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84 THE HISTORY OF HERESIES,
God only the Person of the Father alone, they should, conse
quently, admit that it was the Father who became incarnate, and
suffered for the redemption of mankind. The Sabellian heresy,
after being a long time defunct, was resuscitated by Socinus,
whose arguments we shall also enumerate in this dissertation.
THE REAL DISTINCTION OF THE THREE DIVINE PERSONS IS PROVED.
2. In the first place, the plurality and the real distinction of
the three Persons in the Divine Nature is proved from the words
of Genesis :
"
Let us make man to our own image and likeness"
(Gen. i, 26) ; and in chap, iii, v. 22, it is said: "Behold,
Come
Adam is
become one of us ;" and again, in chap, xi, ver. 7 :
"
ye,
therefore, let us go down, and there confound their tongues."
"
"
"
Now these words, let us do," let us go down," let us con
found," show the plurarity of Persons, and can in no wise be
understood of the plurality of Natures, for the Scripture itself
declares that there is but one God, and if there were several
Divine Natures, there would be several Gods ;
the words quoted,
therefore, must mean the plurality of Persons. Theodoret (1),
with Tertullian, makes a reflection on this, that God spoke in the
plural number, "let us make," to denote the plurality of Persons,
and then uses the singular, "to our image," not images, to signify
the unity of the Divine Nature.
3. To this the Socinians object : First That God spoke in
the plural number, for the honour of his Person, as kings say
"We" when they give any order. But we answer, by saying,
that sovereigns speak thus, "ive ordain," "we command," in their
ordinances, for then they represent the whole republic, but never
when they speak of their private and personal acts ; they never
we " we are going to sleep," or
"
say, for example,
are going to
walk," nor did God speak in the way of commanding, when he
said,
"
Behold Adam is become as one of us." Secondly They
(1) Theod. qu. 19, in Gen.