Parochial and Plain Sermons

".Excelgt 3te see si«s and wonders, ye will hot believe.'"

E are now celebrating the ]ast great Festival iii the course of Holy services which began in vent; the Feast of the Ever-blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and IIoly Ghost, whose mercy has planned, accomplished, hnd wrou'ht in us " lffe and immortality." And the 1)resent Festival has this pecn]iarity in it,—that it is the commemoration of a mystery. Other Festivals celebrate mvsterics also, but not because ¢hcy are mysteries. The _llllIlllCiat:{Oll, the birth of Christ, death on the Cross, His Resurrcction, the dcscent of the Holy Ghost, are ail mvsteries; but we celcbratc them, ot on this account, but for the blessing's which we gain ff'oto thcm. But to-day we celebraCe, not an act of God's nercy towards us, bnt, forettin ourselvcs, and looking only upon Him, we reverently aud awfully, 3-et joyfully, extol the wonders, hot of His works, but of His own

Nature. We lift up heart nnd eyes towards Him, and speak of what I[e is in Ilimself. We dare to speak of IIis cverlasting and intinite Essence; we direetly contemplatc a mystcry, the deep unfitholnable mystel T of the Trinity in Uniy. oubtless, flore that deep myste D" proeeeds all tha is fo benefi and lless us. Vithout an Ahnighty Son we are no redeemed,without an Ever-present Spiri we are no justified and sanetified. Yet, on this day, we eelebrate the mystery fir its own salie, not for out sake. On this day, then, we should tbrg'et ourselves, and fix our thou'hts upon God. Yet men are hot willinff fo forger themsclves; they do no like fo beeome, as it were, nothing, and fo have no work bu fifith. They like aument and proof better; they like to be eonvineed of a truth fo their own satisfitetion befire they reeeive it, when, perhaps, sueh satisfaction is impossible. This happens in the saered subjeet before us. The solemn mystery of the Trinity in Unity is eontained in Seriptre'e. We ail know this; there is no doubt about if. Yet, though it be in Seripture, it does hot lbllow that every one of" us should be a fit judge whether and where it fs in Seripture. I may be eontained there fully, and.yet we may be unable fo see if fiflly, tbr various reasons. Now flfis is the grea.t mistake whieh some persons idl into; they think, because the doctrine is maintain«l as being in Seripture by those who lnaintain if as truc, that theretbre they lmve a right to say thaf tey will not believe it (ill it is proved fo [Aele ri'oto Scripture. If is nothing fo them that the great multirude of good and holy men in all ages have held it.

hey e lie OEhonm, who would no belkwe hi8 brocher Apole tha out Iord wa risen, ill he lmd  mueh proof as they, and who said, "Exeep I sec and touch tbr myself, I will hot belicve." And they are like the Jews whom out Lord reproves in the text, swing, " Excep ye se2 dgns and wonders, ye will not belicve." They call i an enlig'htcned, rati, mal lclief, to dcmand tr thenselves proof ri'oto Scripture lefin'e thm- bclieve; and thev think that any othcr admissi«m «I" thedo«trine is blind and superstitious, and unaceeptalle fo Ahnighty God. And when, lerhaps, we have g'one so fir as fo indulge t.hem, and fo prot)ss thag we are willin fo prove the doctrine from Serip/ure fo their satisfietion, md that, as a previous step fo their believing and worshipping, then they meet us with sueh shallow and ligt-minded «luestions as the tbllowin:" Vhere in Scripture do you find Ihe word Trinitv " " Whv do you insist upon if, if ig is not in Seripture" Aain, "Where is the Holy Ghos expresdy and plainly ealled God, in Scripture " Again, "Vhere docs Seril4ure speak of One Substance, OEhree Persons, as the Athanasian Creed speaks Wlwre does SeripIure say tlmt the Son and the IIoly Ghost are unereate  where, that' the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Itoly Ghost, is all one, the glory equal, the majesty eo-eternal '" And so they go through the wlmle of out Y)ivine fiith, earping, objeeting, and traduein', even thoug'h they do no mean i; and all for thisbeeause thev,oill be judges themselves whn is in Seripture and whn is no; wha neeessnry fo salvation, nnd wha lmt; wha words nre important, and what not; what sources of instruction God has given besides Scripture, and what hot. N«w, on such conduct, I «bscrve as follows:that they wlm lhink it um'easonalle fo believe without proof, are surelv um'easonal»lc themselves in so thinkin. Vhat warrant in reason, what rig'ht have they, fo say that they will hot 1,elieve the Creed unless if is proved to lhe» to le in Scripture? ïhey profess fo aet by reason. WelI, then, I ask them, Is il aeeording fo reason fo say, that thev will hot believe the Creed with- Ollt l'e;Isons drawn Ollt. to their satisfiwtion ri'oto Scriptre'e? I think hot; I thinkIean provethatitisnot. I think a. very few wm'ds will make it evidcnt, that they mv nnrcasonable and ineonsistent in reNsing fo believe belote they see the Scripture proof. 1. I would ask, in the first place, whether we reason and prove belote we aet, in the aflhirs of this lire? For instance, we are bound t« obey the laws; we know that we shall get into great trouble ifwe do hot; that if we break them, loss of pmperty or imprisonment will be the eonsequenee; so that if is of reat importance that we should obey them; and we know that these laws are hot always obvious to COlnmon sense; so that ai flirtes, a l»ers,»n may break them with the best intentions possible, if he aet upon his own private notions of right and wrouff. Aeeordingly, everv now and then you find persons, under pal-tieular eiremnstanees, alarmed lest they should be unawares breaking the law; and what do they then do? thev eonsult some one skilled in the law, Mlo has ruade the law his study and profession. If never oeeurs to a man so eireumstaneed fo buy law books, and to make out the truth of any ilnportant matter for himself, though itis really eontained in law books. No neither iii orlinal'l- nor in extraordinal 3" mattevs does he trus his own judgment how the law sLands. In ordinary matters he thinks i sat to go by the opinion ofmen in general; in exIraordinaD-, he eonsnls men learned in the law;—tbeling too vividly how much is stake to trust hi,zae(/ I¢ is llO{l that he doubts, for an instanÇ tha¢ lhe laws of the land are put into writing, and are o be fimnd in law books, and mig'ht be drawn ou of them; lm he distrusts him«(/ IIe distrusts, no the lav books, bu his own ability. There is too great a risk,oo mueh a stake,his propery, his eharaeter, his person, are a stake. He eanno aflbrd, in such a qase, fo indulge his love of arg'umenÇ disputation, and eritieism. o; this l,»ve of aça'nment eilll 01113" be indulged in a case in whieh we have no fears. 1 is reserved for religious suldeets. Sueh subjeets differ ri'oto all other praetieal suljeets, as being those on whieh the world feels ri'ce fo speeulate, beeause iL does notfi, ar. I has no tbars abouL relig'ious doctrine, no keen sensibilities; iL does not feel, though it may eonfess, thaL ifs eternal interests are aL stake. If suspends ils judgmenL; for what lnatters iL to the world whether it. makes up ifs mind on a point, of religion, or no ean «{brd fo say, "I will noL believe till I see proof in Seripture for believing," though if does noL say, « I will noL believe lavyers till I nnderstand the law," beeause it secs elearly and feels deeply that the law of the hmd is a real power, and that fo eome into collision with iL is n. real disaster; but iL does not sec and feel that «the

