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"by degrees that he is the only God"." That this is the true meaning of the words ejus sola divinitas, seems clear from a passage which Dr. Routh has quoted from the Roman Martyrology, (August. 31.) where we are told that " Aristides presented to the emperor Hadrian a volume upon the Christian "religion, in which he explained our doctrine, and proved in the clearest manner, that Christ Jesus "is the only God." The two expressions have evidently the same meaning; and since Theonas unquestionably believed in God the Father, he must have considered Jesus Christ to be one with the Father, or he could not have styled him the only God. He wrote to turn the emperor from polytheism to the worship of the one true God, and he expressly says that the only God is Christ. We may also compare this expression with the quotation from Tertullian at the end of No. 98. p. 183.

330. LUCIANUS, A. D. 300.

Socrates, the ecclesiastical historian, as well as Athanasiusm and Hilary ", have preserved a creed or exposition of faith, which was brought forward at the sixth council of Antioch, held in the year 341 and Sozomen informs us, that it was said to be found

h insurgere poterit Christi mentio, explicabitur paulatim ejus sola divinitas. Epist. ad Lucianum, apud Routh. Rel. Sacr. III. p. 311.

i et quod Christus Jesus solus esset Deus, præsente ipso imperatore luculentissime peroravit. Rel. Sacr. I. p. 78.

k In the same way Athanasius uses the very strong expres

sion, μόνος δὲ ὁ Χριστὸς ἐν ἀνθρώ ποις εγνωρίσθη Θεὸς ἀληθινὸς Θεοῦ

eos Aoyos. De Incarn. 47. vol. I. p. 88. This treatise was written before the Arian controversy

arose.

1 II. 10.

m De Synod. Arim. et Seleuc. §. 23. vol. I. p. 735.

De Synod. §. 28. p. 1168. 。 III. 5.

in the hand-writing of Lucianus. He was a presbyter of the church of Antioch, celebrated for his knowledge of the scriptures, and suffered martyrdom at Nicomedia about the year 311, in the persecution of Maximinus P.

Dr. Routh does not venture to admit this creed as a genuine composition of Lucianus, though Baronius, Cave, Basnage, and Bull have maintained its authenticity. A question of this nature can never be decided so as to exclude further doubt or controversy: and without entering more into the dispute, I shall only mention, that if the creed was a forgery, the Arians were the authors of it.

It is unquestionable, that the council held at Antioch in 341 was composed mostly of persons inclined to Arianism. They first drew up a short confession of faith, which differed considerably from that of the council of Nice, and did not give satisfaction. They then put forth another, which they asserted to have been found in the hand-writing of Lucianus. It is also true, that Sozomen (who is the only writer that mentions the latter circumstance) says, that he did not know whether it was genuine or no. But one argument used by bishop Bull is surely sufficient to incline us to receive the creed. If it was forged by the Arians under the name of Lucianus, is it probable that they would have drawn up a confession of faith, which entirely contradicted their own doctrines? The bishop contends that this is the fact and whether it is so or no, the reader may judge for himself. If we are to decide, that it was

P See the Synopsis Scripturæ ascribed to Athanasius, vol. II. p. 204.

q Rel. Sacr. III. p. 295. Defens. Sect. II. 13. 4. &c.

not composed by Lucianus at the end of the third century, we must then take it as containing the doctrines of the Arians in the year 341: and it is at least satisfactory to see that the Arians at that period differed in so small a degree from the catholic church.

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"We believe according to the evangelical and apostolical tradition in one God, Father Almighty, "the Creator and Maker of all things: and in one "Lord Jesus Christ, His only-begotten Son, God,

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by whom all things were made; who was begot"ten of the Father before all worlds, God of Gods, "universal of universal, alone of alone, perfect of "perfect, King of King, Lord of Lord, the living "Word, Wisdom, Life, true Light, the Way of "Truth, the Resurrection, Shepherd, Door; un"changeable and unalterable; the unvarying image " of the Divinity, Substance and Power and Counsel "and Glory of the Father: begotten before every "creature; who was at the beginning with God, the "Word, God, according to what is said in the Gos"pel, And the Word was God, by whom all things "were made, and in whom all things subsist; who "in the latter days came down from above, and was "born of a Virgin according to the scriptures; and "was made man, a Mediator between God and men, "the Apostle of our faith, and Prince of life, as he says, I came down from heaven, not that I might "do my own will, but the will of Him that sent "me: who suffered for us, and rose again for us on

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* Θεὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ. Hippolytus had used the same expression, Θεὸς ὑπάρχων ἐκ Θεοῦ. II. p. 29.

t Τέλειον ἐκ τελείου, which expression was applied to the Son

by Clement of Alexandria, μήτι οὖν ὁμολογήσουσιν ἄκοντες τὸν Λόγον τέλειον ἐκ τελείου φύντα τοῦ ΠαTpós; Pæd. I. 6. p. 113.

" the third day, and ascended into heaven, and sat "down on the right hand of the Father, and cometh

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again with glory and power to judge quick and “ dead. And in the Holy Ghost, which was given " for consolation and satisfaction, and for the perfecting of them that believe: as also our Lord "Jesus Christ charged his disciples, saying, Go ye, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, evidently of the Father who is truly Fa“ ther, and of the Son who is truly Son, and of the Holy Ghost, who is truly Holy Ghost; the names “ not being merely given, or without reality, but signifying strictly the proper person and glory and office of each of those who are named; so that they are three in person, but one in agreement ".

