there were more than one which were from none, it could not be denied but there were more gods than one. Wherefore this origination* in the divine paternity hath anciently been looked upon as the assertion of the unity: and therefore the Son and Holy Ghost have been believed to be but one God with the Father, because both from the Father, who is one, and so the union† of them. Secondly, It is necessary thus to believe in the Father, because our salvation is propounded to us by an access unto the Father. We are all gone away and fallen from God, and we must be brought to him again. There is no other notion under which we can be brought to God as to be saved, but the notion of the Father; and there is no other person can bring us to the Father, but the Son of that Father: for, as the apostle teacheth us, "through him we have an access by one Spirit unto the Father." (Eph. ii. 18.) Having thus described the true nature and notion of the divine paternity, in all the several degrees and eminences belonging to it, I may now clearly deliver, and every particular Christian understand what it is he speaks, when he makes his confession in these words, I believe in God the Father: by which I conceive him to express thus much : As I am assured that there is an infinite and independent Being, which we call a God, and that it is impossible there should be more infinities than one: so I assure myself that this one God is the Father of all things, especially of all men and angels, so far as the mere act of creation may be styled generation; that he is farther yet, and in a more peculiar manner, the Father of all those whom he regenerateth by his geniti; atque ideo duos Deos reddidisset Christus, si sine origine esset ut Pater inventus; et ipse principium omnium ut Pater, duo faciens principia, duos ostendisset nobis consequenter et Deos, &c.' Novatian. de Trin. c. 31. Ὥσπερ δὲ μία ἀρχὴ, καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο Elg Jeóc. S. Athun. Orat. iv. §. 1. Tηooîro δ ̓ ἂν, ὡς ὁ ἐμὸς λόγος, εἷς μὲν Θεὸς, εἰς ἓν αἴτιον καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος ȧvapepoμévov. S. Gregor. Naz. Orat. 29. Ὅπου γὰρ μία μὲν ἡ ἀρχὴ, ἓν δὲ τὸ ἐξ αὐτῆς, καὶ ἓν μὲν τὸ ἀρχέτυπον, μία δὲ ἡ εἰκὼν, ὁ τῆς ἑνότητος λόγος οὐ diapbeiperai. S. Basil. Homil. 26. 'Patri suo originem suam debens, discordiam divinitatis de numero duorum Deorum facere non potuit, qui ex illo qui est unus Deus originem nascendo contraxit.' Novatian. de Trin. c. 31. Confitemur non Deos duos, sed Deum unum, neque per id non et Deum Dei Filium, est enim ex Deo Deus; non innascibiles duos, quia auctoritate innascibilitatis Deus unus est, quia Est enim Deus Ob id unas Contra vero † Φύσις δὲ τοῖς τρισὶ μία, θεός· ἕνωσις δὲ ὁ πατὴρ, ἐξ οὗ καὶ πρὸς ὃν ἀνάγεται Tà¿ñç. S. Greg. Naz. Orat. 32. Unto which words those of Theod. Abucara have relation: Θεὸς δὲ ἐξαιρέτως λέγεται, ἐπειδὴ ἡ ἕνωσις, ἤτοι ἀνάπτυξις καὶ ἀνακεφαλαίωσις,τῆς τριάδος ὁ πατήρ ἐστιν, ὡς εἶπεν ὁ Θεολόγος. Opusc. 42. Spirit, whom he adopteth in his Son, as heirs and coheirs with him, whom he crowneth with the reward of an eternal inheritance in the heavens. But beyond and far above all this, besides his general offspring and peculiar people, "to whom he hath given power to become the sons of God;" (John i. 12.) I believe him the Father in a more eminent and transcendent manner, of one singular and proper Son, his own, his beloved, his only-begotten Son: whom he hath not only begotten of the blessed Virgin, by the coming of the Holy Ghost, and the overshadowing of his power; not only sent with special authority as the King of Israel; not only raised from the dead, and made heir of all things in his house; but antecedently to all this, hath begotten him by way of eternal generation in the same Divinity and Majesty with himself: by which paternity, coeval to the Deity, I acknowledge him always Father, as much as always God. And in this relation, I profess that eminency and priority, that as he is the original Cause of all things as created by him, so is he the fountain of the Son begotten of him, and of the Holy Ghost proceeding from him. I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER Almighty. AFTER the relation of God's paternity, immediately followeth the glorious attributes of his omnipotency :* that as those in heaven in their devotions, so we on earth in our confessions might acknowledge that "Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come;" (Rev. iv. 8.) that in our solemn meetings of the Church of God, with the joint expression and concurring language of the congregation, we might some way imitate that "voice of a great multitude, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Allelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." (Rev. xix. 6.)