Hobson. Notes on the Athanasian Creed. 1894

8/4/2019 Hobson. Notes on the Athanasian Creed. 1894.

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H5. WHITSUNDAY.6. TRINITY SUNDAY.

Seven other Holy Days:1. ST. MATTHIAS.2. ST. JOHN BAPTIST.

6. ST. SIMON AND ST. JUDE.7. ST. ANDREW.

(a) The Creed is appointed to be said onthe Six GREAT FESTIVALS enumerated in thefirst of the above columns, because it containsthe fullest statement of the great doctrines ofthe Christian Faith, Our Lord s Incarnation,His Divinity, the Divinity of the Holy Ghost,the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

(b) The Creed is also appointed to be saidon SEVEN OTHER HOLY DAYS, the selectionof days being made apparently for no otherreason than to provide that the Creed shallbe said thirteen times a year, i.e. about oncea month. Thus the Apostles Creed is saiddaily, the Nicene Creed at least weekly, andthe Athanasian Creed monthly.B


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18 NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

I THE NECESSITY OF HOLDING THECATHOLIC FAITH IN ITS INTEGRITYAND PURITY (vv. 1, 2)\1. Whosoever will besaved : before all

things it is necessary that he holdthe Catholic Faith.

2. Which Faith except every one dokeep whole andundefiled : withoutdoubt he shall perisheverlastingly.

1. Whosoever is desirous of being ina state of salvationmust in the firstplace hold fast theCreed of the Catholic Church.

2. And unless a mankeep this Faith inits entirety and inits purity, he isdoubtless in perilof eternal ruin.

1. Whosoever will be saved. The Latin is,Quicunque vult salvus esse ; literally, " Whosoever wishes to be safe, or, in a state ofsalvation."

1 At the head of the several sections the text is givenon the left hand side, and a paraphrase or explanation onthe right.


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NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 19

STATE OF SALVATION : i.e. a state in whichwe are "being saved; the state into which weare admitted at our baptism ; a state of safetyin the present life which (if persevered in)will lead to eternal salvation. Compare Catechism, " I heartily thank our heavenly Fatherthat He hath called me to this state of salvation ;" and Acts ii. 47, "The Lord added to theChurch daily those that were being saved"(R.V.): i.e. those who by their baptism, following upon a profession of belief, were placedin a state of safety.

Before all things. Latin, ante omnia ; i.e."in the first place." Our English version isambiguous, and might be taken to mean thatright belief is the most important thing in theChristian life. The statement of the Creeddoes not touch upon the relative importanceof right belief and right practice, but statesthat EIGHT BELIEF MUST PRECEDE EIGHT PEAC-TICE in order of time. This is evident, inasmuch as right practice includes our duty towards God as well as duty towards ourneighbours ; and we cannot rightly fulfil ourduty towards God (" believe in Him, fearHim, and love Him ") without a right faithin that which He has made known to usconcerning Himself, and His relations to usB2


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as our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. SeeHeb. xi. 6, " Without faith it is impossibleto please Him, for he that cometh to Godmust believe that He is;" and Acts xvi. 30." What must I do to be saved ? . . . Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thoushalt be saved." Cf. Article XII., "Goodworks are the fruits of faith."The Catholic Faith: i.e. THE CREED OF

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ; the sum of doctrineswhich have been held " always, in all places,by all Christians." This Faith of the Churchis embodied in the Three Creeds, and in theDecrees of the four General Councils :

A.D.Council of Nicsea . . . v . 325

Constantinople . .381Ephesus . . . 43 lChalcedon . . . 451

2. Whole and Undeflled. Latin, integraminviolatamque, " in its entirety and purity ; "i.e. without taking anything from it or addinganything to it *. The Socinians (" Unitarians

") do not keep " the faith " whole, inas-1 Archdeacon Norris, however, understands inviolatam to

mean, undcfilcd by a bad life ; and refers to I Tim. v. 8,where a man is said to deny the faith by neglect of hismoral duties ("Rudiments of Theology," p. 257).


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much as they deny the Divinity of OurBlessed Lord ; the modern Romish Churchdoes not keep " the faith " undefiled, inasmuch as it has added the dogmas of theImmaculate Conception of the Blessed Virginand the Infallibility of the Bishop of Hometo the Creed of the Church.Without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. Latin, absque dubio in aeternum peri-bit. This is one of the warning clauses of theCreed (damnatory clauses they are sometimes improperly called): it is a declarationthat no other way is known whereby wemay obtain safety and avoid damnationexcept that which demands as its conditionthe acceptance of the Church s Creed. Suchwarnings apply of course only to those whoare placed in circumstances which renderright belief possible to them *. See St. Mark

1 The wording of verse 2 should be noted, "WhichFaith except every one do keep (servaverit)." A mancould not be said to keep that which he never had."As Holy Scripture in divers places doth promise life tothem that believe, and declare the condemnation of themthat believe not, so doth the Church in this Confession declare the necessity for all who would be in a state of salvation of holding fast the Catholic Faith, and the great perilof rejecting the same. Wherefore the warnings in this Confession of Faith are to be understood no otherwise than thelike warnings of Holy Scripture; for we must receive God s


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xvi. 16, "He that believeth not shall bedamned."

tkreateriings, even as His promises, in such wise as they aregenerally set forth in Holy Writ. Moreover, the Churchdoth not herein pronounce judgment on any particular person or persons, God alone being the Judge of all " (Declaration of the Convocation of Canterbury, 1879).At the Conference between the Bishops and the Non-

conforming Divines in 1689, it was proposed to add thefollowing note to the rubric before the Creed : " Thearticles of which ought to be received and believed, asbeing agreeable to the Holy Scriptures. And the condemning clauses are to be understood as relating only tothose who obstinately deny the substance of the ChristianFaith."


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II. A CONCISE STATEMENT OF THEDOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY INUNITY (vv. 3-6).3. And the Catholic

Faith is this : Thatwe worship one Godin Trinity, and Trinity in Unity ;

4 Neither confounding the Persons :nor dividing theSubstance.

5. For there is onePerson of the Father, another of theSon : and another ofthe Holy Ghost.

6. But the Godhead ofthe Father, of theSon, and of theHoly

3. And the belief ofthe Catholic Churchis this : that we areto worship one Godin a Trinity ofPersons, and a TrinityofPersons in Unityof Substance ;

4. Not merging intoone the three Persons, nor making a-difference in the Divine Substance.

5. For the Father, theSon, and the HolyGhost, have each adistinct individuality ;

6. But the Godheadthe Divine Nature^Substance, or Es-


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Ghost, is all one :the Glory equal, theMajesty co-eternal.

sence is the samein Father, Son, andHoly Ghost : theyare equal in theirDivine Glory.

3. Worship one God in Trinity 1 . The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is presented to us inthe first instance as bearing upon our ivorship.Cf. the Nicene Creed, speaking of God theHoly Ghost, "Who with the Father and theSon together is worshipped and glorified." Thisworship of the Triune God is shadowed forthin Is. vi. 3, " And one cried unto another,and said, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, is the Lord ofHosts." Cf. Rev. iv. 8.ONE GOD. The unity of God is a funda

mental article both of the Jewish and Christian Faith.

1 The word Trinity is not found in the Bible, thoughthe doctrine of which it is the expression " may be proved, *as will be seen, "by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture."The first use of the term is commonly ascribed to

Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, A.D. 181, who speaks ofthe three days of creation which preceded the creation ofthe sun and moon, as types of the Trinity, viz. of God,His Word, and His Wisdom. " Bishop Harold Browne onthe Articles, p. 19.


