part ii, ch. iii.

75. Gen. i:26, 27. Jesus Christ was in the form of man, yet he is said to be the express image of God's person--Heb. i: 1-2.

76. Matt. iii: 16, 17.

77. Acts vii: 55, 56.

78. John x: 30, and John xiv: 8-11.

79. John xvii: 11, 21.

80. John xiv: 26. John xv: 26. John xvi: 13-15.

81. John xvii: 4, 5.

82. Heb. iv: 2.

83. John i:3. [See note 6, end of section].

84. Some authorities say seven pairs were introduced in this manner.

85. The statement is condensed from Mosheim; Dr. Benton, for years professor of divinity at Oxford, in his Brampton lectures states that the matter was "inert and powerless though co-eternal with the supreme God, and, like Him, without beginning."

86. The Gnostics desired to avoid making God the author of evil, hence it is a leading principle in their philosophy that all evil has its origin in matter, and as matter was created by one of the Aeons, not by God, the Lord in the Gnostic system is relieved from the responsibility of being the author of evil.

87. The statement of the Gnostic philosophy I have condensed from Mosheim and Dr. Benton, than whom there can be no higher authority on this subject.

88. Gibbon's Decline and Fall, vol. ii, ch. xxii.

89. The subject is difficult of illustration; but the following will perhaps aid the student to grasp the Sabellian doctrine. We see the ocean is a liquid; let us next imagine it frozen into solid ice; next as entirely dissolved into vapor. Here we have the same substance in three different aspects, but whether we speak of it as the liquid ocean, the frozen ocean or the ocean dissolved into vapor, it is always the same ocean, the same substance, but under different aspects. Whether he appeared as the Father, the Son or the Holy Ghost, he was always the same God. Such was the Sabellian theory in respect to Deity. Mosheim represents Sabellius as teaching that the divine nature was divided into portions, that one portion became separate, was called the Son, and was joined to the man Jesus. The Holy Ghost was a similar portion or part of the Eternal Father. The weight of authority is against the learned Doctor in this matter, however, and in favor of the statement of Sabellius' views in the text of this work.

90. This is the Nicene Creed as it was formulated by that celebrated council. The so-called Nicene Creed used in the Catholic, Lutheran and English Churches is this creed as modified by the Council of Constantinople, A. D., 381. There is no material difference in them.

91. Mosheim, Gibbon, Montfaucon and others insist that Athanasius is not the author of this creed, and this may be true, but I have not yet heard of its being rejected as an explanation of the Nicene Creed. Indeed, notwithstanding its authenticity has long been suspected, it still stands in the English prayer book and is recited in the church of England service upon the most notable feasts, Christmas, Epiphany etc.

92. Church of England Book of Common Prayer, p. 49 Athanasius is credited with having confessed that whenever he forced his understanding to meditate on the divinity of the Logos, his toilsome and unavailing efforts recoiled on themselves; that the more he thought, the less he comprehended; and the more he wrote, the less capable was he of expressing his thoughts. (Decline and Fall, vol. II, ch. xxi.) We would naturally think that whoever the author of the Athanasian Creed may be, that such would be his mental condition. Nor are we very much surprised when we hear Gennadius, patriarch of Constantinople, frankly pronouncing it the work of a drunken man.

93. Catholic Belief (Bruno) p. 1. This work is endorsed by His eminence Cardinal Manning.

94. Church of England Book of Common Prayer, p. 311.

95. Gen. i: 26, 27.

96. Heb. i: 3.

97. Phil. ii: 5, 6.

98. It is remarkable how clearly men will reason upon the absurdity of immaterialism in everything except in respect to God. As an example, take the reasoning of Rev. John Wesley in regard to the supposed immateriality of the fire in hell: "But it has been questioned by some whether there be any fire in hell; that is, any material fire. Nay, if there be any fire it is unquestionably material. For what is immaterial fire? The same as immaterial water or earth! Both the one and the other is absolute nonsense, a contradiction in terms. Either, therefore, we must affirm it to be material, or we deny its existence." Now apply that correct reasoning to the immaterial God of the orthodox Christian and what is the result? Let us try the experiment by substituting the word God, for the word fire in the quotation:--But it is questioned by some whether there be any God, that is, any material God. Nay, if there be any God, he is unquestionably material. For what is an immaterial God? The same as immaterial water or earth! both the one and the other [that is, both immaterial God and immaterial earth] is absolute nonsense, a contradiction in terms. Either, therefore, we must affirm him to be material, or we deny his existence.

99. II Peter ii: I.

100. Mosheim, book II, cent. iv, part ii, ch. iii.

101. The phraseology of the philosophers was, "living according to nature, and living above nature." The former was the rule for all men, the latter for the philosophers who aimed at perfect virtue.

102. Mosheim's Eccl. Hist., book I, cent. i, part ii, ch. iii.

103. Mosheim, book II, cent. iv, part ii, ch. ii.

104. Decline and Fall (Gibbon) vol. 1, ch. xvi.

105. Mosheim, book II, cent. iv, part ii, ch. iii.

106. The above quotation is taken from the third and fourth books on "The Providence of God" by Salvian, who flourished in the 5th century, a priest of Marseilles, and one who knew whereof he wrote, as he was dealing with affairs of which he was a witness.

107. Book VI and VII of The Providence of God.--Salvian.

108. Mosheim, book III, cent. ix, part ii, chap. ii.

109. See Milner's introduction to the first volume of his Church History. It will also be seen in that introduction that Milner wrote his history to counteract the influence that he feared the great work of the too candid Mosheim might exert, viz., to create the impression "That real religion appears scarcely to have had any existence." Hence the admissions of Dr. Milner to the sad condition of the church in the tenth century have a peculiar significance since he would not admit its corruption unless compelled to by the facts.

110. This is Caesar Baronius, a Catholic historian of the 16th century. His "Annales Ecclesiastical" comprise twelve volumes and were published in Rome, 1588-1607. He was a candidate for the papacy in 1605, but failed to secure the election.

111. Milner's Ch. Hist., vol. iii, cent. x, ch. i. The only thing which seems to console the learned doctor in respect to this terrible condition of the church is that the scripture predicted this awful state, and the truth of scripture was "vindicated by events of all others the most disagreeable to a pious mind."--Ibid.

112. Acts xx: 27-30.

113. II Tim. iv: 1-4.

114. II Peter i: 21.

115. II Peter ii: 1-3.

116. Tim. iv: 1, 2.

117. That is, that the day of Messiah's glorious coming is at hand.

118. Letteth and let are the old English equivalents of hindereth and hinder. The student will remember that Shakespeare makes Hamlet say to those who seek to prevent him following the ghost of his father when beckoned to private interview--"Still am I called. Unhand me, gentlemen. By heaven I'll make a ghost of him that lets me"--i.e. that hinders me.

119. II Thes. ii: 1-12.

120. Isaiah xxiv: 4-6.

121. Gal. iii. 8, 19, 24, 25.

122. Heb. xiii: 20.

123. Rev. xiv: 6, 7.

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