pluviae). Hebr. XII, 9: "The father of spirits (pater spirituum)." He is called in a special manner "Father of men," or Father of the human race, because He created humankind out of pure benevolence and with paternal solicitude provides for their needs. In the Old Testament Jehovah's relation to His Chosen People formed the basis of a particularly cordial and intimate kinship, which might well be styled fatherhood. Cfr. Deut. XXXII, 6: "Numquid non ipse est Pater tuus, qui possedit te et fecit et creavit te Is not he thy father, that hath possessed thee, and made thee, and created thee?" Jer. XXXI, 9: “Quia factus sum Israeli Pater et Ephraim primogenitus meus est — For I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born." It is a proof of the depth of feeling and the keen insight which distinguishes the Aryan nations that, though deprived of the benefits of supernatural Revelation, they fixed upon fatherhood as the characteristic note of God. Such appellations as the Sanskrit Dyaus Pitar, the Greek Zevs Tarp, and the Latin Iupiter, indicate that God impressed them above all else as the Father of

men.

God's supernatural fatherhood with regard to man is related to the natural fatherhood of which we have just spoken, as light is related to shadow, or as being to nothingness. From the purely natural point of view God is our master rather than our father, and we are His slaves rather than His children. But sanctifying grace elevates us to the supernatural rank of "children of God," inasmuch as it gives us "power to be made the sons of God," if we "believe in his name and are

8 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes, pp. 260 sqq. 4 Cfr. Gal. IV, 7.

"born of God." Rom. VIII, 15: "Non enim accepistis spiritum servitutis iterum in timore, sed accepistis spiritum adoptionis filiorum, in quo clamamus: Abba, Pater For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba (Father)." I Cor. VIII, 6: "Yet to us there is but one God, the Father (els eós, & Tarηр)." It is in this sense that we (εἷς Θεός, πατήρ).” daily pray: "Our Father, who art in Heaven.”

2. GOD'S FATHERHOOD IN THE STRICT SENSE OF THE TERM.-Besides and above the figurative paternity of God, there is peculiar to Him another and higher fatherhood. This is based not on His (natural or supernatural) relations to His creatures, but on a mysterious vital process immanent in the Deity. Revelation tells us that God has from all eternity begotten a Son of the same substance with Himself, the "unigenitus Filius, qui est in sinu Patris." This phys

ical, or, more correctly speaking, metaphysical, divine Sonship must have for its necessary correlative in the Godhead a true Fatherhood in the proper sense of the term. Hence the name "Father" is applied to God as a nomen proprium, or proper name, and it follows with logical necessity that there is a First Person in the Godhead. For, being a pure spirit, God the Father can have a natural, coessential son

(filius naturalis) only in so far as, by virtue of eternal generation, He communicates the fulness of His Divine Nature to a Second Person, who must in consequence be the true Son of God, and therefore Himself God. Cfr. 2 Pet. I, 17: "Accipiens enim a Deo Patre honorem et gloriam, voce delapsa ad eum huiuscemodi a magnifica gloria: Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi complacui, ipsum audite· For he received from God the Father honor and glory: this voice coming down to him from the excellent glory: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." him." No one felt the force of this argument more keenly than the unbelieving Jews. Cfr. John V, 18: "Propterea ergo magis quaerebant eum Iudaei interficere, quia non solum solvebat sabbatum, sed et Patrem suum dicebat Deum, aequalem se faciens Deo (πατέρα ἴδιον ἔλεγε τὸν Θεόν, ἴσον ἑαυτὸν ποιῶν τῷ Θεῷ) Hereupon therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he did not only break the sabbath, but also said God was his Father, making himself equal to God."

The sacred writers frequently emphasize God's peculiar and singular Paternity, and quite consistently depict it as the pattern and exemplar of all creatural fatherhood. Cfr. 2 Cor. I, 3: "Benedictus Deus et Pater Domini nostri Iesu Christi -Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord

Jesus Christ." Eph. III, 14 sq.: "Flecto genua mea ad Patrem Domini nostri Iesu Christi, ex quo [scil. Patre] omnis paternitas in coelis et in terra nominatur - I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named."

This inner-divine Paternity cannot be predicated of the Divine Nature or Essence as suchfor the Divine Essence neither begets nor is begotten. Hence it must consist in a relative opposition between the Father and the Son. Consequently, the Father is a Person distinct from the Son; and inasmuch as paternity is notionally prior to sonship, He is the First Person of the Blessed Trinity.

It is to be noted that the Antitrinitarians never denied that the Father is a real person, or that He is true God. What they disputed was that the Father is the First Person of the Godhead. And in this they were quite consistent; for had they admitted that proposition, they would have been forced to admit also that there is a Second Person, namely, the Divine Son. It is this truth we now proceed to demonstrate from Holy Scripture.

READINGS: - On the theology of the Father, cfr. Heinrich, Dogmat. Theologie, 2nd ed., Vol. IV, pp. 139 sqq., Mainz 1885; Oswald, Trinitätslehre, § 4; Simar, Dogmatik, 4th ed., Vol. I, pp. 228 sqq., Freiburg 1899; Fr. H. Chase, The Lord's Prayer in the Early Church, Cambridge 1891. Also S. Thom., S. Theol., a, qu. 33 (Bonjoannes-Lescher, Compendium, pp. 84 sq.).

ARTICLE 2

OF GOD THE SON

In the sublime text John I, 14:

"Kai 8 Aóyos

σὰρξ ἐγένετο -And the Word was made flesh," the dogma of the Blessed Trinity and the dogmatic teaching of the Church in regard to Jesus Christ run together into one. For this reason nearly all Scriptural passages that can be cited in proof of Christ's being the Only-begotten Son of God likewise offer solid arguments for the dogma that He is both the true Son of God and the Divine Logos, and consequently the Second Person of the Godhead. It will be sufficient to show, therefore, in this division of our treatise, (1) that Christ is the true Son of God, (2) that He is very God, and (3) that He is the Divine Logos. There is no need of a special demonstration to prove that Christ is a real person and not a mere personification.

A. Christ's Divine Sonship

I. THE TERM "SON OF GOD" AS USED IN A METAPHORICAL SENSE.-If, as we have shown, God can assume towards His rational creatures the relation of a father, these creatures must be capable of becoming, in a certain sense, sons or children of God.