Appendix 3:
E. W. Bullinger wrote, in his last published answer:
“Scripture is the only court of appeal, and no doctrine can be accepted on the authority of the best of men, if it contradicts the oracles of God. The chief interest of the works of the early church fathers is in showing how soon Paul’s warnings were realized, and what a gulf exists between their writings and the inspired teaching of the New Testament. To pass from the epistles of Paul to those of Clement even, is like leaving the pure invigorating air of the mountain top for the mists and fogs of the valley” (Things to Come, Question No. 423, 1915, 21(12):143).
Let’s
see some writings of the early promoters of the doctrine of the trinity within the believers in the Bible, proposed initially by “grievous wolves which not spared the flock, which spoke
perverse things” to confuse and “to draw
away disciples after them.” The flawed
and contradictory character of these writings, even within themselves, can be
seen especially in Philo, in Cyprian, in Hippolytus, in Tertullian, in Athanasius, in Augustine,
in Cyril, in Jerome, in Calvin’s assassination of Servetus, etc.
"...One God, who in Himself is unity, yet appears in the likeness of a triad… a holy and divine vision... in such a way, that a single vision appears… as a triad, and a triad as unity...the intellect perceives most clearly a unity although previously it learned to apprehend it under the similitude of a trinity…"
[Philo Judaeus (Philo of Alexandria) as quoted by E. R. Goodenough, Light, By Light: the Mystic Gospel of Hellenistic Judaism, p.33. “Philo clearly taught [secretly and surrounded by mystery] the trinity doctrine, as did fellow philosophers, Pythagoras [who inherited his concept of the triangle to represent the triune god (Philo uses the triangle in his works)] and Plato - a doctrine which they all received from the Mystery teachings of Babylon” (Brian Hoeck). These Mystery teachings were also the sources of Theodotus' [and/or of Clement of Alexandria] "Christianized" Gnostic trinitarian doctrine, as cited by Clement on Theodotus version of Mt 28:19. Alexandria was a hotbed of philosophical thought. Jewish philosopher, Philo, lived in Alexandria and taught his false doctrines of Gnosticism there. From Alexandria emerged the most deplorable and fiery (or as Rubenstein may say, “doggish”) philosophers of the trinity: Alexander, and Athanasius, etc… as you can see]. In Philo we read: “God is not a compound being, inasmuch as he is a single nature” [XXXIV. (181)], but in the same work we read a contradictory statement [if Philo himself wrote it]: “I allow you to use the word Lord as a name; the Lord God of three natures--of instruction, and of holiness, and of the practice of virtue; of which Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob are recorded as the symbols…”, “…the living God is so completely indescribable” [II. (7)], both references from “On the Change of Names”; also Philo wrote: “…a certain divine inspiration [from Philo’s own soul]… that in the one living and true God there were two supreme and primary powers--goodness and authority… and that the third thing which was between the two, and had the effect of bringing them together was reason…” [IX. (27)]; “Now I [Philo] bid ye, initiated men, who are purified, as to your ears, to receive these things, as mysteries … the knowledge namely of the great first Cause, and of virtue, and in the third place, of the generation of them both... an oracle in the character of God… "Hast thou not called me as thy house, and thy father, and the husband of thy Virginity?" (Jer. 3:4), showing by this expression most manifestly that God is both a house, the incorporeal abode of incorporeal ideas, and the Father of all things, inasmuch as it is he who has created them; and the husband of wisdom, sowing for the race of mankind the seed of happiness in good and virgin soil…” [XIV. (48)], both references from “The Cherubim” [“Gnostic mythology may have been derived from Jewish sectarian speculation… during the late 1st century AD, which in turn was probably influenced by Persian dualistic religions… By the 2nd century, Christian Gnostic teachers had synthesized this mythology with Platonic metaphysical speculation and with certain heretical “Christian” traditions. The most prominent “Christian” Gnostics were Valentinus and his disciple Ptolemaeus, who during the 2nd century were influential in the Roman church” ("Gnosticism," 1994, Microsoft Encarta). The catholic doctrine of the trinity “has parallels both in philosophy (the 19th-century German philosopher G. W. F. Hegel's Absolute) and in other religions (the Trimurti of Hinduism)” ("Trinity," 1994, Microsoft Encarta). Mithraism was one of the major religions of the Roman Empire, the cult of Mithra: After the conquest of Assyria in the 7th century BC and of Babylonia in the 6th century BC, Mithra became the god of the sun, which was worshipped in his name. The Greeks of Asia Minor, by identifying Mithra with Helios, the Greek god of the sun, helped to spread the cult. It was brought to Rome about 68 BC by Cilician pirates whom the Roman general Pompey the Great had captured, and during the early empire it spread rapidly throughout Italy and the Roman provinces. It was a rival to Christianity in the Roman world. Mithraism and other pagans in Rome had ideals of humility and brotherly love, a trinity, a water baptism, the use of holy water, the adoration at Mithra's birth, the worship of images, the adoption of Sundays and of December 25 (Mithra's birthday) as holy days, the belief in the immortality of the soul, etc., etc... [and all that non-Biblical doctrines crept into catholic doctrine]. Gradually, the religion of the magi incorporated Babylonian elements, including astrology, demonology [invocation of the dead (later under the “dress of saints”) as “helpers”], and magic (The word magic is derived from the word magi). "Mithraism," "Magi," 1994, Microsoft Encarta] [To verify the infiltration of Platonic Philosophies, of Babylonian Baptismal Initiations and Mysteries go to the end of this page to see quotations done by early writers consecrated by the catholic church]
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“And to the Apostles he gives the command: Going around preach ye and baptise those who believe in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit”
[Theodotus the Gnostic, as preserved in Theodotus’ version of the gospel of Matthew held and quoted by Clement of Alexandria (Conybeare, Excerpta cap.76, ed Sylb. p.287 and in the Zeitsch. Fur die Neutest. Wissensch. 1901, p. 283). “Preserved among Clement's works is a fragment called Epitomes of the Writings of Theodotus, and of the Eastern Doctrine, most likely abridged extracts made by Clement for his own use, and giving considerable insight into Gnosticism. Clement's quotations from Scripture are made from the Septuagint version, often inaccurately from memory, sometimes from a different text from what we possess, often with verbal adaptations; and not rarely different texts are blended together (Introductory Note To Clement Of Alexandria).” Chap. XIX.--Theodotus. Theodotus affirms that Christ is a man of a kindred nature with all men, but that He surpasses them in this respect, that, according to the counsel of God, He had been born of a virgin, and the Holy Ghost had overshadowed His mother. … at first miraculous powers did not acquire operating energy in [the] Saviour Himself [until his baptism at Jordan]. Theodotus… deny the divinity of Christ (Hippolytus The Refutation Of All Heresies -- Book X); “…they have boldly laid their hands upon the divine Scriptures, alleging that they have corrected them... The copies of Asclepiades, at any rate, will be found at variance with those of Theodotus…” (Letter of Cyprian To Caius, Presbyter Of Rome. II. .-Against The Heresy Of Artemon. III. (In Eusebius' Eccl. Hist., v. 28)]
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"...giving to the disciples the power of regeneration into God, He said to them," Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
Irenaeus
Against Heresies -- Book III, Chap. XVII.
[Irenaeus
work on Heresies (second century), is well known in its early Latin
dress, but a few fragments have reached us, through citations, in Greek. But it
is also possible to be a later insertion brought by the Athanasians, as it was
done in the Didache, in the Ignatian Epistles, and in other documents
(see below). The worst has been the tampering against the Holy Word revealed by
God]
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“Alexander...in the fearless exercise of his functions for the instruction and government of the Church, attempted one day in the presence of the presbytery and the rest of his clergy, to explain, with perhaps too philosophical minuteness, that great theological mystery - the UNITY of the Holy Trinity. A certain one of the presbyters under his jurisdiction [opposed Alexander], whose name was Arius, possessed of no inconsiderable logical acumen, imaging that the bishop was subtly teaching the same view of this subject as Sabellius the Libyan…” (Book I. Ch. V. The Dispute of Arius with Alexander, his Bishop); “…Ignatius third bishop of Antioch in Syria from the apostle Peter, who also had held intercourse with the apostles themselves, saw a vision of angels hymning in alternate chants the Holy Trinity…” (Book VI. Ch. VIII).
[The Ecclesiastical History--By Socrates Scholasticus.]
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Chap. II.--Unity Of The Three Divine Persons.
There is then one God and Father, and not two or three; One who is; and there is no other besides Him, the only true [God]. For "the Lord thy God," saith [the Scripture], "is one Lord." And again, "Hath not one God created us? Have we not all one Father? " And there is also one Son, God the Word. For "the only-begotten Son," saith [the Scripture], "who is in the bosom of the Father." And again, "One Lord Jesus Christ." And in another place, "What is His name, or what His Son's name, that we may know?" And there is also one Paraclete. For "there is also," saith [the Scripture], "one Spirit," since "we have been called in one hope of our calling." And again, "We have drunk of one Spirit," with what follows. And it is manifest that all these gifts [possessed by believers] "worketh one and the self-same Spirit." There are not then either three Fathers, or three Sons, or three Paracletes, but one Father, and one Son, and one Paraclete. Wherefore also the Lord, when He sent forth the apostles to make disciples of all nations, commanded them to "baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," not unto one [person] having three names, nor into three [persons] who became incarnate, but into three possessed of equal honour.
The Epistle Of Ignatius To The Philippians.
[Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, lived from the end of the first century to the beginning of the second century, martyred, some say in A. D. 107 (Jerome says 109; while Pearson and Wordsworth say 115). “The Epistles ascribed to Ignatius have given rise to more controversy [together with the other spurious documents] connected with the primitive church… there are in all, fifteen epistles which bear the name of Ignatius… it is now the universal opinion… that [at least] the first eight… were spurious… They bear in themselves indubitable proof of being the production of a later age than that in which Ignatius lived. Neither Eusebius, nor Jerome make the least reference to them; and they are now by common consent set aside as forgeries, which were, at various dates and to serve special purposes, put forth under the name of the celebrated bishop of Antioch… none of them are quoted or referred to by any Christian writer previous to the 6th century” [Roberts, Donaldson and Crombie, in T. & T. Clarck’s Ante Nicene Library, Vol. I, p. 139, 451, Introductory Notice on The Writings of the Apostolic Fathers]. The epistle to the Philippians is one of that eight [more evidently] spurious documents, in it, there are references to heresies and events which did not take place till the close of the 2nd century! Of the other seven Ignatian epistles (acknowledged by Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. III, 36), today we have two Greek “originals”, a shorter and a longer. “It is plain that one or the other of these [or both, as we have them now] exhibits a corrupt text, and scholars have, for the most part, agreed to accept the shorter form as representing the genuine letters of Ignatius (p. 140)”, but the authenticity of even the shorter form was more than questioned by such scholars as Lardner (1743); Mosheim (1755); Griesbach (1768); Rosenmuller (1795); Neander (1826)’ and many others… in 1838-42 a Syriac version was discovered, and was published by Dr. Cureton in 1845. But this contained only the Ignatian epistles to Polycarp [also spurious], the Ephesians and the Romans. This opened the controversy afresh…” (Bullinger, E. W., The Lord’s Day, 1907, Things to Come, 13(6): 64). Also see Harnack’s note]
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“Now as regards baptism, thus baptize ye: having first rehearsed all these things, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in running water. But if thou hast not running water, baptize in other water; and if thou canst not in cold, then warm. But if thou hast neither, pour water upon the head thrice, in the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit. But before the baptism, let the baptizer and the baptized fast, and any others who can; but the baptized thou shalt command to fast for one or two days before”
"The Didache" (The Teaching), 7, 1-4. Anonymous treatise of the late first or early second century, “perhaps Syrian or Palestinian baptismal usage” (Hastings Dictionary of the Bible, 1963, p. 1015). Harry Rimmer, Crying Stones, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1946, p. 99.
["The [trinitarian] evidence of the spurious Didache (also called “Teaching of the Twelve Apostles”)… has an astonishing contradiction that is found in it. One passage refers to the necessity of baptism in the name of the Lord, which is Jesus, while the other famous passage (7, 1-4) teaches a Trinitarian Baptism… Lake raises the probability that the apocryphal Didache of the early Catholic Church Manual may have also been edited or changed to promote the later Trinitarian doctrine. It is a historical fact that the Catholic Church at one time baptized its converts in the name of Jesus (See note below, under Cyprian of Carthage) but later changed to the Trinitarian Baptism. In the actual description of baptism in the Didache the triune (Trinity) formula is used; in the instructions for the Eucharist (communion, in 9, 4) the condition for admission is baptism in the name of the Lord. It is obvious that in the case of an eleventh-century manuscript the triune formula was almost certain to be inserted in the description of baptism, while the less usual formula had a chance of escaping notice when it was only used incidentally" (The Beginnings of Christianity: The Acts of the Apostles, Vol. 1, Prolegomena 1). The Didache was unknown until its discovery in 1873 and its publication in 1883 by Philotheos Bryennios, Greek metropolitan of Nicomedia.]
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"And again, after His resurrection, sending His apostles, He gave them charge, saying, "All power is given unto me, in heaven and in earth. Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Since, therefore, it is manifest that heretics--that is, the enemies of Christ--have not the sound confession of the sacrament; moreover, that schismatics cannot season others with spiritual wisdom, since they themselves, by departing from the Church, which is one, having lost the savour, have become contrary to it"
"Euchratius of Thence said: “God and our Lord Jesus Christ, teaching the apostles with His own mouth, has entirely completed our faith, and the grace of baptism, and the rule of the ecclesiastical law, saying: "Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." ” Thus the false and wicked baptism of heretics must be rejected by us, and refuted with all detestation, from whose month is expressed poison, not life, not celestial grace, but blasphemy of the Trinity. And therefore it is manifest that heretics who come to the Church ought to be baptized with the sound and Catholic baptism, in order that, being purified from the blasphemy of their presumption, they may be reformed by the grace of the Holy Spirit."