+ This notion of Almighty in the CREED, must certainly be interpreted according to the sense which the original word beareth in the New Testament; and that cannot be better understood than by the Greek writers or interpreters of the Old, especially when the notion itself belongs unto the Gospel and the Law indifferently. Now the word which we translate Almighty, the most ancient Greek interpreters used sometimes For the oldest and shortest Creed had always this attribute expressed in it. Insomuch that Παντοκράτωρ was ordinarily by the ancients taken for the Father, as Origen, adv. Celsum, 1. vii. §. 10. Εχρὴν δὲ αὐτὸνἐκθέσθαι αὐταῖς λέξεσι τὰς προφητείας εἶτ' ἐν αἷς θεὸς Παντοκράτωρ ἐπηγγέλ λετο εἶναι ὁ λέγων, εἴτ ̓ ἐν αἷς ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, εἴτ ̓ ἐν αἷς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον λέγον εἶναι ἐπιστεύετο. And accord F ing to this general confession did Polycarp begin his prayer at his martyrdom : Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ, ὁ τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ καὶ εὐλογητοῦ παιδός σου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ πατήρ. Eccles. Smyrn. Epist. † Οἱ παῤῥησίαν εἰληφότες, τὸν παντοκράτορα πατέρα καλεῖν. Constit. Apost. 1. i. Proœm. † Παντοκράτωρ, translated by Tertullian and St. Augustin Omnite for the title of God, the Lord of Hosts, sometimes for his name Shaddai, as generally in the Book of Job: by the first, they seem to signify the rule and dominion which God hath over all; by the second, the strength, force, or power by which he is able to perform all things. "The heavens and the earth were finished (saith Moses), and all the host of them: (Gen. ii. 1.) and he which began them, he which finished them, is the ruler and commander of them. Upon the right of creation doth he justly challenge this dominion. "I have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded." (Isa. xlv. 12.) And on this dominion or command doth he raise the title of the Lord of Hosts:* which, though preserved in the + original language both by St. Paul and St. James, yet by St. John is turned into that word which we translate Almighty. Wherefore from the use of the sacred writers, from the notation of the word in Greek, and from the testimony of the ancient fathers,§ we may well ascribe unto nens, (as Tertullian translates коσμokpárоpas munditenentes,) by Prudentius Omnipollens, by all Omnipotens, (as St. Hilary translated Koopокρáтоpas mundipotentes,) and, as I conceive, it is translated Capax universorum, by the Latin interpreter of Hermas. 'Primum omnium credo quod unus est Deus, qui omnia creavit, et consummavit, et ex nihilo fecit. Ipse capax universorum, solus immensus est.' I. ii. Mand. 1. Which by the interpreter of Irenæus is thus translated: 'Omnium capax, et qui a nemine capiatur.' I. iv. c. 37. * Κύριος σαβαώθ. † Εἰ μὴ Κύριος Σαβαὼθ ἐγκατέλιπεν nuiv onέppa. Rom. ix. 29. the words of Isa. i. 9. Καὶ αἱ βοαὶ τῶν περισάντων εἰς τὰ ὦτα Κυρίου Σαβαώθ εἰσεληλύOaoiv. Jam. v. 4. which are the words of St. James in relation to Deut. xxiv. 15. "Αγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς TаVTокράTwp. Rev. iv. 8. which are before in Isaiah. "Αγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος Kúpios Zaẞawe. Isa. vi. 3. To dopolov ἐροῦμεν καὶ περὶ τῆς Σαβαώθ φωνῆς, πολλαχοῦ τῶν ἐπῳδῶν παραλαμβανομένης· ὅτι εἰ μεταλαμβάνομεν τὸ ὄνομα εἰς τὸ Κύριος τῶν δυνάμεων, ἡ Κύριος στρατιῶν, ἢ παντοκράτωρ, (διαφόρως γὰρ αὐτὸ ἐξεδέξαντο οἱ ἑρμηνεύοντες αὐτὸς οὐδὲν ποιήσομεν. Origen. contra Cels. 1. v. §. 45. † That παντοκράτωρ should have the signification of government in it, according to the composition in the Greek language, no man can doubt, who but only considers those vulgar terms of their politics, dnμorparía, and so § Αἱρετικοὶ οὐκ οἴδασιν ἕνα παντοκράτορα Θεόν παντοκράτωρ γάρ ἐστιν ὁ πάντων κρατῶν, ὁ πάντων ἐξουσιάζων. God the Father, in the explication of this article, the dominion over all, and the rule and government of all. This authority or power properly potestative is attributed unto God in the sacred Scriptures; * from whence those names or titles,† which most aptly and fully express dominion, are frequently given unto him; and the rule, empire, or govern ment of the world is acknowledged to be wholly in him, as necessarily following that natural and eternal right of dominion. What the nature of this authoritative power is, we shall the more clearly understand, if we first divide it into three degrees or branches of it: the first whereof we may conceive, a right of making and framing any thing which he willeth, in any manner as it pleaseth him, according to the absolute freedom of his own will; the second, a right of having and possessing all things so made and framed by him, as his own, properly belonging to him, as to the Lord and Master of them, by virtue of direct dominion; the third, a right of using and disposing all things so in his possession, according to his own