Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 2.djvu/59

Rh prehended by none; worshipped by angels and men in spirit and in truth;, without beginning and without end."—From the Litany of the second day of the Baootha d'Ninwâyé, in the Khudhra.

§ 4. "And He [] manifestly committed unto them [the Apostles] the whole hidden mystery of the Godhead, without addition or reserve. [That there is] one Essence in three Persons. The word 'Essence' He applied to the three co-equal Persons, lest it should be thought that there are three essences having the same name. 'Go ye into all the world, and disciple all nations in the name of the, and of the , and of the ;' the Persons co-equal, one distinct Essence. The word Name proves the unity of the Essence, and the latter part of the sentence points out the coequality of the Persons in this one and self-same Essence."—From the Service for the Holy Nativity in the Gezza.

See also Appendix B. Part I. passim.

The reasoning of Mar Abd Yeshua, as quoted from the Appendix, in proof of the existence, unity, eternity, and incomprehensibility of, and of those other attributes which necessarily spring therefrom, is remarkable as well for its logical precision, as for its conciseness and comparative simplicity. It also shows that he was master of the irresistible à posteriori argument, which necessitates one great, designing Cause from the innumerable marks of design with which all created nature abounds. But, nevertheless, what this cause is he reverently abstains from any attempt to define. He concludes his fourth chapter with this sentence: "Now when we say of that He is invisible, incomprehensible, impassible, and immutable, we do not describe what He is, but what He is not," and I cannot better analyze his whole train of argument on the being and attributes of God, than by quoting an admirable passage from Sir Isaac Newton, which could not have suited better had it been drawn up with this especial design. " is eternal and infinite; omnipotent and omniscient; that is, He endures from eternity, and is present from infinity to infinity. He governs all things that exist, and knows all things that are to be known; He is not eternity or infinity, but eternal and infinite;