The Nicene creed was designed as a standard of doctrine upon the person of Christ. It was not a complete rule of faith, nor did it universally supersede other creeds. Hence we find that Cyril founds his catechetical discourses upon the creed of Jerusalem; Cassian recites, as the creed of Antioch, a formula essentially different from that of Nice; and the Latin fathers very generally adhered to varieties of the Roman creed.

XVIII.

THE CREED OF ST. BASIL.

In the ascetic treatise of St. Basil, De verâ Fide, there is a creed which, both in expression and comprehension, varies considerably from that of Nice. There is no sufficient evidence, however, that it was employed at the baptism of catechumens. The following are such parts of it as respect our present subject:-"We believe and confess one only true and good God and Father Almighty, of whom are all things, the God and Father of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. And in one Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord and God, who is the true God, through whom all things were made, both visible and invisible, and by whom all things consist.-And in the only Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who establishes all believers in the true confession of God the Father, and of his only begotten Son our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, and of himself; the name of each accurately discriminating to us the peculiarity of him whom it denominates. And concerning each of those thus denominated, certain eminent and identifying distinctions are to be reverently contemplated: the Father is to be considered in that which distinguishes him as the Father; the Son in that which distinguishes him as the Son; and the Holy Spirit also in his essential distinction. Neither does the Holy Spirit speak of himself; nor does the Son do any thing of himself; the Father also sending the Son,

and the Son sending the Holy Spirit. Thus we understand, and thus we baptize into the consubstantial Trinity, according to the commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, Go ye, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."*

XIX.AND XX.-THE CREEDS OF EPIPHANIUS.

Yet though at this period there was considerable diversity in the practice of various churches, it is certain that, in substance, the Nicene creed was extensively adopted, with such additions only as were necessary to its completeness as a compendium of Christian verity. Epiphanius recites a creed which, on the person of Christ, scarcely differs at all from that of Nice; and which, he says, was used at the baptism of catechumens, from the time of the Nicene council down to the tenth year of Valentinian and Valens. (A. D. 373.) The following is an extract:-"We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, that is, of the substance of the Father, Light of light, true God of true God, begotten not made, homoöusios with the Father, by whom all things were made, both in heaven and in earth."

Epiphanius proceeds to remark that, at the period above cited, in consequence of the introduction of new heresies, "all orthodox Bishops and the whole catholic church" agreed to an enlarged confession of faith. The amplification is in the latter articles, little change being made in those which respect the divine nature of our Lord. A translation of the following extract will not

Basil. Opp., T. ii., p. 354.

therefore be necessary. “Πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν, Πατέρα παντοκράτορα, πάντων ἀοράτων τε, καὶ ὁρατῶν ποιητὴν καὶ εἰς ἕνα Κύριον Ιησοῦν Χριστὸν, τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, γεννηθέντα ἐκ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς, μονογενῆ· τουτέστιν ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ Πατρὸς, Θεὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ, φῶς ἐκ φωτός, Θεὸν ἀληθινὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ ἀληθινοῦ· γεννηθέντα, οὐ ποιηθέντα, ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγενέτο, τὰ τε ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ γῇ, ὁρατά τε καὶ ἀόρατα.”

XXI. THE CREED OF CONSTANTINOPLE.

The latter creed of Epiphanius, inconvenient as it must have been from its length, in less than ten years was superseded by the Niceno-Constantinopolitan, which was promulgated by the general council of Constantinople, (A. D. 381,) and which, with scarcely any alteration, is inserted under the name of the Nicene creed in the Liturgy of the English church. As every one has access to a translation, it may be proper to annex the following extract from the original:—“ Πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα Θεόν, Πατέρα παντοκράτορα, ποιητὴν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, ὁρατῶν τε πάντων καὶ ἀοράτων. Καὶ εἰς ἕνα Κύριον, Ιησοῦν Χριστὸν, τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς γεννηθέντα πρὸ πάντων τῶν αἰώνων· φῶς ἐκ φωτὸς, Θεὸν ἀληθινὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ ἀληθινοῦ· γεννηθέντα, οὐ ποιηθέντα, ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ· δι ̓ οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγενέτο.”

This profession of faith became the established creed of the east, was regularly employed in baptism, and ultimately was admitted into the daily service of the Greek church. At a later period it was introduced into the liturgies of the western churches, and from that time has been more extensively adopted than any other formula.

* Epiphanii Ancorat., sect. cxx., cxxi., Τ. ii., pp. 122, 123. † Symb. Constant. ap. Labbei Concil. Hist., Τ. ii., p. 952.

It is now received throughout the catholic church as the true faith of God's most holy word.

XXII. THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

Next to the Niceno-Constantinopolitan, the creed which goes under the name of St. Athanasius has most widely obtained; and this is the more remarkable since it neither originated in, nor was confirmed by, a general council. Without entering into the controversies to which this composition has given rise, I may remark, in passing, that it is probably of Latin origin, and belongs to the latter end of the fourth or the beginning of the fifth century. The following versicles are appropriate to our subject:

"The Father is made of none; neither created nor begotten.

"The SON is OF THE FATHER alone: not made, nor created, but BEGOTTEN.

“Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man;

"GOD of the SUBSTANCE of the FATHER, BEGOTTEN before the worlds: and man, of the substance of his mother, born in the world."

There is a contemporary relic of antiquity to which it would be unjust not to refer. I allude to the Te Deum. Nothing can be more clear than its affirmation of our Lord's eternal Sonship, and of the catholicity of the doctrine.

"The holy CHURCH THROUGHOUT ALL THE WORLD doth acknowledge thee;

"The FATHER of an INFINITE MAJESTY.

"Thine honourable, TRUE, and ONLY SON;

"Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter;

"Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ;

"Thou art the EVERLASTING (sempiternus) SON OF THE FATHER.

"When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb."

This magnificent composition has now, for fourteen hundred years, been employed by the Christian church; and Sabbath after Sabbath, during that protracted period, thousands of devout worshippers, in harmony with "the holy church throughout all the world," have adored the first person of the Trinity as "the FATHER of an INFINITE MAJESTY;" and the second person of the Trinity as the ETERNAL SON of the FATHER."

The reader has now before him a body of evidence sufficient, it is presumed, to prove the antiquity of any doctrine. As far as our means of information extend, we find that the eternal Sonship of our Lord has been held by the Christian church from the times of the Apostles. Not only was it to be believed, and was actually believed, by the primitive ministers and doctors, but by every recognised professor of Christianity. From a very early period, its avowal, in terms the most express, emphatical, and unambiguous, was demanded of every candidate for Christian baptism, and none who refused such an avowal could be admitted to that rite.

Another weighty consideration is the use which was made of this doctrine for the counteraction or suppression of error. No rational doubt can be entertained, that it was intended in all the orthodox creeds to which we have access; but it was not till the prevalence of some of the bolder and more plausible heresies that it came to be expressly and emphatically stated. We first find it thus affirmed in the creeds of Tertullian, especially in