the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary (Luke i. 35.); secondly, as he was sent by him with special authority, as the King of Israel (John x. 35, 36. i. 49, 50.); thirdly, as he was raised from the dead, out of the womb of the earth unto immortal life, and made heir of all things in his Father's house (Acts xiii. 32, 33.): so must we not doubt but, beside all these, God is the Father of that Son in a more eminent and peculiar manner, as he is and ever was with God, and God (John i. 1.): which shall be demonstrated fully in the second Article, when we come to shew how Christ is the only-begotten Son. And according unto this paternity by way of generation totally divine, in which he who begetteth is God, and he which is begotten the same God, do we believe in God, as the eternal Father of an eternal Son. Which relation is coeval with his essence: so that we are not to imagine one without the other; but as we profess him always God, so must we acknowledge him always Father, and that in a far more proper manner than the same title can be given to any creature. Such is the fluctuant condition of human generation, and of those relations which arise from thence, that he which is this day a son, the next may prove a father, and within the space of one day more, without any real alteration in himself, become neither son nor father, losing one relation by the death of him that begot him, and the other by the departure of him that was begotten by him. But in the Godhead these relations are more proper, because fixed; the Father having never been a son, the Son never becoming father, in reference to the same kind of generation.‡

A farther reason of the propriety of God's paternity appears from this, that he hath begotten a Son of the same nature and essence with himself, not only specifically, but individually, as I shall also demonstrate in the exposition of the second Article. For generation being the production of the like, and de Temp. Serm. 132.

Αμα γάρ ἐστι Θεὸς καὶ ἅμα πατήρ' οὐχ ἐστερίζουσαν ἔχων τοῦ εἶναι τὴν γέννησιν· ἀλλ ̓ ὁμοῦ τοῦ εἶναι πατὴς καὶ ὑφεστὼς καὶ νοούμετας. S. Cyril. Aler. Dial. de Trin. 2. Πατὴς ἀεὶ πατὴς, καὶ οὐκ ἦν καιρὸς ἐν ᾧ οὐκ ἦν i maThe warhe. S. Epiphan. Hares. Ixii. §. 3. Sicut nunquam fuit non Deus, ita nunquam fuit non Pater, a quo Filius natus.' Gennad. de Eccles, dogm. c. 1. 'Credimus in Deum, eundem confitemur Patrem, ut eundem semper habuisse Filium nos credamus.' Chrysol. Serm. 59. Inest Deo pietas, est in Deo semper affectio, paternitas permanet apud illum; semper ergo Filium fuisse credas, ne Patrem semper non fuisse blasphemes.' Id. Serm. 62. Advertite, quod cum Dei Patris nomen in confessione conjungit, ostendit quod non ante Deus esse cœperit et postea Pater, sed sine ullo initio et Deus semper et Pater est.' S. August.

E

Deus solus proprie verus est Pater, qui sine initio et fine Pater est; non enim aliquando cœpit esse quod Pater est, sed semper Pater est, semper habens Filium ex se genitum.' Faustinus lib. contra Arianos. Ἐπὶ τῆς θεότητος μόνης ὁ πατὴς κυρίως ὁ πατήρ ἐστι, καὶ ὁ υἱὸς κυρίως υἱός ἐστι, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτων δὲ μόνων ἕστηκε τὸ πατὴς ἀεὶ πατὴρ εἶναι, καὶ τὸ υἱὸς ἀεὶ υἱὸς εἶναι. S. Athanas. Orat. i. contra Arianos, §. 21.

† Ἐπὶ μόνης τῆς θεότητος τὸ πατὴς καὶ τὸ υἱὸς ἕστηκε καὶ ἔστιν ἀεί· τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἀνθρώ πων εἰ πατὴς λέγεταί τις, ἀλλ ̓ ἑτέρου γέγονεν υἱὸς, καὶ εἰ υἱὸς λέγεται, ἀλλ ̓ ἑτέρου λέγεται πατής. ὥστε ἐπ' ἀνθρώπων μὴ σώζεσθαι κυρίως τὸ πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ ὄνομα. S. Athanas. tom. 1. Πατὴρ κυρίως, ὅτι μὴ καὶ υἱός ὥσπερ καὶ υἱὸς κυρίως, ὅτι μὴ καὶ πατήρ. τὰ γὰρ ἡμέ τερα οὐ κυρίως, ὅτι καὶ ἄμφω. δ. Greg Naz. Orat. 35.

