Body of Divinity, Book 2 · Chapter 16
CHAP. XVI. Of the Trinity *The word Essence or Trinity are not found in Scripture, but Essence is duly derived thence; for seeing God saith that He is Exod 3. Essence is fitly ascribed to him. Trinity hath a sufficient ground, There are three that bear witness in heaven, 1 John 5. 7. and the most ancient Fathers use the word. The word Person is extant, Heb. 1. 3. therefore these words are rightly used in the Church. Calvinus ait, in Trinitate non comprehendi essentiam, quasi una …it ex numero tr…um, sed includi in omnibus tribus, quod quidem verissimum est, atque utinam sic semper erraret Calvinus. Bellarm. de Christo l. 2. c. 5.or Distinction of Persons in the Divine Essence.
VVE say God may be known by light of nature, Quod attinet ad unitatem Naturae, but not Quod attinet ad Trinitatem Personarum.
We cannot by the light of nature know the mystery of the Trinity, nor the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 2. 7, 8.
Aquinas par. 1. Summae Theol. Quaest. 32. Art. 1. Conclus. saith, Impossibile est per rationem naturalem ad Trinitatis divinarum personarum cognitionem pervenire. It is impossible by natural reason to come to the knowledge of the Trinity of the Divine Persons. He there shews that he which indeavours to prove this mystery by natural reason, derogates from faith in respect of drawing others to believe. Cum enim aliquis (faith he excellently) ad probandum fidem inducit rationes quae non sunt cogentes, cedit in irrisionem infidelium. Credunt enim quod hujusmodi rationibus innitamur, & propter eas credamus. When a man to prove any Article of faith urgeth reasons that are not cogent, he exposeth himself to the derision of Infidels. For they suppose that we rely on such reasons, and believe because of them.
We think (saith Cloppenburg in his Answer to Bidel, Argum 1.) that the mystery of the holy Trinity (as many mysteries of faith) can neither be demonstrated nor refuted by reason, 2 Cor. 10. 5. Adam in the state of innocency was not able by natural reason to finde out the Trinity.
But when by faith we receive this Doctrine we may illustrate it by reason. The simil…es which the Schoolmen and other Divines bring, drawn from the creature, are unequal and unsatisfactory, since there can be no proportion between things Finite and Infinite.
Two resemblances are much used in Scripture, the Light and the Word. TheOrigo verbi Hebraei & radix non fine arcano ternarii divini, cujus potestate omnia consistunt, tribus literis notatur. Bibliander de optimo genere Grammaticorum Hebraicorum. Omne thema seu primogenium Hebraeae linguae constat tribus literis substantialibus, ficut per totum Dictionarium cernis, id que non sine magno mysterio. Nam ut una est dictio, & ea tribus subsistit literis substanti alibus, ita una est divina essentia, tribus Personis realiter distincta Forster. praefat. ad Dictionarium Hebraicum. Light which was three dayes before the Sunne, Gen. 1. and then condensed into that glorious body, and ever since diffused throughout the world, is all one and the same Light. So the Father of Lights which inhabiteth Light which none can approach, Iam 1. 17. and Sunne of Righteousnesse, Mal. 4. 2. In whom all the fulnesse of the God-head dwelleth bodily; and the holy Ghost the Spirit of illumination are all one and the same God.
Again, It is the same thing that the minde thinketh, and the word signifieth, and the voice uttereth: so is the Father as the minde conceiving, the Son as the Word conceived or begotten, the holy Ghost as the voice or speech uttered and imparted to all hearers; and all one and the same God.
A studious Father meditating on the mystery of the Trinity, there appeared unto him a childe with a shell lading the Sea into a little hole; he demanding what the childe did, I intend, said the childe, to empty the Ocean into this pit. It isPar. on Rom. 11, 23. impossible, said the Father; as possible, said the childe, as for thee to comprehend this profound mystery in thy shallow capacity.
The Mystery of the Trinity is necessary to be known and believed of all thatVix contuli unquam cum aliquo ex Iudaeis, qui vel aliquantulum esset s…piens in oculis aliorum qui non concederet Deum trinum & unum: Verum Personae nomen, & Patris & Filii unanimiter omnes usque adeo detestantur, ut nullatenus valeat eis pulchrum fieri tale aliquid de Deo etiam somniare. Raymundi Martini Pugio Fidei adversus Iudaeos part 3. cap. 4. Vide plura ibidem. Iudaeorum populus maximè ad idololatriam pronus erat, ne igitur in eorum qui plures Deos colebant, errorem incid…rent: Cautè à divina providentia factum est, Ut ipsum divinae Trinitatis arcanum non explicitè, sed implicitè eis traderetur. Sed quoniam idololatria per Messiam penitus explodenda erat: universusque orbis ad unius Dei cultum reducendus, Idcirco mysterium illud Trinitatis explicitè atque apertè revclandum, ad dies Messiae reservatum suit. Galatinus de arcanis Cathol. verit lib. 2. cap 1. shall be saved; it was not so plainly revealed to the Jews of old, as it is to us in the New Testament, a perfect and full knowledge of this mystery is not attainable in this life.
Although Trinity in its native signification signifie the number of any threeExod. 33. 20. 1 Cor. 13. 9. things, yet by Ecclesiastical custome it is limited to signifie the three *Si rectè dicuntur tres Elohim, etiam rectè dici possit tres Dii; nam Elohim Latinè sonat Dii vel Deus. Drusius de Quaesitis per Epistolam. Epist 66. Vide Drusii Tetragrammaton, cap. 6. Sic concidit gravis quaerela & expostulatio viri Docti adversus libri cujusdam▪ titulum, De tribus Elohim. Non enim voluit author libri illius voce Elohim propriè significare personas, ac proinde tot esse Elohim quot fides Christiana agnoscit esse personas in D…vinis, cum Scriptura apertè contrastet, quae testatur Deum nostrum esse Deum unum. Non sic erravit, aut caecutiit doctus ille Theologus, ut diceret & doceret Tres esse, propriè loquendo, Elohim. Sed quoniam vocis illius terminatione plurali Scriptura innuere voluit S. S. Trinitatis mysterium, ipse huc respicient, & et volens in libri (quem de S. S. Trinitate scribebat) titulo alludere cata…hre…i non infrequenti, sed ordinaria. Capel. Davidis Lyra. Vide illius Diat. de nomine Elohim, cap. 7. & 12. & Rivet. Grot. Discus. Dialys. Sect. 16. In Deo una substantia, sed tres persone: in Christo duae substantiae, sed una persona: In Trinitate alius atque alius, non aliud atque aliud; in salv… tore aliud atque aliud, non alius atque alius. Vincent. contra Haeres cap. 19.Persons in the Trinity. This is not meant as if the Essence did consist of three Persons, as so many parts; and therefore there is a great difference between Trinity and Triplicity. Trinity is when the same Essence hath divers wayes of subsisting; and Triplicity is when one thing is compounded of three as parts, they are three not in respect of Essence or Divine Attributes, three Eternals; but three in respect of personal properties, as the Father is of none, the Sonne of the Father, and the holy Ghost of both; three Persons but one God, as to be, to be true, to be good, are all one, because Transcendents.
