A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity.

 A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity.

 The Rule of truth requires that we should first of all things believe on God the Father and Lord Omnipotent that is, the absolutely perfect Founder o

 And over all these things He Himself, containing all things, having nothing vacant beyond Himself, has left room for no superior God, such as some peo

 Him, then, we acknowledge and know to be God, the Creator of all things—Lord on account of His power, Parent on account of His discipline—Him, I say,

 Him alone the Lord rightly declares good, of whose goodness the whole world is witness which world He would not have ordained if He had not been good

 Moreover, if we read of His wrath, and consider certain descriptions of His indignation, and learn that hatred is asserted of Him, yet we are not to u

 And although the heavenly Scripture often turns the divine appearance into a human form,—as when it says, “The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous

 But when the Lord says that God is a Spirit, I think that Christ spoke thus of the Father, as wishing that something still more should be understood t

 This God, then, setting aside the fables and figments of heretics, the Church knows and worships, to whom the universal and entire nature of things as

 The same rule of truth teaches us to believe, after the Father, also on the Son of God, Christ Jesus, the Lord our God, but the Son of God—of that God

 But of this I remind you , that Christ was not to be expected in the Gospel in any other wise than as He was promised before by the Creator, in the Sc

 Chapter XI.—And Indeed that Christ Was Not Only Man, But God Also That Even as He Was the Son of Man, So Also He Was the Son of God.

 Why, then, should we hesitate to say what Scripture does not shrink from declaring? Why shall the truth of faith hesitate in that wherein the authorit

 And thus also John, describing the nativity of Christ, says: “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the o

 And yet the heretic still shrinks from urging that Christ is God, whom he perceives to be proved God by so many words as well as facts. If Christ is o

 If Christ is only man, how is it that He says, “Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true:  because I know whence I came, and whither I go

 If Christ was only man, how is it that He Himself says, “And every one that believeth in me shall not die for evermore?” And yet he who believes in ma

 What if Moses pursues this same rule of truth, and delivers to us in the beginning of his sacred writings, this principle by which we may learn that a

 Behold, the same Moses tells us in another place that “God was seen of Abraham.” And yet the same Moses hears from God, that “no man can see God and l

 What if in another place also we read in like manner that God was described as an angel? For when, to his wives Leah and Rachel, Jacob complained of t

 But if some heretic, obstinately struggling against the truth, should persist in all these instances either in understanding that Christ was properly

 And indeed I could set forth the treatment of this subject by all heavenly Scriptures, and set in motion, so to speak, a perfect forest of texts conce

 But why, although we appear to hasten to another branch of the argument, should we pass over that passage in the apostle: “Who, although He was in the

 In this place I may be permitted also to collect arguments from the side of other heretics. It is a substantial kind of proof which is gathered even f

 But the material of that heretical error has arisen, as I judge, from this, that they think that there is no distinction between the Son of God and th

 Therefore, say they, if Christ is not man only, but God also—and Scripture tells us that He died for us, and was raised again—then Scripture teaches u

 But from this occasion of Christ being proved from the sacred authority of the divine writings not man only, but God also, other heretics, breaking fo

 But since they frequently urge upon us the passage where it is said, “I and the Father are one,” in this also we shall overcome them with equal facili

 Hereto also I will add that view wherein the heretic, while he rejoices as if at the loss of some power of seeing special truth and light, acknowledge

 Moreover, the order of reason, and the authority of the faith in the disposition of the words and in the Scriptures of the Lord, admonish us after the

 And now, indeed, concerning the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, let it be sufficient to have briefly said thus much, and to have laid down t

 Thus God the Father, the Founder and Creator of all things, who only knows no beginning, invisible, infinite, immortal, eternal, is one God to whose

Chapter IX.  Argument.—Further, that the Same Rule of Truth Teaches Us to Believe, After the Father, Also in the Son of God, Jesus Christ Our Lord God, Being the Same that Was Promised in the Old Testament, and Manifested in the New.