3J a ];'a¢'l/ a[1/oul ])czolslJ'al¢'ol. Word of God is quiek and powerN1, and sharper thau any two-eded sword, pierein" even 1o the dividin asunder of soul and spirit, and of thc joints and marrow, and is a discerner of' the thoug41ts raid intents of the heurt." Men well understand that they will be sure to sutlç, r t?om hunmn law, fir all they eanmt judge of it by themselves, on the grmmd that they ean, if they «hoose, gct oIhcr e«»mpetent mon fo judge tk»r theln; they eannot be ruade t,» fccl tlmt they will hereafter have to answer tbr having been told the truth, however, or froln whatevcr quai'ter they were/old it,at Chureh, or t}om têaehers, or t'foin religions books. ïhey aet as if it were no mat/er whnt thev knew, unless they ealne fo klmw it in oue partieular way, throug'h Seripture. Now, smx'ly, this parallel holds most exaetly, unless one or other of two thing's eould be showlbUlfless we have reason for thinking, first., that it matters not what we believe; or, seeondly, that no faith is acceptable in the case of individuals whieh does hot m'ise from their own 2)er«o,tal igèreee« from Seripture. Let, then, grounds be prodneed for either of these two positions, that correct faith is ulimportant, or that personal faith must be built npOl mgUlnent and prooE Till tben, surely tlle general opiniol of all lnen around us, and that t)oln the tirst.,the belief of out teaehers, fi'iends, and superiors, and of all Christinns in all rimes and plaees, that the doctrine of the IIoly Trini/y must be held in order to salvation, is as g'o(l a reason for our believing it ourselves, even without being able fo prove it in all its parts from Seripture; I say, this general reeeption of it by others, is as good a reason for aeeepting it withou hesiation, eonsiderin the fearNl eonseq uenees whieh mav follow ri'oto no aeeepting if., as the eneral belief how the law stmds md the opinion of skilful lawyers about the lav is a reason for followingtheir vicwofthe law, though we eannot verify that view from law books. g. But it mny here bc said, that the cases are ditç ferent in this respeet,—that the commonh'-reeeived notions about what the banal of the land is, d« m,t impose upon out belief anv thin improballe or diNeult fo aceept, lmt that the Cath.lie doctrine of the Trinifv is mysterious and unlikelr; and, thel'efore, thoug'h if is reasonable fo fro by what others sav in le,al matters, if is no reasonable h, go by others in respect fo this doctrine. Now, on the contrary, I eonsider that this mysterioumess is, ns fa.r as if proves nnv rhino, a recommendation of the doctrine. I do hot sav that if. is truc, eeauee if is mysterions; but. that if if be truc, it eannnt help being mysterious. If would be strane, indeed, as hns often been urged in arulnent, if anx" doctrine eoneerning God's infinite and eternal Natm'e were hot mysterious. If would even be an objection to nny professed doctrine eoneernin His Nature, if if were hot mvstcrious. That the saered doctrine, then, of the Trinitv in Unitv is mysterious, is no objection fo if, but rather thc eontrary; the onlv objection that ean plausibly be urged is, why, if so, should if be revealed? Why should we be told a»ff [hier 9 about God's Adorable Nature, if ineomprchensiblc He is, and mvsterious t.he doctrine about Him must be? This, if is true, we.»aff a.sk; though tan we ask if piously and reverentlv? how ean ee be judges what He will do on sueh  point  how ean e, worms of lm earth, md ereatures of  day, pretend o determine what is mos suitable .o im o tell, what is bes fiw us o know, when e condescends o reveal Ilimselfo us Is i hot enouh for us that I[e spcaks fo us ai, ail? and cannot we eonsen fo lcave Him (if'I lnay so express myself) fo speak fo us in l lis OWll Wa)'? ']lCt}lCl', thon, IIc will reveal fo us any thing" al»out ]lis «»wh Nature or no, our reason eamlot detel'mile; but this it ean determine, fhat  lle docs, if will be mvsterims. If is no objection, fhen, I repeat., fo lhc dOetl'ine, tha.t, it is mysterious; and if is no rcason, therefiwe, a'ainst reeeivin if. on fhe general bclief of ofhers, that it is mvstcrious. If is no more improbable that that doctrine slmuld be what it is, than fhat fhe law «,f the land should be what if. is; and as we believe the testimonv of ofhers about fhe law, without havin studied fhe law, so we may well reeeive fhe docfriue of fhe Trinifv on fhe tesfimony of our friends and superiors, out Chureh, all good men, learned men, and men in general, though,u'e have hot learning, attainlnents, or leisure suffieient fo draw if. for ourselves fi'om Seripture. If is hOt stranger tha the testimony ot" others should be our guide as fo the nex world, than tha if is out guide in this. This is the firs answer fhat I should luake fo fhis objection; but now I will give another, whieh wH1 open the sta.te of the case more fully. I suppose, then, tllere is no one who has hot heard of, and no one bu would e shoeked af seeing, wha is ealled an Atheist, ha is, a person who denies tlla there is any God at all. We should be shoeked, not flore any unchristian feelin,g- towm-ds the unhappy man who blasphemed his Iaker and S:viour, but, without thinking" Of hiJ, we shouhl f['el that Satan alone could be the author of such «,la impiety, and we should be sure that we had close besidc us a very special manifestation of Satan. We shonld 1)e shocked to think how ve'y low human nature could fidl, whcn if so yielded fo the telnptations of S,qtan. Such would be our tiîclings, and surely very rig'ht ones;)-et, perhaps, the Uldml)l)y man tu question, quite tmcouscious himself of his great misery, as unconseious as persons who tlcny the doctrine of Ihe Trinity are of theirs (br this is the propeoEy of Satan's delusions, that the men seized by them do hot suspect that they are delusions), I say, this man, altogether unconscions what a mournfid ob.jeet he was fo all believers, might bein fo arg-ue and dispute in his detience, and his argument mi,ht be such as the ibllowing-: "You tell me that I must believc in a God, but I want this doctrine Trored fo my s:.ttisihction belote I believe if. It is very unreasonable in you fo dcal with me in any other way. Na)3 you have one aainst reason tu your ovn case, in that you believe. For which of you has ever set about proving that God exists? which of you has hot believed if before proving if? You believe if because you have ]»cela taught if. But prove to me the truth of this doctrine ri'oto the world which we see and touch, ii-oln the course of nature and of hunmn affairs, and then I will believe it." Now is if hot a very happy thing- that men are hot accustomed to speak in this way? Why, if so, ail out lire would be spent, in proving things; out whole bein. would ho one eontinued disputation; we should have no rime fin" action; ve should never so thr ns action. Some things, nay, the greates things, mus be taken tbr ranted, mdcss we make up out minds fo fi'itter awav lire, doin. »othing. But fo refm'n fo the partieular case befi,re us;should we think ourselves weak and dull in n. seekin¢ proof tiret Goal exists hefiwe believin in (od, or the man in questiou miserable in needing if? YeI, if he persisted, and was of an acute and suMle mind, is i hot plain, tha abundant as is ihe evidcnce of God's existence, providence, pmver, wisdom, and love, on the fiee of nature and in human affairs, yet if would no at ail be easv fo prove if. fo im, not merclv fo is satisfaction, but fo ont satisfiction eithcr. Clearlv as we should feel the evidcnee, we shonhl hot. be al»le fo bring, out the proof so as fo corne up fo out own notions wha a proof o»ht to be, and we should be disappointed with our own nttempt.. For, leg us see lmw this man wonld mgue,(after all, I scarcely like to sav what he would urge, les I should speak in a wav unsuitable fo this saewd place; and ye it may be usethl to hiut at one or two things, by wny of showin aorv recel we should be bound in eonsisteney fo adroit, if we grant a man need believe nothing for whieh he ealmOf be given a elear and eonvenien proof,)he will say then thus: " You tell me tiret there is but one God; and you tell me to look abroad into the world, and I sllall see proofs of if. I do look abroad, and I see good a,d evil.

