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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.)+

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

commutabilis 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. l. ii. c. 1.

'Sicut habet, dedit; qualem habet, talem dedit; quantam habet, tantam dedit.' Id. contra Maxim. I. iii. c. 14. 'Ergo quod dicitur dédit 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 Ioan. §. 10. ‘Tali confessione orignis 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 essentiæ 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

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fons Pater Filii est, quod radix Pater Filii est.' S. Ambros. de Fide, 1. iv. c. 5. fin.

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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. August. 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 autem non 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. 1. ii. c. 1. 'Filius non hoc tantum habet nascendo, ut Filius sit, sed omnino ut sit.' Ibid. 1. 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. l. vi. c. 10. 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 lumine, sed tantum lumen. Ad hoc ergo pertinet quod dixit, Ab ipso sum.' Id. Tract. 31. in Ioan. §. 4. Pater non est si non habeat Filium, et Filius non est si non habeat Patrem: sed tamen Filius Deus de Patre, Pater autem Deus, sed non de Fi

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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 a vineyard, first sent his servants to the husbandmen, and again other servants, but last of all he sent unto them his son:" (Matt. xxi. 33, &c.) it had been inconsistent even with the literal sense of an historical parable, as not at all consonant to the rational customs of men, to have said, that last of all the son sent his father to them. So God, placing man in the vineyard of his Church, first sent his servants the prophets, by whom he "spake at sundry times and in divers manners, but in the last days he sent his Son :" (Heb. i. 1, 2.) and it were as incongruous and inconsistent with the divine generation, that the Son should send the Father into the world. "As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father," (John vi. 57.) saith our Saviour; intimating, that by whom he lived, by him he was sent, and therefore sent by him, because he lived by him, laying his generation as the proper ground of his mission. Thus he which begetteth

sendeth, and he which is begotten is sent.§

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lio: Pater Filii, non Deus de Filio; ille autem Filius Patris, et Deus de Patre.' Id. Tract. 29. in Ioan. §. 5. Hoc tamen inter Patrem et Filium interest, quia Pater a nullo hoc accepit, Filius autem per generationem omnia Patris accepit.' S. 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 ipsum 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.

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

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"For I am from

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.

'Si voluisset Deus Pater per subjectam creaturam visibiliter apparere, absurdissime tamen aut a Filio, quem genuit, aut a Spiritu Sancto, qui de illo procedit, missus diceretur.' S. August. de Trin. lib. iv. cap. ult.

§ Filius est igitur a Patre missus, non Pater a Filio; quia Filius est a Patre natus, non Pater a Filio.' Fulgent. fragm. 1. viii. contra Fabianum, in Collect. Theodul. de S. S.

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him, and he hath sent me," (John vii. 29.) saith the Son: from whom I received my essence by communication, from him also received I this commission. As therefore it is more worthy to give than to receive, to send than to be sent; so in respect of the Sonship there is some priority in the divine paternity: from whence divers of the ancients* read that place of St. John with this addition, "the Father (which sent me) is greater than I." (John xiv. 28.) He then is that God who "sent forth his Son, made of a woman, that God who hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father." (Gal. iv. 4. 6.) So that the authority of sending is in the Father: which therefore ought to be acknowledged, because upon this mission is founded the highest testimony of his love to man; for "herein is love (saith St. John), not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John iv. 10.)

Again, the dignity of the Father will farther yet appear from the order of the persons in the blessed Trinity, of which he is undoubtedly the first. For although in some passages of the apostolical discourses the Son may first be named (as in that of St. Paul, "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all;" (2 Cor. xiii. 14.) the latter part of which is nothing but an addition unto his constant benediction); and in others the Holy Ghost precedes the Son (as "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord; and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all:" 1 Cor. xii. 4—6.) yet where the three Persons are barely enumerated, and delivered unto us as the rule of faith,† there that order is observed which is proper to them; witness the form of baptism, In the name of the Fa

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autem Christianus ignorat quod Pater miserit, missusque sit Filius? Non enim genitorem ab eo quem genuit, sed genitum a genitore mitti oportebat.' S. August. contra Maximin. lib. iii. c. 14. Ubi audis, Ipse me misit, noli intelligere naturæ dissimilitudinem, sed generantis auctoritatem.' Id. Tract. 31. in Ioan. §. 4. 'Evταῦθα οὖν ὁ ἀποστείλας καὶ ὁ ἀποστελλόμενος, ἵνα δείξῃ τῶν πάντων ἀγαθῶν μίαν εἶναι τὴν πηγὴν, τουτέστι τὸν παTipa. S. Epiphan. Hæres. Ixix. §. 54. Hence the language of the Schools: 'Missio importat processionem originis:' as Thom. Aquin. 10. q. 43. art. 1. ad prim. or: auctoritatem Principii:' as Durand. 1. i. dist. 15. q. 1.

