Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

Marcion, who denied the humanity of Christ, but equally fatal to the heresy of those who deny his Divinity.

Tertul. Adv. Prax. § 11. p. 506. (v) Observe now, the Holy Spirit speaking from the third person, of the Father and the Son; The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Again, Isaiah: The Lord said to my Lord Christ. Again by the same,' (namely the Spirit,) 'speaking to the Father of the Son; Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?-Even from these few passages, the distinction of the Trinity might be plainly shown. For here is he who speaks—the Spirit-and the Father to whom he speaks, and the Son of whom he speaks,-each person in his own propriety.'

These are but a few selections from a far greater number which we had marked for insertion. They must be sufficient, however, not only to show that Tertullian was a Trinitarian, but to prove that he likewise rested his Trinitarian system upon Scripture.

One of the most important authors among the Latin Fathers of the next age after Tertullian, was, doubtless, Cyprian, from whose works, (published about A. D. 250,) a few passages may suffice our present purpose.

invisibilis appellat-Aeque non erit Deus Christus vere, si ne homo vere fuit in effigie hominis constitutus.

(v) Animadverte etiam Spiritum loquentem ex tertia persona de patre et filio: Dixit Dominus Domino meo, sede ad dexteram meam, donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum. Item per Esaiam, Haec dicit Dominus Domino meo Christo. Item per eumdem ad patrem de filio, Domine, quis credidit auditui nostro ? et brachium Domini cui revelatum est ?His itaque paucis, tamen manifeste distinctio Trini. tatis exponitur. Est enim ipse qui pronuntiat, Spiritus, et Pater ad quem pronuntiat, et Filius de quo pronuntiat,—unamquamque personam in sua proprietate constituunt.

[ocr errors]

6

In his 2nd Book of Testimonies against the Jews. § 1. (w) That Christ was the first begotten, and the Wisdom of God,' saith Cyprian, 'by whom all things were made, Solomon saith in Proverbs, The Lord hath created me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old, I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was, when there were no depths I was brought forth, &c.- -Observe also what St. John hath written : 'This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was,' &c.— -Thus in the book of Revelations; I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end,' &c.

6

6

6

(x) 3. That Christ is the Word of God-See the 33rd Psalm. By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, &c.-In Psalm cvii. 'He sent his Word and healed them: Thus in the Gospel of St John, 'In the

(w) 'Christum primogenitum esse sapientiam Dei, per quem omnia facta sunt, apud Salomonem in paræmiis: Dominus condidit me initium viarum suarum, in opera sua ante saeculum fundavit me; in principio antequam terram faceret, et antequam abyssos constitueret, priusquam procederunt fontes aquarum, antequam montes collocarentur, ante omnes colles genuit me Dominus, &c.- - Item in Evangelio zara Joannem dominus dicit: Haec autem est vita aeterna, ut cognoscant te solum et verum Deum, et quem misisti Jesum Christum. Ego te clarificavi in terra opus perfeci quod dedisti mihi ut faciam. Et nunc tu clarifica me apud te ipsum claritate, quam habui apud te priusquam mundus fieret, &c. Item in Apocalypsi: Ego sum a et w, initium et finis. &c.

(x) § 3. Quod Christus idem sit sermo Dei;-Item in Psalm 33. Sermone Dei coeli solidati sunt, et Spiritu oris ejus omnis virtus eorum, &c. Item in Psalmo 107. Misit sermonem suum et curavit illos. Item in Evangelio zara Joannem: In principio erat sermo, et sermo erat

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 without him was not any thing made that was made, &c.'-And again in Revelations; And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was faithful and true, and in righteousness he doth judge and make -and he was clothed with a vesture dipt in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.'

war,

§ 5. (y) That the Angel who appeared to the Patriarchs is Christ and God,' in connexion with which many texts are cited.

[ocr errors]

(z) 6. That Christ is God. Thus in Psalm xliv. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre,' &c.-So the Saviour saith to Thomas, 'Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him; My Lord and my God.'-Likewise St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans. Of whom as

apud Deum, et Deus erat sermo. Hic erat in principio apud Deum, Omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil, &c.Item in Apocalypsi: Et vidi cœlum apertum, et ecce equus albus, et qui sedebat super eum, vocabatur fidelis et verus, aequum justumque judicans, et praeliabantur; eratque coopertus veste conspersa sanguine, et dicitur nomen ejus Sermo Dei.

(y) § 5. Quod idem angelus et Deus Christus, in Genesi ad Abraham : Et vocavit cum Ang. &c.

-Item in Psalmo 45.

(z) § 6. Quod Deus Christus.Thronus tuus Deus in saecula saeculorum, virga aequitatis, virga regni tui, &c. -Item in Evangelio zara Joannem-Dominus ad Thomam: Injice huc digitum tuum, et vide manus meas, et noli esse incredulus, sed fidelis: Respondit Thomas et dixit illi: Dominus meus et Deus meus, &c. Item Paulus ad Romanos :-quorum patres, ex quibus Christus secundum carnem, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula, &e.

concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God, blessed for ever,' &c.

