[The Whole Body of Christian Religion, by Hieron Zanchius; Translated out of Latin by D. Ralph Winterton]
Girolamo Zanchi (Hieronymus Zanchius), that eminent Italian divine and confessor of the Reformed faith, was born in Alzano Lombardo in 1516, of noble descent, but soon orphaned and raised in the Augustinian order. Early trained in Aristotle and the sacred tongues, he was drawn to the Reformation under the ministry of Peter Martyr Vermigli, whose lectures on Romans especially wrought upon his soul. Zanchi diligently studied the writings of Calvin, Melanchthon, Bucer, and Luther, yet chiefly revered Calvin as the prince of exegetes. When persecution scattered the Italian Reformers, Zanchi fled to Strasbourg, where he became professor of Old Testament, noted for his rigorous, legal method and profound learning. His Calvinistic doctrine of predestination and irenic spirit in the Eucharistic controversies soon drew him into conflict with the Lutheran establishment, resulting in the Strasbourg Consensus. Yet, finding the compromise unsatisfactory and conscience bound, he departed, serving as pastor to Italian exiles in Chiavenna. In 1568, Zanchi was called to Heidelberg to succeed Ursinus as professor of theology. There he produced numerous scholastic works—most notably his Confession of the Christian Religion and De Natura Legis—defending Reformed doctrine with uncommon acumen. When the Palatinate turned Lutheran, he, with other faithful brethren, repaired to Neustadt, continuing his labors till his death in 1590. Zanchi’s scholarship, piety, and steadfastness rendered him a chief ornament of the Reformed churches—a “burning and shining light,” whose legacy endures in his writings and the testimony of those who heard and read him.
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Being then taught of God in the Holy Scripture, which is his word, we believe that there is but one God, that is, one most simple, indivisible, eternal, living, and most perfect Essence, subsisting in three Persons, to wit, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, being distinguished each from other, but yet without all manner of division, the Author and cause of all things.
For thus we believe, as we are taught out of the Holy Scripture, That the Father by himself is true and perfect God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is also God: and yet there are not three Gods, but one God: “And of him, and through him, and to him are all things.”
But, because the Holy Scripture so speaketh of God, that it attributeth unto him many Properties, both Essential and Personal: and teacheth, that by the Essential he is distinguished from all things created; and by the Personal, each Person from other: Therefore we also believe that: As to beget the Son is so proper to the Father, that it can neither be attributed to the Son, nor to the Holy Ghost; and again, to be begotten, cannot be attributed but to the Son only, and so likewise in the rest: So also, to be most simple, eternal, infinite, everywhere present, simply omniscient, simply omnipotent, simply good, and the rest of like sort, are so proper unto God, that they cannot really or truly be communicated to any creature, in such manner that it can be (for instance sake) good by an infinite goodness, or omnipotent by an infinite power, &c., as God is.
For we acknowledge, that in God, by reason of his simplicity, his Essential Properties do not really differ from his Essence; and therefore that they cannot without this be communicated to any creature: and therefore, that no creature is, or can be truly said to be simply (for instance sake) omnipotent, good, just, &c. As also our Lord Jesus, speaking of one attribute, taught us concerning all, saying, “There is none good (that is, simply) but one, that is, God.”
Wherefore, whosoever hold that any created substance could ever be made, or can now or hereafter be made partaker of the divine attributes or properties, by which it may become such as God is; as, for example, simply omnipotent, &c. They must also necessarily confess that the same is, or may be, coessential with God: forasmuch as even the Son himself is not simply Almighty, but as he is coessential with the Father, and so likewise the Holy Ghost.
From whence also we understand, how it cometh to pass, that, whereas the Son is no less Almighty than the Father, and so in like manner the Holy Ghost; yet we say not that there are three Almighties, but confess with Athanasius and the whole Church, that there is only one Almighty: because they have all one and the same essence. Seeing then that nothing created hath one and the same essence with God, but another and that far diverse: How can any created thing be made Almighty? Or, if anything by the communication of God's Almighty power could be made Almighty, it must needs follow that there are more Almighties than one: which we count it blasphemy once to affirm.