structed when we were baptized. It is that which we learnt from the Holy Scriptures, and which, when among the presbytery as well as when we were placed in the episcopal office, we have believed and have taught; and which we now believe, for we still uphold our own faith. It is as follows:
" 'I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of all things, whether visible or invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, God of God, Light of Light, Life of Life, the only begotten Son, the First-born of all creatures, begotten of the Father before all ages; by whom all things were made; who, for our salvation, took upon him our nature, and dwelt with men. He suffered and rose again the third day, and ascended to the Father; and he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. We also believe in one Holy Ghost. We believe in the existence of each person; we believe that the Father is in truth the Father; that the Son is in
acting and working. In describing the nature of Christ, Origen and other early fathers quoted the prophets to prove what the connection was between the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They assumed that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah predicted, and wherever a passage of Scripture, or any old sacred book, seemed to refer to him, they felt sure it was good, sound evidence, fit to found their dogmas upon. Origen uses highly poetical language in describing Christ, such as he found in some of the prophets.—See Principiis, chap. 2. He taught that prayers should be addressed only to the Father, chap. 6, § 3. He said the love and wisdom of God in Christ was what made them one, chap. 6, § 4. Justin Martyr taught that the Logos emanated from God, being his self-manifestation, as a personality derived from God's essence, and ever intimately united with Him by this community of essence. Some of the learned bishops had probably deduced their theories from these great sources.
Constantine believed that the generation of the Son was not material, but intellectual. Being the Word, that is, the wisdom, of God, he did not diminish the substance of the Father by his descent, any more than a word from our lips diminishes our wisdom.—See his "Oration to the Saints," chap. 3.
