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those of France, and at a later period by nearly all the Western churches. But as the Eastern church still adhered substantially to the more ancient formula, it accused the Western church of falsifying the Nicene Symbol; and thus at different periods, and especially in the seventh and ninth centuries, violent controversies arose between them. The true causes of these unhappy dissensions were, however, very different from those which were alleged; and we have reason to suspect, that they were less animated by zeal for the truth, than by the mutual jealousies of the Roman and Byzantine Bishops. But to whatever cause they are to be ascribed, these disputes terminated in the eleventh century in that entire separation of the Eastern and Western churches, which continues to the present time. Cf. Morus, p. 67, § 11, not. Walch, Historia Controversia Græcorum Latinorumque de processione Spiritus Sancti, Jenæ, 1751, 8vo. Ziegler, Geschichtsentwickelung des Dogma vom heiligen Geist, Th. I. Num. 2 of his "Theologische Abhandlungen," where he gives a historical account of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit from the time of Justin the Martyr; cf. especially S. 204, ff. of this essay. [Respecting the controversy in the Eastern and Western church, concerning the Holy Spirit, cf. also Neander, B. II. Abth. 2, S. 891; and Hahn, Lehrbuch etc. S. 247, § 57.]

Note. Since these ecclesiastical terms de characteribus personalibus internis have now become common, they cannot be entirely omitted in the religious instruction of the people. Let the doctrine therefore, (according to the advice of Morus, p. 64, No. 2, and p. 67, Not. extr.) be first expressed plainly and scripturally thus: The Son is equal to the Father, and has the same nature with him; but has this from eternity through the Father. It may then be remarked, that this doctrine is briefly expressed by the words, the Son is generated by the Father. Respecting the Holy Spirit, let it be said: That he is equal to the Father and Son, and possesses the same nature with them; and it may then be added, that this is commonly expressed by the words, he proceeds from the Father and from the Son.

2. External, characteres externi. Morus, p. 68, Not. 3. These are characteristics of the persons of the Trinity arising from the works of the Deity relating to objects extrinsic to itself, and called opera externa, sive, ad extra. They are twofold:

(a) Opera Dei economica, those institutions which God has founded for the salvation of the human race. They are the following: The Father sent the Son to redeem men, John 3: 16, 17. He also gives or sends the Holy Spirit, John 14: 26. The Son is

sent from the Father to accomplish the work of redemption, and sends the Holy Spirit from the Father, John 15: 26. The Holy Spirit formed the human nature of Christ, Luke 1: 35, and anointed it, (unxit, Acts 10: 38,) i. e. endowed it with gifts; and is sent into the hearts of men, and carries them forward towards moral perfection.

(b) Opera Dei attributiva, such divine works as are common to the three persons, and are sometimes predicated of them all; but which still are frequently ascribed (attributivè) to one of the three. Theologians, therefore, have the rule, Opera ad extra (attributiva), tribus personis sunt communia. To the Father is ascribed the decree to create the world, the actual creation and the preservation of it. To the Son also, the creation, preservation, and government of the world is ascribed; also the raising of the dead and sitting in judgment. To the Holy Spirit is ascribed, the immediate revelation of the divine will to the prophets, the continuation of the great work of salvation commenced by Christ, and the communication and application to men of the means of grace. [Cf. Hahn, Lehrbuch, S. 238.]

$44. History of the doctrine of the Trinity, since the time of the Reformation.

If we consider how obscure and full of difficulties the doctrine of the Trinity must have been, as commonly taught after the Nicene Council, we shall not wonder, that when in the sixteenth century the spirit of inquiry and speculation revived in the West, many attempts should have been made to illustrate and explain the prevailing theory, to rectify its mistakes, or wholly to abandon it for another more rational and scriptural. Many of the writers, whose intention it was to explain and vindicate the ancient theory adopted at the Council of Nice, unconsciously deviated from it, and thus placed themselves in the ranks of the heretics. None, however, of the very numerous attempts which have been made since the sixteenth century to illustrate this doctrine, and vindicate it against the objections of reason, can lay claim to entire originality. The germ, at least,

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of many modern hypotheses may be found in the writings which belong to the period between the second and fourth centuries; and after all the inquiries then made and the theories then published, it is not probable that much remains to be said. Nearly all, therefore, of those who have written on this subject since the Reformation, belong to some one of the general classes which have been before mentioned; though it needs to be remarked, that those who bear a common name, often belong to very different classes. This was the case with those who spread from Italy in such numbers in the sixteenth century, under the general name of Unitarians.

