Page:History of the Franks.djvu/164

 132 HISTORY OF THE FRANKS from the world. He was a very liberal almsgiver, very learned in the church writings, so much so that he often repeated from memory the succession of generations given in the books of the Old Testa- ment which many find it difficult to remember. He was also just in judgments, and he defended the poor of his church from the hand of the wicked according to the judgment of Job : ''I delivered the poor from the hand of the mighty and I helped the needy who had no helper. The mouth of the widow blessed me, for I. was an eye to the blind, a foot to the lame, and a father to the weak." [43. Debate over the Trinity between Gregory and a Spanish legate.] 44. At the same time king Chilperic wrote a little treatise to the effect that the holy Trinity should not be so called with refer- ence to distinct persons but should merely have the meaning of God, saying that it was unseemly that God should be called a person like a man of flesh ; affirming also that the Father is the same as the Son and that the Holy Spirit also is the same as the Father and the Son. Such," said he, was the view of the prophets and patriarchs and such is the teaching the law itself has given." When he had had this read to me he said : "I want you and the other teachers of the church to hold this view." But I answered him: " Good king, abandon this belief ; it is your duty to follow the doc- trine which the other teachers of the church left to us after the time of the apostles, the teachings of Hilarius and Eusebius which you professed at baptism." Then the king was angry and said: "It is plain that in this case Hilarius and Eusebius are my bitter enemies." And I answered him : "It is better for you to be careful and not make enemies either of God or his saints. Now let me tell you that as persons the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct. It was not the Father who took on flesh, nor the Holy Spirit, but the Son, so that he who was Son of God became the son of a virgin also for the redemption of man. It was not the Father who suffered, nor the Holy Spirit, but the Son, so that he who had taken on flesh in the world, was himself offered for the world. And what you say about persons must be understood not in a material but in a spiritual sense. In these three persons, then, there is one glory, one eternity, one power." But he became excited and said: "I will explain these matters to wiser men than you