XIX. But to my mind, he says, those things
are said to be connumerated and of the same essence of which the names
also correspond, as Three Men, or Three gods, but not Three this and
that. What does this concession amount to? It is suitable
to one laying down the law as to names, not to one who is asserting the
truth. For I also will assert that Peter and James and John are
not three or consubstantial, so long as I cannot say Three Peters, or
Three Jameses, or Three Johns; for what you have reserved for common
names we demand also for proper names, in accordance with your
arrangement; or else you will be unfair in not conceding to others what
you assume for yourself. What about John then, when in his
Catholic Epistle he says that there are Three that bear
witness, This is the famous
passage of the Witnesses in 1
John v. 8. In some few
later codices of the Vulgate are found the words which form
verse 7
of our A.V. But neither
verse 7
nor these words are to be found in any Greek ms. earlier than the Fifteenth Century; nor are they
quoted by any Greek Father, and by very few and late Latin ones.
They have been thought to be cited by S. Cyprian in his work on the
Unity of the Church; and this citation, if a fact, would be a most
important one, as it would throw back their reception to an early
date. But Tischendorf (Gk. Test., Ed. viii., ad. loc.) gives
reasons for believing that the quotation is only apparent, and is
really of the last clause of verse 8. the Spirit
and the Water and the
Blood? Do you think he is talking nonsense? First, because
he has ventured to reckon under one numeral things which are not
consubstantial, though you say this ought to be done only in the case
of things which are consubstantial. For who would assert that
these are consubstantial? Secondly, because he has not been
consistent in the way he has happened upon his terms; for after using
Three in the masculine gender he adds three words which are neuter,
contrary to the definitions and laws which you and your grammarians
have laid down. For what is the difference between putting a
masculine Three first, and then adding One and One and One in the
neuter, or after a masculine One and One and One to use the Three not
in the masculine but in the neuter, which you yourself disclaim in the
case of Deity? What have you to say about the Crab, which may
mean either an animal, or an instrument, or a constellation? And
what about the Dog, now terrestrial, now aquatic, now celestial?
Do you not see that three crabs or dogs are spoken of? Why of
course it is so. Well then, are they therefore of one
substance? None but a fool would say that. So you see how
completely your argument from connumeration has broken down, and is
refuted by all these instances. For if things that are of one
substance are not always counted under one numeral, and things not of
one substance are thus counted, and the pronunciation of the
name i.e. Though the things
referred to many differ essentially, yet if the name by which they are
known is the same, one utterance of it with one numeral is enough to
express a collection of them all. once for all is used in both cases, what
advantage do you gain towards your doctrine?