The acts of the Persons in the God-head (say some) are of three sorts:
1. Essential, in which all the Persons have equal hand, Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa, the outward works which concern the creature, belong to one Person as well as the other, as to create, govern.
2. Some ad intra, opera propria, The personal properties or internal works are distinguished, as the Father begets, the Son is begotten of the Father, and the holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son.
3. Appropriata, as the Schools speak, acts of office, more peculiarly attributed to one Person th…n another, Eph. 4. 7. So the Father is said to give the Son, the Son to redeem the world, to be made flesh; the holy Ghost is the bond of union. See Dr Hampton on Gen. 1. 6. & 1 Pet. 1. 2. Gods plot in the work of Redemption, was not only (say some) to exalt the Attributes of the Nature, but to glorifie the Persons distinctly according to their appropriated acts.
There is in the Trinity alius & alius, another and another, but not aliud & aliud, another thing and another thing, as there is in Christ; the Father is another Person from the Sonne, but yet there is the same Nature and Essence of them all. They differ not in their Natures as three men or three Angels differ, for they differ so as one may be without the other; but now the Father is not without the Sonne, nor the Sonne without the Father, so that there is the same numerical Essence.
The Father in some sense is said to be the onelyonly God, Iohn 17. 3. that is, besides the Divine Nature which is common to the three Persons, there is not another God to be found, the word (OnelyOnly) is opposed to all feigned gods, to every thing which is not of this Divine Nature; So when it is said, None knoweth the Father but the Sonne, and the Sonne but the Father, that excludes not the holy Ghost which searcheth the hidden things of God, but all which are not of that Essence.
Though there be no inequality in the Persons, yet there is an order, not of dignity but of beginning *Mat. 28. 19. John 5. 26, 27. The Father is the fountain and original of all the Deity, and the cause of the Sonne, which the very word Father signifieth; therefore he is said to be unbegotten; and hence the name God is often peculiarly, and by an excellency given to the Father in Scripture. He is usually called Fons Divinitatis & Operationis.. The Father in the Sonne by the holy Ghost made the world, not as if there were so many partial causes, much lesse as if God the Father were the Principal and these Instrumental, but only meer order. A Person is Diversus modus ha…endi eandem Essentiam. Subsistentia in Schools signifies a being with an individual property, whereby one is not another; Person (say some) is a Law term, it is any thing having reason with an individual property.
A Person is such a subsistence in the Divine Nature, as is distinguished from everyModum istum subsistendi diversum, haud alio nomine, quam personarū expressit hactenus in hoc …rticulo, consentiens Catholica Ecclesia. Dr Prid. Lect. 17. de S. Trinitate. Qui personam vocant foreign, hoc est, modum subsistendi, non existendi; illi non intelligunt modum nudum, sed substantialem ac entitativum, ut Scholastici loquuntur. Bisterfeldius contra Crellium, lib. 1. Sect. 2. cap. 2. other thing by some special or personal property, or else it is the God-head restrained with his personal property. Or it is a different manner of subsisting in the God-head, as the nature of man doth diversly subsist in Peter, Iames, Iohn, but these are not all one. It differs from the Essence as the manner of the thing from the thing it self, and not as one thing from another; one Person is distinguisht from another by its personal property, and by its manner of working.
We have no reason to be offended with the use of the word Person, if we addeIudaei nomen personae in Deo plurimum detestantur audire, trium namque Personarum audito nomine trium mox concutiuntur errorc Deorum, pariter & horrore. Raym. Pug. advers Iud. par. 3. Distinct. 1. cap. 1. Psal. 2. 17. proves that the Father begets, and the Son is begotten of the Father. Gal. 4▪ 6. See Joh. 15. 26. & 14. 26. Quomodo autem Deus Pater genuerit Filium, no…o discutias, nec curiosius ingeras in profundo arcam, ne forte dum i… accessae lucis fulgorem pertinacius perscruteris, exiguum ipsum, qui mortalibus divino munere concessus est, perd…s aspectum. Ruffinus de Symbolo Vide plura ibid. Haec est differentia inter essentiam divinam & personam divinam; Essentia divina est communis pluribus divinitatis Personis. Persona autem una alteri non est communicabilis. Unde Pater non est Filius, nec Filius Pater. 2. Essentia divina est una, Person… plures. Wendelinus. a fit Epithete, and say, The Father is a Divine or Uncreated Person, and say the same of the Sonne and holy Ghost. The word Person signifies an understanding Subsistent, 2 Cor. 1. 11▪ Persona, quasi per se una. This word doth expresse more excellency then the word subsistence, as one doth import, for it is proper to say, that a beast doth subsist, but it is absurd to say a beast is a person, because a Person is an understanding subsistent. Dr Cheynels Divine Trin-unity.
The personal property of the Father is to beget, that is, not to multiply his substance by production, but to communicate his substance to the Sonne. The Sonne is said to be begotten, that is, to have the whole substance from the Father by communication. The holy Ghost is said to proceed, or to be breathed forth, to receive his substance by proceeding from the Father and the Sonne joyntly; in regard of which he is called The Spirit of the Father, and the Spirit of the Sonne both, Gal. 4. 6. The Father only begetteth, the Sonne only is begotten, and the holy Ghost onelyonly proceedeth; both procession and generation are ineffable.
When Gregory Nazianzen was pressed by one to assign a difference between those words Begotten and Proceeding. Dic tu mihi (said he) quid sit generatio, & ego dicamquid sit processio, ut ambo insaniamus. Distinguere inter Processionem & Generationem, nescio, non vel…o, non sufficio. Aug.
