3. Lately when praying with the people, and
using the full doxology to God the Father in both forms, at one time
“with the Son together with the Holy Ghost,”
and at another “through the Son in the Holy
Ghost,” I was attacked by some of those present on the ground
that I was introducing novel and at the same time mutually
contradictory terms. It is
impossible to convey in English the precise force of the
prepositions used. “With” represents
μετά,
of which the original meaning is “amid;”
“together with,” σύν, of which the original meaning is
“at the same time as.” The Latin of the
Benedictine edition translates the first by
“cum,” and the second by “una
cum.” “Through” stands
for διά, which, with the genitive, is
used of the instrument; “in” for
ε'ν,
“in,” but also commonly used of the instrument or
means. In the well known passage in 1 Cor. viii. 6, A.V. renders δι᾽ οὗ τὰ
πάντα by
“through whom are all things;” R.V., by
“by whom.” You, however,
chiefly with the view of benefiting them, or, if they are wholly
incurable, for the security of such as may fall in with them, have
expressed the opinion that some clear instruction ought to be published
concerning the force underlying the syllables employed. I will
therefore write as concisely as possible, in the endeavour to lay down
some admitted principle for the discussion.