262、①对圣治的怀疑因以下事实而产生：整个基督教界都敬拜三位格的一位神，本质上就是敬拜三神；殊不知，迄今为止，神在位格和本质上都为一，三位一体在祂里面，主就是这位神。理性思想圣治的人可能会问，当每个位格都单独为神时，三个位格不就是三神吗？谁能想到别的呢？事实上，谁想到别的呢？就连亚他那修本人也无法想到别的，因此以他命名的信经说：“依基督真道，我等不得不认三位均为神，均为主。依大公教（即基督教），我等亦不得谓神有三，亦不得谓主有三。”
若非祂在位格上也为一，谁能看见或感知到一位神呢？有人或许以为，我们若想到这三位拥有一个本质，就能看见或感知到这一位；但由此除了他们在心智和感觉上为一，然而却是三位神以外，还有或还能有其它任何看见或感知吗？一个人若再深入思考一下，就会对自己说，无限的神性本质怎能被分割呢？永恒的神性本质如何能生出另一个永恒的神性本质，然后再生出从它们两者发出的又一个神性本质吗？如果有人说，要相信这一点，不要思想它，那么谁能不去思想他被告知必须要相信的事呢？本质上为信的这种承认还能来自其它源头吗？在多到超出你想象的许多人心中掌权的苏西尼派和阿里乌派，不就是由于思想神是三个位格而产生的吗？真正构成教会的，是一位神的信仰，这一位神就是主，因为神性三位一体在这神里面。事实的确如此，这一点可见于《新耶路撒冷教义之主篇》全文。
但如今人们是怎么思想主的呢？不是认为祂是神和人，神来自孕育祂的耶和华父，人来自生祂的童女马利亚吗？有谁会想到祂里面的神和人，或祂的神性和人性是一个位格，它们实际上为一，正如灵魂和身体为一呢？有谁知道这一点？问问教会博学的神学家，他们会说不知道。然而，整个基督教界都接受的教会教义也是如此声明的，内容如下：“我等之主耶稣基督，为神，又为人。彼虽为神，亦为人，然非为二，乃为一基督。彼为一，乃由于使其人性进入于神。合为一，乃由位格为一，如灵与身成为一人，神与人成为一基督。”这段话出自亚他那修信经。人们之所以不知道该信经在说什么，是因为当他们读到这一段时，没有把主当作神，只当作一个人来思想。
如果你问他们是否知道祂从谁成孕，是从父神还是从祂自己的神性，他们会回答说，祂从父神成孕，因为圣经上就是这么说的。那么祂与父难道不为一，如同灵魂和身体为一吗？谁能思想祂从两个神性成孕？祂若从自己的神性成孕，不就是祂自己的父吗？如果你继续问他们对主的神性和人性持何种观念，他们会说，祂的神性来自父的本质，祂的人性来自母亲的本质，祂的神性与父同在。然后，你问祂的人性在哪里，他们无言以对。因为他们在思维上把主的神性和人性分离了，认为神性等同于父的神性，人性则等同于另一个人的人性。他们没有意识到，这是在把灵魂和身体分离；他们也没有看见这个矛盾：如此祂会单从母亲那里生出一个理性人，或说这会使祂的理性自我唯独从母亲生出。
关于主的人性就像另一个人的人性这种根深蒂固的观念，使得一个基督徒几乎不可能被引导思想一个神性人身或神性人性，甚至被赋予这句话：祂的灵魂或生命自成孕时就是，并且一直都是耶和华自己。现在整理一下你的观点，认真想一想，除了唯独主以外，是否还有别的神？祂里面的本质神性，也就是万物的源头，就是那被称为圣父的，神性人身就是那被称为圣子的，神性发出被称为圣灵。这使得神在位格和本质上都为一，主就是那神。
如果你坚持说主自己在马太福音中就提到三位，即：
你们要去，使众民族都作门徒，给他们施洗归于父子圣灵的名。（马太福音28:19）
从前后经文清楚可知，祂说这话是为了叫他们知道，现在祂已经得了荣耀，一个神性三位一体在祂里面。在前一节经文，祂说，天上地上所有的权柄都赐给祂了；在后一节经文，祂说，祂将与他们同在，直到时代的完结；因而唯独说到祂自己，没有说三位。
现在让我们回到圣治，即为何它允许基督徒敬拜三位格的一位神，也就是敬拜三神，为何他们至今不知道神在位格和本质上为一，三位一体在祂里面，主就是这位神。原因在于人自己，不在于主。主在圣言中清楚教导了这一点，这从《新耶路撒冷教义之主篇》所引用的一切经文可以看出来。此外，所有教会的教义都教导；祂的神性和人性非为二，乃为一位格，就像灵魂和身体那样相联结。
但教会将神性与人性分离，将神性等同于耶和华父的神性，将人性等同于另一个人的人性。教会这样做主要是因为，教会从一开始就堕落成了一个将神性权柄归到自己身上的巴比伦。为了把它称为人的权柄，而不是神的权柄，他们使主的人性变得像另一个人的人性。后来，在改革宗，当唯信作为得救的唯一手段被接受时（唯信是指父神为了圣子的缘故而怜悯我们），主的人性就无法以其它方式被看待了。这是因为没有人能靠近主，从心里承认祂为天地之神，除非他照主的诫命生活。在灵界，所有人都必须照他们所想的说话，甚至没有人能提“耶稣”的名，除非在世上过基督徒的生活。这一切都在祂的圣治之下，以防止亵渎祂的名。
262. (1) That a doubt may arise against Divine providence from the fact that the whole Christian world worships the one God in the form of three persons, or in other words, three gods, and that it has not previously known that God is one in person and essence, in whom is the Trinity, and that that God is the Lord: One who reasons about Divine providence may say, "Are three persons not three Gods when each person by himself is God? Who can think otherwise? Who, indeed, does think otherwise?"
Athanasius 1himself could not think otherwise, and therefore he says in the creed 2named after him,
Although in accord with Christian verity we ought to acknowledge each person to be God and Lord, still we are not permitted by the Christian faith to say or name three Gods or three Lords.
Nothing else is meant by this but that we ought to acknowledge three Gods and Lords, but are not permitted to say or name three Gods or three Lords.
[2] Who can possibly conceive of one God without His being also one in person? If someone should say that he can if he thinks of the three as having one essence, who has or can have from this any other concept than that they are thus of one mind and agree, but still are three Gods?
