1 and the Father are one, &ec.”
Moreover, what could be more clearly spoken for the proof of the express distinction and properties of the three persons in the reverend Trinity, than that where the archangel Gabriel in St Luke, declaring the sacrament? of the
[1 beatissimi Joannis.] [2 sacrament: mystery
Lord’s incarnation, doth evidently say unto the virgin, the mother of God?3: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing that shall be born shall be called the Son of God?” What, I pray you, could have possibly been invented of purpose to be more manifestly spoken for the proof of this matter, than these words of the angel? Thou hast here the person of the Highest, that is, of the Father. For in the words of the angel, a little afore, it is said: “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest.” Now the Son is the Son of the Father, We have also the persons of the Son and of the Holy Ghost expressed, with their properties, neither mingled nor confounded. The Father is not incarnate, nor yet the Holy Ghost, but the Son. To the Father is born of the virgin a Son, even he that was the Son by the eternal and unspeakable manner of begetting. But the Holy Ghost, which is the power of the Most Highest, did overshadow the virgin, and made her with child. And so by this means thou mayest see here the persons distinguished, not divided; and how they differ in properties, not in essence of deity, or in nature.
Here now (although these places might seem to suffice
any reasonable man?) I will yet add other testimonies of the holy apostles, and that too of three the most excellent among all the apostles. St Peter, preaching the word of the Gospel before the church of Israel, as Luke testifieth in the Acts of the Apostles, doth among other things say: This Jesus hath God raised up, and exalted him to his right hand; and he, having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear.” Lo, God the Father raiseth up and doth exalt the Son: the Son is raised up, exalted, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father: and the Son, receiving of the Father the Holy Ghost, doth bestow it upon the apostles. Therefore the Spirit proceedeth from the Father and the Son, subsisting in his own person, but being one and the same Spirit of them both. Moreover, in the sermon made at Caesarea in the congregation of the Gentiles, that is, in the house and family of Cornelius the centurion, the same apostle doth as plainly
[3 Deiparw, Lat.] [ any reasonable man, not in Lat.] 11—=2]
express the person of the I’ather, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; and knitteth the Trinity together into one essence of the divine nature.
St Paul! in the beginning of his Epistle to the Romans saith, that he was appointed to preach the gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures, of his Son; which was made of the seed of David after the flesh, and hath been declared to be the Son of God with power after the Spirit that sanctifieth” Again, to the Galatians he saith: “God sent his Son, made of a woman, that we by adoption might receive the right of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” And again, to Titus he saith: “God according to his mercy hath saved us by the fountain of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost?, which he shed on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.” Therefore St Cyril, speaking very truly of the apostle Paul, Libro in Joan. 1x. cap. 45, doth say: “That holy man did rightly know the enumeration of the sacred Trinity: and therefore he teacheth, that every person doth properly and distinctly subsist; and yet he preacheth openly the immutable selfsameness of the Trinity%” Concerning which matter, if any man would gather together and reckon up all the testimonies that Paul hath for the proof of it, he must of necessity recite all his epistles. ii. ” The blessed apostle and evangelist John doth more strongly and evidently than the other affirm and set forth the mystery of the Trinity, and distinction of the persons, as well in his evangelical history as in his epistle. Among many this one at this time shall be sufficient. In his canonical epistle he saith: “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is Christ? The same is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father.
[1 Apostolus, Lat. omitted. ] [2 per potentiam et Spiritum sanctificantem, Lat. ] [3 Per lavacrum regenerationis ac renovationis, &c.] [4 olde yap τῆς ἁγίας kai ὁμοουσίου τριάδος τὴν ἀπαρίθμησιν, kai ἰδίᾳ]
[μὲν ἕκαστον τῶν σημαινομένων ὑφεστάναι διδάσκει, τό γε μὴν ἐν ἀπαραλλάκτῳ]
[κεῖσθαι ταυτότητι τὴν ἁγίαν τριάδα διακηρύττει σαφώς.---ΟΥγ}], Opp. Lib.]
[1x. in Joann. Tom. 1v. p. 812. Lutet. 1638.] [5 ceteris, Lat.; the others. ]]
Therefore let that abide in you which you have heard from the beginning.” And presently after he saith again: “Ye need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and it is true, and not lying.” In these words ye hear the Father, ye hear the Son, ye hear the anointing, that is, the Holy Ghost. The Father is not the Son; the Son is not the Father; neither is the Holy Ghost the Father, or the Son: but the Father is the Father of the Son, the Son is the Son of the Father, and the Holy Ghost proceedeth from them both; and yet those persons are so joined and united, that he which denieth one of them hath in him none of them. Yea, whosoever denieth this Trinity is pronounced to be antichrist: for he denieth God, which is one in Trinity and three in Unity; and so consequently confounding or taking away the properties of God, he denieth God to be such a one as he is in very deed.