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NOTES ON THE ATHANASTAN CREED. 25

Deut. vi. 4: "Hear, Israel, the Lord ourGod is one Lord."i Cor. viii. 6 : "To us there is but one God,

the Father."TRINITY OF PERSONS .... UNITY OF SUB

STANCE. Cf. Article I., "And in Unity of thisGodhead there be three Persons."SUBSTANCE. Literally, that which stands

under or supports attributes; the ESSENTIALBEING of God ; that which makes God to lieGod 1 . This Substance, this Godhead, is One.The Nicene Creed asserts that God the Son is;c of one substance with the Father " (cf.St. John x. 30, " I and My Father are One ") ;and the same Creed states that God the HolyGhost "ivith the Father and the Son togetheris worshipped and glorified."

PERSON. A person may be defined to be" a living, conscious, willing agent 2 ," and sodistinguished from a quality, an operation,an effluence, an energy. The term is employed in the Creed, and in theologicalwritings, to express the distinct individualityof the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Human

1 The substance ofman is manhood, or humanity ; the substance of God is Godhead, or Divinity.

2 This is Keble s definition, quoted by Norris (" Rudimentsof Theology," p. 73).


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language must necessarily fail to express adequately the manner of the Divine existence ;and we should recognise this truth in ouruse of the word " Person " with reference tothe Holy Trinity l . " For us personalityimplies limitation or determination, i.e. finite-ness in some direction. As applied to theDivine Nature, therefore, the word is not morethan a necessary accommodation required togive such distinctness to our ideas as may beattainable " ( Westcott on St. John i. 14).

4. Neither confounding the Persons : i.e.NOT MERGING INTO ONE THE THREE PERSONS.The Catholic Faith requiring us to worship" the Trinity in Unity," there are two heresieswhich contradict this Faith :

(a) The heresy of those who denied theTrinity of Persons [the Sabellians].

(6) The heresy of those who denied theUnity of Substance [the Arians].

1 Thus the language of the Creed may be compared tothose expressions of Holy Scripture where, e.g. God isspoken of as " a jealous God," or said to " repent " of Hisactions. The terms employed are accommodations to ourhuman understandings, designed to lead us by the hand asfar as it is possible for us to go in the investigation of Divinetruths ; at the same time, the ordinary acceptation of thewords is not to be pushed further than is necessary for theunfolding of the truth which they aid in expressing.


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NOTFS ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 27

These are respectively condemned in the twoclauses of verse 4.THE SABELLIANS were those who confoundedthe Persons of the Holy Trinity, i.e. failed adequately to discriminate or distinguish betweenThem. They were the followers of Sabellius,a Presbyter of the Libyan Church in the earlypart of the third century. " Sabellius taughtthat there was but one Person in the Godhead ;and in confirmation of this doctrine he madeuse of this comparison : as a man, thoughcomposed of body and soul, is but one person,so God, though He is Father, Son, and HolyGhost, is but one Person. Hence the Sabelliansreduced the three Persons of the Trinity tothree characters or relations " God, contemplated as the Creator, being spoken of as theFather ; contemplated as the Redeemer, spokenof as the Son ; contemplated as the Sanctifier,spoken of as the Holy Ghost.The Sabellian heresy is confuted by thefollowing passages of Holy Scripture

(a) St. Matt. iii. 1 6, 17: " And Jesus, whenHe was baptized, went up straightway out ofthe water: and, lo, the heavens were openedunto Him, and He saw the Spirit of Goddescending like a dove, and lighting uponHim: and, lo, a voice from heaven, saying,


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28 NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED.This is My beloved Son, in Whom ! am wellpleased."

(b) St. John xiv. 16: "And I will pray theFather, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever."

In both these passages the three Personsof the Holy Trinity are spoken of in such away as is inconsistent with the Sabellianteaching.Nor dividing the Substance : i.e. NOTMAKING A DIFFERENCE IN 1 THE D IVINE SUB-STANCE. THE ARIANS, followers of Arius, aPresbyter of Alexandria, in the early partof the fourth century, divided the Substanceof the Godhead, denying that God the Sonwas of one Substance with the Father : theyallowed to Him the title of God, but said thatthis title was given to Him in an inferiorsense, He being not co-eternal and co-equalwith the Father.The Arian heresy was condemned by the

Council of Nicsea, A.D. 325, which drew upthe Nicene Creed, wherein it is stated thatGod the Son is of one Substance ivith theFather. This heresy is confuted by the following texts

1 An old English version of the Creed (1542) read" geparatyng the substance."


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(a) St.John x. 30 :

" I and My Father areone."(6) Heb. i. 3 (R.V.): God the Son being " the

very image of the Father s Substance."


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Ill ENLARGEMENT AND ILLUSTRATION OF THE PRECEDING STATEMENT WITH REFERENCE TO THEONENESS OF THE DIVINE SUBSTANCE (vv. 7-20).7. Such as the Father

is, such is the Son :and such is the HolyGhost.

8. The Father un-create, the Son un-create : and the HolyGhost uncreate.

9. The Father incom-prehensible1,theSonincomprehensible :and the Holy Ghostincomprehensible.

1 Incomprehensible is the translation of the Latin wordimmensus, which means incapable of being measured, infinite.[The common meaning of incomprehensible incapable ofbeing understood is a later application of the word, and isnot referred to here.] The old English translation beforereferred to gave " The Father is without measure."

7. The attributes whichmay be assigned toany one Person ofthe Holy Trinitymay be assignedalso to the otherPersons.

8-18. These attributesare

(a) Uncreated Being (ver. 8).

(b) Infinity (ver.,

9) -(c) Eternity (ver.

10).


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NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 3110. The Father eter

nal, the Son eternal :and the Holy Ghosteternal.

11. And yet they arenot three eternals :but one eternal.

12. As also there arenot three incompre-hensibles, nor threeuncreated : but oneuncreated, and oneincomprehensible.13. So likewise theFather is Almighty,the Son Almighty :and the Holy GhostAlmighty.

14.Andyet they arenotthree Almighties :but one Almighty.

15. So the Father isGod, the Son is God :and the Holy Ghostis God.16. And yet they arenot three Gods : butone God.

(d) Omnipotence(ver. 13).(e) Deity (ver. 1 5).(/) Lordship (ver.

17).But ivhile we thus attribute to each Person of the HolyTrinity UncreatedBeing, Infinity, E-ternity, Omnipotence, Deity, Lordship, we must at thesame time affirmthat there is butONE BEING : Who isuncreated, infinite,eternal, almighty,God, and Lord (vv.n, 12, 14, 16, 1 8).


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32 NOTES ON THE ATHANASTAN CREED.17. So likewise the

Father is Lord, theSon Lord : and theHoly Ghost Lord.

18. And yet not threeLords : but one Lord.

19. For like as we arecompelled by theChristian verity : toacknowledge everyPerson by Himselfto be God and Lord :

20. So are we forbidden by the CatholicReligion : to say,There be three Gods,or three Lords.

For while the revelation of God inChrist requires usto acknowledge severally each one Person to be God andLord, so the Creed ofthe Universa IChurchforbids us to saythat there are threeGods or three Lords.

This section expands the statement of verse6, enumerating the Divine attributes whichare possessed alike by each Person of theBlessed Trinity.The statements of the Creed with referenceto the Divine attributes may be thus illustrated from Holy Scripture :


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(a)UNCREATED BEING.

(i.) Exodus iii. 14: "And God said untoMoses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said,Thus shalt thou say unto the children ofIsrael, I AM hath sent me unto you."

(ii.) St. John v. 26: "As the Father hathlife in Himself, so hath He given to theSon to have life in Himself."

(iii.) Gen. i. 2 : " The Spirit of God movedupon the face of the waters."

(b) INFINITY 1 .(i.) Ps. cxxxix. 7-10: "Whither shall I gofrom Thy spirit ? or whither shall I flee from

Thy presence ? If I ascend up into heaven,Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell,behold, Thou art there. If I take the wingsof the morning, and dwell in the uttermostparts of the sea ; even there shall Thy handlead me, and Thy right hand shall holdme."