Moreover, if one thinks more deeply, he says to himself, "How can the Divine essence, which is infinite, be divided? And how can that essence from eternity beget another, and produce still another to emanate from them both?"
If someone should say that it is something to be believed and not thought about, who does not think about that which he is told is to be believed? From what else comes the acknowledgment which is faith in its essence?
Is it not thinking of God as three persons that has given rise to Socinianism 3and Arianism, 4which reign in the hearts of more people than you suppose?
Belief in one God, and that that God is the Lord, forms the church, for in Him exists the Divine Trinity. The reality of this may be seen from beginning to end in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord.
[3] But what do people think regarding the Lord today? Do they not think that He is God and Man - God from the Father Jehovah from whom He was conceived, and Man from the Virgin Mary from whom He was born? Who thinks that the God and Man in Him, or His Divinity and humanity, are one person, and that they are one as the soul and body are one? Does anyone know this? Ask the theologians of the church and they will say they do not know it, even though it accords with the doctrine of the church accepted throughout the Christian world, such as the following statement:
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man... . And although He is God and man, yet they are not two but one Christ; being one... because the Divine took to Him manhood; being, indeed, one altogether, for... He is one person, since as the... soul and body constitute one man, so God and man is one Christ. (From the Athanasian Faith or Creed)
The theologians have not known it because, when they have read this, they have not thought of the Lord as God, but only as man.
[4] If you ask the same people whether they know from whom the Lord was conceived, from God the Father or from His own Divinity, they will reply, "From God the Father," because this accords with Scripture. Are not the Father and He then one, as the soul and body are one?
Who can suppose that the Lord was conceived from two Divines? And if from His own Divinity, that this would be His father?
If you inquire further and ask, "What is your concept of the Lord's Divinity, and of His humanity?" they will say that His Divinity is of the substance of the Father, and His humanity of the substance of the mother, and that His Divinity resides with the Father. If you then inquire again and ask where His humanity is, they will make no reply, for in their conception they separate His Divinity and humanity, and make His Divinity equal to the Divinity of the Father, and His humanity like the humanity of any other person, unaware that in doing so they also separate the soul and body. Nor do they see the logical inconsistency, that in that case He would have been born a rational being from the mother alone.
[5] From the idea impressed upon them regarding the Lord's humanity, that it was like the humanity of any other person, it has come to pass that a Christian can hardly be led to entertain the thought of a Divine Humanity, even if he be told that the Lord's soul or life from conception was and is Jehovah Himself.
