say more we fall short, and if we investigate we are helpless." After revolving round the theological circle, we are surprised to find that Gibbon ends where Aphraates had begun; "the incomprehensible mystery which excites our adoration eludes our enquiry[1]." It would have been well for the peace of the Christian world if it had always imitated the modesty of the Persian Sage.
One more point remains to be noticed in connexion with Aphraates' doctrine of the Trinity. In Semitic languages there is no neuter, and Rûḥ, the word for wind or spirit, is feminine; in the older Syriac literature, therefore, before the influence of Greek theology made itself felt, the Holy Spirit also is feminine. Thus in the Old Syriac version of Joh xiv 26 we actually read The Spirit, the Paraclete, she shall teach you everything[2]. And so it is only in accordance with the earliest usage that
