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Untitled Article
allegorical mode of interpreting it , the notion that the Logos existed An the Deity as an essenrial part of his substance from all eternity ; was generated in an ineffable manner before the creation of the world , became the agent of the Father in that act of almighty power , appeared to the patriarchs , inspired the prophets , and last of all became flesh for man ^ s redemption . First the Logos-was-God ^ wito ; tKen d
it was sent forth by an act of the divine power , termed generation , and became a Son , the Deity inconsequence becoming a Father ; and last it was made man and appeared in the world . Out of this primary corruption was the doctrine of a Trinity constructed in about three centuries . But the Trinity formed within this period differed widely from what is now deemed orthodox . Throughout the whole of it the prevailing Trinity was such as to admit the supremacy and sole self-origination of the Father . At
first two Gods only were recognised . , the Father and the Son ; and the unity was thought to be preserved by maintaining the dertva ^ ticn of the Son from , and-4 h 6 Jnfeno- « 4 y"b- £ -tfae-Sp-ntOy '' -t 4 ] e ; i ^ a 4 i ' ber . ' Thus there was but one God in the strict and proper sense of that term . Afterwards the claims of the Holy Ghost were propounded . A long and dubious struggle ensued ,, till at length it also was recognised as a-God , but placed in rank , power , and dignity , after _ him _ wha himself Jhad a superior . 1 'his graduated
Trinity prevailed for a long period . Centuries elapsed bejbre the grand mystery was completed in all its parts . And centuries passed away while the friends and enemies of doctrinal innovations contested for the ascendency in church and state . No animosities of rival clans were ever so deadly , no national antipathies so bitter and enduring , as the passions that the introduction of the Trinity excited . The character of the means adopted was never thought of , provided the wished-for end were but advanced . And
at last , by a combination of good fortune and imperial tyranny , the world was gifted with a creed worthy of the source whence it sprung—theinstruments used for its intrpducfciori , and the purr poses to which it has been applied . The balance had turned in favour of Trinitarianism ; but it still vibrated . Unitarians- ^ -for such we term every one who believes in the supremacy of the Father—Unitarians still constituted a large minority ; nor did the combined influence of a persecuting hierarchy , and a corrupt and
powerful court , find it an easy task to give Trinitarianism that predominance in the ^ min ds of . the people which it had received in the palace and the conclave . Still whole nations maintained that the Father is above and over all . Still barbarous hosts , as they settled in the genial lands of the south , were converted to that form of Christianity which yet resembled the doctrine of Christ in recognising his Father as the supreme God . As , however , the spirit of the gospel waned , and the power of corruption grew—as darkness covered the land , and thick darkness the minds of the
Untitled Article
THE TRUTH TELLER * 331
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 1, 1833, page 331, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2625/page/11/
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