, in consequence of their inconvenient and unphilosophical explication;" which mistake, in fact, consisted in taking them at their word.
Ib.
Petavius greatly commends Boethius's explication of this mystery, which is the very same he had before condemned in Gregory Nyssen, and those other Fathers.—That Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one God, not three Gods: hujus conjunctionis ratio est indifferentia: that is, such a sameness of nature as admits of no difference or variety, or an exact homo-ousiotes, as he explains it. * * Those make a difference, who augment and diminish, as the Arians do; who distinguish the Trinity into different natures, as well as Persons, of different worth and excellency, and thus divide and multiply the Trinity into a plurality of Gods. Principium enim pluralitatis alteritas est. Præter alteritatem enim nec pluralitas quid sit intelligi potest.
Then if so, what becomes of the Persons? Have the Persons attributes distinct from their nature;—or does not their common nature constitute their common attributes?
Principium enim, &c.
Ib. p. 124.
That the Fathers universally acknowledged that the operation of the whole Trinity, ad extra, is but one, Petavius has proved beyond all contradiction; and hence they conclude the unity of the divine nature and essence; for every nature has a virtue and energy of its own; for nature is a principle of action, and if the energy and operation be but one, there can be but one nature; and if there be two distinct and divided operations, if either of them can act alone without the other, there must be two divided natures.
Then it was not the Son but the whole Trinity that was crucified: for surely this was an operation