Page:A Compendium of the Chief Doctrines of the True Christian Religion.djvu/196

12 passages in the Athanasian creed, There is one person of the father, another of the son, and another of the holy ghost; the father is God and Lord, the son is God and Lord, and the holy ghost is God and Lord; nevertheless there are not three Gods, or three Lords, but one God, and one Lord; for as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every person by himself to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say there be three Gods or three Lords. This creed is received as œcumenical, or universal, by the whole Christian church, and from it is derived all that at this day is known and acknowledged concerning God. Every one who readeth this creed with his eyes open may perceive, that a trinity of Gods was the only trinity thought of by those who composed the council of Nice, whence this creed, as a posthumous birth, was first introduced into the church. That a trinity of Gods was not only thought of by the members of the Nicene council, but that the same trinity is still received throughout all Christendom, is a necessary consequence of making that creed the standard of knowledge respecting God, to which every one pays an implicit obedience. I appeal to every one, both layman and clergyman, both learned masters and doctors, and also consecrated bishops and archbishops, nay, even to purple cardinals, and the Roman pontiff himself, whether any other trinity than a trinity of Gods be at this day received throughout Christendom: let each examine himself, and then profess his sentiments openly according to the ideas of his own mind; for from the words of this generally received doctrine concerning God, it is as clear and transparent to the sight, as water in a cup of chrystal, that there are three persons, each whereof is Lord and God; and also, that according to Christian verity men ought to confess, or acknowledge, each person singly to be God, and Lord.