The Positive Tradition of the First Four Centuries — Article 1: The Holy Trinity in the Official Liturgy of the Early Church and the Private Prayers of the Faithful

SECTION 2: THE POSITIVE TRADITION OF THE FIRST FOUR CENTURIES

The Trinitarian belief of the Christian Church during the first four centuries is manifested partly by her official liturgy and the private prayers of the faithful; partly by the doctrinal discussions of the Fathers, whom, for convenience’ sake, we may group in two categories, viz., Ante-Nicene and Post-Nicene. The Council of Nicaea forms a sort of dividing line between the two, in so far as before its formal definition of the dogma, the Fathers were laboriously groping for accurate terms and not infrequently failed to formulate the teaching of the Church with sufficient theological precision.¹ We cannot reasonably assume that they deviated from this teaching, except in the few cases in which the fact is clearly apparent from their writings. One of these exceptional cases is that of Hippolytus, who is charged with entertaining Ditheistic views; another, that of Origen, whose language on the subject of the Blessed Trinity lays him open to the suspicion of heterodoxy.

General Readings

Ruiz, De Trinitate, Lugduni 1625; Werner, Geschichte der apologetischen und polemischen Literatur der christlichen Theologie, Vol. I, Schaffhausen 1861; Réville, Histoire du Dogme de la Divinité de Jésus-Christ, 2nd ed., Paris 1876; Dorner, Entwicklungsgeschichte der Lehre von der Person Christi, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Stuttgart 1845 (translated into English under the title History of the Development of the Doctrine of the Person of Christ, Edinburgh 1861–3; 5 vols.; to be used with caution); Schwane, Dogmengeschichte, 2nd ed., Vols. I and II, Freiburg 1892, 1895; Th. de Regnon, Études de Théologie Positive sur la Sainte Trinité, 4 vols., Paris 1892 sqq.; J. Tixeront, History of Dogmas (Engl. tr.), Vol. I, St. Louis 1910; F. J. Hall, The Trinity, pp. 50 sqq., New York 1910.

ARTICLE 1: THE HOLY TRINITY IN THE OFFICIAL LITURGY OF THE EARLY CHURCH AND THE PRIVATE PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL

1. The Apostles’ Creed

The belief of the early Christians found its natural utterance in the so-called Apostles’ Creed, which is undoubtedly as old as the Church herself. In all of its various recensions this symbol voices simple faith in the Divine Trinity.² St. Irenaeus,³ Origen,⁴ and Tertullian⁵ testify to its antiquity. The salient passages concerning the Blessed Trinity are as follows: “Credo in Deum [not: deos], Patrem omnipotentem … et in Iesum Christum, Filium eius unicum … et in Spiritum Sanctum — I believe in God [not: gods], the Father, Almighty, … and in Jesus Christ, … His only Son … and in the Holy Ghost.”

It is safe to regard the Apostles’ Creed as an expansion of the form of Baptism; in fact it is the baptismal symbolum. The constant practice of the Church in the administration of Baptism is of itself convincing proof that the dogma of the Divine Trinity always formed part and parcel of the original deposit of faith. In the Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,⁶ which, according to the late Dr. F. X. Funk, was written towards the end of the first century, when Nerva ruled the Roman Empire, we read: “Baptizate in nomine (εἰς τὸ ὄνομα) Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti — Baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”⁷

An interesting counterpart of the baptismal symbolum of the early Church is the private profession of faith ascribed to St. Gregory Thaumaturgus (d. 270). This document tersely, clearly, and completely expounds the Catholic teaching on the Blessed Trinity. Defending the faith against Paul of Samosata, the Wonder-worker professes: “Unus Deus Pater Verbi viventis… . Unus Dominus solus ex solo, Deus ex Deo… . Unus Spiritus Sanctus ex Deo subsistentiam (ὕπαρξιν) habens… . Trinitas perfecta (τριὰς τελεία), quae gloria et aeternitate et regno non dividitur nec alienatur — There is one God, Father of the Living Word… . One Lord, sole from sole, God from God… . One Holy Ghost having His being from God… . A perfect Triad not separated nor dissociated in glory, eternity, and reign.”⁸ Gregory of Nyssa tells us that his grandmother Macrina had received this formula from Thaumaturgus himself and handed it down to her grandchildren in Cappadocia.⁹ We are able to obtain a glimpse into the popular belief of the early Christians from an ancient evening hymn, which concludes with a doxology to “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”¹⁰

