a little easier, but I doubt not it is for my good." The Bible was on his dying bed; his beloved wife was kneeling by his side; he said, "I am just going. 'Tis well. Father of mercies, take me to Thyself!"- His epitaph is, "I am the Resurrection and the Life."

At his death Congress resolved, 1. to erect a grand marble monument, and, 2. to hold a funeral service in the German Lutheran church.

Milwaukee, Wis.

W. DALLMANN.

THE PROOF TEXTS OF THE CATECHISM WITH A PRACTICAL COMMENTARY.

Deut. 6, 4: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Various renderings have been proposed for this passage, e. g. "Jehovah is our God, Jehovah is one." (See Clarke, The Holy Bible, ad loc.) Inasmuch as our Lord cites this passage Mark 12, 29 in exactly the same sense and construction as the Authorized Version has given to our text, it is futile to attempt a different rendering. This text declares the unity of God. God is achad, one, i. e., "beside me there is no God," Is. 44, 6; "there is none else," Is. 45, 5. 6. 14. 18. 22; "there is none like me," Is. 46, 9. Paganism acknowledges many gods; Israel's God is one Jehovah. And this very name He will not share with another, Is. 42, 8 ("that is my name"). God's name stands for the divine essence. God cannot be named by comparison with other similar beings. His name is as much His own exclusively as His attributes, properties, etc. God is one and Jehovah is His name, therefore, means: There is one eternal, one almighty, one omniscient, etc., Being or Essence. We cannot imagine two eternal, almighty, omnipresent Beings without imagining, at the same time, a constant conflict between the two. Or if they exist in harmony with one another, we imagine a power still higher than the two,

which controls them, and thereby destroys their omnipotence. -A divine name, indeed, has been conferred on beings other than God. Moses is made elohim, a god, to his brother Aaron, Ex. 4, 16, to Pharaoh, Ex. 7, 1. The civil authorities, Ex. 12, 12; 22, 28; 23, 32; judges, Ex. 22, 8 (in Hebrew text v. 7: "the master of the house shall be brought unto elohim"); Ps. 82, 1. 6; John 10, 34; people of influence, Ps. 89, 7, and the holy angels, Ps. 97, 7 (comp. Hebr. 1, 6), are given the divine names elohim and el. Evidently this is done by a figure of speech. Scripture recognizes the fact that divine titles may be applied when the divine nature is wanting, Gal. 4, 8. Accordingly, when God claims the divine name for Himself alone, the term "name" is used as the exponent of the divine essence. He alone is all-wise, almighty, good, etc. Absolute goodness can be predicated of one Being only, that is God, Matt. 19, 17; Mark 10, 18; Luke 18, 19. Luther's rendering in these three passages, "der einige Gott," is preferable to the literal rendering of the Authorized Version, because it expresses the mind of Christ more strikingly. Likewise in its religious relations mankind is restricted to one divine Being only; there is "one Lawgiver," James 4, 12; belief in the existence of one God is approved, James 2, 19. Christ mediated between mankind and one God, Gal. 3, 20. One God justifies Jew and Gentile, Rom. 3, 30. And so Paul teaches Christians: "There is none other God but one (ei μǹ sic). For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth (as there be gods many and lords many), but to us there is but one God" (ei deó), 1 Cor. 8, 4-6.

For his own sake, not for use in the class-room, the catechist may note furthermore, that this text teaches also the plurality of persons in the One Godhead. "The Lord Eloheinu is one Lord." Eloheinu is the plural. In the same breath God declares Himself to be several and one.

"On this verse the Jews lay great stress; it is one of the four passages which they write on their phylacteries, and they write the last letter in the first and last words very large, for

...

the purpose of exciting attention to the weighty truth it contains. It is perhaps in reference to this custom of the Jews that our blessed Lord alludes, Matt. 22, 38; Mark 12, 29. 30, where He says, This is the first and great commandment. . . . When this passage occurs in the Sabbath readings in the synagogue, the whole congregation repeat the last word achad (one) for several minutes together with the loudest vociferations: this, I suppose, they do to vent a little of their spleen against the Christians, for they suppose the latter hold three Gods, because of their doctrine of the Trinity. . . . Were the Christians, when reading this verse, to vociferate Eloheinu for sev eral minutes as the Jews do achad, it would apply more forcibly in the way of conviction to the Jews of the plurality of the persons in the Godhead, than the word achad, of one, against any pretended false tenet of Christianity, as every Christian receives the doctrine of the unity of God in the most conscientious manner." (Clarke, ibid.)