I sec the proof, then, of two gods, a good God, and another, evil. I sec two principles struggling with each other." This shocking doctrine has belote now been held by those who wcre dcterlnincd fo prove fo thenaseh-es every thing before they believed; and when if is a question of argument and disputation, blasphenmus as if is, nmeh that is phutsible can be said for it. For evil certainly has a kingdm ot' its own in the world; it seems fo have a place here, and fo act on systcm.:Even Seripture ealls Satan the 'od of this world; hot meaning that he is really god of if (God tbrbid!), but that he bas usurpcd the power of it, and seems fo be god of if. If, thon, every one is bound fo provc his faith for himself belote believing, then he is bound, hot onlv fo prove fi)r himself the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity from Scripture, but he nmst first prove ff-oto thc fice of thc world the doctrine of the Unity; and, as in the first case, he will, mfless properly qualified, be in great risk of perplexing himselt" and denying that God is Three, so will he, in the latter, run g'reat risk of de,ying that God is One. And if is fo be feared tha if is only because men have the doctrine of the IIoly Trinitv fo speak against, that they do hot speak against the doctrine of the Unity; they wi/1 doubt and cavil abou something or other; and were revealed religion not before them, then thev would speak against natural religion, as in other rimes and places they have alrendy donc. Again; the dcludêd man I ana supposing will continue his bad arguments as t%llows: " You tell me that God is almighty; now you may prove Itim fo be mighty,. but how do you prove Him to be almighty? You eannot prove more than you sec, and you must be all-seeitg to judge of what is al]ty. Again, You say ha God is infinite; but all you ean kuow on the sul,jcct hat flw Intelligence flat created fle world surpa«ses your comprehension; but by how much, vhether infinitely, you eannot know, you eammt prove." Again, " You cll me fo lelievc that God had no beginning; this is incomlrehensil,le; [ do n,,t know what you mean; I cannot take in the sense of vour words. If is as casy fo bclieve the doctrine of the Trinitv in Unity, as tha God had m, l»einnin. And lere is less proof for if lhan fi»r lhc d.ctrinc of {hc Triniy; for, af least, there is proof in Scripturc tbr that doctrine, but what possible proof can you pretcnd to brln ri-oto the face of the world that God was ti'om cverlasting?" Now I do hot sec how sueh an objector can answered satisfactorily, if he is pertinacious. You mcet, indeed, vith books written to prove fo us thcy profess) the behg of au &lmighty, Infinite, Everlasting God, ri'oto what is seen lu thc natural world, but they do wt strictly prove if; they do but recoinmend, evidence, and confirm the doctrine to those who believe if already. They do hot make an approach fo a complote arg'mnentative proof of if. They are obliged fo pass over, or take for grantcd, many of the most important points in the doctrine. They are, doubtless, useful to Christians, as fir as they tend to enliven their devotiou, fo strenthen their faith, to excite their gratitude, md to cnlarge tiroir minds; but thcy are little or no evidence fo unbelievers. And, in saying" all this, I must no be lmderstood fo say, that the course of the world does not justly impress upon us the doctrine of One Truc, Infinite, and Almig'hty God;—it does so,— but that the proof is too dcep, subtle, colnplcx, indirect, delicate, and spiritual to be mmlyzcd and brought out into formal arg'ument, level fo the comprehension of the multitude of men. And I say the saine of the proof of thc doctrine of thc Holy Trinity in Scripture. A humble, teaclmb|e, silnple, belicving • mind, will imbibe the doctrine from Scripture, how if knows hOt, as we drink in the air vithout seeinff if; but whcn a lnan wants formal.a'rounds for lais belief laid l»efore him in a definitc shapc, and bas littlc rime for reflcction and study, and little learning • or cultivation of mind, then, I say, he tan do little better than fo fall back upon his impressions instead of proof, on the bclief of ail around him, and on the testimony of ail ag'es. Let us, then, learn from this Festival to walk by.i[h; tha is, no to ask jealously and eoldly for strie arg'ument.s, but fo follow generously what bas fait evidenee for if, even though i might have fidler or more systematie evidenee. It is in this way tha we all believe tha there is a God. A subtle infidel mig'h soon perplex any one of us. Of course he might. Out very state and warfare is one of faith. Let us aim af, le us reaeh after and (as i were) catch af the things of the nex world. There is a voiee within us, whieh assures us tha there is something" higher than earth. We canno analyze, define, eontelnplate what it is that hns whispers to us. I has no shape or material form. There is tha in out hearts whieh prompts us to religion, and whieh eondenms and ehastises sin. And z