Λέγουσι γὰρ τὸ ῥητὸν τοῦ Εὐαγγε

λίου κακῶς ἑρμηνεύοντες, ὅτι ὁ ἀποστεί λας με πατὴρ μείζων μου ἐστὶ, saith Epiphanius of the Arians; and answering, grants in these words which follow : καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ὁ ἀποστείλας με πατὴρ, φάσκει, καὶ οὐχ, ὁ κτίσας με. Hæres. Ixix. §. 53. To the same purpose Athanasius de Hum. Nat. susc. §. 4. and Cyril Thesaur. log. xi. p. 85. ed. Aubert. 1638. read it, ò πέμvas pe πατήρ. And St. Basil makes Eunomius read it so, in his first book against him, c. 21. and with that addition answers it. So the second confession of the council of Sirmium, both in the Latin original, and Greek translation. S. Hilar. de Syn. §. 11. S. Athanas. de Synod. §. 28. et Socrat. 1. ii. c. 30.

† Παραδιδοὺς ὁ κύριος τὴν σωτήριον

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ther, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: which order hath been perpetuated in all confessions of faith, and is for ever inviolably to be observed.* For that which is not instituted or invented by the will or design of man, but founded in the nature of things themselves,† is not to be altered at the pleasure of man. Now this priority doth properly and naturally result from the divine paternity; so that the Son must necessarily be second unto the Father, from whom he receiveth his origination, and the Holy Ghost unto the Son. Neither can we be thought to want a sufficient foundation for this priority of the first person of the Trinity, if we look upon the numerous testimonies of the ancient doctors of the Church, who have not stuck to call the Father the origin,§ the

πίστιν τοῖς μαθητευομένοις τῷ λόγῳ, τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῷ υἱῷ συνάπτει τὸ πνεῦ μα τὸ ἅγιον. S. Basil. Epist. 80.

̓Ακίνητον καὶ ἀπαρεγχείρητον φυλάσσειν προσήκει τὴν ἀκολουθίαν, ἣν ἐξ αὐτῆς τοῦ κυρίου τῆς φωνῆς παρελάβομεν, εἰπόντος, Πορευθέντες μαθητεύσατε πάντα, &c. S. Basil. Epist. 78.

† Ἔστι τάξεως εἶδος οὐκ ἐκ τῆς παρ' ἡμῶν θέσεως συνιστάμενον, ἀλλ ̓ αὐτῇ τῇ κατὰ φύσιν ἀκολουθίᾳ συμβαῖνον, ὡς τῷ πυρὶ πρὸς τὸ φῶς ἐστὶ τὸ ἐξ αὐτοῦ· ἐν τούτοις γὰρ πρότερον τὸ αἴτιον λέγομεν, δεύτερον δὲ τὸ ἐξ αὐτοῦ. πῶς, οὖν εὔλογον ἀρνεῖσθαι τὴν τάξιν ἐφ ̓ ὧν ἐστὶ πρότερον καὶ δεύτερον, οὐ κατὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν θέσιν, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν αὐτοῖς ἐνυπαρχούσης ακολουθίας ; S. Basil. advers. Eunom. I. i. §. 20.

† Δευτερεύει μὲν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ πατρὸς τῷ αἰτίῳ· δευτερεύει δὲ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ υἱοῦ κατὰ τὸν τῆς αἰτίας λόγον. S. Basil. apud Georg. Pachym. Hist. l. 7. Ὡς μὲν γὰρ υἱὸς τάξει μὲν δεύτερος τοῦ πατρὸς, ὅτι ἀπ ̓ ἐκείνου, καὶ ἀξιώματι, ὅτι ἀρχὴ καὶ αἰτία τοῦ εἶναι αὐτοῦ ὁ πατὴρ, καὶ ὅτι δι' αὐτοῦ ἡ πρόοδος καὶ προσαγωγὴ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν πατέρα, φύσει δὲ οὐκέτι δεύτερος, διότι ἡ θεότης ἐν ἑκατέρῳ μία· οὕτω δηλονότι καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, εἰ καὶ ὑποβέβηκε τὸν υἱὸν τῇ τε τάξει καὶ τῷ ἀξιώματι, οὐκέτ ̓ ἂν εἰκότως ὡς ἀλλο τρίας ὑπάρχον φύσεως. S. Basil. contra Eunom. I. iii. §. 1. Si unum Deum singulariter nominamus, excludentes Vocabulum secundæ personæ, furorem ejus hæresis approbamus quæ ipsum asserit Patrem passum.' Phœbad, contra Arian. p. 111. “Ili cui est in Filio secunda persona, est et tertia in Spiritu Sancto.' Ibid. p. 112. 'Sic alius a Filio Spiritus, sicut a Patre Filius: sic tertia in Spiritu, ut in Filio secunda persona.' Ibid. 'Omne quod