The Seventh Council Of Carthage Under Cyprian. Concerning The Baptism Of Heretics. The Judgment Of Eighty-Seven Bishops On The Baptism Of Heretics.
Prooemium.--When Stephen, Bishop Of Rome, Had By His Letters Condemned The Decrees Of The African Council On The Baptism Of Heretics, Cyprian Lost No Time In Holding Another Council At Carthage With A Greater Number Of Bishops. Having Therefore Summoned Eighty-Seven Bishops From Africa, Numidia, And Mauritania, Who Assembled At Carthage In The Kalends Of September, A.D. 258, This Third Council On The Same Matter Of Baptism Was Then Celebrated; At The Beginning Of Which, After, The Letters On Either Side Had Been Read, Cyprian, By Implication, Condemns The Assumption Of Stephen.
[The “Prooemium” is the original heading text and on it can be seen the heart of that leadership, wanting to carry behind them as much people as possible, to make them to believe in their own particular views and opinions instead of the pure well of the Scriptures given by God.]
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3... "For while the Lord has said that the nations are to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and their past sins are to be done away in baptism; this man, ignorant of the precept and of the law, commands peace to be granted and sins to be done away in the name of Paulus; and he says that this was commanded him by Paulus, as you will observe in the letter sent by the same Lucian to Celerinus"
The Epistles Of Cyprian, Epistle XXII. To The Clergy Abiding At Rome.
[In at least three other epistles (24, 62, 72) and in a treatise (12) Cyprian (circa 200-58) contends harshly on his promotion of the trinity, and also in two other anonymous treatises related to him (against Novatian and on re-baptism, the last being a reply against Cyprian: "The anonymous author of De Rebaptismate in the third century...dwells at length on 'the power in the name of Jesus invoked upon a man in baptism' " (Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. i, p 352, quoting De Rebaptismate 6.7). This “Cyprian (of Carthage) used the text: “Baptizing them in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit”, as a “battle-cry” in his strife with Pope Stephen I (Epist. 73 and justbefore “ad Iubaianum”). The official church of Rome however ignored his arguments, and adopted the position that baptism in the name of Christ alone was quite valid. As the canon of the Synod of Nemours (1284) expresses it: “Dicimus, infantem baptizatum esse, si baptizans dicit: Baptizo te in nomine Christi”. It in some measure explains this decision of the Popes that the text of Mt 28, 19 was not yet authoritatively fixed by the church" (Zeitschrift f. d. Neutest. Wiss. Jahrg. II, 1901, p. 286). “When Decius, emperor of Rome, instituted a persecution of the Christians, Cyprian fled from Carthage… His Doctrine in his De Catholicae Ecclesiae Unitate (On the Unity of the Catholic Church), is an exposition of the hierarchical organization of the church” ("Cyprian, Saint," 1994, Microsoft Encarta)]
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14... "we cannot otherwise think of one God, but by believing in truth in Father and Son and Holy Spirit. For the Jews glorified (or gloried in) the Father, but gave Him not thanks, for they did not recognise the Son. The disciples recognised the Son, but not in the Holy Ghost; wherefore they also denied Him. The Father's Word, therefore, knowing the economy (disposition) and the will of the Father, to wit, that the Father seeks to be worshipped in none other way than this, gave this charge to the disciples after He rose from the dead: "Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." And by this He showed, that whosoever omitted any one of these, failed in glorifying God perfectly. For it is through this Trinity that the Father is glorified. For the Father willed, the Son did, the Spirit manifested. The whole Scriptures, then, proclaim this truth."
The Extant Works And Fragments Of Hippolytus: Part II. D. Against The Heresy Of One Noetus.
[Here, Hippolytus of Rome (circa 170-235, “the most important 3rd-century theologian of the Roman church and the first “antipope” ”), is even wrongfully accusing of “not recognizing holy ghost” over the very disciples of Jesus Christ, and by his own authority, Hippolytus is imposing his views in a wrong and absolutist way. The next are the real words that Jesus has to say about the true worshipping, far from Hippolytus: “the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (Jn 4:23-24). After a careful examination of the Word of God, we can see that to “worship the Father in spirit and in truth” is through manifesting “holy spirit”, the very thing that the true Apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ did since Pentecost (Acts 2:4, 8:17-19, 10:44-46, 19:6, 9:17, 1 Cor. 14:18, 14-15, Eph. 6:18-19, Jude 20, Mk. 16:17, 1 Cor. 14:2,21. Please, I beg you to read carefully each of the verses quoted here in your own Bible, if you really want to unlock the truth and the power of holy spirit within your life, as was within the true disciples of Jesus Christ at the beginning)]
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“…the three days [of Genesis 1] which were before the luminaries [of the day four], are types of the Trinity, of God, and His Word, and His wisdom. And the fourth is the type of man, who needs light, that so there may be God, the Word, wisdom, man…”
Theophilus Of Antioch: Theophilus To Autolycus -- Book II. Chap. XV.--Of The Fourth Day.
[This is an earlier writing that wrongfully allowed the identification of “the Word” with a second person in this “doctrine of men”, and of “wisdom” with a third one]
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Chap. II.--The Catholic Doctrine Of The Trinity And Unity, Sometimes Called The Divine Economy, Or Dispensation Of The Personal Relations Of The Godhead.
“…only that it may not seem that each perversion of the truth is condemned without examination, and simply prejudged; especially in the case of this heresy, which supposes itself to possess the pure truth, in thinking that one cannot believe in One Only God in any other way than by saying that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are the very selfsame Person. As if in this way also one were not All, in that All are of One, by unity (that is) of substance; while the mystery of the dispensation is still guarded, which distributes the Unity into a Trinity, placing in their order the three Persons--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: three, however, not in condition, but in degree; not in substance, but in form; not in power, but in aspect; yet of one substance, and of one condition, and of one power, inasmuch as He is one God, from whom these degrees and forms and aspects are reckoned, under the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. How they are susceptible of number without division, will be shown as our treatise proceeds.”
Chap. III.--Sundry Popular Fears And Prejudices. The Doctrine Of The Trinity In Unity Rescued From These Misapprehensions.
“The numerical order and distribution of the Trinity they assume to be a division of the Unity; whereas the Unity which derives the Trinity out of its own self is so far from being destroyed, that it is actually supported by it. They are constantly throwing out against us that we are preachers of two gods and three gods, while they take to themselves pre-eminently the credit of being worshippers of the One God; just as if the Unity itself with irrational deductions did not produce heresy, and the Trinity rationally considered constitute the truth.”
Tertullian, VII. Against Praxeas; In Which He Defends, In All Essential Points, The Doctrine Of The Holy Trinity.
[Tertullian (~160-220 A.D.), “the first important ecclesiastical writer in Latin, leader of the heretical Montanists”, “his views on ethics and discipline, rigorously ascetic from the first, became progressively more harsh in his later works” [if he really wrote them], because, how can Tertullian have really argued himself that the church alone has the authority to declare what is and what is not orthodox (including water baptism in the name of the trinity), if he was himself considered an heretic by the organized church of his time? [Those statements smack as being from Cyprian’s pen]. Tertullian [if he wrote that] seems to be criticizing positions like the one held by Hippolytus and, wanting to be more “specific”, he adds his unbearable philosophy and imaginations, which are absent of any kind of divine logic, as nothing on it is found on the Bible. This opinion of Tertullian [if was of him] became glorified in the catholic dogma of the holy trinity in the form of: “one true God in three different persons”. As stated before, the real “mystery of this dispensation” according to God, can be found by carefully reading the Bible. Bullinger’s summary about the real “mystery” revealed to us by God, is given in: http//www.geocities.com/fdocc2/mystery.htm]
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"Eustathius, bishop of Antioch, accuses Eusebius Pamphilus of perverting the Nicene Creed; but Eusebius denies that he violates that exposition of the faith, and recriminates, saying that Eustathius was a defender of the opinion of Sabellius. In consequence of these misunderstandings, each of them wrote volumes as if contending against adversaries: and although it was admitted on both sides that the Son of God has a distinct person and existence, and all acknowledged that there is one God in a Trinity of Persons; yet, from what cause I am unable to divine, they could not agree among themselves, and therefore were never at peace…"
Nicetas Choniates, “Thesaurus of the Orthodox Faith”, Book F. Chap. 7. quotation also found in Theodorus Metochita, XIV Century, Cap. Miscell. 19; Migne, Patr. Lat. CXLTV. 949.
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In the Nicaean Council “Eusebius said to Euphration: "the Son is himself God, but not true God." ”
[The Life And Writings Of Eusebius Of Caesarea, Chapter I]
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Lecture IV. On The Ten Points Of Doctrine. Colossians ii. 8. Of Christ.
“7. Believe also in the Son of God, One and Only, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who was begotten God of God, begotten Life of Life, begotten Light of Light, Who is in all things likes to Him that begat, Who received not His being in time, but was before all ages eternally and incomprehensibly begotten of the Father: The Wisdom and the Power of God, and His Righteousness personally subsisting: Who sitteth on the right hand of the Father before all ages.”
Lecture XI. On The Words, The Only-Begotten Son Of God, Begotten Of The Father Very God Before All Ages, By Whom All Things Were Made. Hebrews I. 1.
4 “...He was not begotten to be other than He was before; but was begotten from the beginning Son of the Father, being above all beginning and all ages, Son of the Father, in all things like to Him who begot Him, eternal of a Father eternal, Life of Life begotten, and Light of Light, and Truth of Truth, and Wisdom of the Wise, and King of King, and God of God, and Power of Power..."
18 “...in all things the Son is like to Him who begat Him; begotten Life of Life and Light of Light, Power of Power, God of God; and the characteristics of the Godhead are unchangeable in the Son..."
Cyril Of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures.
[“Cyril of Jerusalem (315?-87), ecclesiastic, “father of the church” and “Doctor of the Church”. Deposed three times. Upon the death of Constantius II, emperor of Rome, Cyril was again restored to his episcopate [after his second deposition]. Cyril was immediately involved in new difficulties and was banished [third deposition] in 367 by Valens, Roman emperor of the East; he returned after the emperor's death in 378. He presents the creed of the church in a more nearly complete and systematic manner than the writings of any other…” ("Cyril of Jerusalem, Saint," 1994, Microsoft Encarta)]
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"...seeing that a man, baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, becomes a temple of the Lord, and that while the old abode is destroyed a new shrine is built for the Trinity, how can you say that sins can be remitted among the Arians... we can hardly think that a man brought up in the Capitol would have learnt the doctrine of the co-essential Trinity. He would have known in that case that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not divided in nature, but in person. He would have known also that the name of Son was implied in that of Father and the name of Father in that of Son...Besides, it is the custom at baptism to ask, after the confession of faith in the Trinity, do you believe in Holy Church? Do you believe in the remission of sins? What Church do you say he believed in? The Church of the Arians?... nor that poor woman who for twelve years was wasting away with a bloody flux, had believed in the mysteries of the Trinity, for these were revealed to the Apostles after the resurrection of Christ; so that the faith of such as believe in the mystery of the Trinity might have its due preeminence: but it was her singleness of mind and her devotion to her God that met with our Lord's approval...”
Jerome, The Dialogue Against The Luciferians (~379 A.D.)
[The Luciferians were the followers of one man called Lucifer, Bishop of Cagliari in Sardinia]
[“Jerome, in Latin, Eusebius Hieronymus (circa 345-420), spent three years in Constantinople with the Eastern church father, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, and became secretary to Pope Damasus I and gained much influence… Jerome engaged in controversy not only with the heretics Jovinian (4th century) and Vigilantius (4th-5th century) and the adherents of Pelagianism, but also with the monk and theologian Tyrannius Rufinus and with Augustine” ("Jerome, Saint," 1994, Microsoft Encarta)]
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Book XII. Chapter VII-Out Of Nothing God Made Heaven And Earth.
“...Thou mightest create them, O God, One Trinity, and Trine Unity...
Book XII. Chapter IX-That The Heaven Of Heavens Was An Intellectual Creature, But That The Earth Was Invisible And Formless Before The Days That It Was Made”.
“…verily that heaven of heavens which Thou createdst in the Beginning, is some intellectual creature, which, although no ways coeternal unto Thee, the Trinity, yet partaketh of Thy eternity...”
Book XIII. Chapter V- He Recognises The Trinity In The First Two Verses Of Genesis.
“Lo, now the Trinity appears unto me in a glass darkly, which is Thou my God, because Thou, O Father, in Him Who is the Beginning of our wisdom, Which is Thy Wisdom, born of Thyself, equal unto Thee and coeternal, that is, in Thy Son, createdst heaven and earth …under the name of God, I now held the Father, who made these things, and under the name of Beginning, the Son, in whom He made these things; and believing, as I did, my God as the Trinity, I searched further in His holy words, and to, Thy Spirit moved upon the waters. Behold the Trinity, my God, Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, Creator of all creation.”
Book XIII. Chapter XI-That The Symbols Of The Trinity In Man, To Be, To Know, And To Will, Are Never Thoroughly Examined.