34 ° Fait] wilhoul cmotslralio. flfis yearning of our nature is me and ustained, i finds an objee fo test upon, when i hears of the exis.enee of an ll-powevfid, ll-graeious Creator. I incites us o a noble thith in wha we eanno ee. Iet us exorcise a similar thith, as regards the Iysteries of Revelation also. Ilere is the truc use of 8eripture in leading ils fo the truth. If we read if humbly and inquire teaehably, we shall iind; we shall bave a deep impressiol on out minds that the doetrines of the Creed are t.here, though we may hot be able fo put our hands upon particular texts, and sav how lnueh of if is eon{ained here and how mueh there. But, on the other hand, if we read in order to )rore those doetrines, in a eritical, argumentative way, lhen all traces of them will disappear t¥om SeripIure as if they were hot. there. They will fide awny insensibly like hues af stmset, and we shall be leR in darkness. Ve shal[ eome fo the conclusion that thev are hot in Seripture, and shall, perhaps, boldly eall them unseriptural, lleligious convictions eannot be foreed; nor is Divine truth ours to summon af will. If we de[er»be that we will find if out, we shall find nothing. Faith and humility are the only spells whieh conjure up the image of lleavenly things into the letter of inslfiration  and fififl and humility eousist, hot in going about to prove, but iii the outset eonfiding on the testinmny of others. Thus afterwards on looking baek, we shall find we have proved what we did hot set out to prove. We eannot eontrol out reasoning powers, nor exert them aç out will or at any moment. I is so with other theulties of the mind also. Who eau eommand his memory? The more you try to recall vhat you have forg-otten, the less is your chance of success. Leave thinking- about if, nd perhaps memory rcturns. And in like lnnnner, thc more you set yourself fo nrgue and prove, in order fo diseover truth, thc less likcly you are fo reason crrectlv and fo infer profitably. You will be eaug'ht 1,y so]hisms, and think them splendid diseoveries. Be sure, the hihest reason is hot fo reason on system, or by rules of argument, but in a lmtural way; hot with fin'mal intent fo draw out proofs, truslinff fo (;od's blessing" that vou nlay ain a riffht impression from what you read. If your reasoninff powers are weak, usin x arumentative tbrms will hot make them stronffer. They will enable you fo dispute aeutclv and fo hit @ieetions, l,ut hot fo diseover truth. There is nofhin ereative, nothin progressive in exhibitions of argument. The utmost they do is fo enable us fo sta.te well what we have ah'eady diseovered by the franquil exereise of out reason. Faith and obedienee are the main thing's; believe and do, and pray fo God for light, and you will reason well without knowin it. Let us hot then seek for sizns and wonders; for elear, or stl'on, or eompaet or original arguments; but let us be[iece; evidenee will eome after faith as ifs reward, better than before if as ifs goundwork. Faith soars aloft; if listens for the notes of heaven, the fidnt voiees or cehocs whieh scareelv reaeh the earth, and it thinks them worth all the louder sounds of eities or of sehools of men. If is foolishness in the eves of the world; but it is a foolishness of God wiser than the wofld's wisdom.:Let us embrace the sacred Mystery of the Trinity in Unity, which, as the Creed tells us, is the ground of the Catholic rcliion.:Let us think it enougqb let us think it fitr too great a privilege, for sinners such as we are, for  fallcn people in a degenerate age, fo inherit the faith once delivered to the Saints; let us acccpt it tlmnkfully; let us guard it watchfidly; let us transmit if faithfully to those who corne after us.

" Go trie, therefore, and teach all ations; baTH:ing them in the.Yame of.the -ather, and of fhe ou, and of the Itolt d Ghost.'"

HAT in some real sense the Father, and the Son, and the IIoly Ghost are They whom we are bound to serve and worship, from whom cornes the Gospel of grace, and in whom the protessiou of Christianitv centres, surely is shown, most satisfictorily.and indisputably, by the words of this text. When Christ was departing', He gave commission fo His Apostles, and taught them what fo teach and preaeh; and first o[  all they were to introduce their convcrts iuto IIis profession, or into His Church, and that bv a solcmu rite, which, as tic had told Nicodemus at an earlier rime, was to convey a high spiritual grace. This solemn and supernaturalordinance of diseipleship was fo be administered in thc Name— of whom? in the 2X-ame (ean we doubt it?) of Him whose disciples the converts forthwith became; of that God whom, ff'oto that day forward, they confessed and adored; whom they promised fo obey; in whose word they t,rsted; l,y whose bomiy they were fo be rewarded. Yet when Christ wouhl name the Naine of God, IIe does but sy, " la the Naine of the Father, and of thc Son, and of thc Itolv Ghost." I considcr, then, that on the vcry we of' IIis sacrcd words thcre is a difficulty, till the doctrinc (,F thc ]Ioly Trinity is ruade lnown fo us. Vhat c:m bc mcant b" saying, in the Nme, hot of God, but of Thrcc? If is an uaexpected manacr of spcech. Now evcn if it wcrc mcrely sad, of thc ] ather and thc S,m," therc would surelv bc a diffieultv in the tcrms of IIs eommand. Vc mig'ht indeed spposc tlmt IIe meant thercl»v fo denote the Supreme Lord of all, and the insh'ument aml mediator of IIis mercies in the Dispensation thcn eommewMg (as vc red of thc Israelites "belicving God and IIis servant 5[oses," aml "worshipping he Lord and thc king," David); but surely evcn tben it wotld bc strangc and inexpl]cablc that Christ should say, thc ]athcr and Son," and hot " God and the Son," or " Goal and Christ," or the lil;e; whercas the Namc of Goal docs hot occur af all, and the two words used instcad are what arc callcd corre£ffh'es, one implics thc other, thev lo,)l; ff'oto tbc one fo the other. Tbcrc is no menfion oï a F, mnt of mcrcies and a channel, and that, towards man lc rec]pient; but if is like the statement of some sacred doctrine vlieh has ifs meaning in itscl/ independently of man or of any economy of merey tow«rds him. And the force of this remark is incre;sed by our Lord's making mention, in addition, of thc Holy Ghost, which much confirms ths impression tha the Three Saered Names introdueed have a meaning relatively to eaeh othcr, and hot fo auy cmporal dispensation. Did the ex run, "" in the 'ame ot' God, Jesus Christ., and the Comtbrter," I do no. say tha this would have overeome the dieulty, or that i would be satisfaeOl T o interpre i of an Author of graee and tlis is/ruments; bu a «11 events there is far more difleulty, or rather an insuperable diflculty in such an interpretation of the ext, takcn as Christ actuallv spoke it. Ad hen, considering that if flcre was one boon above another whieh a eonvert mig'ht naturally claire of an Apostle, iL was o know ««'ho» he was to worship, t'o,e servanL he was o beceme, u'ko was fo 1,e ]ris God, now hat he had abandoned idols—(as, fbr instance, Ioses s:fid, "' AVhen I eome unto the ehildren of ]srael, and shall say unto lhem, 'l'he (od of youv fafhers bath sent me uno you, nd they shnll sw fo me, H-at i# Iii«:çme? what shall I say unto them?" and Almighty God aeknowledged tha he reques was rig'ht bv ranting it; and:s Jaeob s:fid, " Tell inc, I lwny thee, Thv 25te?" and ns)Ianoah said, "What is Thy.)me?" and as, in aeeordanee with these instmees, St. Pnul said fo the Athenians, "' Whom ve iguorautq u'or8hO», IIim deehre I unto vou");I say, wifh fhese eonsiderations belote us, we mig'hL have exlceted tha tl:ere would have been in the Baptismal %rm a elear and simple announeement, of he Christian's God, sueh as this, " In the -ame of he God and Fafler of out Lord 3esus Christ," that is, u»/«x the Catho]ie doctrine of he ttoly Trinity be true. If" indeed so i be, as he Chureh has ever taug'h, that the Falher, Son, and Itolv