(ii.) St. Matt, xviii. 20: "Where two or1 God is infinite:

(a) with respect to space ;(i) with respect to time.The former is illustrated here ; the latter in the next clause,under the head of Eternity" "Verses 9 and 10 teachthat we must exclude all conceptions of space and time in

thinking of God " (Swainson).C


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34 NOTES ON THE ATHANASFAN CREED.three are gathered together in My Name,there am I in the midst of them."

(c) ETERNITY.(i.) Psalm xc. 2 : " From everlasting to

everlasting Thou art God."(ii.) Heb. i. 8: "Unto the Son He saith,Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever."(iii.) Rev. xxii. 13: "I [Jesus] am Alphaand Omega, the beginning and the end, the

first and the last."(iv.) Heb. ix. 14: "... Christ, Who through

the eternal Spirit offered Himself withoutspot to God."

(d) OMNIPOTENCE.(i.) Gen. xvii. i : " The Lord said unto

Abraham, I am the Almighty God."(ii.) Dan. iv. 35 : " He doeth according to

His will in the army of heaven, and amongthe inhabitants of the earth: and none canstay His hand, or say unto Him, What doestThou ? "

(iii.) Job xlii. 2 : "I know that Thou canstdo every thing."

(iv.) St. Matt, xxviii. 18: "And Jesus cameand spake unto them, saying, All power isgiven unto Me in heaven and in earth."


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(v.)i Cor. ii. 10 : "The Spirit searchethall things, yea, the deep things of God."

(e) DEITY.The Father is God.(i.) i Cor. viii. 6 : "To us there is but one

God, the Father."(ii.) Eph. iv. 6 : " One God and Father of

all."

The Son is God.(i.) St. John i. i : " The Word was God."(ii.) Phil. ii. 5, 6 : ... Christ Jesus, Who,

being in the form of God, thought it notrobbery to be equal with God."

(iii.) Rom. ix. 5 : " Christ, Who is over all,God blessed for ever."(iv.) Heb. i. 8: "But unto the Son He

saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever andever 1 ."

1 The Divinity of Our Lord may also be inferred from thefacts :

(a) That He receives worship as God, and is prayedto, e.g. by St. Stephen (Acts vii. 59). Of. Hebrews i. 6:"

Let ail the angels of God worship Him."(&) He possesses the peculiar attributes of God ; such as

(i.) ETERNITY. St. John i. a : " The Same was in thebeginning with God." Heb. i. 8 : "Thy throne,God, isfor ever and ever"

C 2


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36 NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED.The Holy Ghost is God.Acts v. 3, 4 : " Peter said, Ananias, why

hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to theHoly Ghost? .... Thou hast not lied untomen, but unto God."Compare also i Cor. iii. 16 with i Cor. vi.

19, and 2 Tim. iii. 16 with 2 Pet. i. 21 *.(ii.) OMNIPRESENCE. St. Matt, xviii. 20 : " Where two

or three are gathered together in My Name,there am I in the midst of them."

(iii.) OMNISCIENCE. St. John xxi. 17: "Lord, Thouknowest all things."

(c) He exercises Divine prerogatives, such as(i.) FORGIVING SINS. St. Matt. ix. 2 : " Jesus said untothe sick of the palsy ; Son, be of good cheer, thy

sins be forgiven thee."(ii.) JUDGING THE WORLD. St. John v. 22 : "The Fa

ther hath committed all judgment unto the Son."1 The Divine dignity of the Holy Ghost may also be

inferred from the following considerations :(a) Blasphemy aga ;nst Him is the unpardonable sin.

St. Matt. xii. 32 : " Whosoever speaketh against the HolyGhost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world,neither in the world to come."

(i) The Holy Ghost is associated on terms of equalitywith the Father and the Son in the Baptismal Formula(St. Matt, xxviii. 19), and in the Apostolic Benediction(a Cor. xiii. 14).

(c) Our Lord was said to be the Son of Q-od, because Hewas conceived by the Holy Ghost. St. Luke i. 35: "TheHoly Ghost shall come upon thee .... therefore also thatHoly Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called theSon of God."The Personality of the Holy Ghost is proved by the


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(/) LOKDSHIP.(i.) Psalm Ixxxiii. 18: "That men mayknow that Thou, Whose name alone is JE

HOVAH, art the most high over all the earth."(ii.) Acts x. 36 : " The word which God sent

unto the children of Israel, preaching peaceby Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all}!

(iii.) i Cor. viii. 6 : " One Lord JesusChrist."

(iv.) 2 Cor. iii. 18 (R.V.): "The Lord isthe Spirit."

19. The Christian verity: i.e. the Truth 1 asmade known to us by Christ. The doctrineof the Trinity in Unity is a doctrine distinctively Christian; whatever foreshadowings offact that the characteristics and acts of a person ["a living,conscious, willing agent"] are attributed to Him in theNew Testament. See especially St. John xiv. 16, &c.,where the Holy Ghost the Comforter is said to abide,teach, reprore, guide, hear, speak, sheto. Compare alsoRom. viii. 26, "The Spirit maketh intercession;" Eph.iv. 30, " Gritre not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby yeare sealed unto the day of redemption; " Acts xiii. 2, "TheHoly Spirit said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul."

1 The Truth (objectively). Cf. St. John xvi. 13 (R.V.):" When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He shall guide youinto all the truth" In the old English version of theCreed (1542) this verse stood, "We are compelled by thevcrye Truthe of Christcs fayth to confess separative everyone Person to be God and Lorde."


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38 NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED.it may be gathered from the Old Testament 1 , it is distinctly revealed to us only inthe New.Every Person by Himself. The Latin

word for which by Himself is substituted issingillatim, which means separately. Thesubstitution is unfortunate, and makes ourversion " savour of heresy." " We may speakof a separate confession in regard to Oneor Other ; but it is wrong to speak of Oneor Other as being by Himself " (Swainson).Of. passage from Hooker, quoted in foot-note,P- 43-

1 Such intimations of a plurality of Persons in the Godhead are :

(i.) The use of the Plural Pronoun.Gen. i. 26 : " God said, Let Us make man in Our Image,

after Our Likeness." Cf. Heb. i. 2, where it is saidthat " God made the world by His Son"Gen. iii. 22 : "The Lord God said, Behold, the man isbecome as one of Us."

Gen. xi. 7 : " The Lord said .... Go to, let Us go down,and there confound their language."(ii.) The Names given to the Messiah in the Old Testa

ment." Jehovah our Bighteousness" (Jer. xxiii. 6)."Immanuel," i.e. " God with us" (Is. vii 14)."The mighty God" (Is. ix. 6\" Awake, sword, against My Shepherd, and against

the Man that is My Fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts "(Zech. xiii. 7).


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NOTES ON THE ATHANASTAN CREED. 3920. The Catholic religion: i.e. the more

general revelation of Himself which God hasmade to men. Of this revelation, the doctrineof the Unity of the Godhead is a distinctivefeature.


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24. So there is oneFather, not threeFathers ; one Son,not three Sons : oneHoly Ghost, notthree Holy Ghosts.

made, nor created,nor begotten; Hisrelation to the Father and the Son isexpressed by thephrase, PROCEEDING FROM THE FATHER AND THE SON.

24. Thus, in accordance with the preceding statement,there is one Father,not three Fathers;one Son, not threeSons ; one HolyGhost, not threeHoly Ghosts.

As the preceding section (verses 7 to 20) maybe regarded mainly as an expansion of ver. 6, sothis section is an expansion of ver. 5, "There isone Person of the Father, another of the Son,and another of the Holy Ghost." Personalityimplies distinction, and distinction must bebased upon a difference: what this differenceis in the case of the three Persons of the HolyTrinity is expressed in these verses.Compare Hooker, Eccl. Pol. v. 51 : " Seeing


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42 NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED.therefore the Father is of none, the Son is ofthe Father, and the Spirit is of both, they areby these their several properties really distinguishable each from other. For the Substance of God, with this property to be of none,doth make the Person of the Father ; the veryselfsame Substance in number, with this property to be of the Father, maketh the Personof the Son ; the same Substance, having addedunto it the property of proceeding from theother two, maketh the Person of the HolyGhost. So that in every person there is implied both the Substance of God which is one,and also that property which causeth the samePerson really and truly to differ from the othertwo."