“Which of us comprehendeth the Almighty Trinity? and yet which speaks not of It, if indeed it be It? Rare is the soul, which while it speaks of It, knows what it speaks of. And they contend and strive, yet, without peace, no man sees that vision. I would that men would consider these three, that are in themselves. These three be indeed far other than the Trinity: I do but tell, where they may practise themselves, and there prove and feel how far they be. Now the three I spake of are, To Be, to Know, and to Will. For I Am, and Know, and Will: I Am Knowing and Willing: and I Know myself to Be, and to Will: and I Will to Be, and to Know …and whether because of these three, there is in God also a Trinity …unchangeably the Self-same, by the abundant greatness of its Unity, -who can readily conceive this? who could any ways express it? who would, any way, pronounce thereon rashly?
Book XIII. Chapter XXII-He Explains The Divine Image Of The Renewal Of The Mind.
“...Thou teachest him, now made capable, to discern the Trinity of the Unity, and the Unity of the Trinity. Wherefore to that said in the plural. Let us make man, is yet subjoined in the singular, And God made man: and to that said in the plural. After our likeness, is subjoined in the singular, After the image of God. Thus is man renewed in the knowledge of God, after the image of Him that created him: and being made spiritual, he judgeth all things (all things which are to be judged), yet himself is judged of no man.”
Augustine Confessions (401 A.D.)
[Here, Augustine asks of the trinity: “Which of us comprehendeth the Almighty Trinity? … if indeed it be It?”, later he says: “who can readily conceive this? who could any ways express it?”, “rare is the soul, which while it speaks of It, knows what it speaks of. And they contend and strive, yet, without peace”. According to Augustine, nobody can understand that doctrine (there is even an Augustine’s fable of a little child trying to put the whole ocean into a small hole in the sand, and as impossible as that is, impossible also is to understand “the holy doctrine of the trinity”), but yet that doctrine is the cornerstone of the catholic religion and of many others at this very moment and time, and for that “incomprehensible” reason, Augustine and many others wrote innumerable pages regarding the trinity… Augustine also quotes the Bible which says that “the spiritual man is not judged by any man”… but Augustine himself is judging what is meant to be “spiritual”, not according to the Bible, but according to Augustine’s own imaginations and preconceived flawed teachings and ideas, and then, based on that kind of “standards”, the catholic church persecuted and even killed, every one else who was not able to accept “the non-understandable” doctrine of the trinity (see “the Inquisition”). Let’s see how Augustine went to the Bible having the trinitarian preconceived idea on the front of his forehead: “believing, as I did, my God as the Trinity, I searched further in His holy words”. With such kind of “foundation for Augustine’s Biblical research”, Augustine was the first one that stated that, when God said “Let us make man… after our likeness” in Gen. 1:26, it was in plural because the trinity was present there. “Research doesn’t begin with the answers; it looks for the answers”. Augustine dismissed the oriental idiom of speech “Heterosis” here in Genesis: “the first person plural pronouns “us”, “we”, and “our”, are used to indicate the magnitude of the incident to which God related Himself.” “When a plural noun or pronoun is used, but the singular case is true to fact, the plural is used for the singular when great excellence or magnitude is denoted” (Wierwille, Jesus Christ is not God, p. 3, 83-84). Other examples are: when Jesus was talking with Nicodemus, Jesus (singular) talked of himself in plural in the next statement: “Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? (Jn. 3:10-12)”, an Heterosis also can be seen in Mr. 4:30 “And he (Jesus) said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it?”, and in Daniel 2:36 “this is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king” (Daniel alone is speaking, Dn. 2:25-26; was he also part of some trinity?). “Mystifying” figures of speech by the imaginations of men is a bias to promote erroneous doctrines (other of such examples can be seen in the absurd doctrine of the “transubstantiation”), which eventually, and against God’s will, became “dogmas”. By other side, when God created man, His angels were already created (Job 38:7), and many were collaborating with Him, not a trinity but a “huge host” of faithful servants, under the commands of God. This Augustine of Hippo is the same that wrote to Jerome indicating him that he should dismiss the Hebrew Old Testament original texts but rather, to use the Greek Septuagint (of a lower quality), for “The Vulgate”; fortunately, as we will see in Jerome’s Letters, Jerome dismissed such bad “advice”. This Augustine is the same one that attempted to do a harmony of the gospels, but did a work of low quality. Even “Microsoft Encarta” ("Trinity (theology), 1994) exposes Augustinian inconsistencies when saying, “In the West, the 4th-century theologian St. Augustine's influential work De Trinitate (On the Trinity, 400-16) compared the three-in-oneness of God with analogous structures in the human mind and suggested that the Holy Spirit may be understood as the mutual love between Father and Son (although this second point seems difficult to reconcile with the belief that the Spirit is a distinct, coequal member of the Trinity)”. However, this same Augustine is one of the highest and foremost “doctors and pillars for the doctrine of the holy trinity”.]
[“Augustine (354-430). His father, Patricius (died about 371), was a pagan (later converted to Christianity), but his mother, Monica, was a devout Christian who labored untiringly for her son's conversion and who was canonized by the Roman Catholic church. Between the ages of 15 and 30, Augustine lived with a Carthaginian woman whose name is unknown; in 372 she bore him a son, whom he named Adeodatus. For nine years, from 373 until 382, he adhered to Manichaeism, a Persian dualistic philosophy then widely current in the Western Roman Empire, its moral code was not unpleasantly strict; Augustine later recorded in his Confessions: “Give me chastity and continence, but not just now.” Disillusioned by the impossibility of reconciling certain contradictory Manichaeist doctrines, Augustine abandoned this philosophy and turned to skepticism. Then he came under the influence of the philosophy of Neoplatonism and also met the bishop of Milan, St. Ambrose, then the most distinguished ecclesiastic in Italy. One day, according to his own account, he seemed to hear a voice, like that of a child, repeating, “Take up and read.” He interpreted this as a divine exhortation to open the Scriptures and read the first passage he happened to see. Accordingly, he opened to Romans 13:13-14, where he read: “…not in revelry and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” He immediately resolved to embrace Christianity. Along with his natural son, he was baptized by Ambrose. He became bishop of Hippo (now Annaba, Algeria) in 395, an office he held until his death. Augustine developed his doctrines of original sin and divine grace, divine sovereignty, and predestination. The Roman Catholic church has found special satisfaction in the institutional or ecclesiastical aspects of his doctrines; Roman Catholic and Protestant theology alike are largely based on their more purely theological aspects. John Calvin and Martin Luther, leaders of the Reformation, were both close students of Augustine. Against Pelagian doctrine, he held that human spiritual disobedience had resulted in a state of sin that human nature was powerless to change. In his theology, men and women are saved by the gift of divine grace; against Manichaeism he vigorously defended the place of free will in cooperation with grace. The last 12 books of his “City of God (413-26)” trace the origin, progress, and destiny of the church and establish it as the proper successor to paganism. In the Retractions (428), he registered his final verdict upon his earlier books, correcting whatever his maturer judgment held to be misleading or wrong. ("Augustine, Saint," 1994, Microsoft Encarta). “Ambrose is best known as the sympathizing friend of Monica, mother of Augustine, and as the one who received Augustine into the church” ("Ambrose, Saint," 1994, Microsoft Encarta) “Augustine was deficient in exact scholarship. Thoroughly versed in Latin literature, he knew little Greek, and no Hebrew. He refers more than once in his Harmony of the Gospels to his ignorance of the original language of the Old Testament, without alluding to the distinction between Greek words, it was not his habit to prosecute these studies with the original in his view. Hence we find him missing many explanations which would at once have suggested themselves, had he not so implicitly followed the imperfect versions [in Latin] of the sacred text” (S. D. F. S. Translator's Introductory Notice, in Augustine’s Harmony of the Gospels). “Augustine, the Western church's great Father and Doctor of the 4th and 5th centuries, taught that in the search for truth people must depend upon sense experience” ("Aquinas, Saint Thomas," 1994, Microsoft Encarta)]
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I. “And
the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;
Neither
confounding the Persons: nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of
the Father, another of the Son: and another of the Holy Ghost. But the God-head
of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one: the Glory equal,
the Majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son: and such is the
Holy Ghost. The Father un-create, the Son un-create: and the Holy Ghost
un-create.
The
Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible: and the Holy Ghost
incomprehensible.
The
Father eternal, the Son eternal: and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are
not three eternal: but one eternal. As also there are not three
incomprehensible, nor three un-created: but one un-created, and one
incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty: and the
Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties: but one Almighty.
So the Father is God, the Son is God: and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they
are not three Gods: but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son is
Lord: and the Holy Ghost is Lord. And yet not three Lords: but one Lord. For
like as we are compelled by the Christian verity: to acknowledge every Person
by Himself to be God and Lord;
So we
are forbidden by the Catholic Religion: to say, there be three Gods, or three
Lords. The Father is made of none: neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of
the Father alone: not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the
Father and of the Son: neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons: one Holy
Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore, or after
other: none is greater, or less than another;
But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together: and co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid: the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved: must thus think of the Trinity.”
Confession Of ‘Our Christian Faith’, Commonly
Called ‘The Creed Of St. Athanasius’.
["The Creed of Athanasius," is acknowledged to embody the (Athanasian) doctrine of the Nicene Council. The Anglo-American Church has ceased to recite this Confession in public worship, but does not depart from it as doctrine.” Athanasius was a disciple of Alexander of Alexandria, Egypt. The name “Alexander” was associated with rebellion against the Word of God since the last days of Paul the Apostle (1 Tim. 1:20, 2 Tim. 4:14, quoted in Appendix 6). Athanasius was an enemy of Arius. “Athanasius of Alexandria: Bishop of Alexandria from 328; theologian of the “incarnation” (“the incarnation of the logos” in Spanish “la encarnación del verbo”, that according to the theology of Athanasius means “the incarnation of God, becoming a man” “la encarnación de Dios, hecho hombre”, it’s reasoning is that as God = logos and Christ = logos so God = Christ, but that is not to be found in the Bible, as the logos is the Word of God, The Truth, the one will and purpose that was common for Christ and for God, the logos that they want to be also in us), and leader of the Nicene party; condemned by the Council of Tyre (335), inter alia; exiled five times.” Athanasius argues that God the Father is also God the Son. He says God actually became Jesus despite the fact that, throughout the Gospels, the Son describes himself as being other than the Father and less than Him… Athanasius simply ignores New Testament words that are “inconsistent” with his theory! In fact, since he cannot find any basis in Scripture for his conception, he and his friends borrow a word from Greek philosophy – homoousios (consubstancial, consustancial)– to express it. What does this unscriptural word mean? Athanasius says that God… choose to turn Himself into a man for “the sake of our salvation”. Jesus Christ is not one of God’s creatures, he insists, but God Himself, “incarnated” in human form. These sound like clear statements, but, actually, they are hopelessly confused. Athanasius maintains that this utterly transcendent God transformed Himself into a man, suffered, died, and then resurrected Himself! Doesn’t this mixture of Creator and creature sound pagan?… Athanasius hastens to add that the Father’s method of generating the Son is beyond human understanding, and that Christ, being God, was perfect by nature and could not change as humans do. But, How can Jesus be a model for human behavior if he was incapable of change? Athanasius’ answer is that this is a matter that is beyond human understanding! Indeed! Everything about Athanasius’ theories are beyond human understanding. The problem is not only that Athanasius’s theory mixes God with His creation, but that it removes Jesus entirely from human society, from the universe of moral turmoil… how can we hope to imitate Jesus? And if he is God Himself, not our representative and intermediary, how can he intervene on our behalf?… What, one wonders, would Jesus have made of that?. However, Athanasius proposed a political common front with conservative Arians (which he used to designate as “Ariomaniacs”) in his fight against the heathen policies of Julian. Athanasius was “quite prepared to use the violent methods of the streets when necessary, to accomplish worthwhile goals,” “if his character had been more “saintly” (as the term is commonly used), he might not have been exiled quite so often. But a calmer, more loving personality might not have been sufficiently energized by determination and rage to endure, retaliate, and win” “Athanasius was clearly the most powerful man in Egypt in the early 350’s”, Rubenstein, R.E., When Jesus Became God, 1999, Harcourt, p. 63, 117-9, 196-7, 176, 211, 234, “in Alexandria, Athanasius maintained an ecclesiastical mafia… he could instigate a riot or prevent the orderly administration of the city... a power independent of the emperor which he built up and perpetuated by violence… like modern gangsters, he evoked widespread mistrust, proclaimed total innocence – and usually succeeded in evading conviction on specific charges,” Barnes, T. D., 1981, Constantine and Eusebius, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 230-31, etc. (see Appendix 4 to deal with Rubenstein’s conclusion). This Athanasius is considered by catholics as “Doctor of their Church” and is another of the “pillars for the doctrine of the trinity”.]
[Sir William Whiston stated, "We certainly know of a greater number of interpolations and corruptions brought into the Scriptures by the Athanasians, and relating to the Doctrine of the Trinity, than in any other case whatsoever. While we have not, that I know of, any such interpolation or corruption made in any one of them [the Scriptures] by either the Eusebians or Arians." (Second letter to the Bishop of London, 1719, p 15). “In the last half of the fourth century, the text 'in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost' was used as a battle-cry by the orthodox against the adherents of Macedonius, who were called 'pneumatomachi' or 'fighters against the Holy Spirit', because they declined to include the Spirit in a Trinity of persons as co-equal, consubstantial, and co-eternal with the Father and the Son. They also stoutly denied that any text in the New Testament authorized such a co-ordination of the Spirit with the Father and Son. Whence we infer that their texts agreed with that of Eusebius [meaning, they lacked the triune reading of Mt 28:19]” (Hibbert Journal , F. Conybeare). The same can be said of the followers of Eunomius (Socr. 5.24)— “for they baptise not into the trinity, but into the death of Christ” (Encyclopedia Biblica, article: Baptism)]
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“We now order that all churches are to be handed over to the bishops who profess Father, Son and Holy Spirit of a single majesty, of the same glory, of one splendor, who establish no difference by sacrilegous separation, but [who affirm] the order of the trinity to be recognizing the Persons and uniting the Godhead.”