Ghost are the One God into whose service Christians are enrolled, then good reason that 'fhey should be named upon the eonvert on his initiation. In that case there is no dillleulty; the saered tbrm of wt»rds preeisely mswers fo the w«rshipper's question, "What is Thy Name?" fo the Ap«sIle's promise, " Him deelare I unto)-ou:" but on thc supposition, which impugners of the doctrine lnaintain, tha by " Stm" is meal a man, and tha the IInly Spiri is no God and nog an intellig'en person ag nll, eerIainly  grea and nnexpeeted, and (I nlaV say, humanly speakin) nnneeessarv obseurity lmngs.ver thc lirst aet of thc Gospel teaehing. Nor let if bc oliccted fo Cath«,lie belicvers, that there ean bc no greater obseurity than a mystery; and that fle Saered Ïruth whieh they cont['ss is a greater perplexity fo the eonvert than anv whieh ean arise ri'oto eonsiderations sueh as I bave bcen insisting on. For the point I have been urging, is the inprobability that out Lord should introduee an obseurity of with none existing" in fiwt, which is the case in the heretieal interpretation and that He should prefer fo speak so darldv when IIe might have spoken simply and intellig'ibly; whereas, if there be an eternal mystery in flc G«dhead, sueh as we tvcr, then, t¥,m the nature tfthe case, there eould hot but l»e a dieulty in the words in whieh IIe revealed if. Christ, in that case, makes no mystery tbr the oeeasicn; He uses the plainest and most exact form of speeeh whieh human lang'uage admits of. And this deserves notice; extendcd fo the details of this great Catholie doctrine, of whieh I propose presently fo give some brief aeeount. I mean that, much as is idly and profimely said against the Creed of St. Athanasius as being unintellig'ible, yet the real objection whieh misbelievers feel, if they spoke eorreetly, is, that it is too plain. No sentenccs ean be more silnple, nor statemcnts lnore precise, than those of whieh it consists. The difl]culty is hot in anv one singly; but in their coml»inati«»n. And herein lies,' remarkable differenee bet«veen lhe doctrine of the Ih,ly Trinity, and some modern dog'matie statements on olher points, some truc and some hot truc, whieh have been.'tt Cimes pue forward.'ts neeessary fo salva¢ion. Iueh eon- roversy, for instance, has taken 1,lace in late eenturies a.bou the doeCrine ofjust.ifieation, and about fiith; bue here endless perplexities and hopeless disputes avise, as ve ail know, as fo what is meant by "failh," and what5 by "justification;" whereas most of the ro,,'d.ç used in the Crecd fo whieh I have referred,arc only eommon words used in their eommon sense, as " Lord" and "God," "eternal '" and "ahnihty," "one" and "three;" nor aain are the statements ditlàcult. There is no diffieulty, except sueh as is in the nature of things, in the Adorable Mystêry spoken ot; whieh no xvordin ean remove or explain. And now I propose fo state the doctrine, as fin" as i can be done, in few words, in the lnode in whieh it is disclosed to us in the text. of Seripture; in doing" which, if I shall be led on to mention one or two points of detail, it must hot be supposed, as some pcrsons strang'ely misake, as if sueh additional statemelds wêre intended for e.7)h-tzalio; whereas they leave the g'reat lIystery jusg as if was before, and are only useful as impressing" on our mind «'a it is lhat lhe Catholic Chureh means o assert, and as lnaking ita matter of real thith md apprehension, and not a merc assemblage of WOl'/[. lld tirst, I need scareely say, cmsidering how oflell it is tohl us in Sel-il»tUl'e, that God is One. " Hear, O Israel," savs 5[oses, " the Lord our God is one Lard." "Te»,s there is ]m one (.»d, the mwr, says St. ««  • Paul. Again, OEe Lord, ane }mth, one Bal)tism, one God and Fathcr of all." Again, "One God, and Olle 3[ediatm" ]elween (;od and IIIPII TM NOXV, if may be asked, in what. sense "one"P fi,r we speak of things 1,ein one which reallv are many; as Seripture speaks of all ChrisIians beinR" lnade oe bodv; of God being ruade ag oe with sinners; of God and man being oe Christ.; and of oe Baptisn b though administered to nmltitudes. I answer, that. God is one in the siml,lesg and strietesg sense, as nll Seripture shows; this is truc, whaever else is rne: hot in anv naminal or seeondary sense; but one, as ],ein individual; as h'ulv one as anv individual soul or spirit is one; nay, infinitely more truly so, beeause all creatures are imperfeet, and IIe has all perfeetion. In IIim there are no parts af passions, nothin in«hoate or inemnplefe, nothing bv communication, noIhinff of qualily, nothin whieh admits of inerease, nothing eonunon lO oIhes. IIe is separate ri-ara ail thing's, and whde, and l'erfect, and simple, and like Ilimselfand none else; and one, hot in naine, or bv figure, or by aeeommodation, or by abstraction, but one in Ilimself, or, as the Cred sl:ea.,s, one in substance  Deu[. ri. . 1 Cor. viii. G. Eph. i'. 5, 6. 1 Tire. il. 5.

