to be just, at the same time, to the facts of Christ's life and utterances, and so made him semi-Divine.
Their idea is at least conceptually possible, for it was the Greek concept of the Logos, and it is conceivably what multitudes of others in all ages, nominally orthodox and followers of Athanasius, have held, despite their nominal orthodoxy and formal acceptance of Athanasianism.
The Athanasians who prevailed, and who hence call themselves orthodox, were wholly illogical in declaring that God could exist in three persons; but we must believe that they prevailed and were considered orthodox by the will of God, in spite of their defective logic, indeed, in spite of absolute irrationality, because they defended the essential deity of Christ. Although they did not understand how Christ was Divine,—of the same essence as the Father,—and although logically he could not have been Divine if existing apart from the Father as a separate personality, as they stated in their creeds; yet because of their dogmatic statements that he was truly God the Church as a whole believed in Christ's deity. And that was, after