Gather together the arguments now and consider whether there is any other God of the universe than the Lord alone, in whom is the Divine itself from which all else springs and which is called the Father, the Divine Humanity which is called the Son, and the emanating Divinity which is called the Holy Spirit, so that there is one God in person and essence, that God being the Lord.
[6] If you persist, saying that the Lord Himself named three in Matthew, -
Go... and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father... , of the Son and of the Holy Spirit... . (Matthew 28:19)
- it is nevertheless apparent from the verse immediately preceding there and the one following next that He said this to make it known that having now been glorified, He had in Him a Divine trinity. In the verse immediately preceding He says that all power had been given to Him in heaven and on earth, and in the verse following next He says that He would be with them even to the end of the age, thus speaking of Himself alone, and not of three.
[7] Now as regards Divine providence and why it has permitted Christians to worship the one God in the form of three persons, or in other words, three Gods, and not to have known previously that God is one in person and essence, in whom is the Trinity, and that that God is the Lord, the reason lies not in the Lord but in mankind itself. The Lord has taught the real case clearly in His Word, as can be seen from all those passages cited in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord. And He has taught it also in the doctrine of all the churches, in which it is said that His Divinity and humanity are not two but one person, united as the soul and body.
[8] Yet Christians divided the Lord's Divinity and humanity, making His Divinity on a par with the Divinity of the Father Jehovah, and His humanity on a par with the humanity of any other person, and the first reason for this was that after its rise the church degenerated into Babylon, which transferred the Lord's Divine power to itself. But lest the power be termed Divine rather than human, they made the Lord's humanity to be like the humanity of any other person. And later, when the church was reformed and faith alone was accepted as the sole means of salvation, which teaches that God the Father is moved to pity for the sake of the Son, the Lord's humanity again could not be regarded any otherwise. It could not because no one can turn to the Lord and at heart acknowledge Him as God of heaven and earth unless he lives according to the Lord's precepts. In the spiritual world, where everyone is constrained to speak as he thinks, no one can even utter the name Jesus unless he lived as a Christian in the world. This, too, is of the Lord's Divine providence, to keep His name from being profaned.
Footnotes:
1. A Christian cleric, c. 296-373, from Alexandria, Egypt, and later canonized, who at the first Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. participated in the debate against Arianism, a theological view based on the teachings of Arius (c. 250-336), who taught that Christ the Son was a created being, not consubstantial with God the Father, and thus not fully Divine. As Bishop of Alexandria (328-373) Athanasius continued to speak and write against the Arian heresy, becoming its greatest and most consistent theological opponent, and because of it he was removed from his see and forced to flee five times between 335 and 365. A profession of faith beginning with the words "Quicunque vult" and widely used in western Christianity was attributed to him, and became known also as the Athanasian Creed; but modern scholarship no longer ascribes it to him but to some other, unknown western writer.
2. A profession of faith beginning with the words "Quicunque vult" and widely used in western Christianity. Attributed in earlier centuries to Athanasius (see note 1, number 46), it became known also as the Athanasian Creed; but modern scholarship no longer ascribes it to him but to some other, unknown, western writer.
3. The theological position of Laelius Socinus (born Lelio Francesco Maria Sozini), 1525-1562, and his nephew Faustus Socinus (Fausto Paolo Sozzini), 1539-1604, who rejected a number of traditional Christian doctrines, as the Trinity, the Divinity of Christ, and original sin, and who held that Christ was miraculously begotten, and that salvation is granted to those who adopt Christ's virtues. Socinianism found continuing expression in Unitarianism, lasting to the present day.
4. A theological view based on the teachings of Arius (c. 250-336), who taught that Christ the Son was a created being, not consubstantial with God the Father, and thus not Divine.
262. 1. Doubts about divine providence may be raised by the fact that all Christendom worships one God in three persons, which is really three gods. Up to the present time they have not realized that God is one in person and in essence, containing a trinity, and that this God is the Lord. Anyone who thinks rationally about divine providence may say, "Are not three persons three gods when each person by itself is God?" Can anyone think anything else? Does anyone think anything else? Athanasius himself could not think anything else, so the Creed that bears his name says, "Although Christian truth requires us to acknowledge each individual Person as God and Lord, still Christian faith forbids us from saying or naming three gods or three Lords." This can only mean that we are supposed to believe in three gods and Lords but that we must not say or name three gods and three Lords.
[2] Is there any way we can see one God unless that God is one person as well? Someone may suggest that we can see this if we think that the three have a single essence; but does anyone, can anyone see this as saying any more than that they are of one mind, that they agree? There are still three gods.