1. Some have attempted to illustrate and explain this doctrine by philosophy; and not a few have gone so far as to think, that they could prove the Trinity à priori, and that reason alone furnishes sufficient arguments for its truth; though others of this class have looked to reason for nothing more than an illustration of this fact with regard to the divine existence, for the knowledge of which they believed man indebted to revelation alone. In the latter class we may place Philip Melancthon, who, in his "Loci Theologici," explained the Trinity in the following, somewhat Platonic manner : God, from his infinite understanding, produces thought, which is the image of himself. Our minds, too, produce thoughts, which are the images of things; but we are not able to impart personal existence to our thoughts; to his thought, however, God can do this; and this his thought bears the impress of the Father, is his likeness and resemblance, and is hence called by John, 2óyos. This illustration of the Trinity was received without offence or suspicion, until the heresy which lurks beneath it, was detected and exposed by Flacius. In connexion with this illustration, we may mention those drawn from nature. Many such are found in the writings of the fathers. Take, for example, that of Augustine, drawn from the human soul, which, he says, is one substance, with three principal powers, memory, understanding, and will; respecting which it may remarked, that it is hard to see why many other powers might not have been named, as well as these; vid. Semler, Inst. ad doctrinam Christianam, 305. Or take, as another example, that illustration of the Trinity given at an earlier period by Lactantius, who compares it with light, which unites in itself fire, splendor, and heat.-In all illustrations of this nature the fault is, that the mere powers and qualities of things, which have no personal existence, are used to

be

represent the subsistence of a trinity in unity. Hence such illustra tions are more favorable to the theory of Sabellius, than to the doctrine of the Trinity drawn from the Bible, and established at the Council at Nice. The latest attempt to explain the Trinity in this manner, may be found in the September Number of the "Berliner Monatschrift," for the year 1790, S. 280, where there is an article entitled, "Neues Gleichniss von der Dreyeinigkeit," written by Schwab, Counsellor, and Professor at Stuttgard. Space, he says, cannot be seen, felt, or recognized by any of our senses, and yet must be regarded, he thinks, as something substantial. It is, indeed, extended, and still one. This one substance, has, however, three distinct dimensions, which are not arbitrarily assumed, and which cannot be considered merely as parts or accidents of space, but which belong essentially to it; viz. length, breadth, and thickness. Some chemists and theosophists suppose that there is, throughout the whole kingdom of nature, and even in material bodies, a threefold elementary principle, (as to the nature of which, however, they are not agreed,) and they refer to this as an illustra tion of the Trinity.

But, as we have said, there were others who supposed, that the Trinity could not only be illustrated by reason, but mathematically proved à priori. Among these were Bartholomew Keckermann, who wrote a "Systema Theologicum," Peter Poiret, and Daries, who published an Essay, "in qua pluralitas personarum in Deitate e solis rationis principiis, methodo Mathematicorum, demonstratur," Leovardiæ, 1735, 8vo.-The attempt of this kind which deserves most attention is that made by Reusch, a celebrated theologian and philosopher of Jena, in his "Introductio in theologiam revelatam," -an attempt which was regarded by the late Dr. Gruner as entirely successful, and was adopted by him substantially in his "Institutiones theol. dogmat." l. I. c. 5. This demonstration is very much as follows: In the divine understanding there are three acts; (a) God comprehends in his understanding the ideas of all things which can be conceived, and so far as he does this he is called Father; (b) he connects these ideas as means to an end, and devises all possible schemes or connexions of things in the possible world, and so far he is called Son; (c) from all these possible schemes, he selects, by his infinite wisdom, that which is best, and so far is called Holy Spirit. These acts of the divine understanding, in each of which

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there must have been a special exercise of the divine will, must be supposed distinct from each other; and yet, being in God, they cannot have been successive; and finally they must be regarded as personal, or as actus hypostatici, and be designated by particular personal names. But how this last consequence follows, it is hard to see; and where is the text from which it can be made to appear, that any one of the inspired writers connected any such ideas with the names Father, Son, and Spirit ?-Another metaphysical demonstration has been proposed by Dr. Cludius, in his inaugural disputation, Philosophica expositio et defensio dogmatis orthodoxi de Trinitate, Gottinga, 1788.

2. There have also been some in modern times who have expressed themselves so boldly on the subject of the Trinity, that they have seemed to approximate towards tritheism, like those whom we have already mentioned in the sixth century; vid. § 43, I, ad finem. To pass by those who have merely been unguarded in the manner in which they have defended and interpreted the Athanasian theory, we may mention in this class, Matthew Gribaldus, a Jurist of Padua, who flourished in the sixteenth century, and was for some time professor at Tubingen. He maintained that the divine nature consisted of three equally eternal spirits, between whom, however, he admitted a distinction in respect to rank and perfections. [Henry Nicolai, Wm. Sherlock, and Pierre Faydit, belong to this class.]

3. Other modern writers have inclined to adopt the Sabellian theory as the ground of their views on the Trinity. Among these is Michael Serveto, or Servetus, a native of Spain in the sixteenth century, who published his views in seven books, "De trinitatis erroribus," and in his Dialogues, "de Trinitate." He taught, that there is one God, who however has made known his will to men in two personales representationes, i. e. personal, or personified modes of revelation, called λόγος and πνεῦμα ἅγιον. For these opinions he was brought to the stake by Calvin at Geneva, 1553; vid. Mosheim, Leben Servet's, Helmstadt, 1748, Svo, republished with additions at

same place, 1750.-The representation of the Trinity which Grotius gives in his " Silvæ Sacræ" leans towards Sabellianism, and agrees substantially with the theory advanced by Stephen Nye, an Englishman, in his "Doctrine of the Trinity," London, 1701. God, he said, is a being who knew and loved himself from eternity; and his understanding is the Son, and his affection the Holy Spirit. [For a more