A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity.

 A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity.

 The Rule of truth requires that we should first of all things believe on God the Father and Lord Omnipotent that is, the absolutely perfect Founder o

 And over all these things He Himself, containing all things, having nothing vacant beyond Himself, has left room for no superior God, such as some peo

 Him, then, we acknowledge and know to be God, the Creator of all things—Lord on account of His power, Parent on account of His discipline—Him, I say,

 Him alone the Lord rightly declares good, of whose goodness the whole world is witness which world He would not have ordained if He had not been good

 Moreover, if we read of His wrath, and consider certain descriptions of His indignation, and learn that hatred is asserted of Him, yet we are not to u

 And although the heavenly Scripture often turns the divine appearance into a human form,—as when it says, “The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous

 But when the Lord says that God is a Spirit, I think that Christ spoke thus of the Father, as wishing that something still more should be understood t

 This God, then, setting aside the fables and figments of heretics, the Church knows and worships, to whom the universal and entire nature of things as

 The same rule of truth teaches us to believe, after the Father, also on the Son of God, Christ Jesus, the Lord our God, but the Son of God—of that God

 But of this I remind you , that Christ was not to be expected in the Gospel in any other wise than as He was promised before by the Creator, in the Sc

 Chapter XI.—And Indeed that Christ Was Not Only Man, But God Also That Even as He Was the Son of Man, So Also He Was the Son of God.

 Why, then, should we hesitate to say what Scripture does not shrink from declaring? Why shall the truth of faith hesitate in that wherein the authorit

 And thus also John, describing the nativity of Christ, says: “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the o

 And yet the heretic still shrinks from urging that Christ is God, whom he perceives to be proved God by so many words as well as facts. If Christ is o

 If Christ is only man, how is it that He says, “Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true:  because I know whence I came, and whither I go

 If Christ was only man, how is it that He Himself says, “And every one that believeth in me shall not die for evermore?” And yet he who believes in ma

 What if Moses pursues this same rule of truth, and delivers to us in the beginning of his sacred writings, this principle by which we may learn that a

 Behold, the same Moses tells us in another place that “God was seen of Abraham.” And yet the same Moses hears from God, that “no man can see God and l

 What if in another place also we read in like manner that God was described as an angel? For when, to his wives Leah and Rachel, Jacob complained of t

 But if some heretic, obstinately struggling against the truth, should persist in all these instances either in understanding that Christ was properly

 And indeed I could set forth the treatment of this subject by all heavenly Scriptures, and set in motion, so to speak, a perfect forest of texts conce

 But why, although we appear to hasten to another branch of the argument, should we pass over that passage in the apostle: “Who, although He was in the

 In this place I may be permitted also to collect arguments from the side of other heretics. It is a substantial kind of proof which is gathered even f

 But the material of that heretical error has arisen, as I judge, from this, that they think that there is no distinction between the Son of God and th

 Therefore, say they, if Christ is not man only, but God also—and Scripture tells us that He died for us, and was raised again—then Scripture teaches u

 But from this occasion of Christ being proved from the sacred authority of the divine writings not man only, but God also, other heretics, breaking fo

 But since they frequently urge upon us the passage where it is said, “I and the Father are one,” in this also we shall overcome them with equal facili

 Hereto also I will add that view wherein the heretic, while he rejoices as if at the loss of some power of seeing special truth and light, acknowledge

 Moreover, the order of reason, and the authority of the faith in the disposition of the words and in the Scriptures of the Lord, admonish us after the

 And now, indeed, concerning the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, let it be sufficient to have briefly said thus much, and to have laid down t

 Thus God the Father, the Founder and Creator of all things, who only knows no beginning, invisible, infinite, immortal, eternal, is one God to whose

Chapter VI.  Argument.—And That, Although Scripture Often Changes the Divine Appearance into a Human Form, Yet the Measure of the Divine Majesty is Not Included Within These Lineaments of Our Bodily Nature.

