reference  has  before  been  made):  "  The  Fathers,"  says  he,
"  inserted  the  clause  of  the  Son's  consubstantiality  with  the
Father,  and  anathematised  those  who  affirmed  a  diversity
of  substance,  not  in  terms  which  they  had  framed  for
themselves,  but  which  they  too  had  learned  from  the

Fathers  before  them which  being  so,  the

Creed  of  Nicsea  is  sufficient,  agreeing  as  it  does  also  with
the  ancient  Bishops0."  This  shews  in  what  light  the
framers  of  the  Creed  wished  it  to  be  viewed ;  and  that  the
Church  did  so  receive  it,  the  words  of  Epiphanius  (among
others)  may  serve  to  testify:  "  Theyp  professed  the  faith
of  the  Fathers,  orthodox  and  unswerving,  and  delivered
down  to  us  from  the  Apostles  and  Prophets."

Now  if  St.  Athanasius  and  the  Nicene  Fathers  were  thus
earnest  and  constant  in  resorting  to  Tradition,  in  order
to  decide  among  conflicting  interpretations  of  Scripture,
and  settle  the  fundamentals  of  our  most  holy  faith;  that
circumstance  alone  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  the  suspicion,
that  reliance  on  Primitive  Tradition  leads  of  course  to
disparagement  of  Scripture.  For  certainly,  if  there  be
one  among  divines,  ancient  and  modern,  who  commits  his
cause  to  the  witness  of  Scripture  more  unreservedly  than
the  rest,  and  expresses  a  deeper  reverence  in  listening  to
its  voice,  and  a  more  entire  preparation  of  heart  to  follow
whithersoever  it  shall  lead  him,  that  one  is  the  great
St.  Athanasius.  But  the  more  unfeignedly  he  revered  the
Bible,  and  felt  the  necessity  of  obeying  it  in  all  things,  the
more  thankfully  did  he  avail  himself  of  the  greatest  of
providential  helps  to  the  right  understanding  of  the  Bible,
the  record  of  faith  which  the  New  Testament  itself  assumes
to  have  been  taught  to  those  for  whose  immediate  use  it
was  written.  That  record  helps  to  explain  the  Scriptures,
somewhat  in  the  same  way,  and  with  the  same  kind  of

0  Ad  Jfros,  §.  9,  t.  i.  898.  C.  P  Epiph.  in  Haer.  Avian.
