True Christian Religion

...follow me. Having said and heard these things, the Bishop departed with his Canons; and as he was leaving, he turned around and wanted to exclaim, "There is one God," but he could not, because his thought pulled back his tongue, and then with an open mouth he breathed out "three Gods." Those standing by, having seen this portent, laughed with a loud guffaw and went away.

17. Afterward I asked where I might find those among the Learned who possess the sharpest intellect and who stand for a Divine Trinity divided into three Persons. Three such men were present, to whom I said: "How can you divide the Divine Trinity into three Persons and assert that each Person, by Himself or individually, is God and Lord? Does not the confession of the mouth—that God is one—stand as far apart from your thought as the south is from the north?" To this they replied: "It does not differ a bit, because the three Persons have one Essence, and the Divine Essence is God. In the world, we were the Guardians of the Trinity of Persons; the Ward original: "Pupillus" — an orphan or minor under the care of a legal guardian whose guardianship we carried out was our faith, in which each Divine Person obtained His own part: God the Father that part which He imputes and grants, God the Son that part which He intercedes and mediates, and God the Holy Spirit that part which brings about the application Operation: the actual work or effect produced by divine grace of imputation and mediation."

But I asked, "What do you understand by the 'Divine Essence'?" They said, "We understand Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnipresence, Immensity, Eternity, and Equality of Majesty." To which I said, "If that Essence makes one God out of several, you could add even more—for example, a fourth who is mentioned in Moses, Ezekiel, and Job, and is called God Shaddai original: "Deus Schaddai" — an ancient Hebrew name for God, often translated as "God Almighty". The Ancients in Greece and Italy did similarly; they assigned equal attributes and thus a similar essence to their gods, such as Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Apollo, Juno, Diana, Minerva, and even Mercury and Venus; yet they still could not say that all of them were one God. And you also, who are three and, as I perceive, of similar learning and thus a similar essence in that regard, still cannot combine yourselves into one single learned man." At this they laughed, saying, "You are joking! It is different with the Divine Essence: it is one and not tripartite; it is individual and thus not divided; partitioning and division do not apply to it."

Hearing this, I replied, "Let us descend into this arena and do battle." I asked, "What do you understand by 'Person,' and what does it signify?" They said, "The name 'Person' signifies not a part or a quality in another, but that which properly subsists Subsistence: a philosophical term meaning to exist independently and in one's own right; this is how all the Leaders of the Church define 'Person,' and we with them." I said, "Is this the definition of Person?" and they replied, "It is." To which I countered, "Then there is no part of the Father in the Son, nor any part of both in the Holy Spirit. From this it follows that each is of His own judgment, right, and power; and thus there is nothing that joins them except the will, which is proper to each, and thus shared only by good pleasure. Are not, then, three Persons actually three distinct Gods?

Listen further: you also defined 'Person' as that which properly subsists; consequently, there are three substances into which you divide the Divine Essence—and yet this Essence, as you also say, is indivisible because it is one and individual. Moreover, to each substance (that is, to each Person) you attribute properties that are not in the other and cannot be shared with the other, namely Imputation, Mediation, and Operation. What else results from this than that the three Persons are three gods?" At these words they withdrew, saying, "We will scrutinize original: "ventilabimus" — literally 'to winnow' or 'fan'; here meaning to debate or examine a question thoroughly these things, and after our examination we will respond."

A certain Wise Man was standing by; having heard these things, he said, "I do not wish to look upon this supreme matter through such subtle lattices original: "tranſennas" — screens or grilled windows; a metaphor for overly complex or restrictive logical arguments, but outside those subtleties, I see in clear light that in the ideas of your thought there are three Gods. But because it is a matter of shame to proclaim them before the whole world—for if you did, you would be called insane and foolish—it is therefore useful for avoiding disgrace to confess one God with your mouth." But to this, the three, clinging to their opinion, paid no attention. As they were leaving, they were muttering some terms borrowed from the Metaphysical Art, from which I noticed that this was their tripod original: "tripos" — the three-legged stool of the Oracle at Delphi; the author implies they rely on abstract philosophy as their source of divine authority from which they wished to give answers.