Theodosious I Roman Emperor, Episcopis Tradi, 381 A.D. The edict of Theodosious I (Hanson, R.P.C., The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy, 318-381 A.D., 1988, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, p. 821).
[Theodosious I, August of the East (369-383); sole emperor (379-395); convenor of the Council of Constantinople (381); outlawed Arianism. “Theodosius was an enthusiastic persecutor… Manicheans were hunted down and killed. He had a bloody temper, too; he invited some seven thousand citizens of Thessalonica (Thessoloníki, Greece, 390 AD) to a special show in that city’s arena, only to massacre them as punishment for a riot that had killed one of his officials” (Frend, “Rise of Christianity”, 624-625; Williams, “Ambrose of Milan”, quoted by: Rubenstein, R. E., When Jesus Became God, 1999, Harcourt, p. 224, 234. Theodosius was born in Spain and was the last man to rule a united Roman Empire. He was a strong champion of orthodox Christianity; he persecuted the Arians ("Theodosius I," 1994, Microsoft Encarta)].
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“As the Apostles deviated from their master’s precept given in Mt. 28:19 in regard to baptism, so the church has the right to set them aside as regards the Eucharist, by withholding the cup from the laity”.
John of Ragusa, “De Communione Sub Utraque Species”
[addressed A. D. 1433 to the Council of Bàle (Mansi Concilia XXXIX; col. 858)]
[Conybeare comments (in 1901) “I do not know if any will pursue his hypothesis a little further and argue that the Apostles, when they “set aside the “formam traditam per Dominum”, also introduced the Eusebian form of text at Mt 28, 19!”. However, that reasoning is at the root of the catholic custom to withhold the cup from the “laity”, as Thomas Aquinas propounded the same ill argument [in III, 9. 66, a. b., ad. I. John (l. c. col. 863), and Aquinas is the catholic “sacred bull”, “saint” and “doctor of the catholic church”]. My comment is that an adulteration in the Word of God (in Mt. 28:19) have brought more pain and confusion and transgression against God’s originally revealed Word, no matter how sincere that tampering may have appeared for such religious and political leadership.]
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“The difference of the hypostases [persons or beings?] does not dissolve the continuity of their nature, nor does the community of their nature dissipate the particularity of their characteristics. Do not be amazed if we declare that the same thing is united and distinct, and conceive, as in a riddle, of a new and paradoxical unity in distinction and distinction in unity… God is not God because he is Father nor the Son because he is the Son, but because both possess the ousia [substance or essence?] of Godhead”
[Gregory of Nyssa, “On the Holy Trinity” and “On Not Three Gods,” in Schaff and Wace, eds., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 5, Gregory of Nyssa, Dogmatic Treatises, Etc. (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 326-336. Hanson, R.P.C., The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy, 318-381 A.D., Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1988, pp. 723-726.]
[“The Arians charged Gregory with fraud in his election to the
bishopric and with mishandling the funds of his office. Convicted of these
charges, he was exiled from Nyssa in 376 to 378. After his return Gregory was a
strong supporter of the orthodox position against the Arians at the first
Council of Constantinople in 381. In the next year he was sent by the church to
reorganize the churches of Arabia” ("Gregory of Nyssa, Saint," 1994, Microsoft
Encarta)]
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“ “Was the Lord’s prayer addressed only to the hypostasis [being?] of the Father as “our Father” and the Father of the Son, or to the entire ousia [essence?] of the Godhead?” Basil’s answer… was to declare that “what was common to the Three and what was distinctive among them lay beyond speech and comprehension and therefore beyond either analysis or conceptualization”… Adopting an idea of Origen’s that easterners would appreciate, Basil of Caesarea (“Basil the Great”) described Jesus as a “sharer of [God’s] nature, not created by fiat, but shining out continuously from his ousia [essence?]”. And regarding the Holy Spirit, “of the wise men among ourselves, some have conceived of him as an activity, some as a creature, some as God; and some have been uncertain which to call him… And therefore they neither worship him nor treat him with dishonor, but take up a neutral position,” but he “shares the same divine essence, is a third individual being (or Person) “consubstantial” with the Father and the Son” ”
[Basil of Caesarea (“Basil the Great”): in Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine. Vol. I, The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971, p. 213, 223. Hanson, R.P.C., The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy, 318-381 A.D., Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1988, pp. 687-688.]
[Basil was called upon by the bishop of Caesarea to defend catholic
doctrines against the heretical attacks of the Arians. “In 370 he himself was
elected bishop of Caesarea, a post he held until his death on January 1, 379.
Basil's grandmother Macrina; his parents, Basil and Emmelia; his sister
Macrina, and his younger brothers Gregory and Peter of Sebaste are all
venerated as saints” ("Basil, Saint," 1994, Microsoft Encarta]
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“The Father is greater than the Son in the sense that the Son derived his equality and being from Him.”
[Gregory of Nazianzus in: Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine. Vol. I, The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971, p. 222-223.]
[“Gregory of Nazianzus (circa 329-89),baptized in 360 by his father,
who was bishop of Nazianzus. With Basil compiled an anthology of the writings
of the Christian teacher and theologian Origen, called the Philokalia (Greek,
“Love of the Beautiful”). Basil later became bishop of Caesarea and, in 371 or
372, prevailed upon Gregory to accept the see of Sasima, a small village in
Cappadocia. Gregory took charge of the Nicene congregation of Constantinople.
There he delivered five discourses on the Trinity that earned him fame as The
Theologian. He was appointed bishop, but retired in the face of resistance
from the Arians. Hoping to prevent further schism, he returned to Nazianzus,
where he remained until his death ("Gregory of Nazianzus, Saint,"
1994, Microsoft Encarta)]
Basil “the Great” of Cesarea, Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory Nazianzus are considered as “The Cappadocian Fathers”.
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“Far from considering himself only a man, Jesus ‘understands himself’ “from above” in his whole human existence’… the Council of Chalcedon provided a ‘valid and permanently binding’ version of what the New Testament teaches, ‘namely, [that] in Jesus Christ, God Himself has entered into human history.’ ”
[Walter Kasper, Jesus the Christ, 1976, Paulist Press. “If Kasper meant what he said, it would be true because God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself (2 Cor. 5:19). God in Christ did enter into human history, but that may not be what Kasper means. As a theologian, granting his truthfulness to the “Council of Chalcedon”, Kasper would most likely mean it was God who came – not Jesus Christ the Son of God, but Jesus Christ, God the Son. Which we have seen in the Bible to be wrong ”]
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“Kung’s wrote that: “God ‘was present, at work, speaking, acting and definitely revealing himself’ in Jesus’” …Cardinal Hoffner, chairman of a bishops’ conference, wrote a letter accusing Kung of evading a binding creed and demanded in exasperation: ‘Is Jesus Christ the pre-existing, eternal Son of God, one in being with the Father?’… [the Roman Catholic hierarchy] issued a formal warning that the book [that Hans Kung had written], created “a distressing insecurity of faith” and charged that Hans Küng had failed to explain how his Christology could be reconciled with the historic creeds.”
[Time Magazine, “New Debate on Jesus”, Feb. 27, 1978. Historic creeds can’t be reconciled with the truth of the Bible, because the “historic creeds” are in error. ]
[Küng, Hans (1928- ), he was official theologian for the Second
Vatican Council. His work “The Council, Reform and Reunion” (1960;
trans. 1962) questions the doctrine of “infallibility” and calls for reform in
both the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. Among his major works are “The
Church, Infallible?” (1967; trans. 1967). In 1975 the Vatican's Sacred
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a warning to Küng against
further theological writing or teaching. His commission to teach as part of the
Roman Catholic faculty was revoked in 1979 ("Kung, Hans," 1994, Microsoft
Encarta)]
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“Ansfried Hulsbosch “issued a manifesto against the Council of Chalcedon. The church, he wrote, should ‘no longer speak of a union of the divine and human nature in one pre-existent person’.”
[Ansfried Hulsbosch, 1966, an Augustinian from the Netherlands.]
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“The doctrine of the trinity states that the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God and together, not exclusively, they form one God. The trinity is co-eternal, without beginning or end, and co-equal”
[William Wilson Stevens, Doctrine of the Christian Religion, 1967, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., pp. 113-122]
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“Matthew does not here report the ipsissima verba of Jesus, but transfers to him the familiar language of the church of the Evangelist’s own time and locality”.
Canon Armitage Robinson, Encyclopaedia Biblica.
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“No one can explain the trinity. We simply accept it by faith.”
[Dr. L. H. Kunst, pastor]
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3… the church was impelled, by the strongest necessity, to use the words Trinity and Person…
4… a Trinity of Persons subsisted in the one God, or (which is the same thing) in the unity of God….
5… there is a Trinity of Persons in one Divine essence... three in one essence, the persons in this Trinity...
17 …nothing can be more admirable than the words of Gregory Nanzianzen: (Greg. Nanzian. in Serm. de Sacro Baptis.). "I cannot think of the unity without being irradiated by the Trinity: I cannot distinguish between the Trinity without being carried up to the unity"…
19… Augustine's fifth book on the Trinity is wholly devoted to the explanation of this subject. But it is far safer to rest contented with the relation as taught by him… a sublime mystery.
10… Impiety of Servetus refuted… [Calvin affirms that] the Son appeared in the form of an angel.
Hence the impiety of Servetus was the more detestable, when he maintained that God was never manifested to Abraham and the Patriarchs, but… an angel... The orthodox doctors of the Church have correctly and wisely expounded, that the Word of God was the supreme angel, who then began, as it were by anticipation, to perform the office of Mediator. For though he were not clothed with flesh, yet he descended as in an intermediate form, that he might have more familiar access to the faithful. This closer intercourse procured for him the name of the Angel still, however, he retained the character which justly belonged to him-that of the God of ineffable glory… Servetus… insinuates… an angel… [but John Calvin declared that] Christ… is the God who was always worshipped by the Jews.
22. The more modern Anti Trinitarians, and especially Servetus, refuted.
… the essence of the one God, pertaining to the Father, Son, and Spirit, is simple and indivisible… the Father differs in some special property from the Son, and the Son from the Spirit… [Calvin’s doctrine, according to Calvin himself, will be a] door… shut against Arius and Sabellius, as well as the other ancient authors of error. But as in our day have arisen certain frantic men, such as Servetus and others, who, by new devices, have thrown every thing into confusion, it may be worthwhile briefly to discuss their fallacies. The name of Trinity was so much disliked, nay detested, by Servetus, that he charged all whom he called Trinitarians with being Atheists. I say nothing of the insulting terms in which he thought proper to make his charges. The sum of his speculations was, that a threefold Deity is introduced wherever three Persons are said to exist in his essence, and that this Triad was imaginary, inasmuch as it was inconsistent with the unity of God. At the same time, he would have it that the Persons are certain external ideas… that at first, indeed, there was no distinction in God, because originally the Word was the same as the Spirit, but ever since Christ came forth… the Spirit… the same Spirit substantially is a portion of God in us... His absurd babbling [Servet’s according to Calvin] concerning the person of the Mediator will be seen in its own place (Calvin. Defensio Orthodox. Fid. S. Trinit. Adv. Prod. Error. M. Serveti)… The monstrous fiction that a Person is nothing else than a visible appearance of the glory of God, needs not a long refutation.
