NOVATIAN, OF ROME. A.D. 250. NOVATIAN, a presbyter and then a schismatical bishop of Rome, in opposition to Cornelius, from whom he dissented, in the middle of the third century, on a question of discipline concerning the readmission of the lapsed, explains, in his work De Trinitate s. De Regula Fidei (Bibl. PP. ed. Gallandi, Tom. III. pp. 287 sqq.), the 'rule of truth,' especially the divinity of Christ, in opposition to the heresies of his age, and states: Regula exigit veritatis, ut primo The rule of truth demands that, first of all, omnium credamus in DEUM PATREM et we believe in GOD THE FATHER Dominum omnipotentem, and Almighty Lord, id est, rerum omnium perfectissi- that is, the most perfect Maker of mum conditorem. Eadem regula veritatis docet nos credere, post Patrem, etiam in FILIUM DEI, CHRISTUM JESUM, Dominum Deum nostrum, sed Dei Filium. . . . Sed enim ordo rationis et fidei auctoritas, digestis vocibus et literis Domini, admonet nos, post hæc credere etiam in SPIRITUM SANCTUM, all things.... The same rule of truth teaches us to believe, after the Father, also in the SON OF GOD, CHRIST JESUS, our Lord God, but the Son of God.... Moreover, the order of reason and the authority of faith, in due consideration of the words and Scriptures of the Lord, admonishes us, after this, to believe also in the HOLY GHOST, promised of old to the Church, but granted in the appointed and fitting time. NOTE. This rule is little more than the baptismal formula, and represents the Roman creed, which was shorter than the Eastern creeds, since Rome always loved power more than philosophy, and (as Rufinus remarks, De Symb. § 3) was less disturbed by heretical speculations than the Greek Church. Novatian, however, takes the knowledge of the whole creed for granted, and hence does not quote it literally and in full. He mentions also incidentally as articles of faith the holy Church, the remission of sins, and the resurrection. Comp. the notes in Hahn, pp. 74, 75. ORIGEN (185-254), teacher of the Catechetical School of Alexandria in Egypt, was the greatest divine and one of the noblest characters of his age, equally distinguished for genius, learning, industry, and enthusiasm for the knowledge of truth. His orthodoxy was questioned by some of his contemporaries, and he was even excommunicated by the Bishop of Alexandria, and condemned as a heretic long after his death by a council of Constantinople, 544. His curious speculations about the pre-existence of souls, the final salvation of all rational beings, etc., arose chiefly from his attempt to harmonize Christianity with Platonism. In the Introduction to his work, Iɛpì ápx✩v, On the Principles (of the Christian Religion), written before 231 (some date it from 212-215), and preserved to us in the loose and inaccurate Latin translation of Rufinus, Origen gives some fragments of the creed which was used in his day and country. He first remarks that, while all believers in Christ accepted the books of the Old and New Testaments as a full revelation of the divine truth, the diversity of interpretations and opinions demanded a clear and certain rule (certa linea, manifesta regula), and that the apostles delivered such articles of faith as they deemed necessary for all, leaving the study of the reasons, the examination of the mode and origin, to the more gifted lovers of wisdom. He then proceeds to give a sketch of these dogmatic teachings of the apostles as follows: The form of those things which Species eorum, quæ per prædicationem Apostolicam manifeste are manifestly delivered by the traduntur, istæ sunt: preaching of the Apostles is this: Primo, quod UNUS DEUS est, qui First, that there is ONE GOD, omnia creavit atque composuit who created and framed every quique cum nihil esset, esse fecit thing, and who, when nothing was, universa, Deus a prima creatura brought all things into being,-God et conditione mundi, omnium jus- from the first creation and formtorum Deus-Adam, Abel, Seth, ing of the world, the God of all Enos, Enoch, Noë, Sem, Abra- the just-Adam, Abel, Seth, Enos, ham, Isaac, Jacob, duodecim Pa- Enoch, Noah, Shem, Abraham, triarcharum, Moysis et Prophe- Isaac, Jacob, the twelve Patritarum: et quod hic Deus in archs, Moses, and the Prophets: novissimis diebus, sicut per pro- and that this God, in the last days, phetas suos ante promiserat, as he had before promised through misit DOMINUM NOSTRUM JESUM his Prophets, sent OUR LORD JESUS CHRISTUM, primo quidem vocatu- CHRIST, to all Israel first, and then, rum Israël, secundo vero etiam after the unbelief of Israel, also to gentes post perfidiam populi Is- the Gentiles. This just and good raël. Hic Deus justus et bonus, God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi, Christ, himself gave the Law and Legem et Prophetas et Evangelia the Prophets and the Gospels, and ipse dedit, qui et Apostolorum he also is the God of the Apostles, Deus est et Veteris et Novi Testa- and of the Old and New Testamenti. ments. Tum deinde, quia JESUS CHRI Then, secondly, that JESUS CHRIST STUS ipse, qui venit, ante omnem himself, who came, was born of the creaturam natus ex Patre est. Father before all creation. And Qui cum in omnium conditione when in the formation of all things Patri ministrasset (per ipsum he had served the Father (for by enim omnia facta sunt), novis him all things were made), in these simis temporibus se ipsum exina- last times, emptying himself, he beniens homo factus incarnatus est, came man incarnate, while he was cum Deus esset, et homo factus God, and though made man, remansit, quod erat, Deus. Corpus mained God as he was before. He assumsit nostro corpori simile, eo took a body like our body, differsolo differens, quod natum ex ing in this point only, that it was Virgine et Spiritu Sancto est. born of the Virgin and the Holy Et quoniam hic Jesus Christus Ghost. And since this Jesus Christ natus et passus est in veritate et was born and suffered in truth, and non per phantasiam communem not in appearance, he bore the death hanc mortem sustinuit, vere mor- common to all men and truly died; tuus; vere enim a mortuis resurrexit et post resurrectionem, conversatus cum discipulis suis, as sumtus est. Tum deinde honore ac dignitate Patri ac Filio sociatum tradiderunt SPIRITUM SANCTUM. for he truly rose from the dead, and after his resurrection, having conversed with his disciples, he was taken up. They also delivered that the HOLY GHOST was associated in honor and dignity with the Father and the Son. Origen then goes on to say that 'such questions, as to whether the Holy Spirit was born or unborn (natus an innatus), whether he was also to be regarded as a Son of God or not, are left for inquiry and investigation out of the holy Scriptures, according to the best of our ability; but it was most clearly preached in the churches that the Holy Spirit inspired every one of the saints and prophets and apostles, and that there was not one Spirit given to the ancients and another to the Christians.' Then he mentions (§ 5) as part of apostolic preaching (ecclesiastica prædicatio) the future resurrection and judgment, the freedom of will (omnem animam rationabilem esse liberi arbitrii et voluntatis), the struggle of the soul with the devil and his angels, the inspiration of the Scriptures, and their deeper meaning known only to those to whom the Holy Spirit gives wisdom and understanding. Throughout this passage Origen makes an important distinction between ecclesiastical preaching and theological science, and confines the former to fundamental facts, while to the latter belongs the investigation of the why and wherefore, and the deeper mysteries. VOL. II.-C GREGORIUS THAUMATURGUS, OF NEO-CESAREA. ABOUT A.D. 270. GREGORY, surnamed the GREAT or THAUMATURGUS, i. e., the Wonderworker (from his supposed power of miracles), was a pupil and admirer of Origen (on whom he wrote an eloquent panegyric), and Bishop of Neo-Cæsarea in Pontus (from about 240 to 270), which he changed from a heathen into a Christian city. He took a prominent part in the Synod of Antioch (A.D. 269), which condemned the errors of Paul of Samosata, and issued a lengthy creed. He was held in the highest esteem, as we learn from Basil the Great, his successor in office (De Spiritu Sancto, cap. 29, § 74, where he is compared to the apostles and prophets, and called a 'second Moses'), and from Gregory of Nyssa (Vita Gregorii). The following creed (ἔκθεσις πίστεως κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν Γρηγορίου ἐπισκόπου Νεοκαισαρείας) was, according to the legend related by Gregory of Nyssa a hundred years later, revealed to him by the Apostle John in a vision, at the request of the Virgin Mary. It is somewhat rhetorical, but more explicit on the doctrine of the Trinity than any other ante-Nicene creed, and approaches in this respect the Symbolum Quicunque. The Greek text in Gallandi, Vet. PP. Bibl. p. 385; in Mansi, Tom. I. p. 1030, and Hahn, p. 97. Hahn gives also two Latin versions, one by Rufinus. Two other creeds ascribed to him are not genuine. An English translation of his writings by S. D. F. Salmond, in the Ante-Nicene Christian Library, Vol. XX. (Edinb. 1871). Εἷς θεὸς πατὴρ λόγου ζῶντος, σοφίας ὑφεστώσης καὶ δυνάμεως καὶ χαρακτῆρος ἀϊδίου, τέλειος τελείου γεννήτωρ, πατὴρ υἱοῦ μονογενοῦς. There is ONE GOD, THE FATHER of the living Word, who is the substantive wisdom and eternal power and image of God: the perfect origin (begetter) of the perfect (begotten): the Father of the onlybegotten Son. Εἷς κύριος, μόνος ἐκ μόνου, There is ONE LORD, one of one Θεὺς ἐκ Θεοῦ, χαρακτὴρ καὶ εἰκὼν (only of the only), God of God, τῆς θεότητος, λόγος ἐνεργός, σοφία the image and likeness of the Godτῆς τῶν ὅλων συστάσεως περιεκτική head, the mighty Word, the wisκαὶ δύναμις τῆς ὕλης κτίσεως ποιη- dom which comprehends the conτική, υἱὸς ἀληθινὸς ἀληθινοῦ πα- stitution of all things, and the τρός, ἀόρατος ἀοράτου καὶ ἄφθαρ- power which produces all creaτος ἀφθάρτου καὶ ἀθάνατος αθανά- tion; the true Son of the true του καὶ αΐδιος αϊδίου. Father, Invisible of Invisible, and Incorruptible of Incorruptible, and Immortal of Immortal, and Everlasting of Everlasting. Καὶ ἓν πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐκ Θεοῦ And there is ONE HOLY GHOST, See the Greek text of the creed of the Antiochean Synod in Hahn, pp. 91-96; an English translation in Swainson, pp. 52–55. τὴν ὕπαρξιν ἔχον καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ πε- having his existence from God, φηνὸς δηλαδὴ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, εἰκὼν and being manifested by the τοῦ υἱοῦ τελείου τελεία, ζωὴ ζώντων Son, namely, to men, the perfect αἰτία [πηγὴ ἁγία], ἁγιότης ἁγια- likeness of the perfect Son, Life, σμοῦ χορηγός, ἐν ᾧ φανεροῦται θεός the cause of the living the saὁ πατὴρ ὁ ἐπὶ πάντων καὶ ἐν πᾶσι, cred fount], sanctity, the Leader καὶ Θεὸς ὁ υἱὸς ὁ διὰ πάντων, τριὰς of sanctification:3 in whom is reτελεία, δόξῃ καὶ ἀϊδιότητι καὶ βασι- vealed God the Father, who is over λείᾳ μὴ μεριζομένη μηδὲ ἀπαλλο- all things and in all things, and τριουμένη. God the Son, who is through all things: a perfect Trinity, not divided nor differing in glory and eternity and sovereignty. Neither, indeed, is there any tling created or subservient in the Trinity, nor introduced, as though not there before but coming in Οὔτε οὖν κτιστόν τι ἢ δοῦλον ἐν τῇ τριάδι, οὔτε ἐπείσακτον, ὡς πρότερον μὲν οὐχ ὑπάρχον, ὕστερον δὲ ἐπεισελθόν· οὔτε οὖν ἐνέλιπέ ποτε υἱὸς πατρὶ, οὔτε υἱῷ πνεῦμα, ἀλλὰ afterwards; nor, indeed, has the ἄτρεπτος καὶ ἀναλλοίωτος ἡ αὐτὴ Son ever been without the Father, τριὰς ἀεί. nor the Spirit without the Son, but the Trinity is ever the same, unvarying and unchangeable. LUCIAN, OF ANTIOCH. A.D. 300. From ATHANASIUS, Epist. de Synodis Arimini et Seleuciæ celebratis, § 23 (Opera ed. Montfauc. Tom. I. Pt. II. p. 735), and Socrates, Hist. Eccl. Lib. II. cap. 10. LUCIANUS was a learned presbyter of Antioch, who died a martyr, A. D. 311, under Maximinus, in Nicomedia. His creed was found after his death, and was, together with three similar creeds, laid before the Synod of Antioch, held A.D. 341, in the hope that it might be substituted for the obnoxious Creed of Nicæa. It is also called the second Antiochean Formula. It was translated into Latin by Hilarius Pictav. in his book De Synodis s. de Fide Orientalium, § 29. See Socrates, H. E. Lib. II. cap. 10 and 18; Sozomen, H. E. Lib. III. cap. 5 ; VI. 12; Mansi, Conc. Tom. II. pp. 1339–1342; Walch, l. c. p. 34; Hahn, l. c. p. 100. 1 Variations: τελεία ζωὴ ζώντων, perfecta vita viventium, viventium causa. See Hahn, 'Rufinus: sanctitas sanctificationis præstatrix. Another Latin version: sanctitas et fons sanctitatis et ædificationis administrator. |