In the manner of working they differ, for the Father worketh of himself, by the Sonne, and through the holy Ghost; the Sonne worketh from the Father by the holy Ghost; the holy Ghost worketh from the Father and the Sonne by himself. There is so one God, as that there are three Persons or divers manners of being in that one God-head, the Father, Son, and the holy Ghost.
1. Whatsoever absolutely agrees to the Divine Nature, that doth agree likewise to every Person of the Trinity.
2. Every Person hath not a part, but the whole Deity in it self.
A Person is one entire, *Persona est individuum subsistens, vivum, intelligens, incommunicabile, non sustentatum ab alio, nec pars alterius.distinct subsistence, having life, understanding, will and power, by which he is in continual operation.
These things are required to a Person:
1. That it be a substance; for accidents are not Persons, they inhere in another thing, a person must subsist.
2. A lively and intelligent substance endued with reason and will; an house is not a Person, nor a stone or beast.
3. Determinate and singular, for man-kinde is not a Person; but Iohn and Peter.
4. Incommunicable, it cannot be given to another; hence the nature of man isPersona igitur non est essentia qua pluribus est communicabilis. Personae v…x non his significat officium aut relationem (ut Persona principis) vel vultum & visibilem speciem, gestum, vel formam alterius representantem ut Personae in drammate, sed modum quo Essentia Divina subsistit. not a person, because it is communicable to every particular man; but every particular man is a person, because that nature which he hath in particular, cannot be communicated to another.
5. Not sustained by another, therefore the humane nature of Christ is not a person, because it is sustained by his Deity.
6. It must not be the part of another; therefore the reasonable soul which is a part of man, is not a person.
That there are three Persons in the Deity, viz. Father, Sonne, and holy Ghost,There are three distinct rational Authors of action, three Hees, John 8. 16, 18. is manifest by expresse Testimonies of Scripture, Gen. 1. 26. Let us make man in our image after our likenesse. Deus qui loquitur ad Deum loquitur: Ad Patris & Filii imaginem homo conditur, nomen non discrepat, natura non differt. Hilary lib. 5. de Trin. Vide plura ibid.
Gen. 19. 24. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gom…rrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heaven. The Lord rained from the Lord, the Son from the Father. Mercer on the place saith, Sed efficaciora in Iudaeos, aut alios qui Trinitatem negant argumenta sunt proferenda. Num quid (saith Hilary de Trin.) non verus Dominus à vero Domino? aut quid aliud quàm Dominus à Domino? vel quid praeter significationem Personae in Domino ac Domino coaptabis, & memento quod quem solum verum Deum nosti, hunc eundem solum justum judicem sis professus. Adime filio quod iudex est, ut auferas quod Deus verus est. Vide plura ibid.
Psal. 110. 1. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, untill I make thine enemies thy foot stool. Rabbi Saadia Gaon on Daniel interprets this of the Messias. Vide Grotium in Matth. 22. 42. It is of Christ that he speaks, so Peter, Paul and Christ himself shew Mat. 22. 43. and the Pharisees acknowledge it, since he cals him His Lord, although he ought to descend of his race, and should be called the son of David.
Psal. 33. 7. there three are named, the Word, the Lord, and the Spirit, Isa. 6. 3. Holy, Holy, Holy.
But this truth is most clearly taught in the New Testament, Matth. 3. 16. Luke Qui nescis Trinitatem, ita ad Iordanem. Quando Antitrinitarii adversus sanctissimum illud mysterium inferunt, id falsum esse, quia v. g. Tria non sunt unum; ibi tum pronunciat ratio ex se ipsa de hac connexione, & dicit eam falsam esse. Nam novit lumen rationis id axioma intelligendum esse de iis, ad quae per se ratio exsurgere potest. Vedel. Rational. theol. lib. 3. c. 6.3. 22. The first Person in the Trinity utters his voice from Heaven, This is my beloved Sonne; The Sonne is baptized in Iordan, the holy Ghost descends in the shape of a Dove upon Christ. Pater auditur in voce, Filius manifestatur in homine, Spiritus Sanctus dignoscitur in Co…umba. Aug. Tract. 6. in Joh.
Adde to this the History of Christs Transfiguration, described Mat. 17. 5. Mark 9. 7. Luke 9. 35. In which likewise the voice of the Father was heard from Heaven, This is my beloved Son, the Son is transfigured, the holy Ghost manifests himself in a bright cloud.
Matth. 28. 19. The Apostles are commanded to baptize in the Name of Father, Son and holy Ghost. Cameron thinks that is the most evident place to prove the Trinity. But that it is as apposite a place as any for this purpose, 1 Iohn 5. 7. For there are three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the holy Ghost. See Joh. 15. 26.The Arrians wiped this place out of many Books, 2 Cor. 13. 14. The grace of the Lord Iesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the holy Ghost be with you all.
The Arrians, Samosate…ians, Sabellians, Photinians, and others deny the TrinityThe Hereticks that are Antitrinitarians. See Joh. 8. 58. Psal. 2 12. of Persons in one Essence of God. Servetus a Spaniard was burnt at Geneva in Calvins time, he denied that Christ was Gods Son till Mary bore him. *Vide Placei Disput▪ de argumentis; Quibus efficitur, Christū prius …uisse, quam in utero beatae Virginis secundum carnē conciperetur. Paulus Samosatanus, more fitly Semisathanas, held Christ was but a meer man. Matth. 6. 6.Servetus Trinitatem idolum, item Cerberum Tricipitem vocabat.
The Ministers of Transylvania (in a most pestilent book of theirs) often contumeliously call him Deum Tri-personatum, whom we holily worship. Hoornbeeck Anti-socin. l. 2. c. 5. sect. 1. p. 415.
Those of Polonia (in their Catechism) say, That there is but one Divine Person, and urge Iohn 17. 3. 1 Cor. 8. 6. Ephes. 4. 1. Zanchy long since hath vindicated the truth and refuted them.
Socinus cals him, Deum tripersonatum, ridiculum humanae curiositatis inventum. Infaustus Socinus omnium haereticorum audacissimus, saith Rivet. See Cheynels rise of Socinianism, chap. 3. and ch. 1. p. 6.
Some glory in this as a great argument against the three Persons in the Trinity. If there be Persons in the Trinity, they are either something or nothing, Nothing they cannot be, Non entis nullae sunt affectiones, if something, they are either finite or infinite, finite they cannot be, nor infinite, then there should be three Infinites.
It is, 1. plain in Scripture, there is but one God, 1 Cor. 8. 4.