Now I suppose that these so many and so manifest testimonies do suffice the godly; for they believe the scriptures, and do not over-curiously pry into the majesty of God, being content with those things alone wherein it hath pleased God of his goodness to appear and shine to us mortal men. Some there are which do their endeavour by certain parables or similitudes to shadow this matter; that is to say, to shew how the three persons are said to be distinguished, and yet notwithstanding to be one God. But in all the things that God hath made (as I did admonish you in the beginning of this treatise) there is nothing which can properly be likened to the nature of God: neither are there any words in the mouth of men that can properly be spoken of it: neither are there any similitudes of man’s invention that can rightly and squarely agree with the divine Essence. And St Basil, disputing de Ousia et Hypostasi, saith: “It cannot be that the comparisons of examples should in all points be like to those things, to the use whereof the examples do serve?” Thou mayest say that injury is done to the majesty of God, if it be compared with mortal things. But for because the holy scripture doth not a little condescend and attemper itself to our
[6 unctio autem, Lat.; and the anointing.] [7 Οὐ yap δυνατόν ἐστι διὰ πάντων ἐφαρμοσθῆναι τὸ ἐν τοῖς ὑποδείγμασι]
[θεωρούμενον τοῖς πρὸς ἃ ἡ τῶν ὑποδειγμάτων χρεία mapakap3averai.—Basil.]
[Opp. Epist. 38. Tom. τπ. p. 169. Paris. 1839.]]
infirmity, I will put a similitude, although in very deed much unlike, which is usually taken and commonly used. Behold the sun and the beams that come from it, and then the heat that proceedeth from them both. As the sun is the headspring of the light and the heat, so is the Father the headspring of the Son, who is light of light: and as of the sun and the beams together the heat doth come, so of the Father and the Son together the Holy Ghost proceedeth. But now put case or imagine that the sun were such as never had beginning, nor ever shall have ending; and should not then, I pray you, the beams of this everlasting sun be everlasting too? And should not the heat, which proceedeth of them both, be everlasting, as well as they? Finally, should not the sun be one still in essence or substance, and three by reason of the three subsistences or persons? This parable of the sun did Tertullian use, whose words, which do also contain other wish similitudes, I will not be grieved to recite unto you. “I will not doubt (saith he) to call both the stalk of a root, the brook of a spring-head, and a beam of the sun, by the name of a son; for every original is a parent, and everything that issueth of that original is a son: much more then the Word of God vet (may be called a Son), which even properly hath the name of will Son: and yet neither is the stalk separated from the root, nor the brook from the spring-head, nor the beam from the sun; no more is the Word separated from God. Therefore according to the fashion of these examples I profess that I say there are two, God and his Word, the Father and his Son. For the root and the stalk are two things, but joined in one; and the spring-head and the brook are two kinds, but undivided; and the sun and the beams are two forms, but both cleaving the one to the other. Everything that cometh of anything must needs be second to that out of which it cometh, and yet it is not separated from that from which it proceedeth. But where a second is, there are two; and where a third is, there are three. For the third is the Spirit of God and the Sen; even as the third from the root is the fruit of the stalk, the third from the spring-head is the river of the brook, and the third from the sun is the heat of the beam: yet none of these is alienated from the matrix, of which they take the properties that they have. So the Trinity, descending by annexed and linked degrees from the Father, doth not make
against the monarchy, and doth defend the economical state, that is, the mystery of the dispensation. Understand everywhere that I profess this rule, wherein I testify that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, are unseparated one from another; and so thou shalt know how everything is spoken.” And so forth; for all these are the words of Tertullian, who flourished in Africa, not long after the age of the apostles.