If we think more deeply, we ask ourselves how a divine essence that is infinite can be divided, and how it can beget another divine essence from eternity and then bring forth another that emanates from both of them.
If someone says that we are to believe it but not think about it, can we really help thinking about what we are supposed to believe? What else is the basis of that acknowledgment that is faith in its essence? Is not thinking about God and about the three Persons the source for Socinianism and Arianism, which are uppermost in more hearts than you might believe? What really makes the church is a faith in one God and that this one God is the Lord. The divine trinity is within that God. This you may find presented in Teachings for the New Jerusalem on the Lord, from beginning to end.
[3] But what do people think about the Lord these days? Do they not think that he is God and Human, God from Jehovah the Father who begot him, and Human from the virgin Mary who bore him? Does anyone think that the God and the Human in him, his divine nature and his human nature, are one person, and that they are actually just as "one" as soul and body are one? Is anyone aware of this? Ask the church's learned theologians and they will tell you that they do not know this. Yet it is part of the theology of the church accepted throughout Christendom, as follows: "Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Human; and even though he is God and Human, still there are not two but one Christ. There is one because the Divinity took a human nature to itself, so it is absolutely one. There is a single Person because just as soul and body make a single human, so God and Human make a single Christ." This is from the Athanasian Faith or Creed.
The reason people do not know what the Creed is saying is that when they have read it they have been thinking about the Lord not as God but only as human.
[4] If you ask them whether they know how he was conceived, whether it was by God the Father or by his own divine nature, they will answer that it was by God the Father. This is what the Bible says. Are he and the Father not one the way soul and body are one? Can anyone think that he was conceived by two deities? And if he was conceived by his own divine nature, then he would be his own father.
If you then go on to ask, "What is your concept of the Lord's divine nature and of his human nature?" they will tell you that his divine nature came from the essence of the Father, that his human nature came from the essence of his mother, and that his divine nature is with the Father. Then if you ask, "And where is his human nature?" they will have no answer for you. In their concept, they have separated his divine nature and his human nature, making the divine equal to the divine nature of the Father and his human nature like that of any other human. They do not realize that this is separating the soul from the body; and they do not see the contradiction involved, that this would have his rational self born from his mother alone.
[5] This ingrained concept that the Lord's human nature was like that of any other human has made it almost impossible for a Christian to be induced to think about a Divine Human nature, even given the statement that his soul or life from conception was and is Jehovah himself.
Organize your propositions now and think hard. Is there any God of the universe other than the Lord alone, in whom is that essential, originating divine nature called the Father, the divine human nature called the Son, and the emanating divine nature called the Holy Spirit? This makes God one in person and in essence, and this God is the Lord.
[6] If you insist on saying that the Lord himself named the three in Matthew--"Go out and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19)--he said this in order to let them know that now that he was glorified the Trinity was within him, as we can see from the verses immediately before and after this command. In the verse just before he says that he has been given all power in heaven and on earth, and in the verse just after he says that he will be with them even to the close of the age. So he is talking about himself alone, and not about some trio.
[7] But let us return to divine providence, to why Christians have been allowed to worship one God in three persons--that is, three gods--and why it has not yet been known that God is one in person and in essence, containing a trinity, and that this God is the Lord. We are responsible for this situation, not the Lord. The Lord teaches these things clearly in the Word, as you can tell from all the passages collected in Teachings for the New Jerusalem on the Lord. Further, the theology of all churches teaches that his divine and his human natures are not two but one person, united like soul and body. But the church has separated the divine from the human and equates the divine nature with the divine nature of Jehovah the Father and the human nature with that of anyone else.
[8] The church has done this primarily because from the start it has strayed into a Babylon that has transferred divine power to itself. In order to call it human power rather than divine power, though, they have made the Lord's human nature like that of anyone else. Then later, at the Reformation, when faith alone was accepted as the sole means of salvation ("faith alone" meaning that God the Father should have mercy on us for the sake of the Son), there was no other way to view the Lord's human nature. This was because we cannot approach the Lord and in full sincerity recognize him as the God of heaven and earth unless we are living by his commandments. In the spiritual world, where we are all constrained to say exactly what we think, people cannot even say the name "Jesus" unless they have lived Christian lives on earth. This is under his divine providence, to prevent the profanation of his name.
262. IV. CONFIRMATIONS FROM PRESENT-DAY RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN FAVOUR OF NATURE AND HUMAN PRUDENCE. (Summarised in n. 239.)