2. The Scripture speaks of Father, Sonne and holy Ghost or Spirit, these are said to be three, 1 Iohn 5. 7.
3. The God-head is attributed to all, and the essential Properties belong to all.
4. Something is attributed to one in the Scripture that cannot be said of all. The Sonne was made flesh, and the Sonne is begotten, this cannot be said of the other; the Sonne and the Spirit are sent, but this cannot be said of the Father. It is not strange among the creatures that a Father should be distinguished from himself as a man, the Persons are something and infinite, each of them infinite, as each of them is God, yet not three Infinites nor Gods; so Athanasius in his Creed. A Person is Essentia divina cum proprietate sua hypostatica, the divine Nature distinguished by an incommunicable property, though we cannot expresse the manner of this great mystery, yet we should believe it. The ground of Arminianism and Socinianism is, because they would examine all the great truths of God by their Reason. That saying of Bernard here hath place, Scrutari haec temeritas est, credere pietas est, nosse vero vita aeterna est.
That the Father is God, is confessed by all, and it is manifest from Scripture, weSee Act. 4. 24, 25, 26, 27. & Joh. 8. 54. are directed to pray to him. The Apostle saith, Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, Philem. v. 3. See Rom. 1. 7. 1 Cor. 8. 6. Ephes. 1. 3.
That Christ is God, is proved
1. By clear Texts of Scripture affirming this truth in so many words. The ProphetThose that deny the Godhead of Christ must deny, 1. The satisfaction of Christ 2. The purchase of Christ, he that is but a man cannot merit. 3. That Christ shall judge the world. No creature can redeem us from hell, nor satisfie infinite justice. God purchased his Church with his bloud, Acts 20. 28. fore-telling of him saith, this is his name by which you shall call him, Iehovah, or The Lord our Righteousnesse, Jer. 23. 16. and The mighty God, Isa. 9. 6. Paul saith, Rom. 9. 5. Who is God over all, blessed for ever; and St. Iohn saith, 1 Iohn 5. 20. This is very God; and St. Paul saith, 1 Tim. 3. 16. Great is the mystery of Godlinesse, God manifested in the flesh; and accordingly Thomas made his confession, Ioh. 20. 28. My Lord, and my God, which title he accepteth and praiseth Thomas for believing, and that he could not have done without extream impiety, had he not been God, Vide Bellarm▪ de Christo l. 1. c. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
2. By evident Reasons drawn from the Scripture.
He hath the Name, Titles, Works, essential Attributes and worship of God ascribed unto him in Scripture.Joh. 1. 1, 2.
1. Divine Names and Titles are given to Christ; He is the only blessed Potentate, 1 Tim. 6. 15. The King of Kings, Revel. 1. 5. and Lord of Lords, Apoc. 17. 14. and 19. 16. He is called The Image of the invisible God, Col. 1. 15. The brightnesse of his glory, Heb. 1. 3. The word and wisdom of the Father, Prov. 8. 12. and 9. 1. HeDignum est haereticos non jam Apostolicis viris, sed daemonum clamore convinci▪ Clamāt enim & saepè clamant, Luc. 8. Quid mihi & tibi est Jesu Fili Dei altissimi? Invitis veritas elicuit confessionem, & naturae potestatem testatur dolor, obediendi virtute vincuntur, cum possessa diu corp…ra deserunt: honorem reddunt, dum naturam confitentur. Dei se inter haec filium Christus & opere testatur & nomine. H…arius de Trin. lib. 6. Joh. 20. 28. Gen. 18. 13, 14 Iehovah is Christ whom Abraham cals the Judge of heaven and earth. 1 Cor. 8. 6. By the Apostle Christ is expresly called foreign. He takes the God-head as his own right, Phil 2. 7. is called the Word, because he is so often spoken of and promised in the Scripture, and is in a manner the whole subject of the Scripture; he is called foreign cum articulo, Joh. 1. 1. Act. 20. 28. 1 Tim. 3. 16. The great God, Titus 2. 13. The true God, 1 John 5. 20. God over all, or Blessed above all, Rom. 9. 5. The most high, Luk. 1. 76. and foreign by which name the Septuagint have expressed Iehovah the proper name of God alone, Iohn 20. 28. My Lord, Jude 4. The only Lord, Acts 10. 36. The Lord of all, 1 Cor. 15. 48. The Lord from Heaven, 1 Cor. 2. 8. The Lord of glory, 1 Cor. 2. 8. The Lord of Heaven and Earth, Matth. 28. 18. These Titles are too high and excellent to be given unto any meer man whatsoever, God therefore who will not have his glory given to another, would never have given these Titles to another, if he were not God.
2. The works of God, even the principal and most eminent of all, which are properDivine works. to the Lord only, are ascribed to Christ.No man can of himself, and by his own power do divine works, unlesse he be truly God: Christ doth works by his own power, and the same with his Father, Iohn 10. 37, 38.
1. The work of Creation, even of creating all things, Iohn 1. 3. and Col. 1. 16. He for whom, and by whom all things were created, is very God. For Christ and by him all things were created, therefore he is very God. Heb. 1. 10, 11, 12. The foundation of the earth, and the creation of the Heavens, and the change which is to happen to both at the last day, are attributed to the Sonne of God.
2. The work of Preservation and Government is attributed to him also, heHe governs his Church. Ephes. 4. 11. 1 Pet. 3. 19. Matth. 8. 2. compared with 2 King. 7. 9. Christ cured those that were born blinde. John. 10. 28. is before all things, and by him all things consist, Heb. 1. 2. He who upholds all things by his powerful word, is God. So doth Christ, therefore he is God.
3. The working of Divine miracles, raising up the dead by his own power is given to him, Ioh. 6. 54. and Ioh. 5. 21. He that can quicken and raise the dead is God. So doth Christ, therefore he is God.
4. Redeeming of mankinde, Luke 1. 68. Matth. 20. 28. Ephes. 1. 7. Revel. 1. 5.
5. Sending of the holy Ghost, Iohn 21. 22. and 14. 16. and of Angels, is ascribed to him, Mat. 13. 41. Revel. 1. 1. He forgives sins, Mark 9. 2, 5. He gives eternal life.
3. The principal and incommunicable Attributes of God are given to him.
1. Omniscience, Iohn 2. 24, 25. He knew all men, and he knew what was inSee Rev. 2. 23 them, Ioh. 21. 17. Lord, thou knowest all things.