The same rule of truth teaches us to believe, after the Father, also on the Son of God, Christ Jesus, the Lord our God, but the Son of God—of that God who is both one and alone, to wit the Founder of all things, as already has been expressed above. For this Jesus Christ, I will once more say, the Son of this God, we read of as having been promised in the Old Testament, and we observe to be manifested in the New, fulfilling the shadows and figures of all the sacraments, with the presence of the truth embodied. For as well the ancient prophecies as the Gospels testify Him to be the son of Abraham and the son of David.  Genesis itself anticipates Him, when it says: “To thee will I give it, and to thy seed.”49    Gen. xvii. 8. He is spoken of when it shows how a man wrestled with Jacob; He too, when it says: “There shall not fail a prince from Judah, nor a leader from between his thighs, until He shall come to whom it has been promised; and He shall be the expectation of the nations.”50    Gen. xlix. 10. He is spoken of by Moses when he says: “Provide another whom thou mayest send.”51    Ex. iv. 13. He is again spoken of by the same, when he testifies, saying: “A Prophet will God raise up to you from your brethren; listen to Him as if to me.”52    Deut. xviii. 15. It is He, too, that he speaks of when he says: “Ye shall see your life hanging in doubt night and day, and ye shall not believe Him.”53    Deut. xxviii. 66. Him, too, Isaiah alludes to: “There shall go forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall grow up from his root.”54    Isa. xi. 1. The same also when he says: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son.”55    Isa. vii. 13. Him he refers to when he enumerates the healings that were to proceed from Him, saying:  “Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear: then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be eloquent.”56    Isa. xxxv. 3–6. Him also, when he sets forth the virtue of patience, saying: “His voice shall not be heard in the streets; a bruised reed shall He not destroy, and the smoking flax shall He not quench.”57    Isa. xiii. 2, 3. Him, too, when he described His Gospel: “And I will ordain for you an everlasting covenant, even the sure mercies of David.”58    Isa. lv. 3. Him, too, when he foretells that the nations should believe on Him: “Behold, I have given Him for a Chief and a Commander to the nations. Nations that knew not Thee shall call upon Thee, and peoples that knew Thee not shall flee unto Thee.”59    Isa. lv. 4, 5. It is the same that he refers to when, concerning His passion, he exclaims, saying: “As a sheep He is led to the slaughter; and as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, so He opened not His mouth in His humility.”60    Isa. liii. 7. Him, moreover, when he described the blows and stripes of His scourgings: “By His bruises we were healed.”61    Isa. liii. 5. Or His humiliation:  “And we saw Him, and He had neither form nor comeliness, a man in suffering, and who knoweth how to bear infirmity.”62    Isa. liii. 2. Or that the people would not believe on Him: “All day long I have spread out my hands unto a people that believeth not.”63    Isa. lxv. 2. Or that He would rise again from the dead: “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, and one who shall rise to reign over the nations; on Him shall the nations hope, and His rest shall be honour.”64    Isa. xi. 10. Or when he speaks of the time of the resurrection: “We shall find Him, as it were, prepared in the morning.”65    Hos. vi. 3. Or that He should sit at the right hand of the Father: “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, until I shall place Thine enemies as the stool of Thy feet.”66    Ps. cx. 1, 2. Or when He is set forth as possessor of all things: “Ask of me, and I will give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the boundaries of the earth for Thy possession.”67    Ps. ii. 8. Or when He is shown as Judge of all: “O God, give the King Thy judgment, and Thy righteousness to the King’s Son.”68    Ps. lxxii. 1. And I shall not in this place pursue the subject further: the things which are announced of Christ are known to all heretics, but are even better known to those who hold the truth.

CAPUT IX. Porro eamdem regulam veritatis docere nos, credere post Patrem etiam in Filium Dei Jesum Christum Dominum Deum nostrum, eumdem in Veteri Testamento repromissum, et in Novo exhibitum.