And although the heavenly Scripture often turns the divine appearance into a human form,—as when it says, “The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous;”25    Ps. xxxiv. 15. [Anthropopathy, p. 611.] or when it says, “The Lord God smelled the smell of a good savour;”26    Gen. viii. 21. or when there are given to Moses the tables “written with the finger of God;”27    Ex. xxxi. 18. or when the people of the children of Israel are set free from the land of Egypt “with a mighty hand and with a stretched out arm;”28    Ps. cxxxvi. 12. or when it says, “The mouth of the Lord hath spoken these things;”29    Isa. i. 20. or when the earth is set forth as “God’s footstool;”30    Isa. lxvi. 1. [Capp. v. and vi. are specimens of vigorous thought.] or when it says, “Incline thine ear, and hear,”31    2 Chron. xix. 16.—we who say that the law is spiritual do not include within these lineaments of our bodily nature any mode or figure of the divine majesty, but diffuse that character of unbounded magnitude (so to speak) over its plains without any limit. For it is written, “If I shall ascend into heaven, Thou art there; if I shall descend into hell, Thou art there also; and if I shall take my wings, and go away across the sea, there Thy hand shall lay hold of me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.”32    Ps. cxxxix. 8, 9, 10. For we recognise the plan of the divine Scripture according to the proportion of its arrangement. For the prophet then was still speaking about God in parables according to the period of the faith, not as God was, but as the people were able to receive Him. And thus, that such things as these should be said about God, must be imputed not to God, but rather to the people. Thus the people are permitted to erect a tabernacle, and yet God is not contained within the enclosure of a tabernacle. Thus a temple is reared, and yet God is not at all bounded within the restraints of a temple. It is not therefore God who is limited, but the perception of the people is limited; nor is God straitened, but the understanding of the reason of the people is held to be straitened. Finally, in the Gospel the Lord said, “The hour shall come when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall ye worship the Father;”33    John iv. 21. and gave the reasons, saying, “God is a Spirit; and those therefore who worship, must worship in spirit and in truth.”34    John iv. 24. Thus the divine agencies are there35    sc. in the Old Testament. exhibited by means of members; it is not the appearance of God nor the bodily lineaments that are described. For when the eyes are spoken of, it is implied that He sees all things; and when the ear, it is set forth that He hears all things; and when the finger, a certain energy of His will is opened up; and when the nostrils, His recognition of prayers is shown forth as of odours; and when the hand, it is proved that He is the author of every creature; and when the arm, it is announced that no nature can withstand the power of His arm; and when the feet it is unfolded that He fills all things, and that there is not any place where God is not. For neither members nor the offices of members are needful to Him to whose sole judgment, even unexpressed, all things serve and are present. For why should He require eyes who is Himself the light? or why should He ask for feet who is everywhere? or why should He wish to go when there is nowhere where He can go beyond Himself? or why should He seek for hands whose will is, even when silent, the architect for the foundation of all things?  He needs no ears who knows the wills that are even unexpressed; or for what reason should He need a tongue whose thought is a command?  These members assuredly were necessary to men, but not to God, because man’s design would be ineffectual if the body did not fulfil the thought. Moreover, they are not needful to God, whose will the works attend not so much without any effort, as that the works themselves proceed simultaneously with the will. Moreover, He Himself is all eye, because He all sees; and all ear, because He all hears; and all hand, because He all works; and all foot, because He all is everywhere. For He is the same, whatever it is. He is all equal, and all everywhere. For He has not in Him any diversity in Himself, being simple. For those are the things which are reduced to diversity of members, which arise from birth and go to dissolution. But things which are not concrete cannot be conscious of these things.36    That is to say, “of Birth and dissolution.” [He is the Now.] And what is immortal, whatever it is, that very thing is one and simple, and for ever. And thus because it is one it cannot be dissolved; since whatever is that very thing which is placed beyond the claim of dissolution, it is freed from the laws of death.

CAPUT VI. Et licet Scriptura faciem divinam saepe ad humanam formam convertat, non tamen intra haec nostri corporis lineamenta modum divinae majestatis includi.

