the Son and the Holy Spirit, who are at the same time the
10 ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. [BOOK I.
reach that fatheiiand where our eDJoymeiit is to commence. But the beauty of the country through which we pass, and the very pleasure of the motion, charm our hearts, and turning these things wliich w^e ought to use into ohjects of enjoyment, we become unwilling to hasten the end of our journey ; and becoming engrossed in a factitious delight, our thoughts are diverted from that home whose delights would make us truly happy. Such is a picture of our condition in this life of mortality. We have wandered far from God ; and if we wish to return to our Father's home, this world must be used, not enjoyed, that so the invisible things of God may be clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,^—that is, that by means of what is material and temporary we may lay hold upon that which is spiritual and eternal
Cn.vp. V.— The Trinity the true object of enjoyment.
5. The true objects of enjo}Tiient, then, are the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who are at the same time the
Trinity, one Being, supreme above all, and common to all who enjoy Him, if He is an object, and not rather the cause of all objects, or indeed even if He is the cause of all. For it is not easy to find a name that will suitably express so great excellence, unless it is better to speak in this way : The
Trinity, one God, of whom are all things, through whom are all thincrs, in whom are all thinf^s.^ Thus the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and each of these by Himself, is
God, and at the same time they are all one God ; and each of them by Himself is a complete substance, and yet they are all one substance. The Father is not the Son nor the Holy
Spirit ; the Son is not the Father nor the Holy Spirit ; the Holy Spirit is not the Father nor tlie Son : but the Father is only Father, the Son is only Son, and the Holy Spirit is only Holy S])irit. To all three belong the same eternity, the same unchaugeableness, the same majesty, the same power. In the
Father is unity, in the Son equality, in the Holy Spirit the harmony of unity and equality ; and these three attributes are all one because of the Fatlier, all e<iual because of the
Son, and all harmonious because of the Holy Spirit.
Kom. i. 20. * Worn. xi. 30.