or essence. All that He is, is Himself, and nothil short of tIimself; tIis attributes are IIe. Ilas tic wisdom? this does but mcan that I[c is wisdom. IIas He love? that is, " God is love," as St. John speaks. Has IIe onmipresence? that is, Ile is omnipresent. IIas He omniseienee? IIe is all-knowing . IIas He power? He is almighty. I[c is holy, and just, and truc, and good, hot in the way «,f qualifies ot" Iris essence, but holiness, justice, truth, and goodness, are all one md the self-saine Ilc, aceording as lIc is eontemplated bv Ilis crcatures in various aspects and rclati«ms. Vc mon are incapable of coneeiving of Ililn as lit is we eannot attain to more than glimpses, aeeidcntal or partial vicws, of His Infilfite Majesty, and these we eall bv different lmmes, as if IIe had attributes, and were of a eompound nature; md thus IIc deigns in mercy to ns fo spcak of [Iimself, using even human, sensible, and lnaterial terres; as if He eould be angry, who is not touehcd by evil; or eould repent, in whom is no variableness; or had eyes, or arms, or breath, who is a Spirit.; whcrcas IIe is at once and absolutely all perfection, and whatever is Ilc, is all He is, and He is Himselfalways and altogether. Thus we must ever commence in all out teaching coneerlfing the Holy Trinity; we must hOt begin by saying" that there are Three, and then afterwards go on fo say that there is One, lest we give false notions of the nature of that One; but we must begin by laying down the great Truth that there is One God in a simple and sri'let sense, and then go on to speak of Three, which is the way in whieh the myst.ery was progïessively revealed in Seripture. In the Old Testament we read of the Ulfity;

in the:New, we are enlightened in the knowledge of the Trinity. And here, lct if bc obscrvcd, that we have a sort of figure or intimatim of the saered Mystcry of the Trinity in Unity cven la what bas been now said concerning lhc Divinc Attril»utcs. For as thc Attrfl)utes of God are nmny in one mode of speaking, yet all One in God; so, too, therc are Thrce ])ivine Persons, yet these Thrce arc One. Lct iL hot le fir an instant supposed that I ara flar«ll«li»g the two cases, whieh is the Sabellian hercsy; but I use thc ont in i[ltstr«ffio» of the olher; «md, in w,)" of illustr;tion, I olscrve as follows: ¥hen we speak of God as Visdom, or s Love, we mean fo sa)- tha.t He is ¥isdom, and that Ho is Love; that He is cch scparately and who]ly, yet hot that 3Visdom is the saine as Love, thong'h He is both at once. 3Yisdom and Love stand for ideas quite distinct from each other, and not fo be confused, thoug'h they are united in Him. In all He is and all He does, He is 3¥isdom and He is Love; yet if is bot]t Crue thtL He is buL One, and without qualifies, and withal rue açain that Love is hot Visdom. Again, as God is ¥isdom or Love, so is l¥isdom or Love in and with God, and whatever Goal is. Is Goal eternal? so is His wisdom. Is Hc unchangeable? so is His wisdom. Is He uncreate, infinite, ahnighty, all-holy? His wisdom has these characteristics also. Since God has no parts or passions, whatever is really of or from God, is all that He is. If there is confusion of language here, and an apparent play upon words, this arises from our incapacity in coml)rehension and expression. We see that all these separate statements must be true, and if they result in an apparent contrariety with each other, this we emmot avoid nor need we be perplexed al)out them, nor shrink from declaring any one of them. That simple aeenraey of statcment whieh wouhl harmonize all of them is beyond us, beeause the power of eontemplatin the Eternal, as Ite is, is beyond us. We mnst be content with wlmt we ean see, and use it out praetieal gnidanee, without caring fi»r the apparent contradiction of terms involvcd in out profession of if. A second illustration may be tden ti'om the material imag'es whieh Seripture condescends to employ. read ot'the eye of God, and thc arm of God. Now we know that man has an eye and an ann as really parts of him, a.nd hot as figures; but let us suppose for moment that his body werc ruade spiritnal, what would be the eonseluenee? Vhat really would tbllow we eannot say, tbr if is beyond us; but, sinee a spirit has no parts, we may conceice that all those separate organs of man's bodv whieh at present exist, instead of having a laeal disposition in if any longer, and of spring'ing" out of it 1,y extension, would be all one, though all distinct still. A spiritual body mig'ht possibly be all eye, all ear, all arm, all heart.; yet hot as if all these wcre eonfised toether, and names onlv; hot as if heneeibrth there were no seeing, no hearing, no working', and no fceling, but beeause a spirit has no parts in extension, and is what it is all at once. And notice this, beeause if shows us that things may really exist in a subjeet whieh we are eontemplating., though they look like ideas only or notions ereated by out own minds. As a body need hot be supposed fo lose eye and hand by becoming spiritual, but ifs organs migh$ exist in if a.s truly as before, beeause i was a body, but, in a new manncr, because if was spiritual, so as to scem like mere abstractions or unreal qualities; so may wc supposc that thoug'h God is a Spiri and One, yct l[e may be also a Trinity: hot as if that Trinity wcre a naine on[y, or stood for three manifestatims, or qualities, or attributes, or rclations,su('h mere ideas or conceptions as we nay corne to form wheu contemplatin God;—but that, as in that bodv which had 1)eeome spiritual, eye nnd hand wouhl no l_.e abstraethms after the change, sinee they werc noç so Lefore it, uor would eve neeessarily be thc saine as the hand, though the body was ail eye and ail hand; so (if we may date fo use human illustrations on this mos saered sul)jeet), the Eternal Three (I do hot say la tac,ame wŒEq, tLr I ara noç attemptin to explain hotv tlm mystery is, but fo 1)ring out, disinetly wk«/we mean by it), in like manner I sa3,the Eternal Three are worshipped Lv the Catholie Chureh as distinct, yet One;—the 5[ost IIig'h God being wholly the Father, and wlmlly the Son, and whollv the Itolv Ghost; yet the Three Persons being distine ri'oto eaeh other, human abstraction, but in very truth, as truly as a fountaiu is distinct ff'oto the stream which flows fi'om or the roof of a tree fi'om its branches. Now should nuy one be *empted to sav that this is dark language, and dieult speeulation to seç belote a Christian people, I answer tha iL is hot more dark and dieult than the saered mystery which is out grea subjeet to-da.y; that iL is in faet but the e.qositioa of

