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Thirdly, He is our Father, as he hath called us into a fresh state of existence by redeeming us, in and through Christ: whereby we become his children by adoption: "whereby we cry, Abba, Father. And if we be his children, then are we heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." Blessed be God, who hath allowed us thus to call him Father. Blessed be God, who" according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us?"

But Fourthly, God is called the Father more strictly, and in a far more exalted sense, as he is the Father of our Lord Jesus ChristTM.

i John iii. 3. 5.

"If to generate foundeth, then to regenerate addeth a paternity. Now though we cannot enter the second time into our mother's womb, nor pass through the same door into the scene of life again; yet we believe and are persuaded, that except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" John iii. 3. Pearson, Art. i. p. 48.

* Romans viii. 17, 18. Gal. iv. 6, 7.

"The resurrection of our bodies, is a kind of coming out of the womb of the earth, and entering upon immortality, a nativity into another life." Pearson, Art. i. p. 49.

11 Peter i. 3, 4.

Εστι τοινυν ο Θεός, πολλων μεν καταχρηστικως Πατήρ, ενός δε μονου φύσει και αληθεια του μονογενους γιου. St. Cyril. Catech. vii. § 3.

To Christ alone are assigned, by way of eminence, the titles of his own Son"; his only begotten Son; the only begotten of the Father; the first born of every creature. This last indeed is the original, the true, the literal explanation of the words of our Creed. When, therefore, we express our belief in God the Father, we consider ourselves in strictness to mean, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ". Though, in a more general sense, God is, and may very applicably be called, our Father, and the universal Parent of nature.

Q. How does Bishop Pearson, in his admirable exposition of the Creed, explain this doctrine of God being the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?

A. His words are, "According unto this paternity by way of generation totally divine, in which he who begetteth is God, and he which is

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Πατερα ιδιον ελεγε τον Θεον, ισον εαυτον ποιων τῳ θεψ. Luke v. 18.

⚫ Romans viii. 32. John iii. 16. i. 14. Coloss. i. 15. Also see St. Augustin, vol. ix. Tract xxi. p. 75, 76,

"Patrem cum audis filii intellige patrem. Sicut enim nemo dicitur Dominus, nisi habeat vel possessionem, vel servum cui dominetur, et sicut nemo magister dicitur, nisi discipulum habeat: ita et Pater, nullo pacto quis dici potest nisi filium habens. Hoc ergo ipso nomine quo Deus ipse Pater appellatur, cum Patre pariter subsistere etiam filius demonstratur." Ruffin. Symb. Apostol. § 4. Vid. quoq. St. Augustin, vol. viii. In Psalm lxviii. p. 294.

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 "."

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¶ Pearson on the Creed, Art. i. p. 57. Art. ii. p. 220. 223. See also St. Augustin, vol. x. Serm. viii. p. 646. App. de Divers. "Nos sicut solum Patrem semper, et sine initio ingenitum novimus, ita filium semper et sine initio ex Patre genitum confitemur. Nec alia aliqua causa est quæ divisionem faciat personarum, nisi quod hic ingenitus est, et ille genitus. Et sicut non est Sol aut ignis prior splendore suo, licet ex illo nascatur; sic ex quo sol aut ignis processit, simul et cum eo splendor ejus apparuit, nec dici potest splendor sole aut igne

Q. Do we derive our knowledge of this paternity from reason or from revelation?

A. Wholly and solely from Revelation. Unassisted reason, though it might go far in imagining and explaining the being and unity of God, could have no data whatever on which to ground any idea of the divine paternity, and consequently could not advance one step in the enquiry. To Christ and his Apostles we are indebted for the wonderful developement of this sublime mystery.

Q. What does Scripture teach us with relation to the paternity?

A. The nature of the union subsisting between the Father and the Son, as to their participation in the same divine essence, together with the distinction of their personal attributes, will be explained on Scripture grounds in the following Article. At present it may be sufficient

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posterior; cum tamen, ut dixi, ex ipso nascatur. camus non esse Patrem filio priorem, aut filium patre posteriorem."

Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria, the famous opponent of Arius, thus writes to Alexander of Constantinople. Iɩotevoμev, ως τη Αποστολικη εκκλησια δοκει, εις μονον αγεννητον Πατέρα, ουδενα του ειναι αυτῳ τον αιτιον εχοντα, &c. και εις ενα κυριον Ιησούν Χριστον, τον υιον του Θεον τον μονογενη, γεννηθεντα ουκ εκ του μη οντος, αλλ' εκ του οντος Πατρος, ου κατα τας των σωμάτων ομοιοτητας, ταις τόμαις η ταις εκ διαιρέσεων απορροίαις, ωσπερ Σαβελλιφ, και Βαλεντινῳ δοκει αλλ appηTwç kai avekdinynTwg. Theodoret. Ecc. Hist. lib. i. iv. p. 17.

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to notice, that the title of Father appears to be given to the first person in the Trinity, and the name of Son to the second person; because the essential being which the Father has, he has of himself, and, as the fountain of the Godhead, has communicated to the Son; but that which the Son has, he has received from the Father. Whatever prerogative, therefore, pre-eminence, or superiority,-superiority, not of essence, but of generation,-results from this relationship, is due unto the Father, and should be ascribed to his honour and glory'. When the Jews sought to

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"Apprimè notandum est, Clementem (Alexandrinum, Pædag. l. i. c. vi.) eodem quasi Spiritu, quo filium Patri æqualem statuit, on tamen quandam et prærogativam Patris præ Filio agnoscere, dum Patrem appellat universorum Dominum. Scilicet Deus Pater diaкpris dicitur Dominus universorum, quia causa est et origo non modo creaturarum omnium, sed et Ipsius Filii sui, diversâ licet ratione. Hujus nempe causa est per æternam ex Ipsâ Essentiâ suâ generationem: illarum per productionem ex nihilo, quæ in tempore facta sunt. Salvâ igitur hâc Patris prerogativâ, quâ Pater est et origo rov ovros, entis universi, docet Clemens, Filium Ipsi æqualem esse; nempe quatenus eandem naturam divinam cum Patre communem habet," Bulli, Def. Fid. Nic. sect. iv. cap. ii. § 4.

Vide quoque Sect. iv. cap. i. Thes. Pr. "Omnes Doctores Catholici uno ore docuerunt, naturam, perfectionesque divinas Patri Filioque competere, non collateraliter, aut co-ordinatè, sed subordinatè."

Επειδη απο του Πατρός η αρχη τω Υιῳ, κατα τουτο μειζον ο Πατήρ, ως αιτιος και αρχη. Διο και ο Κυριος ουτως ειπεν, Ο Πατηρ μου μείζων μου εστι, καθο Πατηρ δηλονοτι. Basil. Cont. Eunom. lib. i.

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