Hooker proceeds to illustrate this Onenessof Substance and Trinity of Persons in theGodhead by comparison with the oneness ofnature and diversity of personality in menand in angels. Thus, speaking of men, he says :"Every person hath his own subsistence, whichno other besides hath, although there be othersbesides that are of the same substance. Asno man but Peter can be the same personwhich Peter is, yet Paul hath the selfsamenature which Peter hath." Again, speakingof angels, he says : " Angels have every of


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NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 43them the nature of pure and invisible spirits ; but every angel is not that angel whichappeared in a dream to Joseph."

These illustrations may be paraphrased andapplied as follows :

(i.) As there is in different men a commonsubstance (which we call humanity], and atthe same time a distinct personality (foundedupon differences of parentage, locality, form,disposition, &c.) ; and

(ii.) As there is in different angels a common substance (which we may call the angelicnature), and at the same time a distinct personality (founded upon differences of office,relation, &c.) :SO IS THERE IN FATHER, SON, AND HOLYGHOST A COMMON SUBSTANCE (WHICH WE CALLGODHEAD OR DIVINITY) AND AT THE SAMETIME A DISTINCT PERSONALITY (FOUNDED UPONTHE DIFFERENCES STATED IN THIS SECTION 1 ).

1 The above must be accepted only as an illustration, andmust not be pushed too far. The Oneness of Substance inthe Godhead is, if we may so express it, more intimatein character than the oneness of substance which existsamongst different men. Hooker recognises this when hesays elsewhere: "The Persons of the Trinity are not threeparticular substances to whom one general nature is common, but three that subsist by one Substance which itself isparticular, yet They All Three have it." This particularity


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44 NOTES ON THE ATIIANASIAN CREED.21. The Father is made of none. St. John

v. 26 : "The Father hath life in Himself."In accordance with this statement, God the

Father is spoken of by theologians as theFountain or Source of Deity. " He derivesHis essence from none, being Himself theFountain of life and the Source of being."

22. The Son is of the Father alone . . .fcegotten.

(i.) St. John i. 18: "No man hath seenGod at any time ; the only begotten Son,Which is in the bosom of the Father, Hehath declared Him."

(ii.) Psalm ii. 7 (quoted Acts xiii. 33 ; Heb.i. 5) : " Thou art My Son ; this day have Ibegotten Thee."The essence of sonship consists in the factthat the son derives his being from him whois called his father: the title SON, then, applied to Our Lord, must indicate that He,in some manner, derives His Being from GODTHE FATHER. This mystery of the Divineexistence is set forth in Our Lord s ownwords :of Substance (he says) forbids us to contemplate the solitaryor separate existence of the three Persons of the HolyTrinity.


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(i.) St. John vi. 57 : " As the living Fatherhath sent Me, and I live by the Father."

(ii.) St. John v. 26 : " As the Father hathlife in Himself; so hath He given to theSon to have life in Himself."From these statements we learn that the

mode of existence which the Father possessedfrom all eternity He communicated to theSon ; and this communication of the Natureof God, thus made by God the Father to Godthe Son, is called " THE ETERNAL GENERATIONOF THE Sox."Compare the expressions of the Nicene

Creed, "begotten of His Father before allworlds ; " and of Article II., " begotten fromeverlasting of the Father."

23. The Holy Ghost is of the Father andof the Son . . . proceeding.

(i.) St. John xv. 26: "... the Spirit of truth,which proceedeth from the Father."

(ii.) i Cor. ii. 12 : "We have received, notthe spirit of the world, but the Spirit whichis of God."The above texts state the procession of theHoly Ghost from the Father.The Creed goes beyond this in affirmingwhat is known as the doctrine of the double


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46 NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED.procession; i.e. that the Holy Ghost "proceed-eth from the Father and the Son" as statedin the Nicene Creed. The last words of theclause were not found in the original Creed,as it was settled at the Council of Constantinople, A.D. 381 ; they were inserted bycertain branches of the Western Church, butnever received the authorisation of a GeneralCouncil. The Filioque clause, as it was called[and from the Son], was made the occasionof quarrel between the Eastern and WesternChurches, which led to the separation betweenthese two branches of the Church Catholic inthe eleventh century. The Eastern Churchstill refuses to admit this clause, on thegrounds (a) that it is incapable of prooffrom Holy Scripture, (6) that it is unauthorised by a General Council of the UniversalChurch. We must admit the force of thesecond objection, and allow that the EasternChurch had ground for objection to the introducing into a Creed of the UniversalChurch an article authorised only by onebranch of that Church: yet the processionof the Holy Ghost from the Son may be"proved by most certain warrant of HolyScripture," and may fittingly find a placein the public declaration of our Faith. Thus


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NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 47we find the Holy Ghost spoken of as theSpirit of Christ :

(i.) Rom. viii. 9 : "If any man have notthe Spirit of Christ, he is none of His."

(ii.) Gal. iv. 6 : " God hath sent forth theSpirit of His Son into your hearts."

(iii.) i Pet. i. n: " The Spirit of Christwhich was in them [the prophets]."(iv.) Compare St. John xx. 22: "Jesus

breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost."As the term GENERATION is used to indicate the relation of the Second Person ofthe Holy Trinity to the First, so is the termPROCESSION used to indicate the relation ofthe Third Person to the First and Second.It will be observed that these terms indicatea priority of order in the Persons of the HolyTrinity, though not a subordination of rank ordignity (See vv. 25, 26, and note).

24. There is one Father, not three Fathers,&c. This verse might seem to be unnecessary,there having been no sects who taught directly that there were three Fathers, or threeSons, or three Holy Ghosts. The Sabellianheresy, however, by " confounding the Persons," practically tended in this direction;


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e.g. the Patripassians, who taught that itwas God the Father Who suffered on thecross, must have been driven to admit thatthere were two Fathers one praying on thecross, and the other prayed to, in the words" Father, forgive them," &c.


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V. CO-ETERNITY AND CO-EQUALITYOF THE THREE PERSONS OF THEHOLY TRINITY. A REPEATED ASSERTION OF THE NECESSITY OF ARIGHT FAITH IN THE DOCTRINE OFTHE TRINITY IN UNITY (vv. 25-28)25. And in this Tri

nity none is afore,or after other : noneis greater, or lessthan another ;

26. But the wholethree Persons areco-eternal together :and co-equal.

27. So that in allthings, as is aforesaid : the Unity inTrinity, and theTrinity in Unity isto be worshipped.

25. And in this Trinity there is no"before" or "after"(in time); there isno "greater" or" less " (in dignity).

26. But the three Persons have existedtogether from alleternity: they areall equalin dignity.

27. Thus, in accordance with the statement of the thirdverse, ive must inall things worshipOne God in a Trinity of Persons,and a Trinity of


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28. He therefore thatwill be saved : mustthus think of theTrinity.

Persons in the OneGodhead.

28. He therefore thatdesires to be in astate of salvation,let him thus thinkof the Trinity.

This section is an emphatic re-statement ofwhat has already been stated in previousverses of the Creed :The co-eternity of the three Persons (vv.

10, n).The co-equality of the three Persons (v. 6).The necessity of a right faith (vv. 1-3).25. None is afore, or after other, &c.