Et licet Scriptura coelestis ad humanam formam faciem divinam saepe convertat, dum dicit (Psal. XXXIII, 16): Oculi Domini super justos: aut dum (Gen. VIII, 21): Odoratus est Dominus Deus odorem 0895Cbonae fragrantiae: aut dum traduntur Moysi tabulae scriptae digito Dei (Exod. XXXI, 18): aut dum populus filiorum Israel de terra Aegypti manu valida et brachio excelso (Psal. CXXXV, 12) liberatur: aut dum dicit (Isa. I, 20): Os enim Domini locutum est haec: aut dum terra scabellum pedum Dei esse perhibetur (Isa. LXVI, 1): aut dum dicit: (IV Reg. XIX, 16): Inclina aurem tuam, et audi: nos qui dicimus, quia Lex spiritalis est, non intra haec nostri corporis lineamenta, modum aut figuram divinae majestatis includimus, sed suis illam interminatae magnitudinis (ut ita dixerim) campis sine ullo fine diffundimus. Scriptum est enim (Psal. CXXXVIII, 8, 9, 10): Si ascendero in coelum, tu ibi es: si descendero ad inferos, ades: et si assumpsero alas meas, 0895Det abiero trans mare, ibi manus tua apprehendet me, et dextera tua detinebit me. Rationem enim divinae Scripturae de temperamento dispositionis cognoscimus. Parabolis enim adhuc, secundum fidei tempus, 0896A de Deo Prophetes tunc loquebatur, non quomodo Deus erat, sed quomodo populus capere poterat. Ut igitur haec sic de Deo dicantur, non Deo, sed populo potius imputetur. Sic (Exod. XXVI) et tabernaculum erigere populo permittitur; nec tamen Deus intra tabernaculum clusus continetur; sic (III Reg. IV) et Templum exstruitur; nec tamen Deus intra templi angustias omnino sepitur. Non igitur mediocris est Deus, sed populi mediocris est sensus: nec angustus Deus, sed rationis populi angustus est intellectus habitus. Denique in Evangelio (Joan. IV, 21): Veniet hora, Dominus aiebat, cum neque in monte isto, neque in Hierusalem adorabitis Patrem, et causas reddidit dicens (Ibid. v. 24): Spiritus est Deus; et eos ergo quiadorant, in spiritu et veritate adorare 0896Boportet. Efficaciae igitur ibi divinae per membra monstrantur: non habitus Dei, nec corporalia lineamenta ponuntur. Nam et cum oculi describuntur, quod omnia videat exprimitur; et quando auris, quod omnia audiat proponitur; et cum digitus, significantia quaedam voluntatis aperitur; et cum nares, precum quasi odorum perceptio ostenditur; et cum manus, quod creaturae sit omnis auctor probatur; et quando brachium, quod nulla natura contra robur ipsius repugnare possit edicitur; et quando pedes, quod impleat omnia, nec sit quidquam ubi non sit Deus, explicatur. Neque enim sunt ei aut membra aut membrorum officia necessaria, ad cujus solum etiam tacitum arbitrium et serviunt et adsunt omnia. Cur enim requirat oculos, qui Lux est? aut cur quaerat 0896C pedes, qui ubique est? aut cur ingredi velit, cum non sit quo extra se progredi possit? aut cur manus expetat, cujus ad omnia instituenda artifex est et silens voluntas? Nec auribus eget, qui etiam tacitas novit voluntates. Aut propter quam causam linguam quaerat, cui cogitare jussisse est? Necessaria enim haec membra hominibus fuerunt, non Deo: quia inefficax hominis consilium fuisset, nisi cogitamen corpus implesset; Deo autem non necessaria, cujus voluntatem non tantum sine aliqua molitione, opera subsequuntur, sed ipsa statim opera cum voluntate procedunt. Caeterum ipse totus oculus, quia totus videt; et totus auris, quia totus audit; et totus manus, quia totus operatur; et totus pes, quia totus ubique est. Idem enim quidquid illud est, totus aequalis 0896D est, et totus ubique est. Non enim habet in se diversitatem sui, quidquid est simplex. Ea enim demum in diversitatem membrorum recidunt, quae veniunt ex nativitate in dissolutionem. Sed haec quae 0897A concreta non sunt, sentire non possunt. Quod enim immortale est, quidquid est, illud ipsum unum et simplex et semper est. Et ideo quia unum est, dissolvi non potest; quoniam quidquid est illud ipsum extra jus dissolutionis positum, legibus est mortis solutum.