Jofeph and Mary, of two parents, as other men, only he had a foul fuperior to others; which, having a strong memory, could remember, and fo could relate, what he had feen and had knowledge of, when in the circumference (as they exprefs it) and in converfation with his unknown and unbegotten Father; and which was endowed with fuch powers, that he efcaped the angels, the makers of the world, and was fo pure and holy, that he despised the Jews, among whom he was brought up; and afterwards returned to his unknown Father; his foul only, not his body. There feems to be fomething fimilar in this notion of the human foul of Christ, to what is imbibed by fome in our day. 2dly, Valentinus. He came to Rome when Hyginus was bishop of that place, flourished under Pius, and lived to the time of Anicetus. He and his followers held, that God the creator fent forth his own Son, but that he was animal, and that his body defcended from heaven, and paffed through the virgin Mary, as water through a pipe; and therefore, as Tertullian obferves", Valentinus used to say, that Chrift was born by a virgin, but not of a virgin. This is what divines call the heretical illapfe; which yet those difavow, who in our day are for the antiquity of the human nature of Chrift before the world was; though how he could be really and actually man from eternity, and yet take flesh of the virgin in time, is not eafy to reconcile. 3dly, Artemon, or Artemas, who lived in the time of Victor bishop of Rome. He held that Chrift was a mere man'; and pretended that the apoftles and all chriftians from their times to the times of Victor, held the fame *; than which nothing could be more notoriously false, as the writings of Justin, Irenæus, &c. fhew and it is faid that by him, or by his followers, the celebrated text in 1 John v. 7. was erased and left out in some copies '. 4thly, Theodotus the currier held the fame notion he did, that Chrift was a mere man; for which he was excommunicated by Victor bishop of Rome: which fhews the falfity of what Artemon faid; for if Victor had been of the fame opinion, he would never have excommunicated Theodotus. Eufebius fays, this man was the father and broacher of this notion ", before Artemon, that Chrift was a a mere man, and denied him to be God. Yea, that he was not only a mere man, but born of the feed of man". Though Tertullian fays, that he held 322 e Irenæus adv. hæres, 1. 1. c. 24. Tertull. de præfcript. hæret. c. 48. that f Irenæus ib. Epiphan. contra hæret, hær. 27. Theodoret. hæret. fol. 1. 1. c.7. Aug. de hæret. c.7. g Irenæus 1. 3. c. 4. Ibid. 1. c. 1. Tertull. de præfcript. c. 49. Epiphan. hæres. 31. 1 Adv. Valentin. c. 27. & de carne Chrift. c. 20. * Eufeb. Eccles. Hift. 1. 5. c. 25. Theodoret. hæret. fol. 1. 2. c. 5. 1 Wittichii Theolog. pacific. c. 17. 1. 25. m Eufeb. eccles. hift. 1. 5. c. 28. Epiphan. Hæres. 54. that Chrift was only a man, but equally conceived and born of the holy Ghoft and the virgin Mary, yet inferior to Melchizedeck °. The contrary to thefe notions was afferted and maintained by thofe apoftolical men, not only Ignatius, who lived in the latter end of the preceding century, and the beginning of this, as has been obferved, but by Polycarp, Juftin Martyr, Irenæus, and others. 1. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, a difciple and hearer of the apostle John, used. to ftop his ears when he heard the impious speeches of the hereticks of his time. This venerable martyr, who had ferved his mafter Chrift eighty fix years, when at the ftake, and the fire juft about to be kindled upon him, witnessed a good confeffion of the bleffed Trinity in his laft moments, putting up the following prayer; "O Father of thy beloved and bleffed Son Jefus Chrift, by whom we "have received the knowledge of thee; God of angels and of powers, and every "creature I praife thee for all things; I blefs thee, I glorify thee, by the "eternal high priest Jefus Chrift thy beloved Son, through whom, to thee with "hith in the holy fpirit, be glory, now and for ever, Amen.". 