The Latin is, Nihil prius aut posterius, nihilmajus aut minus, THERE is NO SUCH THINGAS PRIORITY OR POSTERIORITY, NO DISTINCTIONTO BE MADE OF GREATER AND LESS. Theclause is intended to guard against an inference which might be drawn from the language of the preceding clause : the statementthat the Father is of none, while the Son isof the Father, and the Holy Ghost is of theFather and the Son, might be taken to imply


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NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 51that the Father -was before the Son in orderof time as well as in dignity, and that "theFather and the Son were in like mannerbefore and greater than the Holy Ghost.Such an inference might indeed seem tofollow naturally from the language whichwe have employed in speaking of the mannerof the Divine existence, and of the relationsin which the Persons of the Holy Trinitystand to each other. We must bear in mind,-however, that all human language, when applied to the things of God and Heaven, isnecessarily imperfect, and that the statementsmade in this language can present to us onlyone fragment or aspect of Divine truth, andthus need to be supplemented, and in somerespects corrected, by other statements. Compare what was said with reference to the useof the word Person, pp. 25, 26.It will be observed that ver. 26 in its twoclauses states affirmatively what had beenstated in negative form in ver. 25 : None isafore or after other ; but the whole three Persons are co-eternal : None is greater or lessthan another ; but the ivhole three Persons areco-equal.

27. In all things. Latin, per omnia. TheD 2


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52 NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED.Persons of the Holy Trinity may be distinguished, but cannot be divided, or contemplated as existing or working apart. "Whatthe Father does, that the Son does, and thatthe Holy Ghost does ; where the Father is,there the Son is, and there the Holy Ghostis." We do indeed attribute the work ofCreation more particularly to the Father, thatof Redemption to the Son, that of Sanctifi-cation to the Holy Ghost ; but we must notforget that in each of these the other Personsof the Holy Trinity are co-operant. Similarlywe may address our prayers and praises morespecifically to One Person of the Holy Trinity ;but we must bear in mind that the other Persons are associated with that One in the unityof the Divine Being. Cf. footnote on p. 43.

28. He therefore that will be saved, &e.latin, Qui vult ergo salvus esse, ita de Tri-nitate sentiat, HE THEREFORE THAT DESIRESTO BE IN A STATE OF SALVATION LET HIMTHUS THINK. See notes on ver. i.


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NOTi S ON THE ATHANASTAN CftEED.

VI. THE DOCTRINE OF OUR LORD SINCARNATION (vv. 29-37).29. Furthermore, it isnecessary to ever

lasting salvation :that he also believerightly the Incarnation of Our LordJesus Christ.

30. For the right Faithis, that we believeand confess : thatOur Lord JesusChrist, the Son ofGod, is God andMan;

31. God, of the Substance of the Father,begotten before the

29. It is moreover necessaryfor one seeking eternal life thathe should believefaithfully the doctrine of Our LordsIncarnation.30. The right Faiththen is, that webelieve (with ourhearts) and confess(with our lips) thatOur Lord JesusChrist, Whom wehave spoken of inthe previous part ofthe Creed as THESON OF GOD, is bothGod and Man.31. He is God, inasmuch as He is ofone Substance with


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54 NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED.worlds : and Man,of the Substance ofHis Mother, born inthe world ;

32. Perfect God, andperfect Man : of areasonable soul andhuman flesh subsisting ;

33. Equal to the Father, as touchingHis Godhead : andinferior to the Father, as touchingHis Manhood.

34. Who although Hebe God and Man :yet He is not two,but one Christ ;

the Father, begottenof the Father beforeall times; He isalso Man, partak-in9 of the substanceof the Virgin MaryHis Mother, born intime.

32. He is thus perfectGod ; and He is atthe same time perfect Man "subsisting" (i.e. having areal existence), andpossessing both arational soul anda human body.

33. In respect of HisGodhead,He is equalto the Father; inrespect of His Manhood, He is inferiorto the Father.

34. And though He isGod and Man, yetHe is not two Persons, but one Person, namely Christ.


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NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 5535. One ; not by con

version of the Godhead into flesh : butby taking of theManhood into God ;

36. One altogether ;not by confusion ofSubstance : but byunity of Person.

37. For as the reasonable soul and fleshis one man : so Godand Man is oneChrist.

35. He is thus One,not by His Godheadhaving been turnedinto Humanity, butby Manhood havingbeen taken up intothe Godhead.

36. He is entirely One,not by a blendingof the Divine withthe Human Sub*stance, but by theOneness of the Person, Jesus Christ.

37. For [to use an illustration] as therational soul andhuman body together constitute oneman, so do God andMan together constitute the one Person, Christ.

This section sets forth the doctrine of OurLord s Incarnation, touching which there arefour points to be maintained :


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56 NOTES OX THE ATHANA8IAN CREED.(a) The reality of Our Lord s Divine Nature.(b) The reality of His Human Nature.(c) The Union of the Divine and Human

Natures in one Person.(d) The distinctness of the Natures thus

united.

29. Necessary to everlasting salvation.The phrase corresponds with that which isemployed in verse i, and asserts that a beliefin Our Lord s Incarnation (as well as in thedoctrine of the Holy Trinity) is required ofthose who desire to be in a state of salvation.This statement is authorised by i John iv. 2, 3 :u Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christis come in the flesh is of God ; and every spiritthat confesseth not that Jesus Christ is comein the flesh, is not of God."

Believe rightly. Latin, fideliter credat,BELIEVE FAITHFULLY ; i.e. accept as an articleof faith, as a Divine revelation of a fact beyondthe scope of human reason.

30. Believe and confess. Cf. Rom. x. 9, 10:"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth theLord Jesus 3 and shalt believe in thine heartthat God hath raised Him from the dead

5thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man


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NOTES ON THE ATHANASTAN CREED. 57believeth unto righteousness ; and with themouth confession is made unto salvation."The necessity of an outward confession aswell as of an inward belief was also taughtby Our Lord, St. Matt. x. 32 ; St. Lukexii. 8.The Son of God. The phrase employed

by the Jews to designate the Messiah, andappropriated to Himself by Our Blessed Lord.

St. Matt. xxvi. 63, 64: "The high priestanswered and said unto Him, I adjure Theeby the living God, that Thou tell us whetherThou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesussaith unto him, Thou hast said." Of. St. Johni. 34 ; x. 36, &c.

31. God, of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds. Thisrepeats the previous statements of the Creedwith reference to the consubstantiality andco-eternity of the Son with the Father.

" The Godhead of the Father and of theSon is one" (ver. 6).

"In this Trinity none is afore or afterother . . ."

"But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together " (vv. 25, 26). Seenotes, pp. 50, 51.


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58 NOTES ON THE ATHANASTAN CREED.Man, of the substance of His Mother.

Compare Article II. : " The Son, which is theWord of the Father, begotten from everlastingof the Father, the very and eternal God, andof one Substance with the Father, took Man snature in the womb of the Blessed Virgin,of her substance" See St. Matthew i. 18-23 5St. Luke i. 31.Born in the world. The Latin is, in sceculo,i.e. in time. This balances the previous phrase,begotten before the worlds (ante scecula, beforetime was). It indicates that Our Lord, intaking upon Him our nature, and being bornof the Elessed Virgin Mary, became subject tothose conditions of time and space from whichas God He was exempt.

32. Perfect God. Compare the expressionin Article II., and in the Nicene Creed, VERYGOD. The perfection or verity of Our Lord sGodhead is insisted upon, in contradiction tothe teaching of the Arians and other heretics,who allowed in words that Jesus was Godbut afterwards explained away their statement so as to make it appear that He wasGod in some less real sense than that inwhich the Father is said to be God. Forthe proofs of our Lord s Divinity, see p. 35.


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NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 59Perfect Man. This phrase is explainedin the words that follow of a reasonable

(or rational) soul and human flesh. Thereare thus two things " appertaining to the perfection of man s nature : "

(a) The possession of a real humanbody.

(b) The possession of a rational soul.(a) OUR LORD HAD A REAL HUMAN BODY.