… he could not then be an image or representation of God, as Servetus dreams. But he [Servetus according to Calvin] is elsewhere forced to make a more open disclosure of his impiety when he says, that God by his eternal reason decreeing a Son to himself… if this be true, no other Divinity is left to Christ than is implied in his having been ordained a Son by God's eternal decree… Servetus substitutes for the hypostases… the most execrable heresy of all is his confounding both the Son and Spirit promiscuously with all the creatures… This he does especially when he says, that the spirits of the faithful are co-eternal and consubstantial with God…
23. This pool has bred another monster not unlike the former. For certain restless spirits, unwilling to share the disgrace and obloquy of the impiety of Servetus, have confessed… in such shocking terms as these: that the Father is essentially distinguished from the Son and Spirit by this; that he is the only essentiator. Their first pretext for this is, that Christ is uniformly called the Son of God. From this they infer, that there is no proper God but the Father…. The Father certainly cannot differ from the Son, unless he [The Father] have something peculiar to himself, and not common to him [The Father] with the Son…
25. Although the essence does not contribute to the distinction, as if it were a part or member, the persons are not without it, or external to it; for the Father, if he were not God, could not be the Father; nor could the Son possibly be Son unless he were God. We say, then, that the Godhead is absolutely of itself. And hence also we hold that the Son, regarded as God, and without reference to person, is also of himself; though we also say that, regarded as Son, he is of the Father. Thus his essence is without beginning, while his person has its beginning in God. And, indeed, the orthodox writers who in former times spoke of the Trinity, used this term only with reference to the Persons…
28. …Tertullian... though his style is sometimes rugged and obscure… delivers the doctrine which we maintain in no ambiguous manner, namely, that while there is one God… in unity of substance; but that, nevertheless, by the mystery of dispensation, the unity is arranged into Trinity; that there are three, not in state, but in degree; not in substance, but in form; not in power, but in order…
[John Calvin, Institutes Of The Christian Religion. Book First. - Of The Knowledge Of God The Creator. Chapter 13. - The Unity Of The Divine Essence In Three Persons Taught, In Scripture, From The Foundation Of The World]
[Calvin formulated his theology based in the catholic tradition, as he frequently cited the church fathers and other medieval catholic thinkers (we have seen in the quotations of his book exultant references to Gregory Nazianzen, Augustin, Tertullian, the orthodox doctors of the church, etc.), and blindly followed the articles of a spurious document, "the Apostles' Creed", to establish his theology. That creed, was not of apostolic origin, but developed as "the trinitarian water baptism confession" of the "catholic faith"; similar confession appears in the baptismal liturgy of "The Apostolic Tradition" of Hippolytus (circa 215), and similar versions are also found in the writings of the early (patristic) writers of the catholic Church, such as Irenaeus and Tertullian, in which they are called “rules of faith.” A form identical with what is now called the spurious "Apostles' Creed" did not emerge until the early 8th century, in the writings of Pirminius; in Roman Catholic practice, the Creed is recited in the Daily Office, before the first and after the last service each day. In most Protestant churches, it is used periodically at Sunday worship. Anglicans and Lutherans use it regularly in Morning and Evening Prayer (Matins and Evensong). Like most catholic creeds, the spurious foundation of Calvin contains three paragraphs, one for each person of the Trinity. Calvin took pains to emphasize the continuity of his doctrines with the catholic orthodoxy expressed in the Nicene and Chalcedonian creeds, and his theology has been recognized as lying in the Augustinian tradition. Calvin supported the Gnostic practice of the “sacraments” (baptism and the Eucharist) celebrated as mysteries, being the mystery of the trinity the primary tenet of his theology. In 1536 Calvin published the 1st edition of his Christianismi Institutio ("Institutes of the Christian Religion", which he revised at least five times between 1536 and 1559), in four books, focused on the articles “Father,” “Son,” “Holy Spirit,” and “Church,” which he calls the "universal catholic church"). Calvin was asked by Guillaume Farel to assist in Geneva's reformation movement. Calvin remained in Geneva with Farel until 1538, when the town voted against Farel and asked both men to leave. However, in 1541 Calvin was requested again to return to Geneva and lead them in reforming the church. He remained in that city for the rest of his life. However, he did not become a citizen of Geneva until 1559. Until the defeat of the Perrin family in 1555, there was significant opposition to Calvin's leadership in the city. Dissenting Christians were frequently expelled, and Michael Servetus was put to death as “heretic,” when Calvin approved the killing for the captured Servetus. Calvin was buried in an unmarked grave in Geneva.]
[About 1545 Michael Servetus (in Spanish, Miguel Serveto, 1511-53) began a correspondence with the French Protestant theologian John Calvin. Although still a nominal Catholic, Servetus described his “heretical” opposition to the concept of the Trinity and requested permission to visit the theocratic city of Geneva. He was arrested while attending church in Geneva, convicted of heresy and blasphemy against Christianity, and burned at the stake on October 27, 1553. Servetus's religious opinions were strongly opposed by Catholics and Protestants of his time. In 1531 he repudiated, in his De Trinitatis Errobus (On the Error of the Trinity), the tripartite personality of God as well as the ritual of baptism. In 1532 he wrote Dialogorum de Trinitate Libri Duo (Second Book of Dialogues on the Trinity). His scientific contributions were also notable; his Christianismi Restitutio (The Restoration of Christianity), and written against Calvin’s Christianismi Institutio, was published shortly before his death in 1553, and included the first accurate description of the pulmonary circulatory system. Servetus was a Spanish physician and theologian executed for his beliefs by the Calvinist government of Geneva. He was born in Tudela, Navarra Province. He studied law at the University of Toulouse, medicine at the universities of Paris and Montpellier, and theology at Louvain. Beginning in 1540 he practiced medicine in Vienne, France, where he also served as the personal physician to the archbishop ("Calvin, John"; "Servetus, Michael," 1994, Microsoft Encarta).]
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“The doctrine of the ever blessed Trinity grew by degrees to full maturity.”
Lightfoot’s Works, Vol. II. p. 274.
////////////
If you are not already tired of all the junk adduced to try to justify a deliberate trinitarian pro-Nicene insertion in Mt. 28:19, let’s see some of the more recent “efforts” to support an unbearable position:
“This is the first, and indeed the only place in which the Trinity of persons is expressed in this order, and in the selfsame words... Galatinus (L. 2. c. 1.) pretends, that the ancient Jews used the same way of speaking. It would be well if proof could be made of it: he asserts it to be in Zohar on Deut. 6:4, and in the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel on Isa. 6:3. In the former he says, it is expressed thus, "hear, O Israel; the Lord", he is called "the Father; our God", he is called the Son; "is one Lord", this is "the Holy Ghost", who proceeds from both; and again, by the same R. Simeon (Ib. c. 11, 12. Vid. Buxtorf. Lex. Heb.), it is said, "holy", this is "the Father"; "holy", this is "the Son"; "holy", this is "the Holy Ghost": and in the latter after this manner, "Holy Father, Holy Son, and Holy Holy Ghost"; but no such words are now to be found in either of these places. He affirms, that he himself saw a copy of Jonathan's Targum that had these words... from a book called Gale Razia, he says is, "Father God, Son God, Holy Ghost God, three in one, and one in three;'' ”
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
[If somebody wants to lay a foundation in uncertain (gnostic, esoteric) books of spurious reputation, let him go on with John Gill]
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“The orthodox, as they are termed, have generally considered this text as a decisive proof of the doctrine of the holy Trinity”
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible
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“Unless he [Jesus] himself is divine, and the Holy Spirit is divine, Jesus gave a direction substantially the same as this. The form of baptism, therefore, has been always regarded as an unbreakable argument for the doctrine of the Trinity, or that the Son and Holy Spirit are equal with the Father”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible
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“The Father--the Son, and--the Holy Ghost; the one only living and true God”
Family Bible Notes.
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“The word [“Name”] is in the singular, the "name," not names. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the final name of the one true God. It affirms… That He subsists in a personality which is threefold, indicated by relationship as Father and Son; by a mode of being as Spirit; and by the different parts taken by the Godhead in manifestation and in the work of redemption. The conjunction in one name of the Three affirms equality and oneness of substance”
Scofield Reference Notes 1917 Edition.
[All this again, is the theological basis for the trinity, a spurious dogma based on a spurious text promoted by spurious pro-Nicene, Athanasian hands]
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The next are the scriptures used most commonly to prove the doctrine of the trinity (according to the “Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge”) you can see that two of them where spurious insertions of men: Mat. 28:19 and 1 Jn. 5:7-8, while all the rest are errors of understanding and of interpretation, as we have already discussed Gen 1:26 and how Augustine had the task to put together all the scriptures according to his preconceived imaginations laid to him by men to support the doctrine of the trinity. None of those scriptures talk of a theological trinity, all of the trinitarian interpretations laid on them are speculative imaginations and a “blind and ignorant faith”… That’s not what God says!.
Mat. 28:19, Mat. 3:16-17; Gen. 1:26; Num. 6:24-27; Isa. 48:16; 1 Cor. 12:4-6; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 2:18; 1 Jn. 5:7-8; Rev. 1:4-6
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“Baptizing them (Calling upon) the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”
Geneva Bible Translation Notes.
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“Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost--It should be, "into the name" ”
Jamieson Fausset and Brown Commentary
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“When one is baptized into the name of the trinity, he professes to acknowledge and appropriate God”
Vincent's Word Studies.
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"Into the name of" is equivalent to "into the presence of," or "into the Father, and into the Son, and into the Holy Spirit."
The People's New Testament.
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“This Magna Charta of the missionary propaganda... Baptism in (eis, not into) the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in the name of the Trinity… There is a chapter devoted to this subject in my [Robertson’s] “The Christ of the Logia” in which the genuineness of these words is proven… Trine immersion is not taught as the Greek Church holds and practices, baptism in the name of the Father, then of the Son, then of the Holy Spirit... For the use of eis with onoma in the sense here employed, not meaning into, See [Robertson’s] note on Mat_10:41. (cf. also Mat_12:41).”
Robertson's Word Pictures.
[So, now we have here two spurious trinitarian “schools of thought”, the “not into’s” leaded by Robertson and his spurious chapter on his spurious (gnostic, masonic, esoteric) book of “The Christ of the Logia” and the “yet into’s” leaded by the trinity integrated by Jamieson Fausset and Brown plus its attachment, Vincent et al, while the Genevans say “neither of both, but we, who are the “called upon’s”, supporters (this is the “pro-trinitarian universe” started by Philo et al, of pseudo-christianity consecrated as a dogmatic orthodoxy. God first and the eyes of the true believers may be opened to the truth)
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“It is not by any means to be regarded as a regenerating ordinance, though significant of regeneration… The use of water in this ordinance is grounded in part on its qualities as the great element of purification, and on the rites of the ancient dispensation, in which "water and blood: were the divinely appointed symbols of moral renovation and atonement”
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary.
[Being Jesus Christ the end of the law, human baptism was the concluding aspect under the law, as John the Baptist manifested, but now we are no more under any law, but under grace by Christ. Let’s live the life that only Christ wants us to live, not oppressive traditions laid by ambitious and mundane men]
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“The Supper represents the work of Christ, and Baptism the work of the Spirit... in Baptism the work of the Holy Spirit is fully seen in the water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost...”
Easton's Bible Dictionary.
[We have here one (Holy Ghost) depending on the other (Holy Spirit) but both being at the same time the same one. Imaginations of which nothing was mentioned by Jesus Christ]
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“Either
dipping them in the water, or pouring or sprinkling water upon them, which
seems the more proper”
Matthew’s
Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible.
[The new baptism is in holy spirit, is to be able to speak in tongues and to manifest Christ in Us, the hope of Glory. The real profitable gift according to God, instead of losing time with controversies on words and rites supported by “religious and sincere men”. By other side, John the Baptist only used immersion. Sprinkling was unknown for him, so never indeed was needed at all]
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“The mode and subjects of baptism being much-controverted subjects, each one can best study them in the works devoted to those questions.”
Smith's Bible Dictionary.
[Yes, this is an intelligent way to escape from discussing the absurdities brought for “wolves in sheep clothes”, so, better we get ready to end with this nonsense, only done as an appendix for those who seek for answers, who want to compare the living waters of the Word of God… with excretions of fooled and fooling men. With which other imaginations and devices are those kinds of “men” going to still deceiving their innocent people to purport the trinitarian Mt. 28:19 as genuine?]
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“>And, naming the Trinity, he breaks the host, which he holds in his hands, into two parts: and the one which is in his left hand he lays down on the disk; with the other, which he holds in his right hand, he signs the chalice, saying:-- The precious blood is signed with the holy body of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost for ever.
>And they respond:-- Amen.
>Then he dips it even to the middle in the chalice, and signs with it the body which is in the paten, saying:-- The holy body is signed with the propitiatory blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost for ever.
>And they respond:-- Amen.”
The Liturgy Of The Blessed Apostles. Composed By “St. Adaeus And St. Maris,” Teachers Of The Easterns / Elucidations.
[The early use of the originals of this liturgy was done in the Alexandrian patriarchate, this shows high trinitarian similarities with the spurios document “The Divine Liturgy Of James, The Holy Apostle And Brother Of The Lord” (and we already saw that Athanasius was the “center-piece” there, and also that almost all the older Bible manuscripts and almost all the volumes of earlier church writers were there). It now seems to be generally admitted that these works are not later than of the fourth century, “although the usual allowance must be made for later textual changes, whether by accident or by design” (as Professor M. B. Riddle stated in point # 3 in his “Preface To The (spurious) Constitutions Of The Holy Apostles”, as Edinburgh editor). This is also the view of Harnack & who, “by a critical analysis and comparison” comes to the conclusion that all these pseudo-writings (also called spurious) were done by “rather worldly-minded” persons (like Athanasius himself, or like Torres Amat, which plagiarized the works of Petisco, etc., or like the writer of the core of the “Constitutions Of The Holy Apostles” (an anonymous document redundantly trinitarian), “an anti-ascetic Bishop of Syria, a friend of the Emperor Constantius from 340 - 360 A.D.”); that they enlarged the anonymous works containing such doctrines, including the trinitarian doctrine, which then spread “as doth a canker (2 Tim 2:17),” and which is found “as earlier” as in the Didache [the Instructor] at the end of the first or beginning of the second century (that even that has been shown to be a spuriously partially adulterated text), as well as in the Ignatian Epistles (that we have seen to be spurious also), and that “those men adapted them to their own view of morals, worship and discipline, and clothed them with Apostolic authority.”]
& Harnack, Adolph. History of Dogma, 4 Vols. Trans. from 3rd German ed. by Neil Buchanan, N.Y. Dover Publications, 1961.
[Harnack, Adolf von (1851-1930), leading German Protestant
theologian and historian, whose critical views were a major influence in late
19th- and early 20th-century theology. Appointed professor extraordinary of
church history at the University of Leipzig in 1876, Harnack traced the
evolution [departure, apostasy] of the early church from biblical Christianity,
[that the catholic church] he claimed, had been corrupted by the introduction
of Greek metaphysics. Harnack advocated a return to the simple faith of the
original Gospel, but his distrust of the institutional church, creeds, dogmas,
and sacraments provoked the opposition of “much more conservative scholars”.
Harnack's best-known works include the multi-volume Lehrbuch der
Dogmengeschichte (1886-90; trans. History of Dogma, 1894-99) and Das
Wesen des Christentums (1900; trans. What Is Christianity?, 1901)
("Harnack, Adolf von," 1994, Microsoft Encarta)]
ETC…
[References taken mainly from: The Early Church Fathers Series in WinHelp Format, a 37-volume electronic collection of writings from the first 800 years of the Church. Programmed in WinHelp by: Maged Nabih Kamel, MD, http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7084]
--------------------------------------
Col
2:8: Beware lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of
the world, and not after Christ.