2. Omnipotency, Revel. 1. 8. and 4. 8. and 11. 17. Phil. 3. 21.
3. Eternity, Ioh. 17. 5. Revel. 1. 18. Iohn 1. 1. Isa. 9. 6.*Mirum est adversarios hunc locum ubi agitur de Patre aeterno, ad filium referre, quem constat secundum eos ipsos Patrem non esse. So the Polonian Catechism: But the Text it self shews this place speaks of Christ, who is a Father not in respect of his Person, but in relation to his Church. He is the author of their spiritual life and being. 2. In that he is the Author of everlasting life to his, Iohn 6. 39, 40, 47, 51. He is stiled the Everlasting Father, in Hebrew, The Father of Eternity. The Septuagint hath it foreign, Pater futuri saeculi. Vide Raymundi Pugionem Fidei adversus Iudaeos, part. 3. Dist. 1. cap. 9. He is called The everlasting Father.
4. Omnipresence, Matth. 18. 20.
5. Unchangeablenesse, Heb. 1. 11, 12, 13. and 13. 8. He that is Omniscient, Omnipotent, Eternal, Omnipresent, Unchangeable, equal to the FatherJohn 17. 5. in Majesty and Glory, Phil. 2. 16. is God. So is Christ, therefore he is God.Psal. 45. 11. Joh. 5. 22.
Lastly, Worship due to God is ascribed to him, Heb. 1. 6. Let all the Angels of God worship him, Revel. 5. 13. The Lamb, that is, Christ, hath the same worship rendred to him that the Father hath. We are commanded to call upon his name, to believe and trust in him, Iohn 14. 1. & 3. 16. & 6. 40. to hope in him, Isa. 11. 10. we are baptized in his name, Matth. 28. 19. Act. 8. 16. and swear by him, Rom. 9. 1.
The mystery of the Sons generation is so profound, that it is difficult and dangerous to wade further in it, then we have clear ground from Scripture: that the Sonne was of the Father begotten from eternity, and is one with him, and of equal power and dignity, seems clear from Prov. 8, 23, 26. Iohn 1. 3. & 10. 30. and 17. 5. Phil. 2. 6. but Modus quo genitus fuerit, seems to some beyond humane reach.
Some of our Divines say, Christ is begotten of the Father by a communication of the Divine Essence; if this be granted (say others) it will be hard to defend the God-head of Christ. He that is God must have his being from himself, à se Deus, à Patre Filius. Mr Wotton on Ioh. 1. goes this way, and some others. ButFilius foreign dicitur, quia habet essentiam divinam quae est à seipsa, non verò quia eam habet à seipso; habet enim à Patre Joh. 5. Zanch. Vide Voet. Theses. some say then he should be his adopted Son. Vide Bellar. de Christo l. 2. c. 15. The Athanasian Creed hath it, God of God, and Christ saith of the holy Ghost, that he shall receive of him. Illud arctè nobis tenendum, à persona Patris per generationem Filio esse communicatam essentiam ingenitam. R. Usser. Ignat. & Clem. Interpolator haeresi suspectus. cap. 15. That Christ hath his God-head from the Father, makes not against his God-head but for it, if he hath the same God-head which the Father hath though from the Father, then he is the same God with the Father.
Object. Matth. 19. 17. Christ denieth that he was good because he was not God.
Answ. Christ applieth himself to *Iuvenls aste, quamvis in Iesu majus homine uthil agnosceret, sperabat tam… eo monstrante se perventurum ad possessionem ejus boni quo vita aeterna paratur, quasi ad eam rem monstratore tantum eg…r…, caetera per se confecturus. At Iesus occurrens huic errori, simulque modestiae nobis praebens exemplum, ait non esse multos boni fontes, sed unicum, Deum scilicet, hoc ips… indicans, non satis esse bonum nobis monstrari, nisi Deus mentem illustrans vir…s nobis suggerat. Grotius in loc.him to whom he spake; now he called Christ good in no other sense then he would have done any other Prophet, and in this sense Christ rebuked him for calling him good.
Object. Ioh. 17. 3. God the Father is called the only true God.See Rom. 16. 27. 1 Cor. 8. 6 Ephes. 4. 6. Debitus Patri à Filio honor redditur, cùm dicit: te solum Deum: non tamen se Filius à Dei veritato secornit cum adjungit: Et quem mi…isti Iesum Christum. Non habet intervallum confessio credentium, quia in utroque spes vitae est. Hilarius lib. 3. de Trinitate. The words are to be read (as we render them) That they may know thee (to be) the only true God, not, That they may know thee only (to be) the true God, according to the first reading, the predicate is common to the Father and the Son. Vide Bezam.
Answ. Some referre both these to God himself and Christ, but others give a general rule, that the Word alone is not opposed to the other Persons, but to the creatures, and feigned gods, and so Ioh. 8. 9. the woman is not excluded, but her accusers; the added expressions shew him to be God, because it is life eternal to know him as well as the Father.
Object. Ephes. 4. 6.
Answ. The word Father is not there used relatively or personally, for the first Person in the Trinity; but essentially, as Mal. 2. Is there not one Father of us all? and so he is God, called Father in regard of his works ad extra.
Object. Iohn 14. 28. My Father is greater then I.
Answ. As he was man only or Mediator, the Father was greater then he, but as he was God, that is true, Iohn 10. 38. *Hoc testimouio utuntur omnes Patres contra Arian…s, ut probent u…am esse essentiam Patris & Filii. Bellar. de Christ. l. 1. c. 6I and my Father are one; not in union of will (as Ioh. 17. 21.) but in unity of nature. See Phil. 2. 6.
Object. Prov. 8. 22. Ariu… *Ariu… stumbled at the Greek Text foreign, The Lord created me, and on that corrupt Translation grounded his heresie, That Christ was a creature. Christ is God by nature, Gal, 4. 8. which place was strongly urged by Mr Cheynel against Earbury, who held, that the Saints have the same fulnesse of the God-head dwelling in them, as it doth in Christ, and that the Spirit is but the power of God in the man Christ An Account given to the Parliament by the Ministers, sent by them to Oxford.objected this place, The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way.
Answ. This place much puzled the Fathers for want of skill in the original Tongue; it is in the Hebrew, Possessed me the beginning of his way. So Arius Montanus reads it. See vers. 25. It is spoken of Christ as Mediator.