This is proved by the fact of His birth of theBlessed Virgin Mary ; His growth in stature(St. Luke ii. 52) ; His liability to hunger (St-Luke iv. 2), to weariness (St. John iv. 6), topain (St. Luke xxii. 44), to bleeding andbloody sweat (St. John xix. 34 ; St. Lukexxii. 44), to wounds and laceration (St. Johnxx. 27) ; from His crucifixion, death, andburial.The reality of Our Lord s Manhood is insisted upon in opposition to the DOCET.E (so

called from a Greek word meaning to seemor appear), a heretical sect in the secondcentury, who taught that Our Lord had onlya seeming (or phantom) body, and that Hisactions and sufferings were not in reality butonly in appearance. Such teaching involveda practical denial of Our Lord s Incarnation,and robbed His life and death of all meaning,


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60 NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED.either as an example for us to follow, or as anatonement for the sins of the world.

(b) OUR LORD HAD A REASONABLE SOUL.This is proved by the fact of His " increasing in wisdom " (St. Luke ii. 52) ; fromthe possibility of His being ignorant (St.Mark xiii. 32), which could not be true ofHim considered only in His Divine Nature ;from His being liable to temptation; fromHis feeling sorrow and sympathy (St. Lukexix. 41 ; St. John xi. 35, &c.) ; from the separation of His Soul from His Eody at death,the Soul

descendingto Hades, whilst the Bodywas laid in the grave (Acts ii. 27, 31) 1 .The existence of a rational soul in Our Lord

was denied by the APOLLINARIANS, followers ofApollinaris, Bishop of Laodicea, in the fourthcentury. Apollinaris taught that the place ofthe rational soul in Our Lord was supplied byGod the Word. This heresy was condemnedat the Council of Constantinople, A.D. 381.

33. Equal to the Father. Cf. vv. 6, 25, 26." The Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal;"" None is greater or less than another ; "" The whole three Persons are co-equal."

1 Bishop Harold Browne on the Articles, pp. 70, 71.


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NOTES ON THE ATHANASTAN CREED. 61The co-equality of the Son with the Fatheris proved,(a) St. John x. 30 : "I and My Father are

One."

(6) St. John v. 1 8 : " Making Himself equalwith God."

(c) Phil. ii. 6: "Thought it not robbery tobe equal with God. *The inferiority of the Son, in respect ofHis Manhood, is shown in Our Lord s own

words,St. John xiv. 28 : " My Father is greater

than I 1 ."

35. Not by conversion of the Godhead intoflesh. In this and the following verse thereare excluded from the limits of the CatholicFaith two explanations which might possiblybe, or have actually beeh, given of Our Lord sIncarnation, (a) that it was a change in whichthe Divine Nature was lost and the humansubstituted in Its place ; (b) that it involved aconfusion or blending of the two Natures.What is here stated is that the Incarnation

1 Some commentators, however, understand this text asreferring to the priority of order which distinguishes theFather as the Source or Fountain of Deity. See note onverse 21, p. 44; and cf. Westcott on St. John xiv. 28.


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62 NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED.was not a conversion or change of Godheadinto Manhood, or, in other words, that OURLORD, IN BECOMING MAN, DID NOT CEASE TOBE GOD. This is proved by Our Lord s wordsto Nicodemus (St. John iii. 13): "No manhath ascended up to heaven but He thatcame down from heaven, even the Son ofMan Who is in heaven." A form of expression which "preserves the continuity ofOur Lord s Personality, and yet does notconfound His Natures He that camedown from heaven, even He Who beingincarnate is the Son of Man, without ceasingto be what He was before " (Westcott) l .

Taking of the Manhood into God. Heb.ii. 14: "Forasmuch then as the childrenare partakers of flesh and blood, He alsoHimself likewise took part of the same."Where the argument is, that Our BlessedLord " took our nature upon Him " in orderthat He might in all things "be made likeunto His brethren."

36. Not by confusion of Substance. Thisclause is opposed to the EUTYCHIAN heresy

1 Our Lord at His Incarnation "emptied Himself" ofHis Divine glory (Phil. ii. 7), but not of His DivineNature.


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NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 63

(so called from Eutyches, Abbot of a monastery near Constantinople, in the fifth century). The Eutychians taught that in theIncarnation the human nature of Our Lordwas swallowed up in the Divine (" absorbedin the Godhead, like a drop of honey in theocean "), or that the two natures were soblended as to form a third nature l . Thisheresy would represent Our Lord as holdinga position something like that of the demigods of mythology, having a nature partlyhuman, partly Divine. The Catholic Faith,on the other hand, is, that

"

Our Lord s humanand Divine Natures remained without change,each fulfilling its part according to its properlaws."A discrimination between the two Naturesis made in verse 33, where it is said that OurLord in respect of His Godhead is equal tothe Father, while in respect of His ManhoodHe is inferior to the Father. Such a discrimination could not be made if the twonatures were blended into one.

Unity of Person. The denial of thisunity was the distinctive error of the NES-TOKIANS (so called from Nestorius, a Bishop

1 The Eutychian heresy was condemned at the Councilof Chalcedon, A.D. 451.


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64 NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED.of Constantinople in the fifth century), whotaught that Our Lord had a human personality and a Divine Personality, and that theacts and attributes belonging to the respectivenatures must be referred to each. The heresyoriginated in the refusal of one of the followersof Nestorius to allow to the Blessed Virgin Marythe title of Theotokos (i.e. bearer, or mother ofGod 1 ), which had been commonly assigned toher in the Early Church : it was proposedthat she should be called instead Christo-tokos (i.e. mother of Christ). Such a discrimination practically involved the denial of that"Unity of Person" which is asserted in theCreed. With equal reason might exceptionhave been taken to the expression " blood ofGod" found in Acts xx. 28 (- The Churchof God, which He hath purchased with Hisown blood

")

2.

1 If any hesitation is now felt in applying this title to theBlessed Virgin, it is because of the exaggeration in the Churchof Rome of the reverence properly due to her.

2 Hooker (" Eccl. Pol." V. liii. 4) refers to " the cross andcirculatory speeches, wherein there are attributed to Godsuch things as belong to manhood, and to man such asproperly concern the Deity of Christ Jesus." As an example of the former he cites I Cor. ii. 8, where St. Paulsays that " the princes of this world . . . crucified the Lordof glory ;" and of the latter, St. John iii. 13, where theSon of Man being on earth affirmeth that the Son of Man


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Nestorius was condemned at the Councilof Ephesus, A.D. 431 1 .37. As the reasonable soul and flesh is

one man. It must be observed, that this iswas in heaven at the same time. "In the one there isattributed to God, or the Lord of glory, death, whereofDivine Nature is not capable ; in the other ubiquity untoman, which human nature admitteth not." These areillustrations of that which is called by theologians thecommunicatio idiomatum; i.e. the transference of attributesfrom the one to the other of the two Natures co-existingin the one Person, Christ.The statements of verses 4 and 36 may be exhibited in a

tabular form, for the sake of comparison and contrast :

1 If, as Waterland supposes, the Athanasian Creed waswritten before this date, the language of this verse mustnot have been directly aimed against the Eutychian andNestorian heresies, but against modes of thought or formsof expression then prevailing in the Church which afterwards were formulated into these distinct heresies. TheApollinarian heresy (p. 60) was to some extent an anticipation of Eutychianisrn.


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66 NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED.used only as an illustration. The union ofGodhead and Manhood in one Person is amystery, to which the mystery of the unionof soul and body in man is to some extentanalogous, as showing that " a visible and aninvisible, a mortal and an immortal substance,may united make one person." We must not,however, press the illustration so far as toassume that " as in us the body and soul, soin Christ God and man make but one nature"(Hooker, " Eccl. Pol." V. lii. 4) ; this would beto contradict the statement of Article II. :"Two whole and perfect Natures, that is tosay, the Godhead and Manhood, were joinedtogether in one Person, never to be divided,whereof is one Christ. *


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NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CKEED. 67

VII. OUR LORD S PASSION, DESCENTINTO HADES, RESURRECTION, ANDSESSION AT THE RIGHT HAND OFGOD; HIS FUTURE COMING TOJUDGE THE QUICK AND DEAD ;THE REWARD OF THE RIGHTEOUSAND THE PUNISHMENT OF THEWICKED; RE-ASSERTION OF THENECESSITY OF HOLDING THE CATHOLIC FAITH (vv. 38-42).