But letting pass the parables, similitudes, or comparisons of man’s invention, let us stedfastly believe the evident word of God. What man’s capacity cannot attain unto, that let faith hold fast. What the sacred scriptures declare unto us, what Christ in his flesh did teach us, what was by so many miracles confirmed for our sakes? what the Spirit of God in the true church doth tell us, that must be thought more true and certain than that which is proved by a thousand demonstrations, or that which all thy senses are able to conceive. Paul denieth that he would hear an angel, if he should speak anything contrary to the gospel of Christ. Yea surely, it is a prank of arrogant foolishness, to doubt of the things that are in the scriptures with so great authority laid forth and taught us: but it is a greater madness, if a man will not
[1 Nec dubitaverim filium dicere et radicis fruticem, et fontis]
[fluvium, et solis radium; quia omnis origo parens est, et omne quod]
[ex origine profertur progenies est: multo magis Sermo Dei, qui etiam]
[proprie nomen filii accepit: nec frutex tamen a radice, nec fluvius a]
[fonte, nec radius a sole discernitur, sicut nec a Deo Sermo. Igitur,]
[secundum horum exemplorum formam, profiteor me duos dicere, Deum]
[et Sermonem ejus, Patrem et Filium ipsius. Nam et radix et frutex]
[duze res sunt, sed conjuncte; et fons et flumen duze species sunt, sed]
[indivisee; et sol et radius due forme sunt, sed cohezerentes. Omne]
[. quod prodit ex aliquo, secundum sit ejus necesse est de quo prodit;]
[non ideo tamen est separatum. Secundus autem ubi est, duo sunt:]
[et tertius ubi est, tres sunt. Tertius enim est Spiritus a Deo et Filio,]
[sicut tertius a radice, fructus ex frutice; et tertins a fonte, rivus ex]
[flumine; et tertius a sole, apex ex radio; nihil tamen a matrice alie-]
[natur, a qua proprietates suas ducit. Ita trinitas, per consertos et con-]
[nexos gradus a Patre decurrens, et monarchiz nihil obstrepit, et oixovo-]
[plas statum protegit. Hanc me regulam professum, qua inseparatos]
[ab alterutro Patrem et Filium et Spiritum testor, tene ubique: et ita,]
[quid quomodo dicatur, agnosces.—Tertull. adv. Prax. capp. 8 and 9,]
[pp- 157, 158.] (2 for our sakes, not in Lat.]]
believe the oracles of God for none other cause but for that our understanding cannot attain to the knowledge of all things, when as nevertheless we know that our understanding is naturally blind and hateth God. Among philosophers he is counted an impudent fellow which rejecteth the authority of any notable and approved writer. It was enough to persuade the scholars of Pythagoras for a man to say to them, αὐτὸς ἔφη, “he said it.” And then dareth a Christian seek starting-holes, and jangle about asking of curious questions, when it is said unto him, God said it, and taught thee to believe it?” No man doubteth of the king’s letters patents, if so be the seal be acknowledged: therefore what a folly is it to doubt of the divine testimonies, which are so evident, and firmly sealed with the Spirit of God! of Wherefore, that I may here recapitulate and briefly express con- the principal sum of this our exposition, I will recite unto you, dearly beloved, the words of the holy father Cyril, which are to be found Zibro in Joan. 1x. cap. 30, in the sense following: “True faith is in God the Father, and in the Son, not simply, but incarnate, and in the Holy Ghost. For the holy and consubstantial Trinity is distinguished by the differences of names, that is, by the properties of the persons. For the Father is the Father, and not the Son: and the Son is the Son, and not the Father: and the Holy Ghost is the Holy Spirit proper to the Father and the Son. For the substance of the Deity is all one, or the same: wherefore we preach not three, but one God. Therefore we must believe in God; but, distinctly and more fully expounding our faith, we must so believe, that we may refer the same glorification to every person. For there is no difference of faith. For we ought not to have a greater faith in the Father than in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost; but the measure and manner of it must be one and the same, equally consisting in each of the three persons: so that by this means we may confess the unity of nature in the trinity of persons. This faith must firmly be grounded in our minds, which is in the Father, and in the Son, (and the Son, I say, even after that he was made man,) and in the Holy Ghost.” Thus much out of Cyril. [1 Δεῖ yap πιστεύειν τοὺς οἵγε φρονοῦσιν ὀρθῶς, els ye Θεὸν πατέρα; καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἰς υἱὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐνανθρωπήσαντα, καὶ εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον. ἡ μὲν yap ἁγία Te καὶ ὁμοούσιος τριὰς καὶ Tals τῶν ὀνομάτων δια-
Now all these points shall be thoroughly confirmed with more full testimonies, when we come once to prove the divinity of the Son of God, and of the Holy Ghost; which I mean to reserve till time convenient.