1. A doubt may be raised against the Divine Providence from the fact that the whole Christian world worships one God under three Persons, that is, three Gods, and that hitherto it has not known that God one in Person and in Essence, in whom is a Trinity, and that this God is the Lord. One who reasons about the Divine Providence may say, Are not three Persons three Gods when each Person by Himself is God? Who can think otherwise? Who, indeed, does think otherwise? Athanasius himself could not; and therefore in the Creed which has its name from him it says:
Although from Christian verity we ought to acknowledge each Person to be God and Lord, yet from the Christian faith it is not allowable to affirm or to name three Gods or three Lords.
This means nothing else than that we ought to acknowledge three Gods and Lords, but that it is not allowable to affirm or name three Gods and three Lords.
[2] Who can possibly have a perception of one God unless He is also one in Person? If it is declared that it is possible to have such a perception provided one thinks of the three as having one essence, does one have any other perception, indeed, can he have, than that they are thus of one mind and purpose, and yet are three Gods? If one thinks more deeply he says to himself, How can the Divine Essence, which is infinite, be divided? Further, how can the Divine Essence from eternity beget some other, and produce still another, who proceeds from them both? It may be affirmed that this must be believed and not thought about; but who does not think about that which it is declared must be believed? How otherwise can there be any acknowledgment which in its essence is faith? Was it not from the conception of God as three Persons that Socinianism and Arianism arose, which prevail in the hearts of more persons than you suppose? Belief in one God, and that this God is the Lord, constitutes the Church; for in Him is the Divine Trinity. That this is true may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD, from beginning to end.
[3] But what is thought of the Lord at this day? Is it not thought that He is God and Man, God from Jehovah the Father of whom He was conceived, and Man from the Virgin Mary from whom He was born? Who thinks that God and Man in Him, or His Divine and His Human, are one Person, and that they are one as soul and body are one? Does anyone know this? Ask the Doctors of the Church, and they will say that they did not know it; and yet it is so stated in the doctrine of the Church received throughout the whole Christian world, which is as follows:
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; and although He is God and Man yet there are not two, but there is one Christ. He is one because the Divine took to itself the Human; indeed He is altogether one, for He is one Person, since as soul and body make one man so God and Man is one Christ.
This is from the Faith or Creed of Athanasius. The Doctors did not know, because when they read this they did not think of the Lord as God but only as a man.
[4] If the same are asked whether they know from whom He was conceived, whether from God the Father or from His own Divine, they will answer that He was conceived from God the Father, for this is according to Scripture. Are not then the Father and He one, as the soul and body are one? Who can think that He was conceived from two Divines (Divinis), and if from His own that this was His Father? If you ask them further, what their idea is of the Lord's Divine and what of His Human, they will say that His Divine is from the Essence of the Father and His Human from the essence of His mother, and that His Divine is with the Father. If they are then asked where His Human is, they will make no reply; for in their thought they separate His Divine and His Human, and make His Divine equal to the Divine of the Father and His Human like the human of another man; not knowing that in so doing they also separate soul and body; nor do they see the absurdity involved, that thus there would have been born a rational man from a mother alone.
[5] In consequence of the idea impressed upon him concerning the Human of the Lord, that it was like the human of another man, it has come to pass that it is with difficulty that a Christian can be led to think of a "Divine Human", even although it should be affirmed that the Lord's soul or life from conception was and is Jehovah Himself. Now gather up the reasons and consider whether there is any other God of the universe than the Lord alone, in whom is the originating (a quo) Divine itself which is called the Father, the Divine Human which is called the Son, and the Divine proceeding which is called the Holy Spirit; thus that God is one in Person and in Essence, and that this God is the Lord.
[6] If you persist and affirm that the Lord Himself mentioned three in Matthew:
Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations (A.V. and teach all nations), baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (A.V. Ghost). Matthew 28:19;
yet it is clear from the preceding and following verses that He said this to make known that in Himself now glorified there was the Divine Trinity. In the verse immediately preceding He says that to Him is given all power in heaven and on earth; and in the verse immediately following He says that He would be with them until the end (consummatio) of the age; thus He speaks of Himself alone, and not of three.
[7] Consider now why the Divine Providence has permitted Christians to worship one God under three Persons, that is, to worship three Gods, and why they have hitherto not known that God is one in Person and in Essence, in whom is a Trinity, and that this God is the Lord. The reason does not lie with the Lord, but with man himself. The Lord has clearly taught this in His Word, as may be evident from all the passages in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD, which have been quoted. He has also taught it in the doctrine of all the Churches, in which it is stated that His Divine and His Human are not two but one Person, united like soul and body.