38. Who suffered forour salvation : descended into hell,rose again the thirdday from the dead.

38. Who endureddeath on the cross,that thereby Hemight save us fromsin and its consequences; at HisdeathHis Soulpassed into Hades, theplace of departedspirits ; on the thirdday after His crucifixion His Souland Body were u-nited, and with HisSoul and Body He

E 2


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68 NOTES ON THE ATHANASTAN CREED.

39. He ascended intoheaven, He sittethon the right handof the Father, GodAlmighty

: fromwhence He shallcome to judge thequick and the dead.

40. At whose comingall men shall riseagain with theirbodies : and shallgive account fortheir own works.

roue again from thedead.

39. He visibly wentup from earth, andpassed into the immediate presence ofGod, where He occupies the place ofhighestdignityfromwhich He shall hereafterreturn tojudgeall men, both thosewho are alive andthose who are deadat His appearing.

40. When Our Lordshall come again,the souls and bodiesof the dead ^mll bereunited, and thedead will rise withtheir bodies ; theywill then appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, andbe judged for theworks they didivhile on earth.


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41. And they thathavedonegood shallgo into life everlasting : and theythat have done evilinto everlasting fire.

42. This is the Catholic Faith : whichexcept a man believe faithfully, hecannot be saved.

41. Those whose livesare approved byGod, the Judge, willthen pass into acondition ofreward(called everlastinglife),andthose whoselives are condemnedofGodwillpass intoa condition ofpunishment (describedunder the figure ofeverlasting fire).

42. This is the Creedof the CatholicChurch, and unlessa man holds thisCreed faithfully, hecannot be in a stateof safety.

38. Suffered for our salvation. This statement as to the efficacy of Our Lord s sufferingscorresponds with that in the Nicene Creed,"Who for us men, and for our salvation,came down from heaven." The same truthis set forth more explicitly in Article II.:t; Christ truly suffered, was crucified, dead and


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70 NOTES ON THE ATHANASTAN CREED.buried, to reconcile His Father to us 1 , and tobe a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, butalso for all actual sins of men."

These are the authoritative statements ofthe Church on the subject of Our Lord sATONEMENT, that Our Lord died to free usfrom sin, and to make AT ONE God and man,who had been previously estranged throughman s transgression. They are based uponthe following passages of Holy Scripture,

Col. i. 19-22: "For it pleased the Fatherthat in Him should all fulness dwell ; and,having made peace through the blood of Hiscross, by Him to reconcile all things untoHimself; by Him, I say, whether they bethings in earth, or things in heaven. And

1 It will be observed that the phraseology of the Articlediffers in one respect from that of the passages quoted below: in those passages St. Paul speaks of the reconciliationof man to God, while the Article speaks of the reconciliationof God to man, of which Holy Scripture does not directlyspeak. The latter idea is, however, included in the former;God s wrath against sinful man is exhibited in such passagesas Rom. v. 9, "... We shall be saved from wrath; " Eph.ii. 3, "... Were by nature the children of ivrath." Fromthis just wrath of God the sacrifice of Our Lord wasdesigned to deliver us. It is accordingly spoken of as apropitiatory sacrifice, "He is the propitiationfor our sins"(i John ii. 2) ; the effect of the sacrifice being to remove thewrath of God, and make Him propitious (i.e. favourable}to us.


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NOTES ON THE ATHANASTAN CEEED. 71

you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yetnow hath He reconciled in the body of HisFlesh through death, to present you holy andunblameable and unreproveable in His sight."

2 Cor. v. 19: "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputingtheir trespasses unto them."

Eph. ii. 13, 16: "Now in Christ Jesus yewho sometimes were far off are made nigh bythe blood of Christ. That He might reconcileboth [Jew and Gentile] unto God in one bodyby the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. 5Compare also Rom. iii. 2426.Descended into Hell. Compare Article

III. The word Hell is derived from an oldEnglish word meaning to cover or conceal,and means therefore the covered place; itcorresponds with the Greek word Hades,meaning the unseen icorld, the place of departed spirits 1 . This clause is inserted in theApostles and Athanasian Creeds to emphasisethe fact that Our Lord in His death compliedwith the conditions of death in man, His Soul

1 It is of course not to be confounded with the place oftorment (Gehenna). It is unfortunate that the same wordHell should be employed in English to describe two suchdifferent places or conditions.


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72 NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED.was separated from His Body, and while thelatter was buried, the former passed into theplace of departed spirits.

St. Luke xxiii. 43 : " To-day shalt thou bewith Me in Paradise."

Acts ii. 31 (referring to quotation fromPs. xvi. 10): "He seeing this before spakeof the Resurrection of Christ, that His Soulivas not left in hell, neither His Flesh did seecorruption."

Eph. iv. 9 : " Now that He ascended, whatis it but that He also descended first into thelower parts of the earth 1

"

i Pet. iii. 18-20: "Christ also hath oncesuffered for sins, the just for the unjust, thatHe might bring us to God, being put to deathin the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit : bywhich also He went and preached unto thespirits in prison ; which sometime weredisobedient, when once the longsuffering ofGod waited in the days of Noah, while theark was a preparing."Rose again the third day from the dead.

Cf. Nicene Creed : " The third day He roseagain according to the Scriptures" See i Cor.xv. 4. The Scriptures referred to as prophetic of our Lord s Resurrection are

Ps. xvi. 10: "Thou wilt not leave My Soul


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in hell ; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine HolyOne to see corruption." (Quoted Acts ii. 27,31, and xiii. 35-37, and applied to the Resurrection of Our Lord.)

Hosea vi. 2 : " After two days will Herevive us ; in the third day He will raise usup, and we shall live in His sight."Our Lord s Resurrection was also typicallyforeshadowed

(a) In the history of Jonah : " As Jonaswas three days and three nights inthe whale s belly ; so shall the Sonof Man be three days and threenights in the heart of the earth."

(6) In the deliverance of Isaac fromdeath: "Abraham offered up Isaac. . . accounting that God was ableto raise him up, even from thedead ; from whence also he receivedhim in a figure " (Heb. xi. 17-19).

Compare with the foregoing St. Luke xxiv.45, 46 : " Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written,and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and torise from the dead the third day."The fact of Our Lord s Resurrection, andHis appearances to many witnesses, are re-


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74 NOTES ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED.corded in the Gospels, and referred to ini Cor. xv. Cf. Acts i. 3 : " To whom also "[the Apostles] " He showed Himself aliveafter His passion by many infallible proofs,being seen of them forty days."

39. He ascended into heaven. The narrative of Our Lord s Ascension is found in St.Luke xxiv. 50, 51, and Acts i. 9-11.He sitteth on the right hand of the Father : i.e. Our Lord, after His Ascension, wasawarded the place of highest honour and distinction in the heavenly mansions.

St. Mark xvi. 19: "So then after the Lordhad spoken unto them, He was received upinto heaven, and sat on the right hand ofGocirHeb. i. 3: "When He had by Himself

purged our sins, He sat doivn on the righthand of the Majesty on high."Heb. x. 12: "This Man, after He had

offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat downon the right hand of God."

Ps. ex. i : " The Lord said unto my Lord,Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thineenemies Thy footstool." (Quoted, as fulfilledby Our Lord s Ascension and exaltation toGod s right hand, in Acts ii. 34, &c.)


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From whence He shall come to judge thequick and the dead. Acts i. i o, ii: " Andwhile they looked stedfastly toward heavenas He went up, behold, two men stood bythem in white apparel ; which also said, Yemen of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up intoheaven ? this same Jesus, which is taken upfrom you into heaven, shall so come in likemanner as ye have seen Him go into heaven."