But let no? man think that this belief of the unity and UAE.. trinity of the Godhead was either invented by the fathers or bishops of the churches, or first of all preached by the apostles immediately upon Christ his death and ascension? For after the same manner that I have hitherto declared unto you, even from the beginning of the world did all the holy patriarchs, prophets, and elect people of God believe and ground their faith. Although I deny not but that the mystery of the Trinity was more clearly expounded to the world by Christ, yet is it evident by some undoubted testimonies, which I will add anon, that the mystery of the Trinity was very well known unto the patriarchs and the prophets. But first by the way I will admonish you, that the holy patriarchs and prophets of God did hold themselves content with the bare revelation and word of God, not raising curious questions about the unity and trinity of God. They did clearly understand that there is one God, the Father of all, the only Saviour and author of all goodness; and that without or beside him there is none other God at all. And they again did evidently see, that the Son of God, that promised Seed, hath all things common with the Father: for they did most plainly hear that he is called the Saviour, and is the Redeemer,
[φοραῖς καὶ τῶν προσώπων πτοιότησί τε καὶ ἰδιότησι διαστέλλεται᾽” πατὴρ γάρ]
[ἐστιν ὁ πατὴρ, καὶ οὐχ υἱὸς, καὶ υἱὸς πάλιν ὃ vids, καὶ οὐ πατὴρ, καὶ πνεῦμα]
[τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἴδιον τῆς θεότητος” καὶ εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν τῆς οὐσίας ἀνακε-]
[φαλαιοῦται λόγον, οὐ τρεῖς ἡμῖν, ἀλλ ἕνα Θεὸν ἐπιγράφουσα. πλὴν εὐδια-]
[στόλως φημὶ δεῖν ἡμᾶς ποιεῖσθαι τὴν πίστιν, οὐχ ἁπλῶς λέγοντας, πιστεύομεν]
[εἰς Θεὸν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξαπλοῦντας τὴν ὁμολογίαν, καὶ ἑκάστῳ προσώπῳ τὸν αὐτὸν]
[τῆς δόξης ἀνατιθέντας λόγον. διαφορὰ yap πίστεως οὐδεμία μὲν ἐν ἡμῖν”]
[οὐ γὰρ μείζων μὲν ἐν ἡμῖν ἡ πίστις ἐν πατρὶ, ἐλάττων δὲ ἐν υἱῷ, ἢ καὶ ἐν τῷ]
[ἁγίῳ πνεύματι” ἀλλ εἷς τε καὶ αὐτὸς τῆς ὁμολογίας ὅρος τε καὶ τρόπος διὰ]
[τριῶν ἐρχόμενος ὀνομάτων ἐν ἴσῳ τῷ μέτρῳ, ἵνα πρὸς ἑνότητα φύσεως καὶ]
[διὰ τούτων ἰοῦσα φαίνηται πάλιν ἡ ἁγία τριὰς, ἀκατηγόρητός τε παντελῶς ἡ]
[περὶ αὐτὴν διαλάμπουσα δόξα, καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἡμετέραις ὁρῷτο ψυχαῖς εἰς πατέρα]
[καὶ εἰς υἱὸν ἡ πίστις, καὶ ὅτε γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, καὶ εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον.---]
[Cyril. Opp. Lib. 1x. in Joann. Tom. 1v. p. 762. Lutet. 1638.] [2 let a man, an error in all the editions.] [3 Christi seculo, Lat.]]
from whom all good things do proceed and are bestowed upon the faithful; whereby now it was easy for them to gather that the Father and the Son are one God, although they differ in properties. For insomuch as they were assuredly certain that the damnable doctrine of the plurality of gods did spring from the devil, they did not worship many but one God, whom notwithstanding they did believe to consist of a trinity of persons. For Moses, the undoubted? servant of God, in the very first verse of his first book saith: “In the beginning (creavit Dii) God created heaven and
oprih. ile joineth here a verb of the singular number to a noun of the plural number, not to make incongruity of speech, but to note the mystery of the Trinity. For the sense is as if he should have said, That God? which doth consist of three persons created heaven and earth. For a little after God, consulting with himself about the making? of man, doth say, “Let us make in our image.” Lo, here he saith, “Let us make,” and not, ‘ Let me make,” or, “1 will make.” And again he saith, “In our image,” and not, “In my image.” But lest any man should think that this consultation was had with the angels, let him hear what God himself doth say in Esay: “I the Lord,” saith he, “make all things, and stretch out the heavens alone of myself,” (that is, of mine own power, without any help or fellow with me,) “and set the earth fast.” Therefore the Father consulted with the Son, by whom also he created the world. And again, lest any man should think, as the Jews object, that these things were after the order and custom of men spoken of God in the plural number for honour’s sake and worship, thou mayest hear what followeth in the end of the third chapter: “Behold, this man is become as one of us, in knowing good and evil” Now here, by enallage he putteth these words, is become,” for “shall become,” or, shall happen:” so that his meaning is as if he should have said, ‘ Behold, the same shall happen to Adam that shall come to one of us,” that is, to the Son; to wit, that he should have trial of good ἶ and evil, that is, that he should feel sundry fortunes, namely sickness, calamities, and death, and (as the proverb is) should feel both sweet and sour; for that is the lot or condition
[1 eximius, Lat.] [2 Deus ille trinus, Lat.—P.] [3 de producendo vel condendo, Lat.]]