Eadem regula veritatis docet nos credere, post 0900C Patrem, etiam in Filium Dei, Christum Jesum Dominum Deum nostrum, sed Dei Filium; hujus Dei qui et unus et solus est, conditor scilicet rerum omnium, ut jam et superius expressum est. Hunc enim Jesum Christum, iterum dicam hujus Dei Filium, et in Veteri Testamento legimus esse repromissum et in Novo Testamento animadvertimus exhibitum, omnium sacramentorum umbras et figuras de praesentia corporatae veritatis implentem. Hunc enim Abrahae filium, hunc David, hunc non minus et vetera praedicta et Evangelia testantur. Hunc ipsa Genesis, cum dicit: Tibi dabo et semini tuo (Gen. XVII, 8). Hunc, quando luctatum ostendit hominem cum Jacob (Gen. XXXII, 24). Hunc, quando dicit (Gen. XLIX, 10): Non deficiet princeps de Juda, neque dux de femoribus ejus, 0900Ddonec veniat Is cui repromissum est, et ipse erit exspectatio gentium (Gen. XLIX, 19). Hunc Moyses, cum dicit: Provide alium quem mittas (Exod. IV, 13). Hunc idem, 0901A quando testatur, Propheten vobis, dicendo, suscitabit Deus ex fratribus vestris: eum quasi me audite (Deut. XVIII, 15). Hunc, quando dicit: Videbitis vitam vestram pendentem nocte ac die, et non credetis ei (Deut., XXVIII, 66). Hunc Isaias: Prodiet virga de radice Jesse, et flos de radice ejus ascendet (Isa. XI, 1). Hunc eumdem, quando dicit: Ecce Virgo concipiet et pariet filium (Isa. VII, 13). Hunc, quando sanitates ab eo futuras collocat dicens: Tunc aperientur oculi caecorum, et aures surdorum audient, tunc saliet claudus ut cervus, et diserta erit lingua mutorum (Ibid. XXXV, 3, 6). Hunc, quando patientiae virtutes expromit dicens: Non audietur in plateis vox ejus; arundinem quassatam non conteret, et linum fumigans non extinguet (Ibid. XLII, 2-3). Hunc, quando ejus Evangelia descripsit: Et disponam vobis testamentum 0901Baeternum, sancta David fidelia (Isa. LV, 3). Hunc, quando gentes in ipsum credituras prophetat: Ecce posui eum in principem et praecipientem gentibus. Gentes quae te non noverunt invocabunt te, et populi qui te nesciunt ad te confugient (Ibid. 4, 5). Hunc eumdem, quando ad passionem ejus exclamat dicens: Sicut ovis ad occisionem ductus est, et sicut agnus coram tondente se sine voce, sic non aperuit os suum in humilitate (Isa. LIII, 1). Hunc quando flagrorum ejus ictus plagasque descripsit: Livore ejus nos sanati sumus (Ibid. 5); aut humilitatem: Et vidimus eum, et non erat ei species neque honor. Homo in plaga et sciens ferre infirmitatem (Ibid. 2, 3). Aut quod populus non erat crediturus: Tota die expandi manus meas ad populum non credentem (Isai. LXV, 2). Aut quod resurrecturus a mortuis: Et erit in illa die radix 0901CJesse, et qui surget imperare gentibus, in eum gentes sperabunt; et erit requies ejus honor (Isai. XI, 10). Aut cum tempus resurrectionis: Quasi diluculo paratum inveniemus eum (Ose. VI, 3). Aut quod sessurus ad dextram Patris: Dixit Dominus Domino meo: Sede ad dexteram meam, donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum (Ps. CIX, 1-2). Aut cum possessor omnium collocatur: Postula a me, et dabo tibi gentes haereditatem tuam, et possessionem tuam terminos terrae (Ps. II, 8). Aut quod judex omnium ostenditur: Deus, judicium tuum regi da, et justitiam tuam filio regis (Ps. LXXI, 1). Nec hoc in loco plura persequar, quae annuntiata de Christo, omnibus haereticis, sed et ipsis veritatem tenentibus magis nota sunt.