pleasure. The first of these we mention only for the necessity of it, and the dependence of the other two upon it. God's actual dominion being no otherwise necessary, than upon supposition of a precedent act of creation; because nothing, before it hath a being, can belong to any one, neither can any propriety be imagined in that which hath no entity. But the second branch or absolute dominion of this Almighty, is farther to be considered in the independency and infinity of it. First, it is independent in a double respect, in reference both to the original, and the use thereof. For God hath received no authority from any, because he hath all power originally in himself, and hath produced all things by the act of his own will, without any commander, counsellor, or coadjutor. Neither doth the use or exercise of this dominion depend upon any one, so as to receive any direction or regulation, or to render any account of the administration of it; as being illimited, absolute, and supreme, and so the fountain from whence all dominion in any other is derived. Wherefore he being the "God of gods," is also the "Lord of lords, οἱ δὲ λέγοντες τὸν μὲν εἶναι τῆς ψυχῆς δεσπότην, τὸν δὲ τοῦ σώματος, οὐ τέλειον λέγουσιν· ὁ γὰρ ψυχῆς ἐξουσίαν ἔχων, σώματος δὲ ἐξουσίαν μὴ ἔχων, πῶς παντοκράτωρ; καὶ ὁ δεσπότης σωμάτων, μὴ ἐξουσιάζων δὲ πνευμάτων, πῶς παντοkpárup; S. Cyril. Hieros. Catech. 8. Ὣς γὰρ τὸ πῦρ ἰσχυρότατον τῶν στοι χείων, καὶ πάντων κρατοῦν, οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεὸς παντοδύναμος καὶ παντοκράτωρ, ὁ δυνάμενος κρατῆσαι, ποιῆσαι, τρέφειν, αὔξειν, σώζειν, σώματος καὶ ψυχῆς ἐξου oíav Exwv. Theodotus apud Cl. Alex. ex Scr. Proph. Ecl. c. 26. p. 804.. 'Unus est Dominus Jesus Christus per quem Deus Pater dominatum omnium tenet; unde et sequens sermo Omnipotentem pronunciat Do minum. Omnipotens autem ab eo dicitur, quod omnium teneat potentatum.' Ruffin. in Symb. §. 6. *'Egovoía. Luke xii. 5. Acts i. 7. Jude 25, Rev. v. 13. + A8 9 κύριος, δεσπότης. Εν μὲν τὸ κυρίως καὶ πρώτως ὂν, οὗ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ πάντα, καὶ ὃς πάντων δεσπόζει τὰ γὰρ σύμπαντα δοῦλά σα. Phot. Ep 162. and King of kings," the "only Potentate;" because he alone hath all the power of himself, and whosoever else hath any, hath it from him, either by donation or permission. The infinity of God's dominion, if we respect the object, appears in the amplitude or extension; if we look upon the manner, in the plenitude or perfection; if we consider the time, in the eternity of duration. The amplitude of the object is sufficiently evidenced by those appellations which the Holy Writ ascribeth unto the Almighty, calling him the "Lord of heaven," the "Lord of the whole earth," the "Lord of heaven and earth;"+ under which two are comprehended all things both in heaven and earth. This Moses taught the distrusting Israelites in the wilderness: "Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God, the earth also with all that is therein." (Deut. x. 14.) With these words David (Psal. lxxxix. 11.) glorifieth God: "the heavens are thine, the earth also is thine," so acknowledging his dominion; 66 as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them," so expressing the foundation or ground of that dominion. And yet more fully, at the dedication of the offerings for the building of the Temple, to shew that what they gave was of his own, he saith, "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all." (1 Chron. xxix. 11, 12.) If then we look upon the object of God's dominion, it is of that amplitude and extension, that it includeth and comprehendeth all things; so that nothing can be imagined which is not his, belonging to him as the true owner and proprietor, and subject wholly to his will as the sole governor and disposer: in respect of which universal power we must confess him to be Almighty. If we consider the manner and nature of this power, the plenitude thereof or perfection will appear: for as in regard of the extension, he hath power over all things; so in respect of the intention, he bath all power over every thing, as being absolute and supreme. This God challenged to himself, when he catechized the prophet Jeremy in a potter's house, saying, "O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel." (Jer. xviii. 6.) That is, God hath as absolute power and dominion over * Deut. x. 17. Psal. cxxxvi. 3. Rev. xvii. 14. xix. 16. μóvos dvváσrns. 1 Tim. vi. 15. fioros dvvάorns. Ecclus, xlvi. 5. ò duvάorns. 2 Mac. xv. 29. δυνάστης τῶν οὐρανῶν. 2 Mac. ν. 23. ὁ τῶν πατέρων κύριος, καὶ πάσης Lovoías dvváorns. 2 Mac. iii. 24. "Yaτος κρειόντων. ΙΙ. Θ. 31. + Dan. v. 23. Josh. iii. 11. 13. Psal. xevii. 5. Mic. iv. 13. Zech. iv. 14. vi. 5., Matt. xi. 25. Acts xvii. 24. #Idor מושל בכל כי ממך הכל. γὰρ πάντα τοῖς θεοῖς ὕποχα, καὶ πάν ταχῆ πάντων ἴσον οἱ θεοὶ κρατοῦσι. Xenoph. de exped. Cyr. l. ii. c. 5. §. 7. |