2Cor
10:5: Casting down imaginations, and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
1Tim
2:5: For there is one God, and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Some expressions in early writers that include “philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world”, a “high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God”, as represented by the words “holy trinity” (used at least 149 times by early “religious” writers):
The spurious “Early Liturgies--The Divine Liturgy Of James, The Holy Apostle And Brother Of The Lord… Then the Deacon begins to sing in the entrance. Thou who art the only-begotten Son and Word of God, immortal; who didst submit for our salvation to become flesh of the holy God-mother, and ever-virgin Mary; who didst immutably become man and wast crucified, O Christ our God and didst by Thy death tread death under foot; who art one of the Holy Trinity glorified together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, save us.”
In other spurious document, “The Stromata, Or Miscellanies: Rest Of Book V. Chap. Xiv.--Greek Plagiarism From The Hebrews. …"Around the king of all, all things are, and because of Him are all things; and he [or that] is the cause of all good things; and around the second are the things second in order; and around the third, the third," I understand nothing else than the Holy Trinity to be meant…”
Spurious document, “A Commentary On The [Spurious] Apostles' Creed”. This exposition of the Creed was made at the request of Laurentius, a Bishop whose see is unknown, but is conjectured by Fontanini, in his life of Rufinus, to have been Concordia, Rufinus' birthplace (written about 307-309), “48. If then we have understood in what august significance God Almighty is called Father, and in what mysterious sense our Lord Jesus Christ is held to be His only Son, and with what entire perfection of meaning His Spirit is called the Holy Spirit, and how the Holy Trinity is one in substance but has distinctions of relation and of Persons”
Part II.--Dubious Or Spurious Writings (once attributed to one “Gregory Thaumaturgus”). A Sectional Confession Of Faith. V. …we must also not number what is sanctified with what sanctifies; even as no object that is made can be numbered with the Trinity, but in the name of the Holy Trinity baptism and invocation and worship are administered… VII. But some treat the Holy Trinity in an awful manner, when they confidently assert that there are not three persons…XX. …And that the holy Trinity is to be worshipped without either separation or alienation… XXI. …here again the saint has defined the holy Trinity, naming God, and the Word, and the Holy Ghost. XXIII. …Wherefore the holy Trinity is believed to be one God…”; “On The Trinity. Fragment From The Discourse. Gregory Thaumaturgus, Bishop of Neo-Caesareia in Pontus, near successor of the apostles, in his discourse on the Trinity, speaks thus: -- All (the persons) are one nature, one essence, one will, and are called the Holy Trinity... Neither were there two natures, but only one nature of the Holy Trinity before the incarnation of the Word, the Son; and the nature of the Trinity remained one also after the incarnation of the Son. But if any one, moreover, believes that any increment has been given to the Trinity by reason of the assumption of humanity by the Word, he is an alien from us, and from the ministry of the Catholic and Apostolic Church. This is the perfect, holy, Apostolic faith of the holy God. Praise to the Holy Trinity for ever through the ages of the ages. Amen. [Elucidation. Petavius, to whom the translator refers his readers, may be trusted in points where he has no theory of his own to sustain, but must always be accepted with caution. The Greek Fathers in this very series, from Justin onward, enable us to put the later terminology to the test of earlier exposition (examples in the notes to the Praxeas of Tertullian) [this is the way in which some attempt to validate spurious trinitarian untenable documents]]”
“Gennadius: List Of The Authors Whom Gennadius Added, After The Death Of The Blessed Jerome. Chapter XII. Theodorus, presbyter of the church at Antioch… wrote… On the incarnation of the Lord, fifteen books containing as many as fifteen thousand verses … [that] the Lord Jesus had a plenitude of deity, so he had a plenitude of humanity… also that man consists only of two substances, soul and body and that sense and spirit are not different substances, but inherent inborn faculties of the soul through which it is inspired and has rationality and through which it makes the body capable of feeling. Moreover the fourteenth book of this work treats wholly of the uncreated and alone incorporeal and ruling nature of the holy Trinity and of the rationality of animals which he explains in a devotional spirit… In the fifteenth volume he confirms and fortifies the whole body of his work by citing the traditions of the fathers”; “Chapter XXVI. Isaac wrote On the Holy Trinity and a book On the incarnation of the Lord, writing in a very obscure style of argument and involved language…”; “Chapter XXVII. Ursinus the monk wrote… that after the simple confession of the Holy Trinity and of Christ, the imposition of the hands of the catholic priest is sufficient for salvation”; “Chapter LXVI. Syagrius wrote On faith, against the presumptuous words, which heretics assume for the purpose of destroying or superseding the names of the Holy Trinity…”
The Extant Works And Fragments Of Hippolytus: Part Ia.—Exegetical, Another Fragment. St. Hippolytus on Prov. ix. 1, "Wisdom hath builded her house." …"And she hath furnished her table:" that denotes the promised knowledge of the Holy Trinity…”
Again, only in the heading of Tertullian’s “VII. Against Praxeas; In Which He [Tertullian] Defends, In All Essential Points, The Doctrine Of The Holy Trinity.”
“Jerome's letter To Pammachius Against John Of Jerusalem 15. …God, that is, the Holy Trinity…”
“Rufinus' (Tyrannius Rufinus) Apology. Book I. …13. In the Preface to the Apology of Pamphilus, after a few other remarks, I said: 'What the opinions of Origen are may be gathered from the tenor of this treatise. But as for those things in which he is found to contradict himself [Origen seem to contradict himself, first of all because all the editing hands that tampered with his own writings, being one of that hands Rufinus himself], I will point out how this has come to pass in a few words which I have added at the close of this PrefaceAs for us, we believe what has been delivered to us by the holy Prophets, namely: that the holy Trinity is coeternal, and is of one power and substance..." ”
“The Epistles Of “Pope” Callistus The Second Epistle. To All The Bishops Of Gaul. (Of Conspiracies And Other Illicit Pursuits, That They Be Not Engaged In, And Of The Restoration Of The Lapped After Penitence.) III. (That no bishop should presume in anything pertaining to another's parish, and of the transference of bishops) …with one mind, and one mouth, and one accord, the Holy Trinity may be glorified for ever...”
[“Callistus or Calixtus I (circa 160-c. 222), pope (c. 217-c. 222), whose pontificate was the first to be opposed by an antipope. A Roman by birth, Callistus was originally a slave. His first appearance in history was in connection with fraudulent banking operations, after which he was sentenced to work (c. 186-89) in the Sardinian mines. Upon his return to Rome, he was ordained a deacon and appointed chief adviser to Pope Zephyrinus. One of the principal accomplishments of Callistus as archdeacon was the establishment on the Appian Way of the Cemetery of Callistus, a shrine of martyrs where all 3rd-century popes but him are buried. As pope, Callistus was opposed by Hippolytus, an antipope who accused him of Monarchianism, a doctrine that denied personal distinctions in the Godhead (the catholic Trinity). He was also accused of laxity for admitting repentant adulterers to Holy Communion” ("Callistus," 1994, Microsoft Encarta)]
Heading of Sermon, “Leo The Great. Sermon LXXVII (On Whitsuntide, III.) I. The Holy Ghost's work did not begin at Pentecost, but was continued because the Holy Trinity is One in action and in will.”
[“Leo I, called The Great (circa 400-61), pope (440-61), the greatest administrator of the ancient church, who established the primacy of the bishop of Rome over other bishops. He concentrated on creating a strong central government in the church and suppressing heresy. When Bishop Hilary of Arles challenged Leo in a synod in Rome, Leo had him confined to his diocese by imperial decree. Leo's definition of the “two natures” (divine and human) of Christ in his Tome (449), his doctrinal letter to the patriarch of Constantinople, was endorsed by the council with the famous words “Peter has spoken through Leo”. His great administrative accomplishment was to conjoin ecclesiastical procedures and papal primacy with Roman law. Leo was proclaimed a doctor of the church in 1574” ("Leo I, Saint," 1994, Microsoft Encarta)]
“Register Of The Epistles Of Gregory “The Great”, Book II, Epistle LIV. Here follows the Epistle of Saint Licinianus, bishop, concerning the Book of Rules, addressed to Saint Gregory, pope of the city of Rome. …May God the Holy Trinity vouchsafe to preserve your crown unharmed…”, and “Book IV. Epistle XXXI. To Theodorus, Physician. Gregory to Theodorus, Physician to the Emperor. …I have some complaint against the most sweet disposition of my most glorious son the lord Theodorus; namely that he has received from the holy Trinity the gift of genius, the gift of wealth, the gift of mercy and charity, and yet is unceasingly bound up in secular causes, is occupied in continual processions, and neglects to read daily the words of his Redeemer…”; “Book VII Epistle V. To Cyriacus, Bishop. …Now may the Holy Trinity protect you with His hand…”
“Selected Epistles Of “Saint” Gregory The Great, Book XI. Epistle I. To John, Abbot. Gregory to John, Abbot of Mount Sina. May the Holy Trinity protect… Epistle XIII. To Serenus, Bishop Of Massilia. (Marseilles). …But let thy Fraternity carefully admonish them that from the sight of the event portrayed they should catch the ardour of compunction, and bow themselves down in adoration of the One Almighty Holy Trinity [only place in which the expression “Almighty Holy Trinity” appears]… Epistle LXVII. To Quiricus, Bishop, &C. …heretics … who are not baptized in the name of the Trinity … these, when they come to holy Church, are baptized, because what they received while in their error, not being in the name of the Holy Trinity, was not baptism … had not been given in the name of the Trinity. But the Nestorians, since they are baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity--though darkened by the error of their heresy in that, after the manner of Jewish unbelief, they believe not the Incarnation of the Only-begotten… are to be taught… our Lord God Jesus Christ … Now may the Holy Trinity keep you…”; “Book XIII, Epistle VII. To Theoderic, King Of The Franks. …May the Holy Trinity make you to advance always in His fear…Epistle XXXVIII. To Phocas, Emperor. …may the Holy Trinity guard your life for many years, so that we may the longer rejoice in the good of your Piety, which we have received after long waiting.”
[“Gregory I, “the Great” (circa 540-604), pope (590-604). Born in
Rome into a patrician family, Gregory was the son of a senator and the
great-grandson of Pope Felix III (reigned 483-92). With these powerful
connections, he easily rose in the civil service to become prefect of Rome in
570. Under Gregory, the papacy assumed political leadership in Italy and
consolidated its lands throughout the country into a single unit, which later
became the foundation of the Papal States. Gregory upheld Rome's traditional
claims of ecclesiastical primacy over the patriarch of Constantinople, as well
as over the other bishops of the church. He also took great interest in the
liturgy, introducing a number of reforms. He is credited with incorporating
Gregorian chant into the liturgy. In 597 Gregory sent to England the prior of
his own monastery of St. Andrew, St. Augustine of Canterbury, along with 40
monks. The great success of this mission led to an enduring sense of loyalty to
the papacy among the English, and English missionaries to the Continent
encouraged this loyalty among almost all the peoples of northern Europe.
Gregory wrote the Dialogues, principally a collection of legends about
saints from Gregory's own time. A unique source of information about St.
Benedict, it was partly responsible for the popularity of Benedictine
monasticism in the Middle Ages, and its emphasis on miracles set the pattern
for the medieval conception of “sainthood” ” ("Gregory I, Saint,"
1994, Microsoft Encarta]
“The Ecclesiastical History--By Socrates Scholasticus, “Book I. Chapter V. The Dispute of Arius with Alexander, his Bishop. Alexander...in the fearless exercise of his functions for the instruction and government of the Church, attempted one day in the presence of the presbytery and the rest of his clergy, to explain, with perhaps too philosophical minuteness, that great theological mystery- the UNITY of the Holy Trinity. A certain one of the presbyters under his jurisdiction, whose name was Arius, possessed of no inconsiderable logical acumen, imaging that the bishop was subtly teaching the same view of this subject as Sabellius the Libyan… took the opposite opinion …”; “Book II. Chapter XIX. …Of the Creed sent by the Eastern Bishops to those in Italy, called the Lengthy Creed. Believing, therefore, in the altogether perfect and most holy Trinity, and asserting that the Father is God, and that the Son also is God, we do not acknowledge two Gods, but one only, on account of the majesty of the Deity…”; “Book VI. Chapter VIII. …The Arians and the Supporters of the 'Homoousion' hold Nocturnal Assemblies and sing Antiphonal Hymns, a Species of Composition ascribed to Ignatius, surnamed Theophorus. Conflict between the Two Parties…Ignatius third bishop of Antioch in Syria from the apostle Peter, who also had held intercourse with the apostles themselves, saw a vision of angels hymning in alternate chants the Holy Trinity. Chapter XIII. The Author's Defence of Origen….yet have never charged him [at the moment of writing this, but not later] with holding unsound views respecting the holy Trinity…”
Other early “users” of the expression “Holy Trinity” are: Basil’s “Letters (used 8 times); Gregory Nazianzen, Orations (used 4 times); The Life And Writings Of Gregory Of Nyssa (used at least 31 times); Athanasius’ “Tomus Ad Antiochenos (Tome Or Synodal Letter To The People Of Antioch) Tome Or Synodal Letter To The People Of Antioch (used 6 times); Augustin’s “The Seven Books Of Augustin, Bishop Of Hippo, On Baptism, Against The Donatists. Book IV, and Augustin’s “Sermons On Selected Lessons Of The New Testament. Sermon II. Of The Words Of St. Matthew's Gospel, Chap. III. 13; and “The Three Books Of Augustin, Bishop Of Hippo In Answer To The Letters Of Petilian, The Donatist, Bishop Of Cirta (Book III) Chap. 51.--63 (one time on each, 3 times in total); John Of Damascus: An Exact Exposition Of The Orthodox Faith (used 16 times); Theodoret, “Dialogues--The "Eranistes" Or "Polymorphus" Of The Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop Of Cyrus (6 times) and his Ecclesiastical History Of Theodoret, Book IV (5 times); Cyril Of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures, Lecture XVI (2 times); The “Seventh” Ecumenical Council. The Second Council Of Nice. A.D. 787 (9 times, twice as “Most Holy Trinity”); The “Sixth” Ecumenical Council. The Third Council Of Constantinople. A.D. 680-681 (6 times, being one of them the peculiar expression “fire Holy Trinity”); The “Fifth” Ecumenical Council. The Second Council Of Constantinople. A.D. 553 (4 times); The Ecclesiastical History Of Salaminius Hermias Sozomenus, Book VII. Chap. V.--Gregory, The Theologian, Receives From Theodosius The Government Of The Churches.Expulsion Of Demophilus, And Of All Who Deny That The Son Is "Con-Substantial" With The Father (4 times); The “Third” Ecumenical Council. The Council Of Ephesus. A.D. 431 (2 times); And one time each: Synod Of Laodicea, Historical Introduction & Canons. A.D. 343-381. Notes. Ancient Epitome Of Canon VII; The Canons Of The 318 Holy Fathers Assembled In The City Of Nice, In Bithynia. Notes. Hefele; The Canons Of The CCXVII Blessed Fathers Who Assembled At Carthage. Commonly Called. The Code Of Canons Of The African Church. A.D. 419. Canon II.