[ocr errors]

§ 10. (a) That Christ was God and Man, that he might be the more fit to be a Mediator between them,' with a number of texts annexed.

[ocr errors]

Again, in his book De Unitate Ecclesiæ, this passage occurs, p. 208. (b) The Lord saith, 'I and my Father are one.' And again it is written of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost,' And these three are one.' &c. Again in his Book De Oratione Dominica, p. 229. We have this allusion to the same subject.:

(c) 'As to the times of prayer, we find Daniel with the three youths so strong in faith, and victorious in bondage, praying, at the third, the sixth, and the ninth hour, in reference to the mystery of the Trinity which in these last days was made manifest. For the first hour, proceeding to the third, shows the number of the Trinity, perfected. So too, the fourth, proceeding to the sixth, declares another Trinity. And when commencing with the seventh, three hours more complete the ninth, the perfect Trinity is enumerated,' &c.

It would be easy to enlarge these extracts from Cyprian, but enough has been given to demonstrate the same asser

(a) § 10. Quod et homo et Deus Christus, ex utroque genere concretus, ut Mediator esse inter nos et Patrem posset,' &c.

(b) Dicit Dominus: Ego et Pater unum sumus, Et iterum de Patre et Filio et Spiritu sancto scriptum est. Et hi tres unum sunt, &c.

(c) In orationibus verò celebrandis, invenimus observasse cum Daniele tres pueros in fide fortes, et in captivitate victores, horam tertiam, sextam, nonam, sacramento scilicet trinitatis, quae in novissimis temporibus manifestari habebat. Nam et prima hora in tertiam veniens, consummatum numerum trinitatis ostendit. Itemque ad sextam quarta procedens, declarat alteram trinitatem. Et quando à septima nona completur per ternas horas trinitas perfecta numeratur, &c.

tion as regards him, namely, that he was a Trinitarian, on Scriptural Authority.

The same character may be ascribed to the Fathers of the first Council of Antioch, who assembled A. D. 266, on the subject of the anti-trinitarian heresy of Paul of Samosata. We quote the following passage from the epistle addressed by the orthodox Bishops to Paul, before he was deposed. (Mansi Concil. tom. I. p. 1033.)

(d) 'We have resolved,' say the Fathers in this Council, to set forth and expound in writing the faith which we have received from the beginning, and which is preserved in the universal Church, to this day, from the blessed Apostles who saw him, and were the ministers of the word preached, from the law and the Prophets, and the New Testament: That there is one God, unbegotten, without beginning, invisible, immutable, whom no man hath seen or can see; whose glory and immensity it is not in human nature to understand or declare, as it is in truth, but of whom we should be content if we have an idea, though poor, through the revelation of his Son, according to that passage, 'No one knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. And this Son, begotten, the only begotten, the image of the invisible God, the first born of

(α) ̓́Εδοξεν ἡμῖν ἔγγραφον τὴν πίστιν τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς παρελάβομεν, και ἔχομεν παραδοθεῖσαν, και τηρουμένην ἐν τῇ καθολικὴ καὶ ἁγία εκκλησια μέχρι τῆς σήμερον ἡμερας εκ διαδοχῆς ὑπὸ τῶν μακαρίων ἀποστολων, οἱ καὶ αὐτόπται καὶ ὑπηρέται γεγόνασι τοῦ λόγω καταγγελομένην ἐκ νομου καὶ προφητῶν, καὶ τῆς καινῆς διαθήκης, ταύτην ἐκθέσθαι· ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἀγεννητος, εἷς, ἄναρχος, ἀόρατος, ἀναλλοίωτος, ὧν ειδεν οὐδεὶς ἀνθρώπων, ουδὲ ἰδεῖν δυνάται, ου τὴν δόξαν ἢ τὸ μέγεθος νοῆσαι ἡ ἐξηγήσασθαι καθώς ἐστιν ἀξίως τῆς ἀληθείας, ανθρωπίνη φύσει ἀνέφικτον· ἔννοιαν δὲ καὶ ἁπωσοῦν μετρίαν περὶ αὐτοῦ λαβεῖν ἀγαπητὸν ἀποκαλύπτοντος τοῦ υιοῦ αὐτοῦ· και θάφησιν, ουδεὶς ἔγνω τὸν πατέρα, ει μη ὁ ύιος, και ᾧ ἂν ὁ ὑιος αποκαλύψη τοῦτον δὲ τον υιον γεννητον, μονογενῆ υἱὸν, ἔικόνα τοῦ αοράτου Θεοῦ τυγχάνοντα, πρωτότοκον πάσης κτίσεως, σοφίαν και λόγον και δυνάμιν Θεοῦ

« AnteriorContinuar »