[8] The first reason why they divided the Divine and the Human, and made the Divine equal to the Divine of Jehovah the Father and the Human equal to the human of another man, was that the Church after its rise fell away into the state of Babylon, which transferred to itself the Lord's Divine power; but that it might not be called Divine power but human power, they made the Lord's Human similar to that of another man. Afterwards when the Church was reformed, and faith alone was received as the sole means of salvation-the faith that God the Father has mercy for the sake of the Son-the Lord's Human could be viewed in no other way. The reason why this is so is that no one can approach the Lord and in heart acknowledge Him as the God of heaven and earth if he does not live according to His precepts. In the spiritual world, where everyone is obliged to speak as he thinks, no one can even mention the name Jesus if he has not lived in the world as a Christian. This is of His Divine Providence, lest His name should be profaned.
262. (1) A doubt may arise in opposition to the Divine providence from the fact that the whole Christian world worships one God under three persons, which is to worship three Gods, not knowing hitherto that God is one in person and essence, in whom is a trinity, and that the Lord is that God. One who reasons about the Divine providence may ask, Are not three persons three Gods when each person by Himself is God? Who can think otherwise? Who, indeed, does think otherwise? Athanasius himself could not; therefore in the creed that has its name from him it is said: "Although from Christian verity we ought to acknowledge each person to be God and Lord, yet from the Christian faith it is not allowable to speak of or to name three Gods and three Lords." Nothing else is meant by this than that we ought to acknowledge three Gods and Lords, but that it is not allowable to speak of or name three Gods and three Lords.
[2] Who can have any perception of one God unless He is also one in person? If it is said that such a perception is possible if the thought is that the three have one essence, is there or can there be any other perception from this than that they are thus one in mind and feeling, but nevertheless are three Gods? And if one thinks more deeply he says to himself, How can the Divine essence, which is infinite, be divided? And how can the Divine essence from eternity beget another, and still further bring forth another that proceeds from both? If it is said that this is to be believed but not thought about, who can help thinking about that which he is told must be believed? From what other source is that acknowledgment, which is faith in its essence? Have not Socinianism and Arianism, which reign in more hearts than you believe, arisen from the thought of God as three persons? Belief in one God, and that the Lord is the one God, constitutes the church; for the Divine trinity is in Him. That this is true may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord, from beginning to end.
[3] But what is the thought respecting the Lord at the present day? Is it not a thought that He is God and Man, God from Jehovah the Father from whom He was conceived, and Man from the Virgin Mary of whom He was born? Who thinks that God and Man in Him, or His Divine and His Human, are one person, and are one as soul and body are one? Does any one know this? Ask the doctors of the church, and they will say that they have not known it; and yet it is so stated in the doctrine of the church accepted throughout the Christian world, which is as follows:-
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; and although He be God and Man yet there are not two, but one Christ; one because the Divine took to itself the Human; yea, wholly one, for He is one person; for as soul and body make one man so God and Man is one Christ.
This is from the Faith or Creed of Athanasius. They have not known this, for the reason that in reading it they have not thought of the Lord as God, but only as a man.
[4] If such are asked whether they know from whom He was conceived, whether from God the Father or from His own Divine, they will answer that He was conceived from God the Father, for this is according to Scripture. Then are not the Father and Himself one, as the soul and the body are one? Who can think that He was conceived from two Divines, and if from His own that that was His Father? If they are asked further what their idea is of the Lord's Divine and of His Human, they will say that His Divine is from the essence of the Father and the Human from the essence of the mother, and that His Divine is with the Father. If you then ask where His Human is they will make no reply; for they separate in their thought His Divine and His Human, and make the Divine equal to the Divine of the Father and the Human like the human of another man, and do not know that they thus separate soul and body; nor do they see the contradiction that He would thus have been born a rational man from a mother alone.
[5] From the established idea respecting the Lord's Human, that it was like the human of another man, it has come to pass that a Christian can scarcely be led to think of a Divine Human, even when it is said that the Lord's soul or life from conception was and is Jehovah Himself. Gather up the reasons, then, and consider, whether there is any other God of the universe than the Lord alone, in whom the essential Divine, from which are all things, is that which is called the Father, the Divine Human is that which is called the Son, and the Divine going forth is called the Holy Spirit; thus that God is one in person and in essence, and that the Lord is that God.