St. John v. 22 : " The Father judgeth noman, but hath committed all judgment untothe Son."

Acts xvii. 31 : " God hath appointed a dayin the which He will judge the world inrighteousness by that Man Whom He hathordained."

2 Tim. iv. i : " . . . . the Lord Jesus Christ,Who shall judge the quick and the dead atHis appearing and His kingdom."Acts x. 42 : " He commanded us to preachunto the people, and to testify that it is Hewhich was ordained of God to be the Judgeof quick and dead."

40. At "Whose coming all men shall riseagain with their bodies, &c. Compare withthese verses the corresponding clauses of theother Creeds:


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76 NOTFS ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

Apostles Creed. " I believe in ... the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."

Nicene Creed. " I look for the resurrectionof the dead, and the life of the world to come."

It will be observed that the AthanasianCreed contains particulars which are notcontained in the shorter Creeds:

(i.) It contains a more explicit statementof the judgment which shall take place atthe resurrection.

(ii.) It states the rule of that judgment, thatit will be " according to works."

(iii.)It states the punishment that will beinflicted upon the wicked [" They that have

done evil shall go into everlasting fire"].All men shall rise again with their bodies.

The Latin is, resurgere habent; literally, haveto rise, i Cor. xv. 42 : " So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption ;it is raised in incorruption : it is sown indishonour ; it is raised in glory : it is sown inweakness ; it is raised in power : it is sowna natural body ; it is raised a spiritual body."Eom. viii. 1 1 : " But if the Spirit of Himthat raised up Jesus from the dead dwell inyou, He that raised up Christ from the deadshall also quicken your mortal bodies by HisSpirit that dwelleth in you."


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Job xix. 26 :"

Though after my skin wormsdestroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I seeGod."

Shall give account for their own works.Rom. xiv. 10, 12: "We shall all stand beforethe judgment seat of Christ ... So then everyone of us shall give account of himself to God/1 Peter iv. 5 : " Who shall give account toHim that is ready to judge the quick andthe dead."

2 Cor. v. 10: "We must all appear beforethe judgment seat of Christ ; that every onemay receive the things done in his body,according to that he hath done, whether itbe good or bad."

41. They that have done good shall gointo life everlasting. St. Matt. xxv. 31-34,41, 46 : " When the Son of man shall come inHis glory, and all the holy angels with Him,then shall He sit upon the throne of Hisglory: and before Him shall be gathered allnations : and He shall separate them one fromanother, as a shepherd divideth his sheep fromthe goats : and He shall set the sheep on Hisright hand, but the goats on the left. Thenshall the King say unto them on His righthand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit


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78 NOTFS ON THE ATHANASIAN CREFD.the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Then shall He say alsounto them on the left hand, Depart from Me,ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared forthe devil and his angels. And these shall goaway into everlasting punishment: but therighteous into life eternal."

St. John v. 28, 29 : " The hour is coming, inthe which all that are in the graves shall hearHis voice, and shall come forth: they thathave done good, unto the resurrection of life ;and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."

42. This is the Catholic FaHh, &c. Seenotes on vv. i, 2, 28, 29. Cf. Rev. xxii.1 8, 19: "If any man shall add unto thesethings, God shall add unto him the plaguesthat are written in this book : and if any manshall take away from the words of the bookof this prophecy, God shall take away hispart out of the book of life, and out of theholy city, and from the things which arewritten in this book."

Faithfully. The Latin is, fideliter firmi-terque, " faithfully and firmly." The latterword implies earnestness of conviction, as theformer relates to correctness of belief.


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QUESTIONS.

1. Why is the Athanasian Creed so called ?Upon what occasions is it appointed to beread in the Public Service of the Church ; andfor what reason ?

2. Explain the following expressions foundin the Creed ; give the context in which eachoccurs ; and illustrate from Holy Scripture :

(a) " Incomprehensible."(b) " Christian verity."(c)

" Reasonable soul."(d) " Conversion of the Godhead into

flesh."

3. Explain fully, giving the context, andillustrating out of Holy Scripture :

(a) " Whosoever will be saved."(b) " Keep whole and undefiled."(c) " None is afore or after other"What is there in the Nicene Creed corre

sponding to the last of these three expressions "?4. "The Unity in Trinity and the Trinity

in Unity." In what connection do these


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80 QUESTIONS.words occur? Explain them fully, and pointout what there is in the Nicene Creed corresponding to them.

5. What is meant by the phrases "confounding the Persons" "dividing the Substance ? " What language in the Nicene Creedguards against these two errors?

6. The Godhead of the Father, of the Son,and of the Holy Ghost is all one." Write alist of those attributes of the Godhead whichare given as examples of this equality, withscriptural proofs or illustrations of each.

7. Prove from Holy Scripture the followingArticle of the Faith " At Whose coming allmen shall rise again with their bodies, andshall give account for their own works;" andshow how far the same doctrine is expressedin the other Creeds of the Church.

8. In what points is the Athanasian Creedmore explicit, and in what less explicit, thanthe other Creeds? What light is thrown bythe differences in the Creeds upon the originof such differences ?

9. Compare the statements in the threeCreeds respecting the Second Person in the


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QUESTIONS. 81

Trinity. What inference may be drawn fromthem as to the order in which the Creeds wereframed 1 ?

1. Give a summary of the contents of theAthanasian Creed. What is meant by "theCatholic Faith," and" the Catholic Religion?"

2. Compare the statements of the Athanasian Creed with reference to Our Lord sIncarnation with those found in the Apostlesand Nicene Creeds, and in Article II.

3. Make a list of the heresies with referenceto the Holy Trinity which are referred to inthe Athanasian Creed. Quote the clause inwhich each is referred to, and cite texts ofHoly Scripture confuting each heresy.

4. Make a list of the heresies on the subjectof Our Lord s Incarnation which are referredto in the Athanasian Creed. Quote the statements of the Creed referring to each, and citepassages of Holy Scripture in support of thesestatements.

1 The foregoing Questions are adapted from those set inrecent years at the Annual Examination of Church of England Training Colleges in Religious Knowledge.F


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82 QUESTIONS.5. Quote the " warning clauses " of the

Creed. Show how some of these are modifiedby a reference to the Latin original. Givescriptural proof in support of each statement,and defend these clauses from the imputationof " uncharitableness."

6. What phrase of the Athanasian Creedimplies the doctrine of Our Lord s Atonement? Compare the statements of this doctrine found in the Nicene Creed and inArticle II., and give scriptural proofs.

7. Give the context of the following phrases;state the doctrines of the Faith to which theyseverally refer, and the heresies to which theyare severally opposed :

(a) " Confounding the Persons"(b) " Unity of Person"(c) ;{ Confusion of Substance"(d) " Dividing the Substance."

8. Define the words Person and Substance,and write a note on the employment of theseterms in the Athanasian Creed.

9. How are the Persons of the Holy Trinitydistinguished from each other? Give scriptural proofs of the Personality and Divinityof the Holy Ghost, and of His Processionfrom the Father and the Son.


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QufsTiom 8310. Explain the following, with referenceto the context :

(a) " Born in the world."(b) " Shall give account for their own

ivorks"

(c) Believe rightly."(d) " Of a reasonable soul and human

flesh subsisting."(e) " Such as the Father is, such is the

Son, and such is the Holy Ghost."11. What illustration is given in the Creed

of the union of the two Natures in the onePerson of our Blessed Lord? Show how farit serves its purpose as an illustration of " themystery of the holy Incarnation."

12. In what respect is Our Lord said tobe " equal to the Father" and in what respect"inferior to the Father?" Give scripturalproofs of both statements.

13. Explain the meaning of the statementthat Our Blessed Lord descended into hell;and give scriptural proofs.


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Documents

Hobson. Notes on the Athanasian Creed. 1894