later than the ninth century, and not earlier than the seventh"; (c) the "Bouhier," of the eighth, (d) the "Oratorian" of the beginning of the eighth or quite the end of the seventh; and (e) the "Troyes" between 649 and 680.1 It must be borne in mind that the dates of these commentaries are not certain. But, even if they are not earlier than the ninth century, they would still imply that the creed was then regarded as a work of considerable antiquity. Commentaries are not written on new and recent works, but on those of long-standing and repute in the Church. It is remarkable also that in two of these Commentaries, the "Oratorian" and the "Bouhier" it is said that the creed was attributed to Athanasius, etiam in veteribus codicibus. Now the actual MSS. of these commentaries may not be older than the tenth century but if even then there were in existence MSS. of the creed which could be termed "old," and which contained the title referring it to the authorship of Athanasius, a further argument is supplied in support of its early date.2

4. We are now in a position to estimate the bearing of coincidences of language with early writers. The three branches of evidence, of which the most important items have just been enumerated, are sufficient to show that by the ninth century at the latest the creed had obtained a recognised position. It was even then beginning to be admitted into ecclesiastical Psalters, together with the Te Deum, and the Canticles of the New Testament. It was ordered to be learnt by heart by the clergy, and commentaries were written upon it. Consequently, when wo find that the language of the creed appears also in sermons and professions of faith, it is only reasonable to hold that

1 On all the commentaries reference may be made to Ommanney's Dissertation on the Athanasian Creed.

such coincidences imply a knowledge of the creed on the part of the writers in question. Nor can it fairly be inferred that if a writer only quotes a portion of the creed, the remainder did not exist in the document from which his citation was drawn. It cannot be said that there is any definite external evidence of the existence of two separate compositions which formed the groundwork of our present Quicunque vult; and, therefore, we are justified, as in the case of any other work, in appealing to a citation as at least prima facie evidence of a knowledge of the document as it is found in every single MS. that contains it.

Of writers who appear thus to make use of the creed, the following may be mentioned:

(a) Denebert, Bishop of Worcester, after his election to the bishopric in 798, made a profession of faith, which has been preserved to us, and affords clear evidence that the Athanasian Creed had already found its way into England, for in this profession he quotes a large part of it, saying that he will expound the orthodox Catholic and Apostolic faith, as he has learnt it, "for it is written, Whosoever will be saved, etc." Since he introduces his citation with the formula, "it is written," it is manifest that he is quoting from a recognised and familiar document, and as he proceeds to express his adherence to the decrees of the six General Councils, there was no necessity for him to quote more of the creed than the portion referring to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, as the Church's faith in the Incarnation is fully set forth in the decrees of the Councils.1

(b) The "Trèves fragment" referred to above must be

1 See Haddan and Stubbs' Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents, vol. iii. p. 526. “Insuper et orthodoxam catholicam apostolicamque fidem sicut didici paucis exponam verbis, quia scriptum est quicunque vult salvus esse ante omnia opus est illi ut teneat catholicam fidem. Fides autem Catholica hæc est ut unum Deum in Trinitate et Trinitatem in Unitate

mentioned again in this place, since it supplies a clear instance of a writer making use of the creed. It is, as has already been said, a portion of a sermon on the creed, the language of which is freely referred to, and applied, as it might be, by any modern preacher. This takes us back to a considerably earlier date than Denebert's profession, possibly even to the fifth century.1

(c) Howsoever this may be, we are brought to the sixth century by another consideration. In the appendix to the sermons of Augustine is a discourse formerly attributed to him which the Benedictine editors of his works ascribed to Cæsarius, Bishop of Arles from 502 to 542.2 Their conclusion is accepted by recent writers, and if it can be established, it will furnish a strong argument for Waterland's view that the creed emanated from Southern Gaul during the fifth century, for the sermon in question obviously betrays a knowledge of the Quicunque vult, alluding to both parts of it, namely, that on the Incarnation as well as that on the Holy Trinity veneremur; neque confundentes personas neque substantiar alia est enim Persona Patris, alia Filii, alia Spiritus Sanctie the beari Filii et Spiritus Sancti una est Divinitas, æqualis gloria, coa Pater a nullo factus est, nec creatus nec genitus; Filius a non factus, nec creatus, sed genitus; Spiritus Sanctus a Patre, non factus, nec creatus, nec genitus, sed procedens. In hac Trinitate nihil prius aut posterius, nihil majus aut minus, sed totæ tres Persona coæternæ sibi sunt et coæquales; ita ut per omnia sicut supra dictum est, et Trinitas in Unitate et Unitas in Trinitate veneranda sit. Suscipio etiam decreta Pontificum, et sex synodos Catholicas antiquorum heroicorum virorum et præfixam ab eis regulam sincera devotione conservo. Hæc est fides nostra," etc.

1 See above, p. 337.

Opera, vol. v. Appendix, Serm. ccxliv.

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8 E.g. Caspari, Kattenbusch, G. F. Arnold, and Malnory. In any case, as the Baptismal Creed commented upon corresponds closely with what we know to have been the form of the Gallican Creed about the fifth century, the sermon cannot be much later than Cæsarius.