Matt. 28, 19: Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Three appellatives are here introduced, but these three are one name (εἰς τὸ ὄνομα, not τὰ ὀνόματα). In a different view Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three names. One person of the Godhead calls the other by the name here given, Ps. 2, 7; John 17, 1; Luke 23, 46; John 15, 26. But the three names here given are backed by one authority, one almighty power, one grace and love, all of which virtues are required for the institution of a sacrament and its maintenance and abiding obligation upon men. (NB. This is not the place to show that ɛiç tò ovoμa means into the name; that is a matter that should be reserved when this text occurs again as the baptismal command; see Qu. 277.) This text, then, teaches that there are three persons in the Godhead, not more nor less, and that these three share the name, dignity, power, etc., of God equally. Hence, there is a Trinity in Unity. God is three in one, triune.

"Baptism is not made in the name of a quality or attribute of the Divine nature. The orthodox, as they are termed, have generally considered this text as a decisive proof of the doctrine of the holy Trinity: and what else can they draw from it? Is it possible for words to convey a plainer sense than these do? And do they not direct every reader to consider the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as three distinct persons? 'But this I can never believe.' I cannot help that you shall not be persecuted by me for differing from my opinion. I cannot go over to you; I must abide by what I believe to be the meaning of the Scriptures." (Clarke ad loc.)

2 Cor. 13, 14: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.

Numb. 6, 24-26: The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give

thee peace.

The preceding passage showed that there are in the Godhead three persons united in One Being. These two passages name and refer to the same persons, but show that they are distinct from each other. This was indicated also in the passage from Matthew by the definite article which is affixed to each person there named. The article expresses individuality, marks the person as distinct. But in these two passages the distinction is made stronger, because each person is represented as holding to us a peculiar relation. We are taught to view God the Father as the One who loves us. He so loved us that He sent His Son to redeem us, John 3, 16. He blesses us and keeps us. We are taught to view Christ as the God who is gracious to sinners. In Him the grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Tit. 2, 11. He makes His face shine upon us; He does not look at us with a sour, surly, wry face, but with a face beaming with tender affection, radiant with smiles, as a father looks upon his child. And we are taught

to view the Holy Ghost as the God who brings us into communion with the Father and the Son by giving us peace with God. Thus these passages express to the mind what was exhibited to the senses at the Lord's baptism in Jordan, Matt. 3, 16. 17.

The three persons of the Trinity are really persons, not attributes, energies, modes of manifestation, etc., of the One Supreme Being. Each person not only exists together with, but also distinct from, the other. The revelation which John witnessed at the baptism of Jesus "forcibly marks divine personality." (Clarke ad Matt. 3, 16. 17.) As the Son was incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, so the Spirit became visible also in a bodily shape, Luke 3, 22, like a dove, while the Father is distinct from both by the voice from heaven. Neither person in that moment was engaged in the same act as the other. Though by the unity of essence each cooperated, unseen by man's eyes, in the action of the other, yet each was engaged in a distinct act, as each also exhibited Himself in a different place from the other.

In conclusion, we note that the doctrine that there are three distinct Persons in one divine essence, is very old. We derive arguments for it from both Testaments. Adam, Moses, David, Isaiah, knew the true God to be triune, as well as did Peter, Paul, Luther, and any Christian child in our day. The Scriptures of the New Testament shed greater light on this truth, as they do on other truths, but the doctrine of the Trinity is recorded with sufficient distinctness on the very very first page of the Bible. "God created," "the Spirit moved upon the face of the waters," "God said" (Gen. 1, 1—3), i. e., God spoke into being through His Word, who was with Him in the beginning and was God (John 1, 1—3)—thus God, from the beginning, has declared Himself to be One and Three. When Aaron and his successors were commanded to bless the children of Israel, a stated form for doing this was given them. Thrice they had to invoke the name of God in their blessing, and God Himself calls this act "putting His name upon the children of Israel,”