-the saered mystery as the Chureh has reeeived if; that I ana hot engaged in det"ending the Creed of St. Atlmnasius, but ara stating ifs meaning; and, My ]3rethren, tlmt you may well bear once in the year fo be reminded tlmt Christianity gives cxercise fo the whole mind of man, fo out highest and most subtle re,n.son, as wcll,as fo onr fcclins, affections, ilnag'ination, and conscience. Il" we find it tries us, and is too severe, whethcr for our reason, or ont imagination, or our feeling's, let us bow down la silent adoration, and submit toit each of out faculties by turn, m.t colnplain of ifs sublimity or ifs range. And now fo proceed: We hear ranch in the Old Testament of those attributes of God of whiih I lmve already spoken. tlis omnipotence: " I ara the Ahniht.y God; walk before Me, and be thon perfect." Self-existcnce: "And God said unto Moses, I Am that I Ara: thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Ara bath sent me unto you." Iloliness: "Who is like •hee, glorious in holiness, fearfid in praises, doing wonders!" Ilis lnercy, and justice, and faithfldness: "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long'-suffering,,and abundant in g'oodness and truth, keeping mcrcy for thousands, forgiving, iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and tlmt will by no means cle,r the g, uily." Awful majesty: "q?ha thou mayes fear this glorious and fèarfld Name, the Lord thy God." q?ruth: " His ruth endureth from cneration o g'eneration." Omnipresenee: "If I elimb up ino heaven, q?hou,qr there; if I g'o down to hell, Thou ar there also." Olnniseienee: "he eyes of the Lord are in every plaee, beholdin the evil and the good." Knowledge of the heart: " Thou only knowes¢ the hearts of the ehildtn of men." Mysteriousness: "Verily Thou art a God tha¢ hides Thyself, O God of srael the 8aviour.'" Eternity: "Thus saith the Ilig'h and Lofl.y One tha inhabiteth eternity, whose Naine is Holy." These are some ouL of numberlessannouneements in the O]d Testament of the Divine Attrilmtes; and thoug'h every thing" eoneerning the 8upreme Bein is mysterious, ye we do hOt comnwn]y feel auy mystery here, beeause we sec a sor of para]lel fo these attributes in what wc eall {le qualifies, properties, powers, and habits of out own minds. Ve are endowed by nature and throug'h graee with a portion of certain exeellenees whieh belong in perfection to the Mos Hig.h,as benevolenee, wisdom, justice, truth, and holiness; and though we do no kuow how these attributes exis in (}od, nay how thç- exist in ourse]res, yet sinee we are ourselves used fo them, and cannot deny their existence, we are no sartled when we are told they exis in God. Bu there are certain other dilosures nmde fo us eoneernin the Divine Nature, even ri'oto the first page of Seripture, and growing in definiteness as Revelation proeeeds, of which we have no image or parallel in ourselves, and whieh in eonsequenee we feel fo be strange and startling, and call unintelli'ible beeause we are no used fo them, and mysterious beeause we eanno aecoun for them. Thus in the historv of the creation we read: " The Spirit of God moved upon  Gen. xvii. 1. Exod. iii. 14; xv. 11; xxxiv. 6, 7. Deut. xxvlii. 58. Ps. e. 4; exxxix. 7. Prov. xv. 3.  Chron. ri. 30. Isa. xlv. 15; lvii. 15.

the face of the waters;" who shall say hoxv this awful intimation is to be interpreted? who but will « desire to look into" such dcep thing's, yet be silent froln eonseions weakness, till he hears the Catholie doctrine of the TriniI.y, whieh explains o him the inspired text by l'ex-ealing" the mystery? Again we rêad, flaat., when Jacob had wrestled with Ihe Angel, "he ealled the naine of the place Peniel," for he had seen God's Face or Counfenance, " and," he adds, "my lit'e is preserved." And Xlmighty God promised Moses, " M- Presenee shall -o with thee, and I will give thee test." And ag'ain Moses asks, " I beseech Thee, shew nie Thy Glory. And He said, I will make all My Goodness pass before thee... thou eanst hot sec face, for there shall no lnan sec Me and lire." And we are told that "the Lord revealed tIilnself to Samuel in Shiloh by the Yol'd of the Lord." And the Psahnist says, "By the ¥ord of the Lord were the heavens ruade, and ail the hosts of theln by the ]31"eath of His lnouth." And Yisdom says in the Proverbs, "The Iol'd possessed Me in the beg'inning of His way; belote His works of old. I was set up from everlasting, froln the beginning, or ever the earth was.... I was by Hiln, as one brought np with Hiln; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always belote Hiln." And in the prophet Isaiah we read, "Awake, awake, put on strength, O Afin of the Lord;" and agai.n, " I have eovered thee in the shadow of [y Hand '." Non- any one such expression once or twiee used night hot ha.ve 1 Gên. i. ; xxxii. 30. Exod. xxxiii. 14—_°0. 1 Sain. iii. xx.xiii. 6. Prov. viii. 2,2,:]3. 30. Isa. ll. 9. 16.

excited attention; but this mention of the Word, and Visdom, and:Prcsence, and Glory, and Spirif, and:Brcath, and Countcnancc, and Arm, and Hand of thc Almig'hty is too fl-equcnt, and with too much of personal characteris(ic, to bc dutifully passed over by the carcful rcader of Scripture; and in marrer of fact if did, bcfore Christ c.,me, a¢tract ¢lm attention of Jewish bclicvers, as is proved fo us most clcarly by some remar]able passages in tlc books of Visdom:md Ecc]esiasticus, fo which I nced not do more than allude  If would apl)car, ¢hcn, ff'oto Che rcvelations of the Old Tcstamenf, fhat whilc God is in Ilis essence most simp]y and absolutcly ont, yct thcre is a rea] sense in which IIc is not one, thou'h creatcd natures do hot, cannot, furnsh such rcprescntations of IIim as to able us easi]y to acquiesce in the conclusions fo which the Scripture announccments incvitably ]ead. V'e understand things ualuown, by thc 1)attern of things seen and expericnced; we are able fo contemplate Almighty God so far as earthly things are partial reflexions of Him; when tley fidl us, we are lost. And as of course nothing earthly or created is His exact and perfect image, we have af best bat dira glimpses of His infinite glory; and if Scripture rcveal fo us a.ught concerning Hhn, we must be content to take if on faith, without comprchending how if is, or having any c]ear understanding of out owu words. \Vhen if declares to us that God is" wise and good, ue form some idea of what is meant from the properties and habits which attach fo the human soul; when wc read of His arm or eye, we  ,ïsdom vii. 14, ci sec l.; Ecclus. xxiv. 3, et seq.

