The Sum of Christian Religion 2, Part 2 · Subpart 8 · Section 7
7 How many perſons there be of the Diuinity or God-head.
IN one diuine eſſence are ſubſiſting three perſons, Three perſons are one God, and one God is three perſons.and thoſe truely diſtinct one from another by their properties; namely the Father, the Sonne, and the holy Ghoſt; each of which three perſons notwithſtanding are one and the ſame God, eternal, infinit, & most perfect in himſelfe. And theſe perſons are conſubſtantiall and coeternal, without any confounding of their properties and reſpects, as alſo without anie diſparagement, or inequalitie betweene them.
And that there are three perſons, each of which are that one true God, creatour of all thinges, is prooued, firſt, by teſtimonies of Scripture, which are taken partly out of the olde Teſtament, and partly out of the newe. The old Teſtament yeeldeth vsus many teſtimonies. Gen. 1.2. The ſpirite of God mooued vponupon the waters: Then God ſaid, let there be light. Exod. 3.2. The Lorde is ſaide to hauehave appeared vntounto Moſes in a flame of fire, out of the middeſt of a buſhe. Steuen, Acts. 7.30. calleth him the Angell of the Lorde, which is Chriſt the Sonne of God, euen that Angell of the great counſaill. Iſay. 61.1. The ſpirite of the Lorde God is vponupon me: therefore hath he annointed mee, he that ſent me to preach good tidinges vntounto the poore, to binde vp the broken hearted. Heere the ſpirite is diſcerned both from him that annointeth, and from him that is annointed. Hee is diſcerned alſo by his giftes, becauſe he ſaith, VponUpon me, that is, dwelling in me, ſanctifieng me. Therefore theſe be three diuerſe perſons ſubſiſting. But yet there are both mo, and more cleare teſtimonies in the newe Teſtament. Mat. 28.19. Teach all nations, baptiſing them in the name of the father, and the Sonne, and the holy Ghoſt. Iohn. 14.26. The comforter which is the holy Ghoſt, whom the father will ſend in my name. Ioh. 15.26. When the Comforter ſhal come, whom I wil ſend vntounto you from the Father, euen the ſpirite of trueth, which proceedeth of the Father. 2. Cor. 13.13. The grace of our Lord Ieſus Chriſt, and the louelove of God, and the communion of the holie Ghoſt be with you al. In this ſaying of the Apoſtle inuocation is ioyned with an application & diſtinction of the 3 perſons. By grace he meaneth the benefites of Chriſt: by LoueLove, the acceptation, whereby GOD, for his Sonnes ſake, doth receiue vsus into fauor: by the communion of the holie ghoſt, his gifts which are common vntounto the godly. 1. Iohn. 5.7. There are three in heauen which beare record Tit. 3 5 God ſaued vsus by the waſhing of the new birth, and the renewing of the holie ghoſt, which he ſhed on vsus aboundantlie through Ieſus Chriſt our Sauiour. Heere hee maketh three authors of our ſaluation. Epheſ. 2.18. Through him we hauehave an entrance vntounto the father by one ſpirite. Gal. 4.6. God hath ſent forth the ſpirit of his ſonne into your harts. Therefore it is one ſpirit, which the father & the Sonne ſendeth. Secondly, The ſame is proued by thoſe places of Scripture, which giuegive vntounto theſe three, the Father, the Sonne and the holie Ghoſt, the name of Iehoua and true God. In like manner thoſe places wherein thoſe thinges which are ſpoken of Iehoua in the old Teſtament, are in the newe referred expreſſely and moſt plainly to the Sonne and the holy Ghoſt. Thirdlie, thoſe places which attribute the ſame whole diuine eſſence to the three; and ſhew that the Sonne is the proper Sonne of the father, moſt truly begotten of him: and that the holy ghoſt is the ſpirit of the father and the Sonne, and that ſo proper and peculiar as that he is, and proceedeth of God, which is the father and the ſonne. The ſonne therefore and the holie Ghoſt hauehave the ſame, and that whole eſſence of the Deity, which the Father hath: The Sonne hath it communicated of the father by beeing borne of him, and the holy Ghoſt of the father and the ſonne, by proceeding from them. Fourthly, thoſe places, which giuegive vntounto the three the ſame attributes or properties and perfections of the diuine nature: namely, eternity, immenſity, omnipotency, &c. Fiftly, thoſe places, which attribute to the three the ſame effects or works proper vntounto the Deitie, namely, creation, preſeruation, and gouernment of the world, as alſo miracles, and the ſaluation of the Church. Sixtlie, thoſe places, which yeeld to the three equall honour and worſhippe, and ſuch as agreeth to the true god alone. By this conſent therefore of the olde and newe Teſtament it is confirmed, that one GOD is three perſons truely diſtinct, and thoſe three perſons are one God.
By this alſo we vnderſtand, that it is truly ſaid, that the father is other from the ſonne and the holie ghoſt, and the holie Ghoſt other from both: but not truly, that the father is another thing from the ſonne, the ſonne another thing, and the holy ghoſt another thing. For to be another thing, betokeneth a diuerſitie of eſſence; to be other, a diuerſe manner of exiſting, or a diſtinction of perſon. Nowe the three diſtinct perſons hauehave not a diuerſe Deity, but one and the ſame in number.