2. Justin, the philofopher and martyr, in his firft apology for the chriftians, has thefe words; "The Father of all, being unbegotten, has no name-the Son "of him, who only is properly called a Son, the Word, begotten and existing "before the creatures (for at the beginning by him he created and beautified "all things) is called Chrift." And in his fecond apology he says', "We pro"fefs to be atheists with refpect to fuch who are thought to be Gods, but not "to the true God and Father of righteousness, &c. him, and his Son who comes "from him, and has taught us these things, and the prophetic Spirit, we adore "and worship." Afterwards he speaks of the logos, or word, as the first birth of God: " which, fays he, we fay is begotten without mixture." And again', "We speak that which is true, Jefus Chrift alone is properly the Son begotten by God, being his Word, and first-born, and power, and by his will became "man; these things he hath taught us." And in his dialogue with Trypho the Jew", who is reprefented as objecting to him, "What thou fayeft, that this "Chrift exifted God before the world, and then was born, and became man, "does not only feem to be a paradox to me, but quite foolish." To which Justin replies, "I know this feems a paradox, especially to thofe of your nation, "but if I cannot demonftrate, that this is the Chrift of God, and that he pre-exifted God, the Son of the maker of all things, and became man by "a virgin, in this only it would be just to say, that I am mistaken, but not to ་་ 66 "deny that this is the Chrift of God, though he may feem to be begotten a man "of men, and by choice made Chrift, as afferted by fome; for there are fome "of our religion who profefs him to be Chrift, but affirm that he is begotten a "man of men; to whom I do not affent, nor many who are in the fame mind "with me." In which he plainly refers to the hereticks before mentioned, who thought that Chrift was born of Jofeph and Mary. And in another place, in the fame dialogue, he says ", "I will prove from fcripture that God first begat of himself, before all creatures, a certain rational power, which is called by the holy Spirit, the Glory of the Lord, fometimes the Son, fometimes Wif"dom, fometimes the Angel, fometimes God, fometimes the Lord and the Word." And then, after obferving there is fomething fimilar in the Word begetting a Word without any rejection or diminution, and fire kindling fire without leffening it, and abiding the fame; he proceeds to give his proof from the words of Solomon, Prov. viii. where the word of wisdom teftifies, that he is the God who is begotten by the Father of all, who is the word and wisdom "and the power and the glory of him that generates." And then obferves, that "this is the birth produced by the Father, which co-existed with the Father before all creatures, and with whom the Father familiarly converfed, as the "word by Solomon makes it manifeft, that he the beginning before all creatures 66 is the birth begotten by God, which by Solomon is called Wisdom.” And in another place, in the fame dialogue, on mention of the fame words in Proverbs: he fays, "Ye muft underftand, ye hearers, if ye do but attend, the Word declares "that this birth was begotten by the Father before all creatures, and that which is begotten is numerically another from him that begets." What can be more exprefs for the eternal generation of the Son of God, and that as a diftinct perfon from his Father! 66 3. Irenæus, a martyr, and bishop of Lyons in France, and a difciple of Polycarp. He wrote five books against the herefies of Valentinus and the Gnoftics, which are still extant; out of which many teftimonies might be produced confirming the doctrine of the Trinity, and the deity of Chrift. I fhall only tranfcribe two or three paffages relating to the divine Sonfhip and generation of Chrift. In one place he fays.", "Thou art not increated and man, nor didst "thou always co-exist with God, as his own word did, but through his eminent goodness, haft now had a beginning of beings; thou fenfibly learneft from "the word the difpofitions of God who made thee; therefore obferve the order "of thy knowledge, and left, as ignorant of good things, thou shouldeft tran-"fcend 66 "fcend God himself." And again", "fhould any one fay to us, how is the "Son brought forth by the Father? we reply to him, This bringing forth or gene"ration, &c. or by whatsoever name it is called; no man knows his exifting unspeakable generation; not Valentinus, not Marcion, nor Saturninus, nor Bafilides, nor angels, nor archangels, nor principalities, nor powers, only the "Father, who hath generated, and the Son that is generated; therefore seeing "his generation is ineffable, whoever attempts to declare fuch productions and generations (as the above hereticks did) are not in their right minds, promifing to declare thofe things which cannot be declared." And elsewhere, he fays, "The Son, the Word and Wisdom, was always present with him (God), "and alfo the Spirit, by whom, and in whom, he made all things freely and "willingly; to whom he fpake, faying, Let us make man, &c." And a little after, "that the Word, that is, the Son, was always with the