but he preserves them-"upholding all things by the word of his power" (Heb. 1. 3). The omnipotence of God is the ground and secret of all material, mental, and spiritual phenomena, and they lie forever in his continued agency and universal providence. "He not only keeps them in being, but preserves them in that degree of wellbeing which is suitable to their several natures. He preserves them in their several relations, connections, and dependencies, so as to compose one system of beings, to form one entire universe, according to the counsel of his will. How strongly and beautifully is this expressed: Τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκε, ‘By whom all things consist'; or, more literally, 'By and in him are all things compacted into one system.' He is not only the support, but also the cement, of the whole universe."1

The Trinity

And in unity of this Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

The doctrine of the Trinity has formed a part of the creed of all those who have been deemed sound in the faith from the earliest ages of Christianity. It is not peculiar to the New Testament; it is found in the Old, though not so clearly and specifically stated as in the New. There are traces of it also in the writings of the Greek philosophers. Plato, Parmenides, and others held the doctrine of three divine natures. It is supposed by some that they borrowed the idea from the Old Testament. Some scholars who have made elaborate inquiries into the mythologies of pagan nations profess to find in them the teaching of a trinity in the divine nature. A doctrine so singular could hardly be regarded as an invention of

1 Wesley, Works, vol. ii, p. 178.

human reason, and cannot be accounted for save by the presumption that it was a part of the primitive religion communicated by God to the patriarchs and by them to their posterity. It was, however, a doctrine likely to be perverted, and in transmission to remote countries and to distant generations it became corrupted. A proper statement and confirmation of it could only be given by Him who came forth from the bosom of God to give more abundant light to mankind on spiritual and divine things. Very clear intimations of the Trinity are found in the Bible account of creation. In the first sentence, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," the Hebrew word Elohim, God, is the plural form of El, or Eloah, and has long been supposed by eminent scholars to imply a plurality of persons in the divine nature. "This plurality," says Dr. Adam Clarke, "appears in many parts of the sacred writings to be confined to three persons. Since, therefore, Elohim is plural, we are to understand by this term so particularly used in this place God the Father, the eternal Logos or Word of God-that Logos whom Saint John says was in the beginning with God, and who was God-and the "Spirit of God," which the next verse says "moved upon the face of the waters." Here we have the three persons in one God-the Father, Son, and Spirit-engaged in the creation of the world. In the creation of man, also, all the persons in the Godhead united in counsel and action. "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen. 1. 26). Here the plurality is unequivocally expressed and the act proposed is the prerogative of Deity. This passage is quoted in proof of the Trinity from the earliest fathers to the present day.

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Many passages in the Old Testament teach a plurality

1 Commentary, in loco.

of persons in the Deity, and the comments of learned Jewish rabbis show they were so understood by them, but it is well the doctrine does not rest upon these alone. Expositions in the New Testament of passages taken from the Old prove their true meaning.

The doctrine of the Trinity is contained in the charge and commission of Christ to the apostles: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matt. 28. 19). It is also found in the bestowment of gifts to the Church: "He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers" (Eph. 4. II, R. V.). On this W. T. Davison says: "In this 'he gave' means 'Christ gave.' In 1 Cor. 12 we read 'God set' in his Church apostles and the rest; also in the same chapter we are told that the actual worker is 'one and the same Spirit dividing to each severally as he will.' God, Christ, Spirit-these three are one. No mode of speech concerning the three persons in the Trinity must ever mar the unity of Godhead. God in Christ, by the Spirit, is the giver of all good gifts to men and of this high boon of men to the Church."

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Since baptism is to be performed "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," they must all three be persons; and, since no superiority or difference between them can be predicated, they must all be of one substance, power, and eternity. "Are we to be baptized," asks Tomline, "in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and is it possible that the Father should be self-existent and eternal, the Lord God Omnipotent; and the Son, in whose name we are equally baptized, should be a mere man

1 Ordination Charge, 1902, p. 10.

born of a woman, and subject to all the frailties and imperfections of human nature? or, is it possible that the Holy Ghost, in whose name also we are equally baptized, should be a bare energy or operation, a quality or power, without even personal existence? Our feelings, as well as our reason, revolt from the idea of such a disparity." Saint Paul closed his Second Epistle to the Corinthians with the benediction: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all." None but persons can confer grace and communion; and the apostle offers his prayer to each of the three without indicating any disparity between them.

In Matt. 28. 19 the persons are named in the following order: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The variation in itself indicates an equality of persons, it being indifferent in what order they are named.

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The doctrine of the Trinity was believed and taught by the early Church fathers. Justin Martyr said, “The Father, and the Son, and the prophetic Spirit we worship and adore."2 Irenæus, quoting Psa. 110. I, wrote, 'The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.' Here the Scriptures represent the Father addressing the Son, he who gave him the inheritance of the heathen, and subjected to him all his enemies. Since, therefore, the Father is truly Lord and the Son truly Lord, the Holy Ghost has fitly designated them by the title of Lord."3

Tertullian says, "For the very Church itself is, properly and principally, the Spirit himself, in whom is the Trinity of the one Divinity-Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." Hippolytus says, "It is the Father who commands, and

1 Christian Theology, vol. ii, p. 72. Against Heresies, Book iii, chap. vi.

2 First Apology, chap. xi. On Modesty, chap. xxi.

the Son who obeys, and the Holy Spirit who gives understanding: the Father who is above all, and the Son who is through all, and the Holy Ghost who is in all. And we cannot otherwise think of one God, but by believing in truth in Father and Son and Holy Spirit."

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Quotations from the fathers could be multiplied indefinitely, but enough has been said to show that from apostolic times to Augustine the doctrine of the Trinity was held. These quotations will be sufficient refutation of the assertion that the Trinity is an invention of the fourth century. A succession of theological literature in all the centuries bears clear testimony to the faith of the Church in this great mystery of the Christian religion. Methodist divines accept and teach it as vastly important while acknowledging its profound mystery.

Richard Watson says: "Whether we address our prayers and adorations to the Father, Son, or Holy Ghost, we address the same adorable Being, the one living and true God. With reference to the relations which each person bears to us in the redeeming economy, our approaches to the Father are to be made through the mediation of the Son, and by, or with dependence upon, the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Yet, as the authority of the New Testament shows, this does not preclude direct prayer to Christ and to the Holy Spirit, and direct ascriptions of glory and honor to each. In all this we glorify the one 'God over all, blessed for evermore." "2

Dr. Raymond approaches it as "a doctrine of pure revelation-a doctrine at once the central idea, the fundamental truth, and the greatest mystery of the Christian system. The Trinity is its chief corner stone; it is peculiar to it, and distinguishes it from all other religions. Eliminate that, with what logically follows it, and noth

1 Against Heresy of Noetus, Sec. 14.

Institutes, vol. i, p. 475.