of man. But the Son being incarnate for us, not the Father nor the Holy Ghost, was found in shape as a man, and had trial of sundry fortunes and of death: which was foretold to Adam, as it is manifest, for consolation’s sake, and not in the way of mockage. For as the good Lord did with a garment strengthen the body of our first parent? against the unseasonableness of the air, when for his sin he purposed to banish him out of paradise; so did he comfort and cheer up his sorrowful mind with a full example of the Son’s incarnation and suffering. And when he had so armed him in body and soul, he casteth him out of the garden of felicity into a careful and miserable exile.
There are in every place many examples of this matter like unto this. For Abraham saw three; but with them three he talked as with one, and worshipped one. And, “The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrha brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and overthrew those cities.” But lest any man should interpret it and say, The Lord rained from the Lord, that is, from heaven; he himself doth presently add, “From heaven.” For as the Father created all things by the Son, so doth he by him preserve all things, and doth even still by him work all things.
Next after Moses, the notablest prophet, David, in his Psalm doth say: “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth.” So here thou hearest that there is one Lord, in whom is the Word and the Spirit, both distinguished but not separated. For the Lord made the heavens, but by the Word: and the whole furniture of heaven doth stand by the breath of the mouth of the Lord. The same David saith: “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Note, that in another place the same David doth flatly say, that beside the Lord there is none other: and yet here again he doth as plainly say, “The Lord said to my Lord;” meaning the Father, who had placed the Son, which was Davids Lord, at his right hand in heaven.
Out of Esay may be gathered very many testimonies; but the notablest of all the rest is that which Matthew the
[[ protoplastorum, Lat.; parents.] [ὃ Psalmis, Lat.; Psalms, ed. 1577.]]
apostle citeth in these words: “Behold, my Son whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is pleased: I will put my Spirit upon him, &ec.” With this agreeth that which Luke citeth, saying: The Spirit of the Lord upon me, because he hath anointed me, to preach the gospel to the poor hath he sent me, &c.” In these testimonies here thou hast the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. A few out of many; for 1 do not covet! to turn over the whole scriptures of the old Testament.
So then this faith, wherewith we do believe in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, we have received of God himself, being delivered unto us by the prophets and patriarchs, but most evidently of all declared by the Son of God himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, and his holy apostles: whereupon now we do easily gather, wherefore it is that all the sincere bishops or ministers -of the churches, together with the whole church of Christ, have ever since the apostles’ time with so firm a consent maintained and had this faith in honour. It were verily a detestable impiety to leave this catholic and true rule of faith, and to choose and follow one newly invented. There are even at this day extant most godly and learned books of? ecclesiastical writers, wherein they have declared and defended this catholic faith by the holy scriptures against all wicked and blasphemous heretics. There are extant sundry symbols of faith, but all tending to one end, set forth and published in many synodal assemblies of bishops and fathers. There is at this day extant, learned and rehearsed of the universal Church and all the members thereof, both learned and unlearned, and of every sex and age, that creed commonly called the Apostles’ Creed; wherein we profess nothing else than that which we have hitherto declared, namely, that we believe in one God, to wit, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And for because this consent of all the saints concerning this true faith hath been ever since the beginning of the world so sure and firm, it was very well and godly provided of ancient kings and princes, that no man should once dare be so bold either to call into doubt, or with curious questions and disputations to deface or make intricate, this belief concerning the unity and
[1 affectamus, Lat.] [2 multorum, Lat.; of many.]]
trinity of the almighty God? He of old among the Israelites was stricken through and slain, which passed beyond the bounds that the Lord had limited out: and we also have certain appointed bounds about the knowledge of God, which to pass is hurtful unto us; yea, it is punished with assured death.
God grant that we may truly know, and religiously worship, the high, excellent, and mighty God, even so, and such, as himself? is. For hitherto I have, as simply, sincerely, and briefly as I could, discoursed of the ways and means how to know God, which is in substance one, and three in persons: and yet we acknowledge and do freely confess, that in all this treatise hitherto there is nothing spoken worthy of or comparable to his unspeakable majesty. For the eternal, excellent, and mighty God is greater than all majesty, and than all the eloquence of all men; so far am I from thinking that I by my words do in one jot come near unto his excellency. But I do humbly beseech the most merciful Lord, that he will vouchsafe of his inestimable goodness and liberality to enlighten in us all the understanding of our minds with sufficient knowledge of his name, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen.
That God Is the Creator of All Things, And
Governeth All Things by His Providence
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