The Trinity, or fourth period of Christianity.
If we may judge of the opposition made to the doctrines of the fourth
Gospel by the vehemence and bad feeling with which they were defended,
we conclude that if they were not successfully refuted, they did not
escape just and severe criticism. The sudden change from the Logos
of Philo to the _hypostasis_ of John--from Christ a spirit who had
descended from Heaven and taken up a temporary abode in the human form,
and a Christ who was born a God, lived and remained such through death
and the resurrection--was too great a change to be suddenly taken,
without provoking the sneers and animadversions of the enemies of
the new faith, who were on the lookout to expose its weaknesses, and
ridicule its inconsistencies. What gave force and point to their attacks
was, that the change from the Logos of the Synoptics to that of the
fourth Gospel was one of necessity, forced upon Christians by the
tactics of the Gnostics, in order to maintain a principle which lay at
the foundation of their religion: that is, the atonement.
In the war waged between them and their enemies, Christians found it a
source of great relief and satisfaction, to learn that the doctrines
of John's Gospel, which were announced in the first verses of the
first chapter, were in harmony with the theology of Plato. Whatever
inconsistencies might be imputed to them on account of the change of
their ideas as to the nature of Christ, their present views were the
same as those held by the great philosopher of Greece, whose wisdom had
entitled him to be called Plato the Divine. The study of the works of
the Athenian by Christians of this period was the natural result of this
feeling, and we discover a constant increase of this admiration until
his ascendency is complete, and the nature of the Godhead determined by
his genius. The followers of Plato were no less gratified to find that
the doctrines of the fourth Gospel were in harmony with the school of
their great teacher; so much so that it removed, the prejudice, and
reduced the distance which formerly separated them from the Christians.*
* Some proofs of the respect which the Christians
entertained for the person and doctrines of Plato, may be
found in De la Mothe le Vager, torn. v. p. 135, and Basnage,
tom. IV. p. 29-79. Decline and Fall, vol. I. p. 440, note
29.
According to John, the _Word_ existed with the Father from the
beginning--was equal to the Father, and was the Creator of all things.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost were co-equal and co-eternal.
With Plato, the Father, or First Cause, the Logos, and Spirit of the
Universe, existed from the beginning, and were endowed with co-ordinate
powers; but, according to him, all divine natures flow from the One, or
First Cause, as light flows from the sun, and are bound in unity, and
are one; so the three persons in the Godhead of Plato are one, and
constitute a triad in unity.
The theology of the fourth Gospel approached so near to that of Plato,
that it was natural that one should insensibly run into the other, and
was what might have been expected. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are
equal, as the First Cause, the Logos, and the Spirit of the Universe are
equal. As the two proceed from the One, or First Cause, with Plato, and
are united, so the two proceed from the Father, and are one, and in both
cases form a trinity in unity.
The circle is now complete. Paul was dethroned by the Alexandrian Philo,
and his Christology in turn is overthrown by the mixed theology of John
and Plato. We can readily detect the violence done the works of the
fathers, in order to give the authority of their names to this new phase
of Christianity. "Wherefore come all ye together as to one temple of
God--as to one altar--as to one Jesus Christ--_who proceeds from One
Father, and exists in one and is returned to One_" (_Ignatius to
Magnesians_, sec. 7.) This language expresses the Platonic idea in all
its completeness. It could hardly be expected that Christianity could
take upon itself this new phase without opening the door for new causes
for dispute, as will always be the case when men presume to reason on
spiritual generation, and from negative ideas attempt to draw positive
conclusions.
Sabellius, of Egypt, undertook to find a middle ground, and while he
admitted the triad in unity, he claimed that there was but one person in
the Godhead, and that the Word and Spirit are only virtues or emanations
of the Deity. But his doctrine conceded too much to the theology of
the Greek to suit the followers of Arius, and not enough to satisfy the
orthodox; and so, after a vain struggle, Sabellius and his doctrine?
were swallowed up and lost sight of in the strife created by the
opposing views which suddenly sprang up in the church at Alexandria. We
give the origin of the dispute in the words of Socrates, a writer of the
fifth century.
"After Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, had suffered martyrdom under
Diocletian, Achilles was installed in the Episcopal office, whom
Alexander succeeded, during the period of peace above referred to.
He, in the fearless exercise of his functions for the instruction and
government of the church, attempted one day, in the presence of the
presbytery and the rest of his clergy, to explain, with perhaps too
philosophical minuteness, that great theological mystery, _the Unity
of the Holy Trinity_. A certain one of the Presbyters under his
jurisdiction, whose name was Arius, possessed of no inconsiderable
logical acumen, imagining that the Bishop entertained the same view of
this subject as Sabellius the Libyan, controverted his statements
with excessive pertinacity, advancing another error which was directly
opposed indeed to that which he supposed himself called upon to refute.
'If,' said he, 'the Father begat the Son, he that was begotten had a
beginning of existence: and from this it is evident, that there was a
time when the Son was not in being. It therefore necessarily follows,
that he had his existence from nothing.'" (_Ecclesiastical History_,
book i. chap. 5.)
From a little spark, continues the writer, a large fire was kindled,
which ran throughout all Egypt, Libya, the upper Thebes, and finally
through Asia and Europe. After disturbing the peace of the world for
fourteen hundred years, the dispute which commenced at Alexandria
remains unsettled to this day.
We now approach a new era. Up to this time the religion of a people had
no connection with the powers of the State. Constantine is the first to
set an example. Indebted to the Christians for their assistance in the
civil war between himself and Licinius, under the pretext of preserving
the peace of the church, he wrote an epistle to Alexander and Arius,
admonishing them to forbear and cease to quarrel about things they
can neither explain or comprehend. Thus commenced a connection between
church and State which has proved so ruinous to the cause of true
religion, and the peace of the church ever since. This interference was
continued by Constantine throughout his reign, and at the time of his
death the affairs of the church and State were so interwoven that it
became difficult, at times, to distinguish between the office of a
Bishop and the powers of the Emperor. The spirit of faction in the
church proved superior to the authority of Constantine, and in order to
restore peace, he was forced to call an assembly of Bishops, Presbyters,
and Deacons from every part of the Christian world. What was meant to
restore harmony, only furnished fresh subjects for dispute, so that the
progress of mankind has rather been retarded than assisted by the piety
and wisdom of the Nicene fathers. The attempt to fix a standard of faith
by the decrees of councils has proven to be the greatest folly in which
men were ever engaged, as it has been the source of the greatest misery
and suffering; and proves, by the evils which flow from it, that all
such efforts are vain and presumptuous. As well undertake to fix a
standard for the fine arts, and determine by a decree the combination
of colors, and how the lights and shades shall be mingled in making a
picture to please the eye, and satisfy the taste of all.
That which followed what was done at the Council of Nice, shows of
what little value are the decrees of such bodies in establishing or in
assisting the cause of truth. Council followed council, without arriving
any nearer to the settlement of the dispute. In the fourth century
alone, there were forty-five councils; of these, thirteen decided
against Arius, fifteen in his favor, and seventeen for the Semiarians.
(Draper's _Intellectual Development_, page 222.) The divisions and
quarrels among Christians sapped the strength, and finally led to the
disruption of the Roman empire, and prepared the way for the armies of
Persia, and the conquest of Mahomet.