that likeness being the similitude of substance; where is the nearest indentity of nature, there must be also the most proper generation, and consequently he which generateth the most proper father. If therefore man, who by the benediction of God given unto him at his first creation in these words, " Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth,” (Gen. i. 28.) begetteth a son "in his own likeness, after his image;" (Gen. v. 3.) that is, of the same human nature, of the same substance with him, (which if he did not, he should not according to the benediction multiply himself or man at all,) with which similitude of nature many accidental disparities may consist, if by this act of generation he obtaineth the name of father, because, and in regard, of the similitude of his nature in the son, how much more properly must that name belong unto God himself, who hath begotten a Son of a nature and essence so totally like, so totally the same, that no accidental disparity can imaginably consist with that identity?

That God is the proper and eternal Father of his own eternal Son is now declared: what is the eminency or excellency of this relation followeth to be considered. In general then we may safely observe, that in the very name of father there is something of eminence which is not in that of son;t and some kind of priority we must ascribe unto him whom we call the first, in respect of him whom we term the second person; and as we cannot but ascribe it, so must we endeavour to preserve it.‡

Now that privilege or priority consisteth not in this,§ that the essence or attributes of the one are greater than the essence or attributes of the other (for we shall hereafter demonstrate them to be the same in both); but only in this, that the Father hath that essence of himself, the Son by communication from the Father. From whence he acknowledgeth that he is "from him," (John vii. 29.) that he "liveth by him," (John vi. 57.) that the "Father gave him to have life in himself," (John v. 26.) and generally referreth all things to him, as received from him. Wherefore in this sense some of the ancients have not stuck to interpret those words," the Father is greater than I," (John xiv. 28.)|| of Christ as the Son of God, as the second person

* Etiamsi Filius hominis homo in quibusdam similis, in quibusdam sit dissimilis Patri; tamen quia ejusdem substantiæ est, negari verus Filius non potest, et quia verus est Filius, negari ejusdem substantiæ non potest.' S. August. 1. iii. cont. Mar. c. 15. Vide Tho. Sum. p. 1. quæst. 33. art. 2. ad quart.

† Αὐτὸ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς μεῖζόν ἐστι τοῦ vi. Syn. Sardic. Theod. 1. ii. c. 8. 'Insinuatur nobis in Patre auctoritas, in filio nativitas.' S. August.

† Τὸ μὲν ἀγεννήτω πατρὶ οἰκεῖον ἀξίωμα φυλακτέων, μηδένα τοῦ εἶναι αὐτῷ τὸν αἴτιον

Xiyorras. Alex, apud Theod. 1. i. c. 4.

§ Ἡμεῖς δὲ κατὰ μὲν τὴν τῶν αἰτίων προς τὰ ἐξ αὐτῶν σχέσιν, προτετάχθαι τοῦ υἱοῦ τὸν πατέρα φαμέν, κατὰ δὲ τῆς φύσεως διαφορὰν οὐκέτι. S. Basil. contra Eunom. 1. i. §. 20.

|| Μείζων, εἶπεν, οὐ μεγέθει τινὶ, οὐδὲ χρόνῳ, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ πατέρος γέννησιν. S. Athanas. contra Arianos, 1. i. §. 58. Λείπεται τοίνυν κατὰ τὸν τῆς αἰτίας λόγον ἐγὼ ταῦθα τὸ μεῖζον λέγεσθαι. ἐπειδὴ γὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡ ἀρχὴ τῷ υἱῷ, κατὰ τοῦτο μείζων ὁ πατὴς, ὡς αἴτιος καὶ ἀρχή. διὸ καὶ ὁ κύριος εἶπεν, Ο πατήρ μου μείζων μου ἐστὶ, καθὸ πατὴρ δηλονότι. τὸ δὲ πατὴρ τί ἄλλο σημαίνει, ἢ οὐχὶ

in the blessed Trinity; but still with reference not unto his essence, but his generation, by which he is understood to have his being from the Father, who only hath it of himself, and is the original of all power and essence in the Son. "I can of mine own self do nothing," (John v. 30.) saith our Saviour, because he is not of himself;* and whosoever receives his being, must receive. his power from another, especially where the essence and the power are undeniably, the same, as in God they are. "The Son then can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do," because he hath no power of himself but what the Father gave and being he gave him

