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the Greek Church, the excommunication of Paul of Samosata, shows their preciseness in discountenancing any doctrine derogatory to the dignity of the persons in the Trinity.

It should be observed, that this testimony with respect to the doctrine of the Trinity, refers to those ages, in which there was no Christian Emperor to support it by his authority, nor any general Council to establish it by their consent; for though the Council of Nice made it a part of the creed to be received by the universal Church, yet this declaration merely shewed what had been the faith of the Church before that time, but was not the occasion of introducing any strange opinions.

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1 Paul was Bishop of Antioch. He held that the Son and Holy Ghost were mere energies or powers existing in God. He was degraded from his rank in a Council summoned at Antioch, in the year 269. See Mosheim's History, v. 1. cent. 3. p. 2. c. 5. sec. 15.

b At this Council, the different prelates who composed it presented their respective creeds for its consideration. That which was afterwards approved, was offered by Eusebius, Bishop of Cæsarea; and it is observable, that in the preamble, he states, that the doctrines contained in it had been continually received in his diocese, before his time. Theod. Hist. 1. 1. c. 12.

ARTICLE II.

OF THE WORD, OR SON OF GOD, WHICH

WAS MADE VERY MAN.

THE SON, WHICH IS THE WORD OF THE FATHER, BEGOTTEN FROM EVERLASTING OF THE FATHER, THE VERY AND ETERNAL GOD, OF ONE SUBSTANCE WITH THE FATHER, TOOK MAN'S NATURE IN THE WOMB OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN OF HER SUBSTANCE, SO THAT TWO WHOLE AND PERFECT NATURES, THAT IS, THE GODHEAD AND MANHOOD, WERE JOINED TOGETHER IN ONE PERSON, NEVER ΤΟ BE DIVIDED, WHEREOF IS ONE CHRIST, VERY GOD AND VERY MAN, WHO TRULY SUFFERED, WAS DEAD AND BURIED, TO RECONCILE HIS FATHER TO US, AND TO BE A SACRIFICE NOT ONLY FOR ORIGINAL GUILT, BUT ALSO FOR ACTUAL SINS OF MEN.

THIS article continues the proof of the latter part of the preceding, and is descriptive of the person of the Son, or Word, of the Father.

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That the Son of God is the same person with him who is called the Word of God, may be thus shown: Christ is called the Word. In John i. 1. "The word was God;" the Apostle then proceeds to declare the incarnation of the Word: "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."-(v. 14.) Of this incarnate Word

may be considered as consisting of two parts, which contain two grand doctrines:

I. His divinity, and

II. His incarnation.

I. With respect to his divinity, the article declares, that "he is begotten from everlasting "of the Father, the very and eternal God, of 66 one substance with the Father."

On these words it may be observed, that Christ is frequently called " the Son," and "the only begotten Son of God," in Scripture. These names may be ascribed to him in two senses: 1st. As man; the miraculous conception of the Virgin Mary by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, being instead of a natural begetting, he may in that respect be called the Son of God. 2d. As to his divine nature, in which

John the Baptist is said to have been witness.-(v. 15.) But in v. 30, Christ is said to be the person who was the subject of John's testimony. Christ, therefore, is the Word of God. Again, we shall see that Christ is called the Son of God; therefore, the Son is the Word of the Father. In opposition to this conclusion it has been said, that the Word mentioned in John i. 1, is not a person; that it means no more than an attribute subsisting in God. But such an assertion makes the language of the Apostle devoid of For the proposition, "An attribute is God," is a contra

sense.

diction in terms.

a The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee; therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God." (Luke i, 35.) The word therefore seems to lead to the conclusion in the text.

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he was truly God, in and of the substance of the Father. With respect to the terms used in expressing this subject, it should be observed, that begetting is a word that naturally signifies the relation between the Father and the Son: its strict signification here, however, it is not possible for us to conceive; but as the union between the first and second person of the Trinity is thus denoted in Scripture, we are justified in adopting the term from it. This begetting too was from all eternity: had it been made in time, the Son must have been a mere creature, but if he is truly God, he must have been from everlasting. Lastly, the word one substance denotes that the second person is not merely a creature of a pure and excellent nature, resembling God in his perfections, as human beings ought to be, nor that he was produced by having an existence given him, but that he is truly God as the Father is, and educed from a substance that was eternal, and his emanation from which was also eternal. It is evident, therefore, that all these assertions are implied in the proof of the main article, and result from it as natural consequences.

2 See Pearson on the Creed, Art. 2. p. 183. Ed. Lond. 1824. b See Turretin's Ins. Theol. L. 13. Q. 11. And Prideaux's Fasc. Controv. C. 2. Q. 3.

"Not made, nor created, but begotten." Athan, Creed.

We shall now proceed to prove that Christ is truly and properly God."

This appears from the following considera

tions:

1. The names of God,

2. The operations of God,

3. The attributes of God are ascribed to him, and

4. Divine worship is required to be rendered to him.

1. The names of God are ascribed to Christ.

John i. 1. "In the beginning was the Word, "and the Word was with God, and the Word was "God. The same was in the beginning with "God. All things were made by him, and with

out him was not any thing made which was "made." On this text it may be observed: 1. It proves the pre-existence of Christ for the being here ascribed to him is antecedent to his being made flesh. (v. 14.) 2. In the beginning, must mean before time, for it was before the creation of the world. Now a duration before

a See Scott's Christian Life, Part 2. c. 7. sec. 1. Cave Dissert. de Euseb. Arian. and Prideaux's Fasc. Cont. C. 2. Q. 4.

That St. John speaks of the creation of the material world ap. pears from v. 10. “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not." Here it is said, that the world in which he lived and by which he was rejected, is that world which was made by him, that is, manifestly the material world. See Whitby in locum.

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