Father, we have "abundant proof;" and then mentions Prov. iii, 19. and viii. 22, &c. .66 4. Athenagoras, who flourished at Athens, in the times of Antoninus and Commodus, to which emperors he wrote an apology for the chriftians, in which he has these words, "Let not any think it ridiculous in me that I speak of God as having a Son, for not as the poets fable, who make their Gods nothing "better than men, do we think either of God and the Father, or of the Son; "but the Son of God is the Word of the Father, in idea and efficacy, for of "him and by him are all things made, feeing the Father and the Son are one; fo that the Son is in the Father, and the Father is in the Son, by the union " and power of the Spirit; the mind and word of the Father is the Son of God; "now if any through the fublimity of your understanding would look further "and enquire what the Son means, I will tell him in a few words, that he is "the first birth of the Father; not as made, for from the beginning, God being "the eternal mind, he had the word in himself (the λy, or reafon) being eter66 nally rational, (that is, never without his word and wifdom) but as coming "forth, is the idea and energy of all things." For which he produces as a proof Prov. viii. 22. and then proceeds, "Who therefore cannot wonder, to "hear us called atheifts, who fpeak of God the Father, and of God the Son and "the holy Spirit, fhewing their power in unity and their diftinction in order?" A little farther, he ftrongly expreffes the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity; "We "affert God, and the Son his Word, and the holy Ghost, united indeed according to power, the Father, the Son, the Spirit, for the Mind, Word and "Wisdom, is the Son of the Father, and the Spirit an emanation, or influence, "as light from fire." .66 y Ibid. c. 48. Ibid. p.27. 5. Theophilus, 5. Theophilus, bishop of Antioch, flourished under the emperor Antoninus Verus: in a treatise of his he has these words concerning the Word and Son of God, "God having his Ayor dadır, internal word within himself, begat him, when "he brought him forth with his wisdom before all things; this word he used in "working those things that were made by him, and he made all things by him. "The prophets were not when the world was made; but the wisdom of God, "which is in him, and the holy word of God, was always prefent with him ;" in proof of which he produces Prov. viii. 27. And in another place", fpeaking of the voice Adam heard, fays, "What else is the voice, but the word of God, who " is his Son? not as the poets and writers of fables, who say, the fons of the gods "are born of copulation; but as the truth declares, the internal Word being al"ways in the heart of God, before any thing was made, him he had as his coun fellor, being his mind and prudence, when God would do what he counselled, "he begat the Word, and having begotten the Word, the first-born of every "creature, he always converfed with his Word," for which he quotes John i. 1—3. 6. Clemens of Alexandria, flourished under the emperors Severus and Caracalla, towards the latter end of the fecond century, he bears a plain teftimony to the doctrine of the Trinity, concluding one of his treatifes thus, "Let us give. "thanks, praising the only Father and the Son, both teachers, with the holy Spirit, in which are all things, in whom are all things, and by whom all are "one,-to whom be glory now and for ever, Amen." He speaks of Chrift the perfect word, as born of the perfect Father; and fays of the Son of God, "that he never goes out of his watch-tower, who is not divided nor diffecated, "nor paffes from place to place, but is always every where, is contained no "where, all mind, all paternal light, all eye; who fees all things, hears all. 66 things, knows all things by his power, fearches powers, and to whom the "whole militia of angels and gods (magistrates) is subject. This is the Son "of God, the Saviour and Lord whom we fpeak of, and the divine prophecies. "fhew." A little after he speaks of him as, "begotten without beginning, that "is, eternally begotten, and who, before the foundation of the world, was the "the Father's counsellor, that wisdom in whom the almighty God delighted; for "Son is the power of God; who before all things were made, was the most antient "word of the Father.-Every operation of the Lord has a reference to the al"mighty; and the Son is, as I may fay, a certain energy of the Father." This antient writer frequently attacks and refutes the Carpocratians, Valentinians, and Gnoftics, and other heretics of this and the preceding age. I proceed, III. To |