CHAPTER XVI.

THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

I DESIGNATE that the orthodox and strictly scriptural doctrine of the Trinity, which is implied in the first four clauses of the Litany, and fully set forth in the Apostle's Creed-and in the Nicene Creed, where the three persons of the Godhead are equally addressed as God, and where due regard is moreover paid to that mysterious, incomprehensible, and eternal subordination of the Second and Third Persons of the Godhead-the omission of which induced Coleridge, as we learn on the authority of his son-in-law, to consider the Athanasian Creed as heretical. Now this is by no means the foundation of my own objection to the Athanasian Creed as an occasional portion of the Church service, inasmuch as it contains no implicit denial, that I can perceive, of the eternal subordination; and, with respect to the omission of any reference to it, it is but on a par with the primitive creed of the Church-for which reason I shall, in any future edition of my "Early Years and Late Reflections," be inclined to omit the commencing sentence of the Appendix, in which allusion is made to this particular of Coleridge's opinion of the

Athanasian Creed. If this creed be retained by the Church of England, as interesting to the Christian Church, my sincere hope is that it may be removed from the Prayer Book, and have some other place assigned to its safe keeping, where it may be consulted by controvertists, or pious inquirers, curious to know to what shifts the fathers of the Church were put to protect her from the heresies with which her peace has ever been, more or less, disturbed; and which were then most formidable, when kings and queens, become her nursing fathers and nursing mothers, were themselves too ready to enter, with fierce and cruel zeal, into the contest.

The plain and unsophisticated believer in Christ, who knows little or nothing about these controversies, turns with dissatisfaction from a creed to which he is bidden to assent at the peril of his eternal welfare, and to the main doctrine of which he does assent. Whilst thousands and tens of thousands, offended by some of its unessential clauses, have been led thereby, not only to think less favourably of, but to depart entirely from, a Church which can countenance such a manifesto.

"Before the proper divinity of Christ was questioned by Arius, few words and little explanation were necessary; before the persons of the Godhead were confounded by Sabellius, no affirmation to the

contrary was demanded. But, when these men began to judge the articles of faith by reason, when they applied reason to combat plain and positive assertions in the word of God, they demanded satisfaction upon points that were not the object of reason, but of faith ; and when no satisfaction could be given them, they levelled Scripture to their reason, instead of building their faith on Scripture; they interpreted by a figure what was literal-they distorted what was plain." Such are the words of Dean Vincent, as I meet with them in Mant's Prayer Book. He adds, " if reason is the noblest gift of God, still let us not raise it to an equality with divine wisdom; if we ask what is truth, and search after truth, let us restrain ourselves within the bounds that God has fixed to reason. Let the wisest then try their reason in contemplating God himself, his existence, omnipotence, prescience, eternity, or any other attribute, and if their reason is not checked in its flight, if truth, demonstrative truth, which they require, is to be found, if they are not stopped short with mystery, that word which they deride, that idea which they abhor, let them boast of a reason which other men have not, and which is peculiar to themselves.

"If God has revealed himself by reason to the heart of the heathen, if God has revealed himself to the Hebrew in the Old Testament, I maintain that there is still inexplicable mystery in both revelations; and if there are additional mysteries in the Christian reve

lation, so be it, we are content to embrace these mysteries as articles of faith, to bow down our reason and opinions before the word of God, to believe that he will not, he cannot, deceive us; and that, if we are mistaken in interpreting his word, he will pardon our infirmity, and reward us for our intention if not for our knowledge."

Undoubtedly we ought to be, and, if entitled to the name of Christians, we are, content to embrace these mysteries; because our reason tells us, that we have unerring authority for doing so. How careful ought we then to be to distinguish between mysteries which are above our reason, and declarations wherever set forth which contradict and offend it! "We confess," says Dean Vincent, "the Trinity in unity to be a mystery, but if Christ is called God in Scripture, and the Holy Ghost, God, and yet we read, 'Hear, O Israel! the Lord thy God is one God,' what remains for us but, to adore, in silent humility, what we cannot comprehend?" and, he furthermore adds, "allow, with the Athanasian Creed, that though every Person by himself is Lord and God, yet there are not three Gods or three Lords, but one God and one Lord'

"The same reasoning applies to all those repetitions in the creed, which some assert offend their ears and distract their minds; for, if Christ is God and the Holy Ghost, God, they must be uncreate, incom

prehensible, and eternal; these are all attributes of the Deity, and each Person severally must partake of these attributes, if he partakes of the Godhead."

Now, it is not merely that the ears of some persons are offended, and their minds distracted (which should certainly be avoided where it can be safely, for why tempt a brother to offend ?), but that the heavenly doctrine is itself so dealt with, as to make our reason stagger.

The three Divine Persons are all equally God, and yet the Lord our God is one God. This is the orthodox creed, and how can this be? It can only be by neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the essential Godhead; even this is a mystery far beyond human comprehension, and every attribute of the Deity should suffice to convince us, that He must be to us incomprehensible. But so far is this mystery, when so stated, from giving any offence to our reason acquiesce in it most readily, and, through faith - faith the most rational-we joyfully embrace the glad tidings of salvation, in connection with an Almighty agency, of which, constituted as we are at present, we can have no comprehension.* I am unwilling to risk illustration, which has hitherto served so doubtful a purpose in the

that we

* This is very different from the "Credere quia impossibile est," which cannot even be construed into an admissible paradox.