[6] If you persist in saying that the Lord Himself mentions three in Matthew:-
Go ye and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19),
yet it is clear from the verse immediately preceding and from that immediately following, that He said this to make known that in Himself now glorified there is a Divine trinity. In the preceding verse He says that all power is given to Him in heaven and upon earth; and in the following verse He says that He would be with them until the end of the age; thus speaking of Himself alone, and not of three.
[7] Now as regards Divine providence, why it has permitted Christians to worship one God under three persons, that is, to worship three Gods, and why they have hitherto not known that God is one in person and in essence, in whom is the trinity, and that the Lord is this God. Of this man himself, and not the Lord, is the cause. This truth the Lord has taught clearly in His Word, as can be seen from all the passages quoted in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord. He has also taught it in the doctrine of all the churches, in which it is stated that His Divine and His Human are not two but one person, united like soul and body.
[8] The first cause of their dividing the Divine and the Human, and making the Divine equal to the Divine of Jehovah the Father, and the Human equal to the human of another man, was that the church after its rise degenerated into a Babylon, which transferred to itself the Lord's Divine power, but lest it be called Divine power, and not human power, they made the Lord's Human like the human of another man. Afterwards, when the church was reformed, and faith alone was accepted as the sole means of salvation (the faith that God the Father has mercy for the sake of the Son), the Lord's Human could not be regarded differently, for the reason that no one can go to the Lord and in heart acknowledge Him to be the God of heaven and earth until he is living according to His precepts. In the spiritual world, where all are obliged to speak as they think, no one can even mention the name Jesus unless he has lived in the world as a Christian. This is of His Divine providence, lest His name be profaned.
262. I. Quod contra Divinam Providentiam dubium possit inferri ex eo, quod totus Christianus Orbis colat Deum unum sub tribus Personis, quod est, Tres Deos; et quod huc usque nesciverit, quod Deus sit unus persona et essentia, in quo Trinitas, et quod ille Deus sit Dominus. Ratiocinator de Divina Providentia dicere potest, annon tres Personae tres Dii sunt, dum unaquaevis Persona per se est Deus; quis potest aliter cogitare, imo quis aliter cogitat; ipse Athanasius non potuit aliter, quare in Fide Symbolica, quae ab Ipso nominatur, dicit, "Tametsi ex Christiana veritate agnoscere debemus unamquamque Personam esse Deum et Dominum; usque non licet ex Christiana fide dicere seu nominare tres Deos aut tres Dominos;" 1per hoc non aliud intelligitur, quam quod debeamus agnoscere tres Deos et Dominos, sed quod non liceat dicere seu nominare tres Deos et tres Dominos.
[2] Quis usquam potest percipere unum Deum, nisi etiam unus sit Persona: si dicitur, quod percipere possit, si cogitat, quod una Essentia sit Tribus, quis ex hoc aliud percipit et potest percipere, quam quod sic unanimes sint, et quod consentiant, et usque quod tres 2Dii sint: et si altius cogitat, secum dicit, quomodo potest Divina essentia, quae Infinita est, dividi, et quomodo potest Illa ab aeterno gignere alium, et adhuc producere alium qui ab utroque procedat. Si dicitur, quod id credendum sit, et de eo non cogitandum, quis 3non cogitat de eo quod dicitur credendum esse; unde alioquin agnitio quae est fides in sua essentia: annon ex cogitatione de Deo ut de tribus Personis ortus est Socinianismus et Arrianismus, qui in corde plurium regnant, quam credis: fides unius Dei, et quod unus Ille Deus sit Dominus, facit Ecclesiam, in Ipso enim est Divina Trinitas; quod ita sit, videatur in DOCTRINA NOVAE HIEROSOLYMAE DE DOMINO, a principio ad finem.
[3] Sed quid cogitatur hodie de Domino; cogitaturne quod sit Deus et Homo, Deus ex Jehovah Patre, a quo conceptus est, et Homo ex Maria Virgine, ex qua natus est; quis cogitat, quod Deus et Homo in Ipso, seu Divinum et Humanum Ipsius, sint una Persona, et quod sint unum sicut anima et corpus unum sunt; an quisquam hoc novit; interroga Doctores Ecclesiae, ac dicent quod non sciverint, cum tamen est ex Doctrina Ecclesiae in universo Christiano Orbe recepta, quae talis, "Dominus noster Jesus Christus Filius Dei, est Deus et Homo, et quamvis est Deus et Homo, usque non sunt duo, sed est unus Christus; est unus, quia Divinum suscepit ad se Humanum; imo est prorsus unus, est enim una Persona, quoniam sicut anima et corpus facit unum hominem, ita Deus et homo est unus Christus:" hoc ex Fide seu Symbolo Athanasii: quod non sciverint, est quia, cum legerunt illud, non cogitaverunt de Domino ut Deo, sed solum ut de Homine.