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u

Πιστεύομεν ἀκολούθως τῇ εὐαγγελικῆ καὶ Αποστολικῇ παραδόσει, εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν Πατέρα παντοκράτορα, τὸν τῶν ὅλων δημιουργόν τε καὶ ποιητήν· καὶ εἰς ἕνα Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ, Θεὸν, δι ̓ οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο· τὸν γεννηθέντα πρὸ πάντων τῶν αἰώνων ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς, Θεὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ, ὅλον ἐξ ὅλου, μόνον ἐκ μόνου, τέλειον ἐκ τελείου, βασιλέα ἐκ βασιλέως, Κύριον ἀπὸ Κυρίου" Λόγον ζῶντα, Σοφίαν, ζωὴν, φῶς ἀληθινὸν, ὁδὸν ἀληθείας, ἀνάστασιν, ποιμένα, θύραν, ἄτρεπτόν τε καὶ ἀναλλοίωτον τὴν τῆς θεότητος, οὐσίας τε καὶ δυνάμεως καὶ βουλῆς καὶ δόξης τοῦ Πατρὸς ἀπαράλλακτον εἰκόνα· τὸν πρωτότοκον πάσης κτίσεως· τὸν ὄντα ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, Λόγον Θεὸν, κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον ἐν τῷ εὐαγ‐ γελίῳ, Καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος, δι ̓ οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο, καὶ ἐν ᾧ τὰ πάντα συνέστηκε τὸν ἐπ' ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν κατελθόντα ἄνωθεν, καὶ γεννη θέντα ἐκ παρθένου κατὰ τὰς γραφὰς,

u "

καὶ ἄνθρωπον γενόμενον, μεσίτην Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων, ̓Απόστολόν τε τῆς πίσ στεως ἡμῶν καὶ ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ζωῆς, ὥς φησιν· ὅτι καταβέβηκα ἐκ τοῦ οὐ ρανοῦ, οὐχ ἵνα ποιῶ τὸ θέλημα τὸ ἐμὲν, ἀλλὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πέμψαντός με τὸν παθόντα ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν καὶ ἀναστάντα ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ, καὶ ἀνελθόντα εἰς οὐρανοὺς, καὶ καθε σθέντα ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ πάλιν ἐρχόμενον μετὰ δόξης καὶ δυνάμεως κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς· καὶ εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, τὸ εἰς παράκλησιν καὶ ἁγιασμὸν καὶ εἰς τελείωσιν τοῖς πιο στεύουσι διδόμενον, καθὼς καὶ ὁ Κύ ριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς διετάξατο τοῖς μαθηταῖς, λέγων, Πορευθέντες κ. τ. λ. δῆλον ὅτι Πατρὸς ἀληθινῶς ὄντος Πατρὸς, καὶ υἱοῦ ἀληθινῶς υἱοῦ ὄντος, καὶ Πνεύματος ἁγίου ἀληθινῶς ὄντος Πνεύματος ἁγίου· τῶν ὀνομάτων οὐχ ἁπλῶς οὐδὲ ἀργῶς κειμένων, ἀλλὰ σημαινόντων ἀκριβῶς τὴν ἰδίαν ἑκάστον τῶν ὀνομαζομένων ὑπόστασίν τε καὶ δόξαν καὶ τάξιν, ὡς εἶναι τῇ μὲν

The last clause of this creed furnishes an argument for its authenticity, which is not noticed by bishop Bull, but which perhaps carries some weight. The word vooraσis is here taken in the sense of person, which is known to be the meaning given to the term in the time of Lucianus *: but it afterwards came to signify the same as ovoía, substance: and it is used in this sense in two other creeds which were drawn up at this same council of Antiochy.

METHODIUS, A. D. 305.

The only work of this Father, from which I shall give any extracts, is the Banquet of ten Virgins, or the book concerning Chastity. We know that he left other writings, of which a few fragments remain; and there are some entire pieces ascribed to him, which many persons have received as genuine but the evidence against their authenticity seems decisive. Photius also informs us, that the Banquet of ten Virgins had been interpolated by the Arians we may therefore safely appeal to it notwithstanding this objection: for the Arians would not be likely to have inserted any thing which confirmed the proofs of Christ's divinity.

Methodius is supposed to have been bishop of Olympus in Lycia, and afterwards of Tyre, and to have suffered martyrdom at Chalcis in the year 311 or 312. We learn from Epiphanius, that he was also called Eubulius.

ὑποστάσει τρία, τῇ δὲ συμφωνίᾳ ἕν. The last words of this creed closely resemble the expression of Origen, that the Father and the Son are δύο τῇ ὑποστάσει, ἓν δὲ τῇ ὁμονοίᾳ καὶ τῇ συμφωνία.

c. Cels. VIII. 12. p. 751.

* See page 341, &c.

y See Athanasius de Synodis §. 24, 25. vol. I. p. 737-8. z Cod. 237.

a Hær. LXIV.63.vol. I. p.590.