prodit ex aliquo, secundum sit ejus necesse est de quo prodit, non tamen est separatum. Secundus autem ubi est, duo sunt; et tertius ubi est, tres sunt: tertius enim est Spiritus a Deo et Filio.' Tertull. advers. Praxeam, c. 8. 4 Sic alium a se Paracletum, quomodo et nos a Patre alium Filium; ut tertium gradum ostenderet in Paracleto, sicut nos secundum in Filio.' Ibid. c. 9. 'Hic interim acceptum a Patre munus effudit Spiritum Sanctum, tertium numen divinitatis, et tertium nomen majestatis." Ibid. c. 30. Ὁ ἐξ αἰτίου γεγονὼς υἱὸς, δεύτερος οὗ ἐστὶν υἱὸς καθέστηκε, παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τὸ εἶναι καὶ τοιόσδε εἶναι εἰληφώς. Euseb. Dem. Evang. l. iv. c. 3. • Et quidem confessione communi secunda quidem ab auctore nativitas est, quia ex Deo est; non tamen separabilis ab auctore, quia in quantum sensus noster intelligentiam tentabit excedere, in tantum necesse est etiam generatio excedat.' S. Hilar. de Trinit. 1. xii. c. 51, Tua enim res est, et unigenitus tuus est filius, ex te Deo Patre Deus verus, et a te in naturæ tuæ unitate genitus, post te ita confitendus, ut tecum, quia æternæ originis suæ es auctor æternus. Nam dum ex te est, secundus a te est. Ibid. c. 54. This by the Schools is called ordo naturæ, ordo originis, ordo naturalis præsuppositionis. Which being so generally acknowledged by the fathers, when we read in the Athanasian Creed, ' In this Trinity none is afore or after other,' we must understand it of the priority of perfection or time.

§ Μικρῶν γὰρ ἂν εἴη καὶ ἀναξίων ἀρχὴ, μᾶλλον δὲ μικρῶς τε καὶ ἀναξίως, μὴ θεότητος ὢν ἀρχὴ καὶ ἀγαθότητος

cause,* the author, the root, the fountain, and the head of the Son, or the whole Divinity.

τῆς ἐν υἱῷ καὶ πνεύματι θεωρουμένης. S. Greg. Naz. Orat. 1. et 29. My χρονικὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ υἱοῦ καταδέξῃ τινὸς λέγοντος, ἀλλὰ ἄχρονον ἀρχὴν γίνωσκε τὸν πατέρα ἀρχὴ γὰρ υἱοῦ ἄχρονος, ἀκατάληπτος. S. Cyril. Hier. Catech. 11. ̓Αρχὴ μὲν οὖν πατρὸς οὐδεμία, ἀρχὴ δὲ τοῦ υἱοῦ ὁ πατήρ. S. Basil. contra Eunom. 1. ii. §. 12. Φαίνεται λοιπὸν ὁ μακάριος εὐαγγελιστὴς σαφές στερον ἡμῖν ἑρμηνεύων τὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς ὄνομα· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἕτερον, ὡς εἰκὸς, τὴν ἀρχὴν εἶναί φησιν, ἢ αὐτὸν τὸν Πατέρα, ἀφ' οὗπερ ὁ ζῶν ἔλαμψε Λόγος, καθάπερ ἐξ ἡλίου τὸ φῶς. οὐκοῦν ἀρχὴ τῷ Υἱῷ Πατήρ. S. Cyril. Alex. Thesaur. c. 32. Cum dixisset, quem mittet Pater, addidit, in nomine meo : non tamen dixit, quem mittet Pater a me, quemadmodum dixit, quem ego mittam vobis a Patre; viz. ostendens quod totius Divinitatis, vel, si melius dicitur, Deitatis, principium Pater est.' S. August. de Trin. I. 4. c. 20. 'Unum principium ad creaturam dicitur Deus, non duo vel tria principia. Ad se autem invicem in Trinitate, si gignens ad id quod gignitur principium est, Pater ad Filium principium est, quia gignit eum.' S. August. de Trin. 1. 5. c. 14. • Pater ergo principium Deitatis.' Gennad. de Eccles. Dogmat. c. 1. In this sense the Greek fathers used ἄναρχος as proper to the Father (in the same notion with ἀγέννητος, with relation to the A principium productionis”), and depied it to the Son : Ὁ δὲ υἱὸς, ἐὰν μὲν ὡς αἴτιον τὸν πατέρα λαμβάνης, οὐκ ἄναρχος, ἀρχὴ γὰρ υἱοῦ ὁ πατὴρ ὡς αἴτιος· ἐὰν δὲ τὴν ἀπὸ χρόνου νοῆς ἀρχὴν, καὶ ἄναρχος. S. Greg. Naz. Orat. 29. Εἴ τις ἀγέννητον καὶ ἄναρχον λέγοι τὸν υἱόν· ὡς δύο ἄναρχα, καὶ δύο ἀγέννητα λέγων, καὶ δύο ποιῶν θεοὺς, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω. Synod. Sirm. Conf. prim. thus first translated into Latin: 'Si quis innascibilem et sine initio dicat Filium, tanquam duo sine principio, et duo innascibilia, et duo innata dicens, duos faciat deos, Anathema sit.' Hilar. de Synod. art. xxvi. In which sense the Platonists did understand ἀγέννητος of God: Ὥστε οὐκ ἀγαθὸν τῇ λεγομένῃ ὕλῃ τὸ κοσμεῖσθαι, εἴπερ ἀγέννητος εἴη μὴ ἀπὸ χρόνου μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ αἰτιῶν, καθ' ὃ σημαινόμενον καὶ τὸν θεὸν ἀγέννητον λέγομεν.