66

all the power, as communicating his entire and undivided essence, therefore what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise," (John v. 19.) by the same power by which the Father worketh, because he had received the same Godhead in which the Father subsisteth. There is nothing more intimate and essential to any thing than the life thereof, and that in nothing so conspicuous as in the Godhead, where life and truth are so inseparable, that there can be no living God but the true, no true God but the living. "The Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting King," saith the prophet Jeremy (x. 10.): and St. Paul putteth the Thessalonians in mind, how they "turned from idols to serve the living and true God." (1 Thess. i. 9.) Now life is otherwise in God than in the creatures: in him originally, in them derivatively; in him as in the fountain of absolute perfection, in them by way of dependence and participation; our life is in him, but his is in himself: and as "the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;" (John v. 26.)* both the same life, both in themselves, both in the same degree, as the one, so the other; but only with this difference, the Father giveth it, and the Son receiveth it.+ From whence he professeth of himself, " that the living Father sent him, and that he liveth by the Father." (John vi. 57.)‡

nisi quod viderit Patrem facientem: quia de
Patre est totus Filius, et tota substantia
et potentia ejus ex illo est qui genuit eum.'
Id. Truct. in loan. 21. §. 2. Et primum
Filium cognosce, cum dicitur, Non potest
Filius a se facere quicquam, nisi quod viderit
Patrem facientem.
Habes nativitatem
Filii, quæ ab se nihil potest facere nisi
videat. In eo autem quod a se nibil
potest, innascibilitatis adimit errorem.
Ab se enim non potest posse nativitas.'
S. Hilar. de Trin. 1. vii. c. 21. Dum
non a se facit, ad id quod agit secundum
nativitatem sibi Pater auctor est.' Ibid. 1.
xỉ. c. 12. 'Auctorem discrevit cum ait,
Non potest a se facere: obedientiam signi-
ficat cum addit: Nisi quod viderit patrem
facientem.' Id. de Syn. c. 75.

Sicut habet Pater vitam in semetipso, sic dedit et Filio vitam habere in semetipso: ut hoc solum intersit inter Patrem et Filium, quia Pater habet vitam in semetipso quam nemo ei dedit, Filius autem habet vitam in semetipso quam Pater dedit.' S. August. Tract. 19. in loan. §. 11. Incommutabilis est vita Filii, sicut et Patris, et tamen de Patre est : et inseparabilis est operatio Patris et Filii; sed tamen ita operari Filio de illo est de quo ipse est, id est, de Patre.' Id. de Trin. 1. ii. c. 1.

+ Sicut habet, dedit; qualem habet, talem dedit; quantam habet, tantam dedit. Id. contra Maxim. 1. iii. c. 14.

Ergo quod dicitur dedit Filio, tale est ac si diceretur, genuit Filium; generando enim dedit. Quomodo enim dedit ut esset, sic dedit ut vita esset, et sic dedit ut in semetipso vita esset.' Id. Tract. 22. in loan. §. 10. Tali confessione originis suæ indiscretæ naturæ perfecta nativitas est. Quod enim in utroque vita est, id in utroque significatur essentia; et vita quæ generatur ex vita, id est, essentia quæ de essentia nascitur, dum non dissimilis nascitur, scilicet, quia vita ex vita est, tenet in se indissimilem naturam originis suæ, quia et natæ et gignentis essentiæ, id est, vitæ quæ habetur et data est, similitudo non discrepet.' S. Hilar.de Synod. advers. Arianos, c. 16. Quia ergo apparet vita Patris hoc esse quod ipse est; sicut habet vitam in se, sic dedit; sic dedit Filio habere vitam, id est, sic est Esse Filii, sicut Esse Patris.' Vigil. Taps. Disput, in Biblioth. Patr. Lat. t. v. par. iii. p. 699. In vita naturæ et essentia significatio est, quæ sicut habetur, ita data esse docetur ad habendum.' S. Hilar. de Synod. c. 19.

Propter Patrem vivit Filius, quod ex Patre Filius est: propter Patrem, quod eructatum est Verbum ex Patris corde, quod a Patre processit, quod ex paterno generatus est utero, quod fons Pater Filii est, quod radix Pater Filii est. S. Ambros. de Fide, 1. iv. c. 5. fin.