ETC…
To see other complex trinitarian expressions go to the end of quotations.
PAGAN INITIATION THROUGH THE MYSTERY OF WATER BAPTISM IN THE NAME OF THE MYSTERY OF THE TRINITY:
THE “MYSTERY” OF THE TRINITY:
The Ecclesiastical History--By Socrates
Scholasticus, Book I. Chapter V.
The Dispute of Arius with Alexander, his Bishop.
…to
explain, with perhaps too philosophical minuteness, that great theological mystery- the
UNITY of the Holy Trinity…
[Philosophies
of men against the pure Bible, can that be seen more clearly?]
The
Life And Writings Of Gregory
Of Nyssa (In: Schaff, P. And
Wace, H., Nicene And Post-Nicene Fathers, Volume V, Edinburgh: T&T
Clark)
Chapter
I. A Sketch Of The Life Of Gregory Of Nyssa.
…his
faith on the [Athanasian] subject
of the Trinity and the Incarnation… He is one
of the hundred and fifty Bishops summoned by Theodosius to the second
(Ecumenical Council, that of Constantinople, A.D. 381. To the assembled Fathers
he brings an installment of his treatise against the Eunomian heresy, which he
had written in defence of his brother Basil's positions, on the subject of the Trinity and the Incarnation…
Chapter II. His General Character As A Theologian.
…when
he is convinced that
Plato will confirm doctrine he will, even in polemic treatises, adopt his view; for
instance, he seeks to
grasp the truth of the Trinity from the Platonic account of our internal consciousness,
i.e. yukh, logoV, nouV, because such a proof from consciousness is, to Gregory, the surest and most reliable… With a turn resembling the view of Tertullian,
he comes back to the conclusion that for us after all Religious Truth consists
in mystery…
II.
…the vital importance of the doctrine of the Trinity, upon which Gregory laboured for so many years, thus all comes from
Baptism)… This way
of explaining the mystery
of the Sacrament, i.e.
from the way bread was
changed into the Word
[the catholic transubstantiation] when Christ was upon earth…
Chapter III. His Origenism.
…the more careful definitions also
of the Trinity now embodied in the creeds [all based on the spurious “apostles’ creed”]… Amongst the defenders of the Creed
of Nicaea, Gregory, we know, stands well-nigh foremost. In his long and numerous treatises
on the Trinity he employs every possible
argument and illustration to show the contents of the substance of the Deity… the needs of the Faith in the Trinity daily growing more exact and clear… Origen never had the occasion to employ this language in explaining
the mystery of the Trinity. Gregory
is the first
“Father” who has done
so. He finds a key to it in the
[Platonioc] triple nature of our soul (yukh, logoV, nouV)...this instance illustrate
trinity in unity…
Chapter
IV. 13.
…in
professing to expound the
mystery of the Faith,
he [Eunomius]
corrects as it were the expressions in the Gospel, and will not make use of the
words by which our Lord in perfecting our faith conveyed that mystery
to us: he [Eunomius]
suppresses the names of 'Father, Son and Holy Ghost…
[Eunomius
did good on this, as striving to quote the original texts as they where]
18. He
[Eunomius] has no reason for distinguishing a plurality of beings in the Trinity…
19.
…who does not know
that, to be exact, simplicity in the case of the Holy Trinity admits of no
degrees…
23. …
by [the Seraphim] the
mystery of the Trinity
was luminously proclaimed,
when they uttered that marvellous cry "Holy," being awestruck With
the beauty in each Person of the Trinity…
24.
…To suppose that within the Holy Trinity there is a difference as wide [as Eunomius says] as that which we
can observe between the heavens which envelope the whole creation, and one
single man or the star which shines in them, is openly profane: but still the
connection of such thoughts and the pertinence of such a comparison is a mystery…
28.
…if he [Eunomius] had an eye only on the doctrine of the truth, and
if the order in which be counts the differences was only that of the attributes
which Faith sees in the
Holy Trinity,--an
order so 'natural' and 'germane' that the Persons cannot be confounded, being divided as Persons, though united
in their being--then
he would not have been classed at all amongst our enemies, for he would mean
the very same doctrine that we teach…
Note
On AgennhtoV (Ungenerate).
…As in
all other dichotomies arising from privative terms (i.e. Imperishable,
Unending, Uncreate, &c.), the Trinity
stands apart from creation, so in this last dichotomy the First Person stands
apart from the Second and the Third…
Letters
Of Augustin (Including Replies To Questions
Of Januarius). Letter
LIV. (A.D. 400.) Styled also Book I. of Replies to Questions of Januarius.
To His Beloved Son Januarius, Augustin Sends Greeting In The Lord.
Chap.
I. -- 1… baptism
solemnized in the name of the Trinity, the communion of His body and blood [the catholic heathen abomination of the transubstantiation],
and such other things as are prescribed…
Letter
LV. (A.D. 400.) Or Book II. of Replies to Questions of Januarius.
Chap. XVII.--31. …[the
symbol of the Trinity]
to make the holy
mystery more apparent…
combination of
symbols, a wonderful mystery…
Augustin’s Treatise On Faith And The Creed. [De Fide
Et Symbolo.] (In One Book)
Chap.
9.--Of The Holy Spirit And The Mystery Of The Trinity.
16. …consubstantial and co-eternal: for this Trinity is one… it is this same Trinity that is signified
when an apostle says,
"For of Him, and in Him, and through Him, are all things"… in the case of this trinity we use
the name water [for the whole]…
Augustin’s Reply To Faustus The
Manichaean. [Contra Faustum Manichaeum.] (A.D. 400) Book XX.
6. …to
these filthy rags of yours [Faustus’] you would unite the mystery of the Trinity…
Augustin’s Lectures Or Tractates On The
Gospel According To St. John. Tractate
Tractate
IX.
7. …
If He had simply said "three apiece," our mind would at once have run to the mystery of the Trinity… when I say three apiece, I declare the same Trinity more
plainly.
XXXIX
5. …the mystery of the Trinity…
Tractate
CXXII
8 …the mystery of the Trinity; while, again, the number of
fifty is made up by multiplying 7 by 7, with the addition of 1, for 7 times 7
make 49. And the 1 is added to show that there is one who is expressed by seven
on account of His sevenfold operation; and we know that it was on the fiftieth
day after our Lord's ascension that the Holy Spirit was sent…
Augustin’s On The Trinity, Book I
36. …the mystery, pure and undefiled, of
the Trinity which regenerates us has been fixed in terms of saving precision…
The Seven Books Of John Cassian On The Incarnation Of The Lord -- Against Nestorius. Book I. Chapter II.
Description of the different heretical monsters which spring from one another. …after him in time though like him in wickedness came Eunomius, who, though allowing that the Persons of the Holy Trinity were divine and like each other, yet insisted that they were separate from each other…”
Book
I. Chapter V.
…the Only Begotten was incarnate
through that hidden mystery which He alone understands (for it is ours to
believe: His to understand)…
Book
II. Chapter II.
Proof that the Virgin
Mother of God was
not only Christotocos but also Theotocos, and that Christ is truly God.
…you think that the birth of God can
be understood by carnal minds, and fancy that the mystery of His Majesty can be accounted for by human reasoning [that is opposite to all the
numerous treatises written by them through their philosophies and reasonings,
as Alexander, Augustin and Gregory of Nyssa clearly exemplify]… human weakness
was not insufficient for the consummation of the ineffable mystery of the holy conception, since it was supported by the
Divine overshadowing… in
the mystery of the holy conception the whole Trinity might cooperate … the mystery of this great secret, the majesty of God shall
therefore come upon thee completely…
Book III. Chapter III.
... the mystery of the perfect
faith…the whole mystery of the Incarnation, and of His perfect Divinity…the
mystery of God born in flesh…
Book
III. Chapter IV.
… was sent by God the Father and God
the Son; in whom owing to the mystery of the sacred
and ineffable generation there are two Persons (He who begets, and He who is
begotten), but
there is but one single Power of God who is the sender…
[“Cassian, John, also called Johannes Eremita or Johannes Massiliensis (360-435), early monk and theologian. After spending perhaps 15 years among the ascetics of the Egyptian deserts, he studied in Constantinople with St. John Chrysostom, by whom he was ordained a deacon and brought Eastern monasticism to the West. Cassian was one of the first of the Semi-Pelagians, who rejected the view of the Latin Father St. Augustine that humankind generally is damned by the sin of Adam and that some souls are saved purely through the grace of God, which cannot be earned. He also opposed the Augustinian concept of moral choice in attaining salvation” ("Cassian, John," 1994, Microsoft Encarta)]
The
Letters Of Jerome: Letter LXIX. To Oceanus.
6. …After His resurrection also, when sending His apostles to the Gentiles, He commands them to baptize these in the mystery of the Trinity…
Jerome’s Dialogue Against The
Luciferians.
15.
…neither the centurion nor that poor woman who for twelve years was wasting
away with a bloody flux, had believed in the mysteries of the Trinity, for these were revealed to the Apostles after the
resurrection of Christ; so that the faith of such as believe in the mystery of the Trinity might have its due
preeminence… I do not mean to imply that anything is greater than the purity of
heart which believes that
mystery…
[Jerome
uses both “the
mysteries of the Trinity” and “mystery
of the Trinity”,
but is necessary a “pure heart” to blindly believe on such philosophical
mystery instead of believing in the Bible itself? I must say that a “deceived
heart that never reads the Bible” is the one that believes on such catholic
“mysteries”]
A
Commentary On The Spurious
Apostles' Creed To
Laurentius, A
Bishop whose see is unknown.
35. …the mystery of His Incarnation and…
the mystery of the Trinity…
Origen’s
De Principiis (according to the spurious tampering of Rufinus)-- Rest Of Book IV [Summary (Of Doctrine)
Regarding The Father, The Son, And The Holy Spirit
30. …the mystery of the entire Trinity was (concerned) in the
creation of all things, says: "By the Word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all
the host of them by the Spirit
of His mouth"…
39.
…They, therefore, who were taught above to believe in one God, under the mystery of the Trinity, must believe this also, that
there is one holy
Church in which
there is one faith and one baptism…
[The
Biblical unity is within the truths of the Bible itself, not according to men’s
religions, philosophies or opinions]
XI.--Fragments
Found In Greek Only In The Oxford Edition.
Macarius Chrysocephalus:
Parable Of The Prodigal Son, Luke XV. Oration On Luke XV., Towards The Close.
6.
…"And put a ring
on his hand."
Here is the mystery of
the Trinity; which is the seal impressed
on those who believe…
The
Commonitory Of Vincent
Of Lerins For The
Antiquity And Universality Of The Catholic Faith Against The Profane Novelties
Of All Heresies. Chapter
XlII.
The [Athanasian] Catholic
Doctrine of the Trinity and the Incarnation explained.
… But the Catholic Church, holding the right faith both concerning God and concerning our
Saviour, is guilty
of blasphemy neither in the mystery of the Trinity, nor in that of the Incarnation of Christ. For she worships both one Godhead in the plenitude of the Trinity, and
the equality of the Trinity in one and the same majesty…
Chapter
XVI. Recapitulation of what was said of the Catholic Faith and of divers
Heresies…
…the mystery of the Trinity…
THE “MYSTERY” OF THE TRINITARIAN WATER
BAPTISM:
Basil’s Treatise De Spiritu Sancto
Chapter
XV.
Reply
to the suggested objection that we are baptized "into water." Also concerning baptism.
34.
…In three immersions, then, and with three invocations, the great mystery of baptism is performed…
Augustin’s On The Trinity, Book XI
1. …
whole mystery of the
baptism…
Augustin: The Enchiridion (On Faith,
Hope, And Love)
Chap.
52.-- In Baptism, Which Is The Similitude Of
The Death And Resurrection Of Christ, All, Both Infants And Adults, Die To Sin
That They May Walk In Newness Of Life.
…the great mystery of holy baptism…
Augustin’s Reply To Faustus The
Manichaean. [Contra Faustum Manichaeum.] A.D. 400
Book XII.