2. The Ancient Christian Doxologies

The public and private doxologies, which may be looked upon as the common property of the faithful in the early Church,¹¹ distinctly voice belief in the Blessed Trinity. In fact these ancient hymns, or psalms of praise, seem to be a development of the Trinitarian forms of benediction contained in the New Testament Epistles, and they doubtless reflect the publicly professed faith of the early Christians, unaffected by extraneous elements of abortive speculation. The coordinative form “Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto (or cum Spiritu Sancto) — Glory be to God the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost (or, together with the Holy Ghost),” and the subordinative form, “Gloria Patri per Filium in Spiritu Sancto — Glory be to the Father through the Son in the Holy Ghost” are probably of equal antiquity, and the assertion of the Arian historian Philostorgius,¹² that the first-mentioned formula had been introduced into the liturgy by Bishop Flavian of Antioch, must be received with suspicion. It is certain that already Justin Martyr was acquainted with it.¹³ Because the Arians showed a decided predilection for the formula “Gloria Patri per Filium in Spiritu Sancto” (διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ πνεύματι), St. Basil substituted therefor, as equally correct, the formula μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ σὺν τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ, which threw into stronger relief the consubstantiality and coequal adorableness of the Son and of the Holy Ghost with the Father.¹⁴

3. The Confessions of the Martyrs

The confessions of faith that have come down to us from the lips of the early martyrs, furnish another important contribution to the positive Tradition of the primitive Church concerning the Blessed Trinity. Being the formal pronouncements of holy men and women, made before pagan magistrates in the face of cruel death, they are rightly held in high esteem. The oldest document of this kind which we possess is the confession of St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, who laid down his life for his faith A. D. 166. Its salient passages are as follows: “Verax Deus, … te glorifico per sempiternum et coelestem pontificem Iesum Christum, dilectum Filium, per quem tibi cum ipso et in Spiritu Sancto gloria et nunc et in futura saecula — O truthful God, … I glorify Thee, through the Eternal and Heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ, [Thy] beloved Son, through whom be glory to Thee, with Him in the Holy Ghost, both now and for the ages to come.”¹⁵ Some martyrs in their profession of faith laid special stress on the Divinity of Jesus Christ. Thus St. Epipodius of Lyons (†178): “Christum cum Patre et Spiritu Sancto Deum esse confiteor, dignumque est, ut illi [scil. Christo] animam meam refundam, qui mihi et creator est et redemptor — I confess Christ to be God, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, and it is meet that I should give back my soul to Him [i. e., Christ], Who is my Creator and Redeemer.”¹⁶ The holy deacon Vincent, who died a martyr’s death, A. D. 304, is reported to have professed his faith in these words: “Dominum Christum confiteor, Filium altissimi Patris, unici unicum, ipsum cum Patre et Spiritu Sancto unum solum Deum esse confiteor — I confess the Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the most high Father, the Only One of the Only One, I confess Him with the Father and the Holy Ghost to be the one sole God.”¹⁷ To St. Euplus of Catania (†304) we owe one of the most beautiful confessions of faith in the Trinity that has come down to us from the early days. It is as follows: “Patrem et Filium et Spiritum Sanctum adoro; sanctam Trinitatem adoro, praeter quam non est Deus… . Sacrifico modo Christo Deo meipsum… . Ego sacrifico et immolo meipsum Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto — I adore the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost; I adore the holy Trinity, besides which there is no God… . I now sacrifice myself to Christ, [who is] God; … I sacrifice and immolate myself to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.”¹⁸

Readings

On the worship of the Blessed Trinity by the early Christians, see Zaccaria, Bibliotheca Ritual., t. I, diss. 2, c. 5.

On the acts of the martyrs, see Ad. Harnack, Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur bis Eusebius, Vol. I, Part 2, pp. 816 sqq., Leipzig 1893; Semeria, Dogma, Gerarchia e Culto nella Chiesa Primitiva, Roma 1902; cfr. also James Bridge in the Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. IX, pp. 742 sqq.; H. Delehaye, S. J., The Legends of the Saints, London 1897.