necessary that he hold the catholic faith, which faith except every one do keep whole, and undefiled, without doubt, he shall perish everlastingly." A man may believe all that the Prophets, all that Christ and his Apostles have told and revealed; and live a holy life as they did; yet he cannot be saved unless he believes in the Athanasian creed! Highly esteemed, beloved, bishops, doctors, ministers, and all orthodox Christians, do you, can you, in the purity of your hearts, and soundness of your intellects, seriously and actually believe all this creed? I think you cannot; for if you do, it seems to me to be a renunciation of your faith in the prophets, in the apostles, and even in the Son of God himself.

It is a matter of some consolation to rational Christians, who are not tied up to human forms of creeds, but whose creed is the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible, that the Episcopalian Churches in America have excommunicated the Athanasian creed from their Churches in the United States. And I most ardently pray, that the Church of England, in great Britain, may soon "go and do likewise." To me it is a matter of deep regret, of heavy grief, that a nation, so enlightened as England, so zealous in the cause of civil and religious liberty, (a nation denominated "the bulwark of our holy religion,") so ardent to effect the emancipation of the whole world from personal, bodily slavery, should yet suffer the immortal mind of man to remain in slavery to that monster and tyrant, the Athanasian creed!

But I will not waste time in the further consideration of this strange creed. [See it quoted in full, page 183.] It speaks for itself, or rather against itself. Any one, who will read the whole, must be convinced, that it affords no support to the modern doctrine of the Trinity; indeed, nothing can be supported or proved by even a multitude of contradictions.

There were many other decrees of councils, and creeds of the fathers, in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries. But it is not necessary to go into a particular consideration of each one; it is sufficient to state, that they all, if fully examined, will be found to express and fully assert the strict unity and supremacy, in every sense of the words, of God the Father. And they also acknowledge, that the Son is, at least in some respect, inferior and subordinate to the Father, and dependent on him; that he was begotten of him, was sent by him, was obedient to him; that he received his commission, and all his power and directions from his Father, who so loved the world, that he sent him, his only begotten Son, into it, to instruct, to teach, to make a revelation, to set a perfect example, to suffer and die, that men might be saved, and God be glorified. But it is nowhere said, that the Father is not, in some respect, the one, only, true God. And if the Son is, only in some respect, inferior and subordinate to the Father, he cannot be God, or equal to the Father; for equality cannot admit of a difference, in any respect. And the supreme God cannot be par

tially so. And in all the creeds and decrees, where the holy spirit is noticed, it is represented as proceeding from the Father and the Son; therefore it cannot be independent, or equal to either or both. And upon the whole I can nowhere find, in any of the ancient creeds or decrees, any clear, consistent expression of faith in three equal persons, or beings in Deity.

Leaving the first six centuries, we will not grope our way through the dark ages, searching in the cloisters of monks and friars, for unintelligible creeds, unfathomable mysteries, and the hidden knowledge of God, which are not to be found in the Bible; but we will come directly down to a more enlightened age, even to the time of the Reformation, so called. I will here state some of the creeds and confessions of this time and afterwards.

The Lutheran confession is as follows; "The divine essence is one, which is called, and is God, eternal, incorporeal, indivisible; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Creator and Preserver of all things visible and invisible."

The confession of Helvetia (written A. D. 1566) alleges, that "God is one in essence or nature, subsisting by himself, invisible, without a body, infinite, eternal, the Creator of all things," &c. "We detest a multitude of Gods, because it is written, the Lord, thy God, is one God.""

The confession of Basil (A. D. 1532) declares, that "there is one eternal, almighty God, in essence and substance; and not three Gods [so as to take the Son and Spirit to make up that number].

The French confession (A. D. 1566) states, "We believe and acknowledge one only God, who is only one simple essence, spiritual, eternal, immutable, invisible," &c.

The confession of Belgia, in the same year, is in substance, the same.

The articles of the English Episcopal Church declare, that "there is but one living and true God, everlasting," &c.

The confession of the reformed churches in the Netherlands, revised at the Synod of Dort, (A. D. 1619) is, "We believe, that there is one only and simple Being, which we call God; and that he is eternal," &c.

The famous Westminster Confession declares, that "there is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a pure Spirit, invisible, without body, or passions, eternal," &c. All these confessions, and others that might be quoted, clearly declare the strict, absolute unity and supremacy of God, of God the Father; for God when used absolutely, as in the first articles of the confessions, or creeds, always means the Father; for this Bishop Pearson is a good authority; and I think it will not be denied by any one. We find no intimation, that the one only God consists of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but the contrary is necessarily implied by the expressions, "one only simple being, one only simple essence; " for if that being, or that essence, consists of three persons, three beings, or three anythings, it cannot be a simple being, or simple es

sence; it must be, at best, (or at worst,) a compound being, a compound essence, a compound God, and not the one revealed Jehovah! It would seem, therefore, as if these confessions, and the ancient creeds and decrees were a complete bar, an estoppel to all arguments or pretences in favor of three persons, or three anythings, in the one, only true God. But we are willing to consider all that has been said, or can be said, contrary to this view of the subject.

I have found two confessions, the confession of the Waldenses, and the English confession of the year 1562, which differ in expression from those before quoted. The confession of the Waldenses states, that "the holy Trinity is in essence one, only true, alone eternal, almighty, and incomprehensible God, of one equally indivisible essence."

The English confession of 1562 declares, that the "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost be of one power, of one majesty, of one eternity, of one Godhead, and one substance. And although these three persons be so divided, that neither the Father is the Son, nor the Son is the Holy Ghost, nor the Father, yet nevertheless, we believe there is but one very God." These confessions, being unsupported by the multitude of modern and ancient confessions and creeds, by the Bible, reason, and the nature of things, need no comment. They themselves speak obscurity, contradiction, and opposition to the word of God. What was said by those great and learned men, Luther and Calvin, is applicable to them. "The word trinity," said Luther, "sounds oddly; it is a