S.

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Hierocles de provid. p. 8. ed. Lond. 1655. And the Latins attributing the term principium to the Son, do it with the addition of de or ex principio. Pater principium non de principio, Filius principium de principio.' S. August. contra Maxim. 1.3. c. 17. Principium ex principio et unum est, et initio caret.' Faustus Rheg. Epist. 16. Ex ore, inquit, (Eccl. ii. 4.) Altissimi prodivi; hæc est enim nativitas perfecta sermonis, hoc est principium sine principio; hic est ortus habens initium in nativitate, in statu non habens.' Phœbad. contra Arian. p. 94. Sicut in creaturis invenitur principium primum et principium secundum; ita in personis divinis invenitur principium non de principio, quod est Pater, et principium a principio, quod est Filius.' Tho. Aquin. 1. q. 33. art. 4. And to this all the Schoolmen writing on his Sums agree, as all upon the Sentences. 1. Dist. 29.

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Αἰτία ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ φύσις, καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ, καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, καὶ τῆς κτίσεως πάσης. S. Athanas. Dissert. Orthod. et Anom. Dial. ii. §. 23. Αλλά τίς ἐστι δύναμις ἀγεννήτως καὶ ἀνάρχως ὑφεστῶσα, ἥτις ἐστὶν αἰτία τῆς ἁπάντων ὄντων αἰτίας· ἐκ γὰρ τοῦ πατρὸς ὁ υἱὸς, δι ̓ οὗ τὰ πάντα. S. Basil. Epist. 43. And upon that place," this day have I begotten thee;” ̓Αλλὰ τὸ μὲν, γεγέν νηκα, τὴν αἰτίαν ἀφ ̓ ἧς ἔχει ἀρχὴν τοῦ εἶναι σημαίνει. Id. contra Eunom. I. ii. §. 17. Πῶς οὐδεμίαν διαφορὰν καταλείπει, οὐδὲ τὴν ἐν αἰτίοις πρὸς τὰ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐνυπάρχουσαν; Id. l. i. §. 23. Πρὸς τὸ, ὅτι ἐγὼ ἦλθον ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ πατρός μου, εἰδέναι χρὴ, ὅτι ἀρχὴν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ αἰτίαν ἐπιγραφόμενος τὸν πατέρα ταῦτα λέγει. id. Epist. 64. Διαφορὰν τῶν ὑποστάσεων ἐν μόναις ταῖς τρισὶν ἰδιότησι, τῇ ἀναιτίῳ καὶ πατρικῇ, καὶ αἰτιατῇ υϊϊκῇ, καὶ τῇ αἰτιατῇ καὶ ἐκπορευτῇ, ἐπιγιγνώσκομεν. Damasc. 1. 4. c. 5. Τὸν πατέρα τοῦ λόγου καὶ τῆς σοφίας, καὶ προβολέα τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου, τὴν πρώτην αἰτίαν καὶ ἀρχήν φαμεν τῆς θεότητος εἶναι. Zachar. Mitylen. p. 215. ed. Barth. 1655. And although Thomas Aquinas, and Eugenius bishop of Rome in the definition of the Council of Florence, have observed that the Greeks in this case do use the term causa, but

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