Jackson on Article I: Of Faith in the Holy Trinity

There is no attempt here to prove the existence of God. That is assumed as an axiom, or, to use Bishop Westcott’s phrase, as one of the “‘ three final existences ’’ which by the very constitution of our minds we instinctively recognise. The so-called ‘* Proofs of the Existence of God ’’* are only attempts to justify and explain a belief

Religion,”” Ch. V., or Illingworth’s “ Personality, Human and Divine,’’ Ch. IV.

already present. The fact of the Universe de- mands as its explanation a ‘‘ first cause.’” The marks of design and purpose in nature point to the further truth of an intelligent Creator. The fact of conscience and of the working of moral law in human life lead us to think of the Creator as our Moral Governor. And the conception gains strength from the general consent of man- kind; for in some form or other history bears witness to a belief in God practically universal in every age. In the truth of God’s unity, as in the truth of God’s existence, the Article starts from what is to some extent common ground. It is no monopoly of Christianity, but is shared alike by Jews and Mohammedans.

2. Tue ATTRIBUTES OF Gop.

These are defined in nine words or phrases, which may be classified in three groups.

(1) ‘‘ Living,’ ‘‘ True,’ “ Everlasting.”

‘** Living ’’ (L. vivus) contrasts God with the inanimate idols of the heathen (Acts xiv., 165). It also implies that He is living in a higher sense than man. For our life is derivative, God’s is Saas He “ hath life in Himself ’’ (John v., 26).

‘‘ True ’’ (L. verus, real) contrasts God with the unreal gods of the heathen (1 Cor. viii., 4-6), and implies that He alone fulfils the idea denoted by the name ‘‘ God ”’ (John xvii., 3).

“‘ Everlasting ’’ (L. aeternus) lifts God above all those who from time to time in the history of the world have come to be deified and wor- shipped by their followers. The word guards us against allowing the notion of time to enter into our idea of God. There never was a time when God was not. ‘‘ From everlasting to everlasting Thou art God ”’ (Ps. xc., 3).

(2) The next three phrases—“‘without body, parts or passions ’’—safeguard the doctrine of God from anthropomorphic ideas, or, in other words, from thinking of God under human form.

‘* Without body ’’ (L. incorporeus) reminds us that God is free from those limitations which we associate with bodily life. ‘‘ God is Spirit ”’ (John iv., 24 R.V. marg.).

x Without parts ” (L. impartibilis) means in- capable of division. That is, there can be no real separation between God’s essence and His attri- butes. With us it is not so. Our attributes may be inherited or acquired. But all that God is has its origin within Himself.

‘* Without passions ’’ (L. impassibilis) means, not that God is incapable of feeling and sympathy (Ex. iii., 7), but that He is passionless, or dis- passionate, in His purpose and activity. He _ loves us, not because we love Him, but because He is love. He is just because it is His nature to be so, and He cannot be provoked into injustice.

(3) The next three phrases—‘ Of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness ’’—give us a posi- tive conception of what God is. But we must take care to hold them closely together in our minds. The first alone would only make us dread God. The first and second could only give us a cold and distant admiration for Him. But the three taken together teach us to reverence and love Him.

‘* Infinite power ’? means that God can do all things which are consistent with His character (2 Tim. ii., 13).

“ Infinite wisdom,’’ though involving fone: knowledge, must not be so interpreted as to in- terfere with our moral freedom.

** Infinite goodness ”’ (L. bonitatis, whens our ‘bounty ’’) refers to the beneficence rather than

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the holiness of God. It is infinite because, un- like us, ‘‘ He is kind toward the unthankful and evil ’? (Luke vi., 35 and Acts xiv., 17).

3. Gop’s RELATION TO THE UNIVERSE.

This is defined by two words, which taken to- gether give us a full and well-balanced conception of God’s relation to the world, and safeguard the doctrine from various false theories.

“Maker (L. Creator) of all things ’’ safeguards the truth of God’s transcendence from the errors of Gnosticism, which interposed a demiurge or Creator between God and the Universe, and of Pantheism, which identified Him with it.

“Preserver (L. Conservator) of all things ”’ safeguards the truth of God’s Immanence from the error called ‘‘ Deism,’’ which, though ac- knowledging God as Creator, denied His present working in the Universe (John v., 17).

“ Visible and Invisible ’’ are intended to em- phasise the fact that the whole universe is the creation of the one God. The Gnostics had taught that the visible world was not created by the Creator of the spiritual world.

4, Tue Mops or Gop’s EXISTENCE.

The last sentence in the Article gives us what we call the Doctrine of the Trinity—‘ in unity of this Godhead there be three Persons.’’ This doctrine is based on certain revealed facts of Holy Scripture. In the Old Testament God is revealed as personal.* The use of the plural in Gen. i., 26, iii., 22, and Isaiah vi., 3 suggests that within

• We must not confuse ‘‘ person’ with ‘“‘ individual.” For this reason, it has been thought best here to avoid speaking of God as “ a person ” and to use the expression Ged ‘‘ is personal.”

the unity of His personal life and activity there is fellowship and co-operation. The references to ‘** the Angel of the Lord in Gen. xvili., and ‘‘ the Captain of the Lord’s Host ’’ in Joshua v., and the threefold Blessing in Numbers vi., 24-26 point in the same direction. They are intimations of a truth which assumes more definite shape in the New Testament. There our Lord and the Holy Spirit are spoken of as divine; and Father, Son and Holy Spirit are constantly mentioned together (Matt. xxviii., 19 and 20. John xiv., 16 and 17; 2 Cor. xiii., 14; Eph. ii., 18). It only re- mained for the Church to formulatea doctrine from the facts. The need for this arose when the contact of Christianity with heathen philosophy made men ask the question—‘‘ If God be one, who is Christ?’’ and when some attempts to explain the problem had led to erroneous teaching. The doctrine of the Trinity was the Church’s answer, hammered out during the controversies of the third and fourth centuries. Of course the truth of God’s Being inevitably transcends the doctrine. But the doctrine is the nearest expression of the truth, which human thought and language has yet attained.. It serves its purpose, and it has never been superseded.

“Of one substance, power, and eternity ”’ guards us against thinking of the three Persons either as partial ar temporary manifestations of the Godhead. We are to think of each Person as always God and as fully God (see the ‘‘ Qui- cunque Vult ’’).

Articte IJ. Or THE Worp or Son or Gop, Wuicu was Mabe Very Man.