[4] Si iidem interrogantur num sciant, a quo conceptus est, 4num a Deo Patre, vel num a suo Divino, respondebunt 5quod a Deo Patre, hoc enim est secundum Scripturam; annon tunc Pater et Ipse unum sunt, sicut anima et corpus unum sunt: quis potest cogitare, quod a duobus Divinis conceptus sit, et si Suo, quod Illud foret pater Ipsius. Si adhuc interrogas, quae vestra idea est de Divino Domini, et quae de Humano Ipsius, dicent quod Divinum Ipsius sit ab Essentia Patris, ac Humanum ab Essentia matris, et quod Divinum Ipsius sit apud Patrem; et si tunc interrogas, ubinam Ipsius Humanum, nihil 6respondebunt; separant enim in idea sua Divinum et Humanum Ipsius, ac Divinum faciunt aequale Divino Patris, et Humanum simile humano alterius hominis, et non sciunt, quod sic etiam separent animam et corpus; nec vident contradictionem, quod sic natus fuisset rationalis homo ex sola matre.
[5] Ex idea impressa de Humano Domini, quod simile fuerit humano alterius hominis, factum est, quod Christianus aegre possit adduci ad cogitandum DIVINUM HUMANUM, etiamsi diceretur quod anima seu vita Ipsius a conceptione fuerit et sit Ipse Jehovah. Collige nunc rationes, et expende, num alius Deus universi sit quam Solus Dominus, in quo Ipsum Divinum a quo est quod vocatur Pater, Divinum Humanum quod vocatur Filius, et Divinum procedens quod vocatur Spiritus Sanctus, et sic quod Deus unus sit Persona et Essentia, et quod ille Deus sit Dominus.
[6] Si instas dicendo, quod Ipse Dominus nominaverit Tres apud Matthaeum, "Euntes et discipulos facite omnes gentes, baptizantes eos in Nomen Patris, Filii et Spiritus Sancti," 28:19; sed quod hoc dixerit, ut sciretur quod in Ipso nunc glorificato Divina Trinitas esset, patet a Versu proxime antecedente et proxime sequente ibi; in Versu proxime antecedente dicit, quod Ipsi data sit omnis potestas in Coelo et in terra, et in versu proxime sequente dicit, quod Ipse cum illis esset usque ad consummationem saeculi, ita de Se Solo, et non de Tribus.
[7] Nunc ad Divinam Providentiam, cur permiserit, quod Christiani colerent Deum unum sub tribus Personis, quod est, tres Deos, et huc usque nesciverint, quod Deus unus sit Persona et Essentia in quo Trinitas, et quod ille Deus sit Dominus; non in causa est Dominus sed ipse homo; Dominus docuit id manifeste in suo Verbo, ut constare potest ex omnibus illis locis, quae in DOCTRINA NOVAE HIEROSOLYMAE DE DOMINO, adducta sunt; et quoque docuit in Doctrina omnium Ecclesiarum, in qua est, quod Divinum et Humanum Ipsius non sint duo, sed una Persona unita sicut anima et corpus:
[8] at quod Divinum et Humanum diviserint, et Divinum fecerint aequale Divino Jehovae Patris, et Humanum aequale humano alterius hominis, erat prima causa, quia Ecclesia post ortum ejus descivit in Babyloniam, quae in se potestatem Divinam Domini transtulit, verum ne diceretur Divina potestas sed humana, fecerunt Humanum Domini simile humano alterius hominis: et postea, quando Ecclesia reformata est, ac sola fides recepta pro unico medio salvationis, quae est ut Deus Pater misereatur propter Filium, nec potuit Humanum Domini aliter spectari; quod non potuerit, est causa, quia nemo potest adire Dominum, et corde agnoscere Ipsum pro Deo Coeli et Terrae, nisi qui vivit secundum praecepta Ipsius; in Mundo spirituali, ubi quisque tenetur loqui sicut cogitat, ne quidem potest aliquis nominare Jesum, nisi qui vixit in mundo sicut Christianus; et hoc ex Divina Ipsius Providentia, ne Nomen Ipsius prophanaretur.
Footnotes:
1 Prima editio: Dominos"
2 Prima editio: rres
3 Prima editio: sed quis
4 Prima editio: cst (ut videtur)
5 Prima editio: et respondebunt
6 Prima editio: et nihil