have some faint, though unworthy shadow of the truth in the members and organs of the hnman body; but wlmn we read of IIis Spirit, or Word, or Presenee, as af once very distinct fi'om tlim, yet most intimately one with Him,—more intimately one flmn out properties are one with out souls, more real and distinct than the members and organs of our bodies,—we feel the weight of that Mystery, whieh exists also when mention is mme of the Divine Wisdom, or tlle Divine Arm, though we feel it hot. And this Mystery, whieh the Old Testament obseurely signifies, is in the New elearly declared; and if is this,that the God of all, who is revealed in the Old Testament, is the Father of a Son fivm everlasting, ealled also tIis Vord and Image, of His substance and partaker of all His perfeetions, and equal to Himself, yet without being separate ri'oto Him, but one with Him; and that from the Father and the Son proeeeds eternally tlle Holy Spirit, who also is of one substance, Divinity, and majesty with Father and Son. Moreover we learn that the Son or Word is a Person,—that is, is to be spoken of as "' He," not "it," and can be addressed  and that the Holy Ghost also is a Person. Thus God subsists in Three Persons, from everlasting to everlasting; first, God is the Father, next God is the Son, next God is the Holy Ghost; and the Father is not the Son, nor the Son the Holy Ghost, nor the Holy Ghost the Father. And God is Each of these Three, and nothing else; that is, He is either the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Ghost. 3loreove; God is as wholly and entirely God in the Person of the

Father, as though there were no Son and Spirit; as entircly in that of the Son, as thoug-h there were no Spirit and Father; as entircly in that of the Spirit, as though thcre wcre no Fathcr and Son. And thc Father is God, thc Son God, and the Holy Ghost God, while there is bt one God; and that without any inequality, because therc is but One God, and IIc is without parts or degrecs though how it is that that same Adorable:Essence, indivisible, and numerically One, should subsist pcrfcctly and wholly in Each of Three Persons, no words of nmn can explain, nor earthly illustration t»-piry. Now the passages in the New Testament in whieh this Sacred hIyste T is intinmted fo us, are such as these. First, we read, as I have said already, that Goal is One; next, that Ite has an Only-begotten Son; furthcr, that this Only-begotten Son is "in the bosom of the Father;" and that "He and the Father are One." Further, that He is also the Vord; that "the Word is God, and is with God;" moreovcr, that the Son is in Himself a distinct Persob in  real sense, for He has taken on Him our nature, and become man, flough the Faflmr has hot. Vlmt is all this but the doctrine, that that God who is in the strictest sense One, is both entirel- the Fathcr, and is entirely the Son? or that the Father is God, and tire Son God, yet but One God? [oreover the Son is the express "Image" of God, and He is " lu the form of God," and "equal wifl God;" and "he that hath seen Him, hath seen the Father," and "He is in the Father and the Father in Him." hIoreovcr the Son has all the attributes of the Father: He is "A_Ipha and Omega, the and whieh is o corne, le Ahnighty;" "by IIim were all things created, visible and. invisil,lc;" "l,y Ililn do all things consist;" none but IIe "knoweth the Father," and none but the Father "knoweth the Son." He "knoweth all things;" Ho " searcheth thc hearIs and the reins;" I[e is "the Truth and the Lire;" and tIe is the Jndge of all men. And again, what is truc of thc Son is true of the IIoly Ghost; for IIe is "the Sl,irit of God;" ]Ie "proecedeth fi'om the Father;" lle is in God as "the spirit of a man that is in him;" Ho "searcheth all things, even the deep thing's of Goal;" He is "/he Spirit of Truth;" the "Holy Spirit;" af the creation, IIe "moved upon the face of Ihc waters;" "AX'hiIher shall I go," sa3s the Psahnist, "from Thy Spirit?" tIe is the Giver of all gifts, "diiding fo every man several]y as He will;'" we are born ag'ain "of the Spirit." To resist Divine gracc is o gricre, o IcmpI, o resisI, o quench, to do despitc fo the Spirit. IIe is the ComfmoEer, Ruler, and Guide of the Church; Ho reveals things fo corne; and blasphemy against Him 1;as never forgiveness. In all such passages, it is sureh- implied both that the Holy Ghost has a Pcrsona]i/y of IIis own, and that He is God. And thus, on the whole, the words of the Creed hold good, that "there is one Person of the Father, anoIher of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost; but the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one,—Ihe glory equal, the majesIy co- eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. And in this Trinity, none is aforc or aftcr oflmr, nonc is grcatcr or ]css than anothcr; bnt the wholc Thrce Pcrns arc eo-eternal togethcr nd co-equal; so that in all flfings, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Triniy, and the Triniy in Unity, is fo be worshippcd." Lastly, if is added, " IIc therefore tiret will be savcd, must thus think of the Trinity:" on which I makc two rcmarks, and so conclude. First, what is vcry obvious, that such a declaration supposes that a person has the opportunity of bclieving. We are hot speaking of hcathens, but of Christians; of those who are aught the truth, who have thc offcr of if, and who rç]eet if. Accordiugly, we do hot contemplatc in this Creed cases of impcrfcct or crroncous teaching;—or of what may be called misinformation of the reason; or any case of invincible ignorance; but of a man's wilfifl rejection of what hns bcen fairly set before him. Secondly, when the Creed says that we "must think thus of the Trinity," it would oeeln fo imply, that it had been drawing out  eertain elear, substantive, eonsistent, and distinctive view of the doetrine, whieh is the Catholic view; and that, in opposition o oller views of if, whether Sabellian, or Arian, or Tritheistie, or others that might be mentioned; all of whieh, without denying" in words the Holy Three, do deny Him in faet and in the event, and involve their wilfifl maintainers in the anathema whieh is here proelaimed, hot in harshness, but as  fifithflfl warning, and  solemn protest. May we never speak on subjects like this without