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and it would have implied contradiction, that any CHAP. of them should not have existed, or that they should ever cease to exist. The advocates of a system which seemed to'establish three independent deities, attempted to preserve the unity of the first cause, so conspicuous in the design and order of the world, by the perpetual concord of their administration, and the essential agreement of their will. A faint resemblance of this unity of action may be discovered in the societies of men, and even of animals, The causes which disturb their harmony proceed only from the imperfection and inequality of their faculties; but the omnipotence which is guided by infinite wisdom and goodness, cannot fail of choosing the same means for the accomplishment of the same ends. 111, Three beings, who, by the self-derived Sabelliannecessity of their existence, possess all the divine attributes in the most perfect degree; who are eternal'in duration, infinite in space, and intimately present to each other, and to the whole universe; irresistibly force themselves on the astonished mind, as one and the same being," who, in the economy of grace, as well as in that of

and Nasianzen, by Cyril of Alexandria, John of Damascus, &c. See Cudworth, p. 603. Le Clerc, Bibliotheque Universelle, tom. xviii, p. 97-105.

↑ Augustin seems to envy the freedom of the philosophers. Liberis verbis loquuntur philosophi ... Nos autem non dicimus duo vel tria principia, duos vel tres Deos. De Civitat. Dei, x. 23.

Boetius, who was deeply versed in the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, explains the unity of the trinity by the in-difference of the three persons. See the judicious remarks of Le Clerc, Bibliotheque Choisie, tom. xvi, p. 225, &c.

ism.

CHAP. nature, may manifest himself under different XXI. forms, and be considered under different aspects.

By this hypothesis, a real substantial trinity is refined into a trinity of names, and abstract modifications, that subsist only in the mind which conceives them. The logos is no longer a person, but an attribute; and it is only in a figurative sense, that the epithet of son can be applied to the eternal reason which was with God from the beginning, and by which, not by whom, all things were made. The incarnation of the logos is reduced to a mere inspiration of the divine wisdom, which filled the soul, and directed all the actions of the man Jesus. Thus, after revolving round the theological circle, we are surprised to find that the sabellian ends where the ebionite had begun; and that the incomprehensible mystery which excites our adoration, eludes our inquiry.h

Council of If the bishops of the council of Nice1 had A. D. 325. been permitted to follow by the unbiassed dictates

Nice,

h If the sabellians were startled at this conclusion, they were driven down another precipice into the confession, that the Father was born of a virgin, that he had suffered on the cross; and thus deserved the odious epithet of Patri passians, with which they were branded by their adversaries. See the invectives of Tertullian against Praxeas, and the temperate reflections of Mosheim (p. 423, 681); and Beausobre, tom. i, l. iii, c. 6. p. 533.

The transactions of the council of Nice are related by the ancients, not only in a partial, but in a very imperfect manner. Such a picture as Fra-Paolo would have drawn, can never be recovered; but such rude sketches as have been traced by the pencil of bigotry, and that of reason, may be seen in Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. v, p. 669-759) and in Le Clerc (Bibliotheque Universelle, tom. x, P. 435-454).

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of their conscience, Arius and his associates could CHAP. scarcely have flattered themselves with the hopes of obtaining a majority of votes, in favour of an hypothesis so directly adverse to the two most popular opinions of the catholic world. The arians soon perceived the danger of their situation, and prudently assumed those modest virtues, which, in the fury of civil and religious dissensions, are seldom practised, or even praised, except by the weaker party. They recommended the exercise of christian charity and moderation; urged the incomprehensible nature of the controversy; disclaimed the use of any terms or definitions which could not be found in the Scriptures; and offered, by very liberal concessions, to satisfy their adversaries, without renouncing the integrity of their own principles. The victorious faction received all their proposals with haughty suspicion, and anxiously sought for some irreconcilable mark of distinction, the rejection of which might involve the arians in the guilt and consequences of heresy. A letter was publicly read, and ignominiously torn, in which their patron, Eusebius of Nicomedia, ingenuously confessed, that the admission of the Homoousion, or Consubstantial, The Hoa word already familiar to the platonists, was in-moousion, compatible with the principles of their theological system. The fortunate opportunity was eagerly embraced by the bishops, who governed the resolutions of the synod; and, according to the lively expression of Ambrose, they used the sword,

k

We are indebted to Ambrose (de Fide, 1. iii, cap. ult.) for the knowledge of this curious anecdote. Hoc verbum posuerunt patres,

quod

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The

CHAP. which heresy itself had drawn from the scabbard, to cut off the head of the hated monster. consubstantiality of the Father and the Son was established by the council of Nice, and has been unanimously received as a fundamental article of the christian faith by the consent of the Greek, the Latin, the Oriental, and the Protestant churches. But if the same word had not served to stigmatise the heretics, and to unite the cathofics, it would have been inadequate to the purpose of the majority, by whom'it was introduced into the orthodox creed. This majority was divided into two parties, distinguished by a contrary tendency to the sentiments of the tritheists and of the sabellians. But as those opposite extremes seemed to overthrow the foundations either of natural, or revealed, religion, they mutually agreed to qualify the rigour of their principles; and to disavow the just, but invidious, consequences, which might be urged by their antagonists. The interest of the common cause inclined them to join their numbers, and to conceal their differences; their animosity was softened by the healing counsels of toleration, and their disputes were suspended by the use of the mysterious Homoousion, which either party was free to interpret according to their peculiar tenets. The sabellian sense, which, about fifty years before, had obliged the council of Antioch' to prohibit

quod viderunt adversariis esse formidini; ut tanquem evaginato ab ipsis gladio, ipsum nefandæ caput heræseos amputarent.

See Bull, Defens. Fid. Nicen. sect. ii, c. i, p. 25-36. He thinks it his duty to reconcile two orthodox synods.

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this celebrated term, had endeared it to those CHAP. theologians who entertained a secret but partial affection for a nominal trinity. But the more fashionable saints of the arian times, the intrepid Athanasius, the learned Gregory Nazianzen, and the other pillars of the church, who supported with ability and success the Nicene doctrine, appeared to consider the expression of substance, as if it had been synonymous with that of nature; and they ventured to illustrate their meaning, by affirming that three men, as they belong to the same common species, are consubstantial or homoousian to each other. This pure and distinct equality was tempered, on the one hand, by the internal connection, and spiritual penetration, which indissolubly unites the divine persons ;" and on the other, by the pre-eminence of the Father, which was acknowledged as far as it is compatible with the independence of the Son.° Within these limits the almost invisible and tremulous ball of orthodoxy was allowed securely to vibrate. On either side, beyond this consecrated ground, the

m According to Aristotle, the stars were homoousian to each other. "That Homoousios means of one substance in kind, hath been shewn "by Petavius, Curcellæus, Cudworth, Le Clerc, &c. and to prove it, “would be actum agere." This is the just remark of Dr. Jortin (vol. ii, p. 212), who examines the arian controversy with learning, candour, and ingenuity.

n See Petavius (Dogm. Theolog. tom. ii, 1. iv, c. 16, p, 453, &c.) Cudworth (p. 559); Bull (sect. iv, p. 285-290, edit. Grab). The Tepixwpnois or circumincessio, is perhaps the deepest and darkest corner of the whole theological abyss.

• The third section of Bull's Defence of the Nicene faith, which some of his antagonists have called nonsense, and others heresy, is consecrated to the supremacy of the Father.