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Sir / Dec . 24 > Igl 6 . THE pens of the learned have so often been employed upon the Athanasian Crecfcl , that it might seem useless to excite any farther inquiry upon so threadbare a subject . But I know not whether amongst the numerous discussions it has occasioned .
it has been viewed in the light in which , after much consideration , it appears to me to have been composed . All seem to have agreed in one opinion , that it was not written by
Athanasius 5 and it is not settled at what time nor where it first appeared in what is called , though very improperly , the Christian church . It has gone , however , for many ages under me name of the creed of St .
Athanasrtis , and I am inclined to believe that it was first published under that name , as being really the creed of this celebrated worldly disputant , though the author had a very different end in view in its publication , and one which rendered it necessary- that his name thould be concealedf . In short , the
more I consider the subject , the more it strikes mey that this famous creed ¦ was meant as a burlesque upon the forth , then generally prevailing in the World : and , if my opinion is right , it mast be allowed that the author has fully succeeded in his intentions . That the hoax should have taken so
completely , is probably more than he expected j and whilst we admire the ingenuity of the composition , we cannot but be surprised that its aim should not have been seen through , and that what was intended as ridicule
should in so short a time be adopted , * iid for so many centuries be maintained as truth . Neither my employments or my inclinations permit me tcf ' tun * lover again the massy folios in ¦ which this question lies immersed : feut it might amuse as well as instruct
some younger inquirer , to examine the subject in the point of view in which 1 have placed it : I can hardly 4 MiteV £ that * the writer was a Christhilly atad * 1 fear that the ; search after film will be as difficult as the one at present after the author of the Letters ot Jiinius . It is not , however , of so
ftiucfh consequence to discover the name of the writer , as to establish the faet ^ tJiat ^ ihe Athanasian C reed was promulgated to burlesque the oni-» iom of Athanasvas : and to turn this
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celebrated champion of trVe 1 ajK ? $ ( a $ l church into ridicule . Absurd , However , as were many of trVe notions of this metaphysical saint , 1 rnust defend his memory from the unjust irripq | a * tion cast upon it by this creed $ wfiose
ingenuity mi ^ ht indeed have excite a smile in his countenance , bui tie never would have allowed it to be , a fair transcript of his sentiments . r I am , ever , IN VESTIG ATOltL
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Higkam Hitt , January \ 5 tk , 181 / ^ Sir , * if WHEN a man has been hari j j * somely invited to speak , 'it might appear disrespectful to be sitarjt This is my apology for saying a few
words more on the subject of miracles , while 1 am not conscious that I hai ^ f any thing to advance which is worttW the notice of your readers . I am happy that your ingenious Correspondent , A . B . C . agrees with me in the main point , that Mr . Hume ' s reasoning is inconclusive . The only remaining
question , then , is , whether the te £ |^ - mony in favour of the miracles recordeS in the New Testament is sufficient to establish facts confessedly so extraorSj ?* nary : and of this question every map must iudere for himself . There is no
scale of improbability on the one hand , or of the strength of testimony by tfit ^ other , to which such an appeal can oe made as to force conviction on every mind . I agree with your Corresporufent , that no event which has taken place according to the laws of nature , could in reality have been antecedently improbable . But I at the same time
conceive that we can form no jud g ^ ment of the improbability of a miracle , by a miracle being understood ^ n . evidence of a Divine interposition fojj a certain object . Your Correspondent observes that 1 should require stronger testimony to prove that a man had
risen from the dead , than that a maft had died . Undoubtedly . And if this supposed resurrection of a cfead" ~ m 1 £ h were not referred to a Divine * ¦ Pb ^ yer , and were not intended t& ah ^ i ^ ie ^ tmie useful . purpose , though t
migJftrfitSfrhaps be compelled to adroit it ( as fib violation of the law ' s of : na ! ture ciin J ^ e more wanton and inexplicat ^ e ^ tHan the falsehood of the strongest testimony ) , I shoulc ) scarcely know Jiow
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Athanasian Creed . —Mr . Cogan oh lfufne * s Argument dgabtst Miracles . § 1
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1817, page 31, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2460/page/31/
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