We must not therefore so far endeavour to involve ourselves in the darkness of this mystery, as to deny that glory which is clearly due unto the Father; whose pre-eminence undeniably consisteth in this, that he is God not of any other, but of himself, and that there is no other person who is God, but is God of him. It is no diminution to the Son, to say, he is from another, for his very name imports as much; but it were a diminution to the Father to speak so of him: and there must be some pre-eminence, where there is place for derogation. What the Father is, he is from none; what the Son is, he is from him: what the first is, he giveth; what the second is, he receiveth. The first is a Father indeed by reason of his Son, but he is not God by reason of him; whereas the Son is not so only in regard of the Father, but also God by reason of the same.

Upon this pre-eminence (as I conceive) may safely be grounded the congruity of the divine mission. We often read that Christ was sent, from whence he bears the name of an "Apostle" (Heb. iii. 1.) himself, as well as those whom he therefore named so, because as the "Father sent him, so sent he them;" (John xx. 21.) the Holy Ghost is also said to be sent, sometimes by the Father, sometimes by the Son: but we never read that the Father was sent at all, there being an authority in that name which seems inconsistent with this mission. In the parable, "a certain householder which planted

'Pater de nullo Patre, Filius de Deo Patre: Pater quod est, a nullo est; quod autem Pater est, propter Filium est. Filius vero et quod Filius est, propter Patrem est, et quod est, a Patre est.' S. Angust. Tract. 19. in Ioan. §. 13. • Filium dicimus Deum de Deo; Patrem autem Deum tantum, non de Deo. Unde manifestum est, quod Filius habeat alium de quo sit, et cui Filius est; Pater auten Don Filium de quo sit habeat, sed cui Pater sit. Omnis enim filius de patre est quod est, et patri filius est: nullus autem pater de filio est quod est.' Id. de Trin. L. ii. c. 1. Filius non hoc tantum habet nascendo, ut Filius sit, sed omnino ut sit.' Ibid. l. v. c. 15. Filius non tantum ut sit Filius quod relative dicitur, sed omnino ut sit, ipsam substantiam nascendo habet.' Ibid. c. 15. Pater non habet Patrem de quo sit; Filius autem de Patre est ut sit, atque ut illi coæternus sit.' Ibid. 1. vi. c. 10. Ab ipso, inquit, sum; quia Filius de Patre, et quicquid est filius, de illo est cujus est filius. Ideo Dominum Jesum dicimus Deum de Deo, Patrem non dicimus Deum de Deo, sed tantum Deum; et dicimus Dominum Jesum lumen de lumine, Patrem non dicimus lumen de umine, sed tantum lumen. Ad hoc ergo pertinet quod dixit, Ab ipso sum.' Id. Tract. 31. in Ioan. §. 4. Pater non est si non

S.

habeat Filium, et Filius non est si non
habeat Patrem: sed tamen Filius Deus
de Patre, Pater autem Deus, sed non de
Filio: Pater Filii, non Deus de Filio;
ille autem Filius Patris, et Deus de Patre.'
Id. Tract. 29. in loan. §. 5. Hoc tamen
inter Patrem et Filium interest, quia Pater
a nullo hoc accepit, Filius autem per ge-
nerationem omnia Patris accepit.'
Ambros. in Epist. ad Eph. c. 2.
Est ergo
Deus Pater omnium, institutor, et creator,
solus originem nesciens.' Novat. de
Trinit. c. 31. whereas he speaks after of
the Son Est ergo Deus, sed in hoc ip-
sum genitus, ut esset Deus.' Pater est
Deus de quo Filius est Deus, de quo
autem Pater nullus est Deus.' S. August.
Epist. 66. al. 170.

Pater enim solus nusquam legitur missus.' S. August. 1. ii. de Trin. c. 5.

Solus Pater non legitur missus, quia solus non habet auctorem a quo genitus sit, vel a quo procedat. Et ideo non propter naturæ diversitatem, sed propter ipsam auctoritatem, solus Pater non dicitur missus: non enim splendor aut fervor ignem, sed ignis mittit sive splendorem sive fervorem.' S. August. Serm. contra Arian. c. 4. Qui mittit, potestatem suam in eo quod mittit, ostendit." S. Hilar. de Trin. 1. viii. c. 19.