Object. Col. 1. 15. Christ is called the first-born of every creature, therefore he is a creature. Here the Arrians say, Christ is imanifestly called a creature. Cum Christus prim…genitus omnis creaturae sit, eum unum … numero creaturarum esse oportere necesse est. Ea enim in Scripturis vis est primogeniti, ut primogenitum unum ex eorum genere, quorum primogenitus est, esse necesse est. Catechis. Eccl. Polon. c. 1. de persond Christi.
Ans. There are three answers given to this Text in the Annot. Edit. 2. Vid. Bez. in loc. It is a figurative speech, Christ had the pre…eminence over the creatures, was Lord over them as the first-born.
An Arrian executed at Norwich for blasphemy against Christ, in the dayes of Queen Elizabeth, being moved to repent that Christ might pardon him, replied to this effect: and is that God of yours so merciful indeed as to pardon so readily those that blaspheme him? then I renounce and defie him.
The Socinians deny Christ to be God, and oppose his merits and satisfaction unto God for our sins, they hold Christ is God salvo meli…ri judicio, or prout mihi videtur, till they can examine it better.
They are more vexed with Athanasius, then with any other, and call him for Athanasius Sathanasius, he stood against three hundred Bishops in a Councel, and maintained the Divinity of Christ against the Arian faction. He hath written also most copiously against the Arrians, and hath solidly refuted their arguments against the Divinity of Christ.
The Gospel of S. Iohn was chiefly penned for this end to prove the Deity of Christ, Christ there gives a resolute and constant testimony of himself, that he was the Son of God, and very God, never any creature took this title upon him to be called God, but the fearful judgements of God were upon him for it. Mr Perkins on the Creed; See him also on Iude. Vide Lod. Viv. de verit. Fid. Christ. l. 2. c. 12. & 14.
Many Hereticks denied the God-head of Christ, as Ebion, Cerinthus, Arrius, In the first Nicene Councel gathered together against Arius the Prince of all Hereticks who denied the Divinity of Christ, there were 318 Bishops. A man would think that there were but small difference (it is but a little Iota) between foreign and foreign, yet the right believers could never be brought (as Theodoret witnesseth) either to omit the one, or admit the other. Dr Prideaux Ephesus Backsliding. Iustinus 1. Imperator Edicto praecepit, ut ne quis vel unicam syllabam in Doctrina Ecclesiae orthodoxae de Trinitate mutaret, addita hac ratione, quod in ipsis syllabis veritas fidei contineatur. Vedel. de Prud. vet. Eccles l. 3. c. 3.the Jews also and Mahometans, some denying him to be God, others saying, that he was not absolutely God, but inferiour to him.
He is God, not by office, nor by favour, nor by similitude, nor in a figure, as sometimes Angels and Magistrates are called Gods; but by nature, he is equal and co-essential with his Father, there is one God-head common to all the three persons, the Father, the Sonne and the Spirit; and therefore it is said, Phil. 2. 6. that He was in the form of God, and thought it no robbery to be equal with God. Lo an equality to God the Father ascribed to him, he is not God in any secondary or inferiour manner, but is in the very form of God equal to him, the God-head of all the three Persons being one and the same. To beat down Arius his heresie the first Councel of Nice was called, the Nicene Creed made.
The difference between the Councel of Nice and Arius was but in a Letter, whether Christ was foreign, …. like in essence; or foreign coessential to the Father. The Arian Heretick presseth Augustine to shew where the word foreign is read in Scripture. Angustine asketh, what is Homoousion Consubstantiall, but, I and my Father are one. See of Arius his Heresie and end. Heilins Geograph. pag. 725.
Amphil…chius a worthy Bishop petitioned Theodosius the Emperour, that the Arians might not have publick meetings in the City, but in vain. Shortly after, he coming to the Court, and finding Arcadius the Emperours Sonne, whom Theodosius had newly made Emperour together with him, standing by his Father, He reverently bowed to the Father Theodosius after his usual manner, but gave not the like respect to his Sonne, but coming near to him he spake to him as unto a young boy, Salve mi Fili, saith he, and with his hand stroked his head. Theodosius being here with provoked to anget, chode Amphilochius with indignation for so sleighting his Sonne, and not honouring him equally with himself, and withall commanded him to be cast out reproa…hfully. As he was carrying away, he turned and said, Think, O Emperour, that the heavenly Father is thus angry with those who honour not the Sonne equally with the Father, and dare say, that he it inferiour in nature to him. The Emperour hearing this, called back the Bishop, begs pardon of him, admires his act, makes a Law presently against the meeting of the Arians, and forbad their publick disputations, and the Emperour himself was hereby more confirmed in the true Religion, in which he wavered before. Vedel. Proleg. ad lib. de Prud. vet. Eccles. c. 2.
Thirdly, That the holy Ghost is also God*Vide Bellarm. de Christo l. 1. c. 13, 14, 15, 16 17, 18, 19, 20., is proved by the same Arguments.
1. The Names and Titles of God are given to him, 1 Cor. 3. 16. Three times doth the Apostle call the holy Ghost God, 1 Cor. 3. 16, 17. The taking of the shape of a Dove, and fiery Tongues, are acts of a distinct Person. Act. 5. 3, 4 compare Act. 1. 16. with Act. 4. 24. Numb. 12. 6. with 2 Pet. 1. 21. He is called the Spirit of Glory, 1 Pet. 4. 14.
Secondly, Divine Attributes are given to the holy Ghost.
1. Omniscience, he knoweth all things, 1 Cor. 2. 10, 11. Ioh. 14. 26.
2. Omnipresence, Psal. 139. 7. Rom. 8. 9. Ioh. 14. 26.The holy Spirit, 1. Works grace in the hearts of all Gods people, that is done by an almighty power, Ephes. 1. 19. therefore …e i… an omnipotent Essence. 2. Dwels in the hearts of all Gods people, therefore he is omnipresent. 3. Assists the people of God in their prayers, and increaseth their graces, therefore he is an omniscient God. In the Apostles Creed, as I believe in the Father, and in the Sonne, so in the holy Ghost. Credimus multu…, sed in …ibil praeterquam in Deum credimus. Quid est in aliquem credere, …isi … per omnia assentiri, atque in …o omnem spem & …iduct…m coll…cdr… ▪ Hoc autem …lli creaturoe sed Deo duntaxat conven… ▪ 1 Pet. 1. 21.
3. Omnipotency, Heb. 3. 7.
4. Eternity, Heb. 9. 14.
Thirdly, The works of the true God are given to the holy Ghost.
