CHAPTER I

GOD'S THREEFOLD PERSONALITY PROVED FROM SACRED SCRIPTURE

There are traces of the dogma in the Old Testament, but they are rather indefinite and obscure unless viewed in the light of the New Testament. It is upon the latter, therefore, that the Scriptural argument is almost exclusively based. After briefly rehearsing the Old Testament intimations (§1), we will marshal the Trinitarian texts contained in the New Testament in a double series, first citing those which treat of all three Divine Persons together (§2), and secondly those which refer to only one of the three Divine Persons without mentioning the other two (83). The dogma of the Holy Trinity is immutably grounded in the Unity of the Divine Essence. Accordingly, throughout the triple argument upon which we are about to enter for the purpose of tracing out the hypostatic differences of the Three Divine Persons, it will be important not to lose sight of the monotheistic foundation on which alone this dogma can be built up.

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SECTION I

THE THREEFOLD PERSONALITY OF GOD FORESHAD

OWED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

I. PRIMITIVE INTIMATIONS OF THE DOGMA.Some theologians take the plural form of several of the names attributed to Jehovah 2 in the Old Testament as an obscure intimation of the dogma of the Trinity.

We are not inclined to press this argument. Neither do we attach much importance to the theory of Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Augustine, who point to the expression n' in Gen. I, I as a proof for the Logos, explaining "in principio" to mean "in Verbo, i. e., Filio." Upon close scrutiny this more than doubtful interpretation turns out to be of later origin and exegetically unsupported. In Gen. I, 26 sq., however, we come upon what appears to be a definite allusion to the mystery of the Divine Trinity: "Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram. Et creavit Deus hominem ad imaginem suam- Let us make man to our image and likeness. And God created man to his own image." The hortatory subjunctive plural which heads verse 26, and is followed by an indicative verb in the singular in verse 27, cannot be

2 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes, pp. 134 sqq.

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3 Cfr. Patrizi, De Interpret. Script. Sacrae, 1. II, qu. 2.

taken as a pluralis maiestaticus, nor yet as addressed to the angels; for man was not created to the image of the angels, but to that of God Himself.

"Come

There is a similar passage in Gen. XI, 7 sq.: ye, therefore, let us go down, and there confound their tongue. . . . And so the Lord scattered them." Many theologians in this connection recall the liturgical blessing of the priests, Num. VI, 24 sqq., which they regard as a parallel to the Christian formula, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." This Old Testament benediction, dictated by Yahweh Himself to Moses, is as follows: "The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord show his face to thee, and have mercy on thee. The Lord turn his countenance to thee and give thee peace."

The clearest allusion to the mystery of the Blessed Trinity in the Old Testament is probably the so-called Trisagion of Isaias (VI, 3): "Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of Hosts, all the earth is full of his glory," which is rightly made much of by many Fathers and not a few theologians. This triple "Holy" refers to an ecstatic vision of the Godhead, by which Isaias was solemnly called and consecrated as the Prophet of the Incarnate Word, an office which won for him the title of the "Evangelist" among the four major prophets.

2. THE ANGEL OF JEHOVAH IN THE THEOPHANIES.-The various apparitions commonly known as theophanies, in which Yahweh figures both as sender and messenger, mark the grad

4 For the Patristic interpretation of this passage consult Petavius, De Trinitate, II, 7.

5 Cfr. John XII, 41.

ual breaking of the dawn in the history of our dogma.

The God who is sent is called mn, i. e., messenger, Angelus Domini, the word angelus being here employed in its literal sense of ἄγγελος, from ἀγγέλλειν, to send. Since the "Angel of Jehovah" is described as, i. e., true God, we have in these theophanies two distinct persons, both of them Yahweh, the one sending" and the other "sent." An apparition of this character was the angel who spoke words of comfort to Hagar shortly before the birth of her son Ismael® in the desert. According to Gen. XVIII, 1 sqq., the Lord [] appeared to [Abraham] in the vale of Mambre," in order to announce to him the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha."

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Probably the most familiar of the Old Testament theophanies is the apparition of the Angel of Jehovah in the Burning Bush. Exod. III, 2: Apparuit ei nin

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in flamma ignis de medio rubi— And the Lord appeared to him [Moses] in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush." It is to be noted that the Lord who appears to Moses is Jehovah Himself. Exod., III, 14: "God said to Moses: I AM WHO AM." Viewing this apparition in the light of the New Testament Revelation, the appearing God can be none other than the Logos, or Son of God, because the Father cannot be "sent." True, the Holy Ghost may also be "sent; " but He cannot have appeared in the bush to Moses because the prophets expressly identify the "Angel of Jehovah with the future Messias (i. e., Christ). Cfr. Is. IX, 6

6 Gen. XVI, 7 sqq.

7 On this passage, cfr. Newman, Select Treatises of St. Athanasius, II, 267 sq.; on the theophanies in

general, H. P. Liddon, The Divinity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, pp. 78 sqq., London 1867.

(in the version of the Septuagint): "Meyáλns Bouλns ayyeλos, Magni consilii angelus;" Mal. III, 1: "Angelus testamenti." The interpretation here adopted is common to all the Fathers. Thus St. Hilary teaches: "Deus igitur est, qui et angelus est, quia qui et angelus Dei est, Deus est ex Deo natus. Dei autem angelus ob id dictus, quia magni consilii est angelus. Deus autem idem postea demonstratus est, ne qui Deus est esse angelus [creatus] crederetur."

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It is quite another question whether in these theophanies the Logos directly appeared as God in visible form, or through the intermediate agency of an angel. In the latter case the apparitions might with equal propriety be styled "angelophanies." St. Augustine took this view, without, however, denying the theophanic character of such angelophanies. He held that a created angel visibly appeared as the representative of God in such a manner that the words he spoke must be understood as coming not from the actual speaker but from Jehovah himself. This opinion was shared by Athanasius, Basil, Cyril of Alexandria, Eusebius, Chrysostom, Jerome, Gregory the Great, and others." The great majority of the Schoolmen espoused it mainly for the reason that the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity had never appeared visibly upon earth prior to His Incarnation.10 The first immediate theophany of the Logos, they argued, coincided with the Incarnation; therefore in the Old Testament theophanies He must have employed angels as His representatives.

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8 De Trinit., IV, n. 24.- Cfr. Newman, Causes of the Rise and Successes of Arianism," in Tracts Theol. and Ecclesiastical, pp. 212 sq., new ed., London 1895.

9 Cfr. Chr. Pesch, Praelect. Dog

mat., t. II, third ed., p. 262, Friburgi 1906; - Newman, I. c.; Liddon, op. cit., 85 sq.

10 Cfr. Hebr. I, 1 sqq.; II, 1 sqq., et passim.