The discourse begins as follows:-"Rogo et admoneo vos, fratres carissimi, ut quicunque vult salvus esse, fidem rectam ac Catholicam discat, firmiter teneat, inviolatamque conservet. Ita ergo oportet uni

(d) A discourse of a somewhat similar character, but, to judge from some features in the character of the Baptismal Creed commented upon in it, possibly belonging to a yet earlier date, has been discovered and printed by Mr. Ommanney. It likewise seems to allude to the Quicunque vult, and to imply a familiarity with its contents on the part of the preacher.

On the whole, then, it is believed that the attacks made upon the antiquity of the creed have completely failed, and that there is no reason for discarding the older view, which regarded it as a work of the fifth century, composed by some writer belonging to the Gallican Church. In style it bears a strong resemblance to the writings of Vincent of Lerins (who died about 450), and if not actually his work, is probably from the hand of someone of the same school, who was familiar with his Commonitorium, and borrowed from it."

cuique observare ut credat Patrem, credat Filium, et credat Spiritum Sanctum. Deus Pater, Deus Filius, Deus et Spiritus Sanctus; sed tamen non tres Dii, sed unus Deus. Qualis Pater, talis Filius, talis et Spiritus Sanctus. Attamen credat unusquisque fidelis quod Filius æqualis est Patri secundum Divinitatem, et minor est Patre secundum humanitatem carnis, quam de nostro assumpsit; Spiritus vero Sanctus ab utroque procedens. Credite, ergo, carissimi, in Deum Patrem Omnipotentem," etc.

1 Dissertation, p. 8, and Early History, etc., p. 121, and cf. p. 893, where the sermon is printed in full. It is contained in the Paris MS. mentioned above, 3848 B, assigned to the early part of the ninth century, and in another of the same date, 2128. The Baptismal Creed commented on in it is curious. An early date may be inferred from the omission of the words passus, mortuus, descendit ad inferna, sanctorum communionem, vitam æternam. But, on the other hand, it agrees with the remarkable form found in the Bangor Antiphonary (fol. 19), in reading "in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, invisibilem, visibilium et invisibilium omnium rerum conditorem," and "in Spiritum Sanctum Deum omnipotentem unam habentem substantiam cum Patre et Filio"; while, like one of the creeds in the Missale Gallicanum, it has the phrase, "Victor ascendit ad cœlos." These features may, perhaps, point to a later date than that which Mr. Ommanney is disposed to assign to it.

2 See on the whole subject, The Athanasian Creed and its Early Commentaries, by A. E. Burn, in Dr. Robinson's Texts and Studies, vol. iv.

From the question of the date of the creed, which, after all, is a matter of comparatively small importance, we may pass in conclusion to the consideration of the use made of the creed by the Church of England. It has been said in the Western Church in the office of Prime certainly since the tenth century. According to Roman use it is said at this service only on Sundays, but according to the Sarum use, followed in England before the Reformation, it was ordered to be said daily. Prime, however, is a service of monastic origin, and was never intended for a general congregation. Consequently, when on the publication of the first English Prayer-Book in 1549 this confession of our faith was ordered to be recited at matins immediately after Benedictus on the six great festivals of Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension Day, Whitsunday, and Trinity Sunday, a new departure was taken, and for the first time this creed was adopted for popular Owing to its position in the Prayer-Book, and its No. 1. Mr. Burn thinks it more probable that Vincent "used and illustrated the creed than that anyone in a subsequent century of less correct scholarship picked out his phrases and wove them into a document of this nature." Compare these passages of the Commonitorium : "Ecclesia vero Catholica . . . et unam Divinitatem in Trinitatis plenitudine, et Trinitatis æqualitatem in una atque eadem majestate veneratur, et unum Christum Jesum, non duos, eundemque Deum pariter atque hominem confitetur. . . Alia est Persona Patris, alia Filii, alia Spiritus Sancti. Altera substantia Divinitatis, altera humanitatis; sed tamen Deitas et humanitas non alter et alter, sed unus idemque Christus, unus idemque Filius Dei, et unius ejusdemque Christi et filii Dei una eademque Persona; sicut in homine aliud caro, et aliud anima; sed unus idemque homo, anima et caro . . . unus idemque Christus Deus et homo . . . idem Patri æqualis et minor; idem ex Patre ante secula genitus item in seculo ex matre generatus; perfectus Deus, perfectus homo; in Deo summa Divinitas in homine plena humanitas. . . Unus, autem, non corruptibili nescio qua Divinitatis et humanitatis confusione, sed integra et singulari quadam Unitate persona."-Commonitorium Vincentii Lerinensis, ch. xiii. Dom Morin has recently suggested Cæsarius of Arles (470-542) as the probable author of the creed. See Revue Bénédictine, Oct. 1901.

use.

1 This is rendered certain from its position in the Psalters. It is alluded to by Honorius of Autun (1136) in the Gemma Animæ, bk. ii. ch. 60; by Abbo of Fleury, A.D. 1001 (Migne, cxxxix. p. 462); but not by Amalarius or Walafrid Strabo in the ninth century.