1. Creation, Iob 26. 13. Psal. 33. 6.He is called the Spirit of truth, Iohn 14. 26. the Spirit of adoption, Rom. 8. 15. the Spirit of sanctification, Rom. 1. 4. the Spirit of renewing, Tit. 3. 5.
2. Preservation and sustentation of all things created is attributed to the holy Ghost. Gen. 1. 2. Zech. 4. 6.
3. Redemption, 1 Cor. 2. 10.
4. The power of working miracles is ascribed to the holy Ghost, Matth. 12. 2…. Act. 2. 4. Rom. 15. 19. the resurrection of the flesh is ascribed also to the holy Ghost, Rom. 8. 11.
5. Disttibuting of graces according to his pleasure, 1 Cor. 12. 4. and 11. instructing of the Prophets, 2 Pet. 1. 21. Governing of the Church, and making Apostle…, Act. 13. 2. and 20. 28.
Fourthly, Divine honour and worship is given to him, Apoc. 2. 29. we are baptizedRom. 9. 1. in his Name, as well as in the Name of the Father and Sonne, Matth. 28. 10. we are commanded to believe in him, and call upon him. Blasphemy against the holy Ghost shall never be forgiven, Mat. 12. 31. therefore he is no lesse religiously to be worshipped then the Father and the Son.
In the first Constantinopolitan Councell assembled against Macedonius whoUna tautum est in Deitate Persona & Spiritus Sanctus est, ut verba Christi ad Apostolos indidicant. Luc. 24. 49. Cate…h. Eccles. Polou. c. 6. Vide plura ibid. denied the Divinity of the holy Ghost, there were an hundred and fifty Bishops.
Vide Doct. Prid. Lect. 20. de S. S. Deitate & Personalitate. The Arminians and Socinians (as Peltius sheweth in his Harmony) say, The holy Ghost is only Vis & Efficacia, the power of God, but not a distinct Person, God himself, but 1 Cor. 12. 11. as he (i. the Spirit) will, therefore he is a Person as well as the Father and the Sonne, Ephes. 1. 14. the Spirit of promise, who is (so the Greek may well be rendred) The …arnest of our inheritance.
The Communion and Distinction of these three Persons is to be constdered.
1. Their Communion; the same mumerical essence is common to the three in one God, or of one essence there are three Persons, by reason of which community of Deity all the three Persons remain together, and are co-eternal delight to themselves, Prov. 8. 22, 30. Ioh. 14. 10.
1. The Persons differ:
1. From the Essence, not really as things and things, but modally, as manners from the things where of they are manners, as degree… of heat from heat, and light from light.
2. They differ amongst themselves, as degrees from degrees, a… relations in a subject from other relations in the same; as for example, if three degrees should remain distinctly in the same heat, this is a distinction not of degree, state or dignity (since all the Persons are equal) but in other respects, and it is either Internal or External.
Internal is three-fold:
1. In Order, the Father is the first Person from himself, not from another, bothThe Father …s prima Persona, in order, not in dignity. 2. The fountain and original of the Derty unto the Sonne and the holy Ghost, unto the Son giguendo, unto the holy Ghost, together with the Son spirando. 3. He is unbegotten, and proceeding from none. Mr Dow… on Iohn 17. 1. Proprietates patris personales, quibus à filio distinguitur & Spiritu sancto, sunt duae. 1. Esse à se; Pater enim ab alio non est. 2. Gignere filium ab aeterno foreign, Wendelinus. Quinque dicuntur de Deo, Paternitas, innascibilitas, filiatio, processio, & communis spiratio. August. Paternitas & innascibilitas conveniunt solummodò Patri: Filiatio tantummodò Filio: Spiritui verò sancto processio: communis spiratio Patri & Filio respectu Spiritus sancti. Raym. Mart. Pugio adversus Iudaeos part. 3. Dist. 1. c. 5. in respect of his Essence and Person. The Sonne is the second Person from his Father in respect of his Person and filiation, existing by eternal generation, after an ineffable manuer, and is so called God of God. The holy Ghost is the third Person, proceeding or flowing co-eternally from the Father and the Son in respect of his Person.
2. In the personal property unchangeable and incommunicable, which is called personality, and it is
1. Of the Father, paternity, and to beget in respect of the Sonne; to send out or breathe in respect of the holy Ghost.
2. Of the Son, generation or to be begotten of the Father, Psal. 2. 7. Heb. 1. 5. Ioh. 3. 16. & 5. 18. 1 Ioh. 4. 9. Absque ulla Essentiae, temporis, gloriae imparitate, Chamier.
In this generation we must note
1. That the begetter and begotten are together in time.
2. He that begets communicates to him that is begotten, not a part of his Essence, but the whole Essence; that which is begotten is within, not without the begetter.
In respect of this generation, the Sonne is called The Word of the Father, John 1. …. not a vanishing, but anessential word, because he is begotten of the Father, as the word from the minde. He is called The Word of God, both internal and conceived (that is, the Divine Understanding reflected upon it self from eternity, or Gods knowledge of himself) so also he is the inward wisdom of God, Prov. 8. because God knows himself as the first and most worthy object of contemplation; and external or uttered, which hath revealed the counsels of God to men, especially the elect; that we may know the Father by the Sonne as it were by an Image, Iohn 1. 18. so also he is the external wisdome, instructing us concerning the will and wisdome of the Father to salvation, 1 Cor. 1. 21. and vers. 30.
3. The Property of the Son in respect of the holy Ghost is to send him out, Iohn 15. 26.Cartwright in his Harmony saith, Hic locus eximius est ad asserendum processum Spiritus à Filio, meaning Iohn 14. 15. The holy Ghost is called the Spirit of Christ, and of the Sonne, Rom. 8. 9. Gal. 6. as he is called the Spirit of the Father, Mat. 10. 20. because he is breathed from both. Vide Aquin. Sum. Theol. part. 1. Quest. 36. Art. 3. 4. In Ecclesiaveteri foreign in templo ca…tari solebat quam orthodoxi hoc modo …: Gloria Patri & Filio, & Spiritui Sancto in secula seculorum. Ariani autem glorioe Filii & Spiritus Sancti detpahe…tes fic eam concipiebant: Gloria Patri per Filium in Spiritu Sancto. Vedel. de prudentia veteris Ecclesioe l. 2. c. 5.
Hence aro…e the Schisme between the Western and the Eastern Churches, they affirming the Procession from the Father and the Sonne, these from the Father alone.