19. …a profound mystery in baptism,--the
sacrament of our regeneration…
21. …
and the hidden mystery… denoted
the completion of the rite of baptism…
Augustin’s Sermons On Selected Lessons
Of The New Testament. Sermon XLIX. On The Words Of The Gospel, Luke VII. 37,
"And Behold, A Woman Who Was In The City, A Sinner," Etc. On The
Remission Of Sins, Against The Donatists.
Sermon
XLIX. [XCIX. BEN.]
11. …the mystery and sacrament of
Baptism…
[Note:
“Mystery” and “Sacrament” mean the same, one being Greek and the other Latin]
The
Seven Books Of Augustin, Bishop Of Hippo, On Baptism, Against The Donatists
Book IV. Chap. 22.
…the celebration of the mystery of
baptism…
Three
Books On The Holy Spirit -- By Ambrose
Bishop Of Milan To The Emperor Gratian, Book I
1.
…predestined mystery of the future Incarnation…
5.
…the mystery of the cross…
15.
…Good is the mystery of humility… But all were not
able to exhaust this mystery… This is a great mystery which no one knew … This, I
say, is a divine mystery which even they who wash will
enquire into. It is not, then, the simple water of the heavenly mystery
whereby we attain to be found worthy of having part with Christ.
42. …baptism is complete if one confess
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If you deny One you overthrow the whole. And just as if
you mention in words One only, either the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit, and in your belief do not
deny either the
Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit, the mystery
of the faith is
complete, so, too, although you name the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and lessen the power of
either the Father, the
Son, or the Holy Spirit, the whole mystery
is made empty…
43.
…the mystery is complete through the
oneness of the Name, and the Spirit is not separated from the baptism of Christ, since John baptized unto repentance …
44. …the sacrament
of baptism in the Name of Christ was
complete, so, too, when the Holy Spirit alone is named, anything is wanting to
the completeness of the mystery…
45.
…The work is one, for the
mystery is one; the baptism one…
77.
And so these three witnesses are one, as John said: "The water, the blood,
and the Spirit." One in the mystery,
not in nature. The water, then, is a witness of burial,
the blood is a witness of death, the Spirit is a witness of life. If, then,
there be any grace in the water, it is not from the nature of water, but from
the presence of the Holy Spirit.
108. O
the divine mystery of that cross…
114.
Lastly, that we may know that this mystery
of the common redemption was most clearly revealed by the prophets…
115.
But even if the Seraph had taken away sin, it would have been as one of the
ministers of God appointed to this mystery.
For thus said Isaiah: "For one of the Seraphim was sent to me."
116.
The Spirit, also, is indeed said to be sent, but the Seraph to one, the Spirit
to all. The Seraph is sent to minister, the Spirit works a mystery.
165. …
in that mystery the Lord was showing that He would
come to illuminate the thorns of our body…
Selections
From The Hymns And Homilies Of Ephraim The Syrian, Fifteen Hymns For The Feast Of The Epiphany
VIII. (RESP.--Happy are ye whose bodies have been made to shine!)
4. …
The captive priests again in the well--hid and concealed the fire of the
sanctuary, --a mystery of that glorified fire--which
the High priest mingles in Baptism.-
The priests took up of the mire,--and on the altar they sprinkled it;--for its
fire, the fire of that well,--with the mire had been mingled;--a mystery of our bodies which in the water--with the fire of the Holy
Spirit have been mingled…
16. In
the beginning the Spirit that brooded--moved on the waters; they conceived and
gave birth--to serpents and fishes and birds.--The Holy Spirit has brooded in Baptism,--and in mystery has given birth to
eagles,--Virgins and Prelates;--and in mystery has given birth to fishes,--celibates and intercessors; and in mystery of serpents,--lo! the subtle
have become simple as doves!
[We
can see here the private interpretations of Ephraim equating “eagles” to
“Virgins and Prelates”, “fishes” to “celibates and intercessors”, and without
giving his particular equivalent to “serpents”, and all of it done “in mystery”. This is the hidden mingling of “that old
serpent” within the orthodox catholic rituals]
Leo “The Great”, Letter CLXVI To Neo, Bishop Of
Ravenna.
I.
Those, who being taken captives in infancy cannot remember or bring witnesses
of their baptism, must not be denied this sacrament.
…the healing waters of baptism, but in the ignorance of
infancy cannot remember whether they have received the mystery and rites of baptism…the rites of the Lord's mystery…the sacrament of baptism…
Leo “The Great”, Sermon XXI. On The Feast Of The
Nativity I.
II. The mystery of the Incarnation…
III.
…By the mystery of
Baptism thou were
made the temple of the Holy Ghost…
Sermon
XXIV. On The Feast Of The Nativity, IV.
III.
We all became partakers in the Birth of Christ, by the re-birth of baptism.
Anonymous Treatise On Re-Baptism
18.
…in the beginning of the
mystery of the faith
and of spiritual baptism, the same Spirit was manifestly seen to have sat upon
the disciples as it had been fire…
Synod Of Laodicea. A.D. 343-381.Balsamon.
…the mystery of baptism… remission of sins which comes
to us in holy baptism…
The use of the heathen word “INITIATION” (in association to the word “Mystery”) by early church writers:
Introduction: Pagan’s Counterfeit of the spiritrual BAPTISM Today. "In certain sacred rites of the heathen," referring to the worship of Isis (the Egyptian goddess corresponding to Semiramis), and Mithra (the Greek god corresponding to Nimrod as Mediator), "the mode of initiation is by baptism" (Tertullian's De Baptismo, vol. i, p.1204) The term "initiation" clearly shows that it was the Mysteries of these divinities to which he referred (Satan's Great Deception by Dr. C. Paul Meredith).
Tertullian On Baptism. Chap. V.--Use Made Of Water By The Heathen… “ "Well, but the nations,
who are strangers to all understanding of spiritual powers, ascribe to their
idols the imbuing of waters with the self-same efficacy"… For washing is
the channel through which they are initiated
into some sacred rites--of some notorious Isis or Mithras. The gods themselves
likewise they honour by washings. Moreover, by carrying water around, and
sprinkling it, they everywhere expiate country-seats, houses, temples, and
whole cities: at all events, at the Apollinarian and Eleusinian games they are
baptized; and they presume that the effect of their doing that is their
regeneration and the remission of the penalties due to their perjuries. Among
the ancients, again, whoever had defiled himself with murder, was wont to go in
quest of purifying waters... Are there not other cases too, in which, without
any sacrament, unclean spirits brood on waters, in spurious imitation of that
brooding of the Divine Spirit in the very beginning? Witness all shady founts,
and all unfrequented brooks, and the ponds in the baths, and the conduits in
private houses, or the cisterns and wells, which are said to have the property
of "spiriting away," through the power, that is, of a hurtful
spirit…. And thus, when the grace of God advanced to higher degrees among men…
The guilt being removed, of course the penalty is removed too. Thus man will be restored for God to
His "likeness," who in days bygone had been conformed to "the
image" of God; (the "image" is counted (to be) in his form: the
"likeness" in his eternity) for he receives again that Spirit of God which he had then first
received from His afflatus, but had afterward lost through sin”
The
Works Of Dionysius. Extant Fragments. Part II
Epistle
IX.--To Sixtus II
…this baptism by which he had been initiated among heretics…
The
Book Of Ambrose, Bishop Of Milan, Concerning
The Mysteries. Chapter I.
2. The
season now warns us to speak of the Mysteries, and to set forth the purport of the sacraments, which if we
had thought it well to teach before baptism to those who were not yet initiated, we should be considered rather to have betrayed than to have
portrayed the Mysteries…
Chapter IV… Christ at His baptism… the meaning of this mystery is explained…
The
Life And Writings Of Gregory
Of Nyssa, Book XI
5. (…the
deliverance to us of the means of initiation
constitutes a law),--he [Eunomius] says that baptism is not into the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit…
Gregory
Nazianzen,
“Orations” XXXIX and XL (On The Holy Lights And On Holy Baptism)
Introduction.
…the Mystery of our Lord's Baptism…
Oration
XXII. …others even before they were illuminated were worthy of praise; partly
by nature, and partly by the care with which they prepared themselves for Baptism. These after their initiation became evidently better, and
less liable to fall; in the one case with a view to procuring good, and in the
other in order to preserve it.
Jerome’s Dialogue Against The
Luciferians
12. L.
… It is ridiculous
to assert that any one can dispute concerning the faith before he believes it; that he understands a mystery before he has been initiated; that the baptizer and the baptized hold different views…
The
Ecclesiastical History Of Salaminius Hermias Sozomenus, Book II.
Chap.
XVII. -- On The Death Of Alexander,
Bishop Of Alexandria, At His Suggestion, Athanasius Receives The Throne; And An Account Of His Youth; How He Was A
Self-Taught Priest, And Beloved By Antony… when Alexander threatened them with
torture [Note of the Editor: we see here the “terrorist” nature of the
Alexander that promoted the trinity, and of his religious “hyper-terrorist”
son, Athanasius, the ‘champion” of deceiving doctrines], they confessed that
Athanasius was their bishop and leader, and that many children who had not been
initiated had been baptized by him…
Chap.
XXVI.--Erection Of A Temple By Constantine The Great At Golgotha, In Jerusalem;
Its Dedication. “THE temple, called the "Great Martyrium," which was
built in the place of the skull at Jerusalem, was completed about the thirtieth
year of the reign of Constantine… costliness and magnificence is such that they
cannot be looked upon without exciting wonder. Since that period the
anniversary of the consecration has been celebrated with great pomp by the
church of Jerusalem; the festival continues eight days, initiation by baptism is administered, and people
from every region under the sun resort to Jerusalem during this festival, and
visit the sacred places”
Chap.
XXXIV. -- Death Of Constantine The Great; He Died After Baptism …His malady, however, increased,
and he went to Nicomedia, and was initiated into holy baptism in one of the suburbs of that city…
Book
VII. Chap. IV.
-Reign Of Theodosius The Great; He Was Initiated Into Divine Baptism By Ascholius, Bishop Of Thessalonica. The Letters He
Addressed To Those Who Did Not Hold The Definition Of The Council Of Nice.
… and
after receiving instruction from Ascholius, the bishop, he was initiated…
Chap. VIII. -- Election Of
Nectarius To The See Of Constantinople; His Birthplace And Education.
…When they
heard that he [Nectarius] had not been initiated their amazement was increased at the decision of the emperor…
It appears reasonable to suppose, that on perceiving that Nectarius was of
advanced age, he took it for granted that he had been initiated long previously… For when the
emperor was informed that Nectarius had not been initiated, he remained of the same opinion, although opposed by many
priests. When at last, consent had been given to the imperial mandate, Nectarius was
initiated, and while yet clad in his
initiatory robes, was proclaimed bishop of Constantinople by the unanimous
voice of the Synod…
The
Ecclesiastical History--By Socrates Scholasticus, Rest Of Book II
Chapter
XXXVIII.
Cruelty of Macedonius, and Tumults raised by him.
…they
laid hold of women and children, and compelled them to be initiated [by baptism]; and if any one resisted or otherwise spoke against it,
stripes immediately followed, and after the stripes, bonds and imprisonment,
and other violent measures…
Spurious Constitutions Of The Holy
Apostles.
Book
III. Concerning The Sacred Initiation Of Holy
Baptism.
XVI.
Thou therefore, O bishop, according to that type, shalt anoint the head of
those that are to be baptized, whether they be men or women, with the holy
oil... after that, either thou, O bishop, or a presbyter that is under thee,
shall in the solemn form name over them the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, and shall dip them in the water; and let a deacon receive the
man, and a deaconess the woman, that so the conferring of this inviolable seal
may take place with a becoming decency. And after that, let the bishop anoint
those that are baptized with ointment.
Book
VI
That
We Ought Not To Rebaptize, Nor To Receive That Baptism Which Is Given By The
Ungodly, Which Is Not Baptism, But A Pollution.
XV. … Nor indeed are those that are baptized by them
initiated, but are
polluted… that attempt to baptize those
already initiated crucify the Lord afresh…
Book
VII
Concerning
The Christian Life, And The Eucharist, And The Initiation Into Christ.
Sec.
II.- A Constitution Of Our Lord, How We Ought To Baptize, And Into Whose Death.
XXII. …he who is to be initiated into
His death ought first
to fast, and then
to be baptized…
A Mystical
Thanksgiving.
XXXV. …Let no one eat of these things that is not initiated; but those only who have been
baptized into the
death of the Lord. But if any one that is not initiated conceal himself, and partake…
Sec.
III.-- On The Instruction Of Catechumens, And Their Initiation Into Baptism.
…Now, after what manner those ought to live that are initiated into Christ…
A
Constitution How The Catechumens Are To Be Blessed By The Priests In Their Initiation, And What Things Are To Be
Taught Them.
XLII… the candidate for baptism,
when he is anointed may be freed from all ungodliness, and may become worthy of initiation …
[As we
have seen, everything else, except, by totally ignoring it, “The Mystery of God
Revealed to Us, the Members of the Body of Christ Today”, was qualified as a
mystery or a sacrament (that also means mystery), or redundantly, by using both
terms by catholic “brains”, even in the “holy rosary” they pass through the
“holy mysteries”, Ambrose wrote a full book on “Mysteries”, and others also
wrote profusely on the “sacred mysteries”, but there is no mystery that those
were vain philosophies of men…(to see the first documents on the re-discover of
the Real Mystery Revealed Already by God, go to: http://www.geocities.com/fdocc2/mystery.htm)
]
To go to the main text: http://www.geocities.com/fdocc3/in-my-name.htm
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