To deny the Procession of the holy Ghost from the Sonne, is a grievous errour in Divinity, and would have grated the foundation, if the Greek Church had so denied the Procession of the holy Ghost from the Sonne, as that they had made an inequality between the Persons. But since their forme of speech is, That the holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father by the Sonne, and is the Spirit of Dr Field somewhat qualifieth this opinion of the Grecians, and saith, they differ but modo loquendi, they held (saith he) that the holy Ghost was not à Patre & Filio, but à Patre per Filium. See Dr Halls Peace-maker, Sect. 4.the Sonne, without making any difference in the Consubstantiality of the Persons, it is a true, though an erroneous Church in this particular; Divers learned men thinke, that a Filio & per Filium in the sense of the Greek Church, was but a Question in modo loquendi in manner of speech, and not fundamental.
3. The personal propriety of the holy Ghost is called procession or emanation, Iohn 15. 26.
Bellarmine proves the Procession of the holy Ghost from the Sonne by Ioh 16. 14. and from Iohn 20. 22. by that ceremony Augustine and Cyril say, Christ would signifie that the holy Ghost proceeds from him, and Bellarmine produceth fifteen Latine, and as many Greek witnesses, who most evidently taught (before the Grecians denied the Procession of the holy Ghost) that the holy Ghost proceeded from the Father and the Son. Bellarm. de Christo l. 2. c. 22.
Neither hath the Word defined, nor the Church known a formal difference between this Procession and generation.
The third internal difference among the Persons is in the number, for they are three, subsisting truly, distinctly and per se, distinguished by their relations and properties, for they are internal works and different, and incommunicably proper to every person.
There follows an external distinction in respect of effects and operations which the Persons exercise about external objects, namely the creatures; for though the outward works are undivided in respect of the Essence, yet in respect of the manner and determination, all the persons in their manner and order concurre to such works. As the manner is of existing, so of working in the Persons.
The Father is the original and principle of action, works from himself by the1 Cor. 8. 6. Rom. 11. 36. Heb. 1. 2, 3. Son, as by his image and wisdom, and by the holy Ghost. But he is said to work by his Son, not as an instrumental but as a principal cause distinguished in a certain manner from himself, as the Artificer works by an Image of his work framed in his minde, which Image or Idea is not in the instrumental cause of the work, but his hand.
To the Son is given the dispensation and administration of the action from the Father by the holy Ghost, 1 Cor. 8. 6. Iohn 1. 3. & 5. 19.
To the holy Ghost is given the consummation of the action which he effects from the Father and the Son, Iob. 26. 13. 1 Cor. 12. 11.
The effects or works which are distinctly given to the Persons, are, Creation ascribed to the Father, Redemption to the Sonne, Sanctification to the holy Ghost; all which things are done by the Persons equally and inseparably in respect of the effect it selfe, but distinctly in respect of the manner of working.
The equality of the Persons may be proved, 1. By the work of Creation, joyntly, Psal. 33. 6. severally; for the Father, those places prove it, 1 Cor. 8. 6. Heb. 1. 2. the Sonne, Iohn 1. 3, 10. Col. 1. 16. the holy Ghost, Iob 33. 4. 2. By the work of Redemption, the Father sends and gives the Sonne, the Sonne is sent and given by him, the holy Ghost perfects the work of Conception and Incarnation, Luke 1. 35. 3. By the work of Sanctification, the Father sanctifieth, Iohn 17. 17. Iude v. 1. the Son, Ephes. 526. the holy Ghost, 2 Thess. 2. 13. 1 Pet. 1. 2. 4. By the worship of religious adoration. The Father is religiously adored often in the Scripture, Ephes. 1. 17. the Sonne, Acts 7. 59. Heb. 1. 6. the holy Ghost, Act. 28. 25, 26. Rom. 9. 1.
This is a wonderful mystery rather to be adored and admired then enquired into;Nec periculosius alicubi erratur, nec laboriosius aliquid quaeritur, nee fructuosius, aliquid invenitur. Aug. 1. de Trin. Simon Magus was the first man that denied the Trinity of Persons, he saith they were Diversa nomina sub diversa operatione. Irenaeus The Turks at their prayers use often to reiterate these words, Hue, Hue, Hue, that is, He, he, he alone is God, or There is but one only supreme power; which they do in derision of Christians, who (as they say) adore three Gods. He who denies any one Person doth not worship the true God, as the Jews and Turks, and too many others in these dayes, Iohn 16. 2. 1 Iohn 2. 22, 23. No man can know the Father, nor believe in him, Iohn 14. 2. but by Christ. Vide Vedel. de Deo Synagoga, l. 1. c. 6. yet every one is bound to know it with an apprehensive knowledge, though not with a comprehensive. No man can be saved without the knowledge of the Father; he hath not the Father who denieth the Son; and he receives not the holy Ghost who knows him not, Ioh. 14. 17.
2. We must worship the Unity in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, as it is in Athanasius his Creed. We must worship God as one in substance, and three in Persons, as if Thomas, Iohn, and Matthew, had one singular soul and body common to them all, and entirely possessed of every one; we were baptized in the Name of Father, Son and holy Ghost.
We worship another God then the Idolaters could imagine their God to be; they conceived him to be the Creator and Governour of all things, Omnipotent, Eternal, but they worshipped not one God in three Persons, the Father who accepts, the Spirit who works, and the Sonne who presents our services. One main intendment in the New Covenant was not onelyonly to honour the Attributes of the nature, but the glory of the Persons, Ephes. 1. 3, 7, 13, 14.
2. All the Persons have a special hand in the salvation of a sinner, and every believer hath a special interest in the promises of the Persons, Ioh. 5. 19.
3. The order of working in the Persons is sutable to the order of their subsisting, the Father is first in order therefore in working, therefore Adoption is reckoned by some Divines, as the first of spiritual benefits, then Redemption and Sanctification.
4. We should walk in the love of them all, 1 Ioh. 4. 16. See Iohn 5. 9. & 14. 23, & 16. 27. and fear to offend them all, not only the Father, but the Son, Ezek. 21. 10. and the Spirit, Ephes. 4. 30.
3. We should praise God for revealing this mystery to us in his Word, and be assured that what he promiseth or threatens shall be accomplished, being confirmed by three witnesses.
Prudentius hath exercised his Poetry well in defending and illustrating the whole Christian religion against the Jews, Heathens and Hereticks, and in celebrating the holy Trinity.
The End of the second Book.