Persons, of one substance, power, and eternity, the FATHER, the Son, and the HOLY GHOST. a New Testament texts compared: whereby it appears that the FATHER, the SON, and the HOLY GHOST, have the same names, the same titles, the same attributes, concur in the same divine acts, and are entitled to the same divine honours; so that what is peculiar to GOD, is ascribed to GOD in three Persons: or "that which we believe of the glory of the FATHER, the same we are to believe of the SON, and of the HOLY GHOST, without any difference or inequality." 1 Cor. viii. 6; John xx. 28; Acts v. 34. The name of God. Mark xii. 29; Luke ii. 11; 2 Cor. iii. 17, 18. JEHOVAH. 1 Cor. ii. 16; 1 Cor. ii. 16; 1 Thess. iv. 3. mind of the SON, and the mind of the The name LORD or The mind of GOD, the HOLY GHOST. 1 Thess. iv. 3; Acts xxii. 14; 2 Pet. i. 21. The will of GOD, the will of the Son, and the will of the HOLY GHOST. Ephes. iii. 7; 2 Cor xii. 9; Rom. xv. 19. Divine power. Rom. xvi. 25, 26; Rev. xxii. 13; Heb. ix. 14. Eternity. Rev. xv. 4; Acts iii. 14; 1 John ii. 20. Holy One. 11. Omniscience. John v. 21; John vi. 45; John v. 21; Gal. i. 12; John vi. 63. Quickening of the dead. 1 John i. 3; 1 John ii. 24; 2 Cor xiii. 14. Fellowship with believers. 1 Cor. xiv. 25; 2 Cor. xiii 5; John xiv. 17. Dwell in believers. 2 Cor. vi. 16: Ephes. iii. 17; Rom. viii. 11. 2 Cor. iii. 5, 6; 1 Tim. i. 12; Acts xx. 28. Commission of ministers. Jude 1; Heb. ii. 11; Rom. xv. 16. Sanctification. 1 Cor. xii. 16; Col. iii. 11; 1 Cor. xii. 11. All divine operations. Heb. xiii. 21; Col. i. 29; 1 Cor. xii. 11. Spiritual operations. Rom. vi. 23; John x. 28; Gal. vi. 8. Bestowal of eternal life. 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14; Tit. iii. 4-6; 1 Pet. 1, 2. Salvation. Ephes. ii. 22; Col. i. 27; 1 Cor. vi. 19. Inhabitation of believers. B. Old and New Tes- Jehovah. 7, 8. Omnipresence. Creation. Isa. xl. 13; 1 Cor. ii. 8; Rom. x. 12. Guidance of the people of GOD. John iv. 26. Teaching. 1 John ii. 20. Acts xx. 28. Commission of ministers. Jer. xvi. 5; Matt. x. 5; Acts xiii. 2. Exod. xxviii. 1; Matt. xviii. 19; Acts xiii. 2, 3. Exod. xxix. 45; Ephes. iii. 17; Rom. viii. 11. Indwelling. Numb. vi. 22-27, with 2 Cor. xiii. 14. Benediction under the Law and under the Gospel. 3. In addition to the above proofs it is right to urge as arguments, A. The consistency of the doctrine of the Trinity with the doctrines and precepts generally of the Christian religion. a. Doctrines. Specially. Originative Cause. The grace of GOD the FATHER. 1 Cor. i. 30. Procuring Cause. CHRIST'S Incarnation, Atonement, Justification. Heb. ii. 17. Applying Cause. HOLY SPIRIT. Sanctification, Inspiration of the Scriptures. Generally with the doctrines of a Resurrection, b. Precepts. Generally, Rom. xiv. 23. Particularly. Duty towards GOD, John iv. 22, 23. The FATHER, Mal. i. 6. Honour and obedience. The SON. Faith in His atonement and merits. The HOLY SPIRIT. Ephes. iv. 30. Obedience to His motions. Duty towards ourselves. B. The Relationship of the Persons of the Trinity to each other, and to man." a. Relationship to each other. The FATHER begets. The SON is begotten. The HOLY GHOSт proceeds. b. To man. The FATHER is Creator. The SON is Redeemer. The HOLY GHOST is Sanctifier. Again : The FATHER sends. The Son comes. The HOLY GHOST proceeds. 6 Confession of Bohemia, c. iii.; Belgic, Art. ix. D 4. Human Testimony. A. Heathens. Ancient heathen systems of theology,' see p. 19. B. Jews. Philo, about Names. ὁ Θεὸς τῶν τριῶν φυσέων, διδασ καλίας, οσιότητος, ασκήσεως. C. Christians. a. Fathers. a. Ante-Nicene. Clement of Rome, A. D. 70, First Epistle to one GOD, and one CHRIST, and one SPIRIT of Grace?" See cc. xxvii. xlii. Ignatius, A.D. 101, in his Epistle to the Magnesians, c. xiii. "Be subject to the Bishop, as the Apostles to CHRIST, and the FATHER, and the SPIRIT."-See also c. vii.; Epist. to the Smyrnæans, c. iii. Circular Epistle of the Church of Smyrna concerning the martyrdom of Polycarp, A. D. 147. The last words of Polycarp, (chap. xiv.): "For this, and all things else, I praise THEE, I bless THEE, I glorify THEE, together with the eternal and hea 7 The most important is the theological system of ancient Egypt. _Sir Gardiner Wilkinson has shewn it to be very probable that the ancient Egyptians derived their notions of a Trinity from early revelation, handed down through the posterity of Noah. Each city or district had its triad; and in these triads the third member proceeded from the other two, that is, from the first by the second. See his Second Series on the Ancient Egyptians, vol. 1. chap. xii. The fact of the doctrine of a Trinity, and of the Manifestation, &c. of Deity on earth, being entertained by the ancient Egyptians, Hindos, Scythians, and other nations widely apart from each other, amounts to a coninvcing demonstration of a common origin; "and most persons will admit that they appear to have been derived from immediate revelation, or from the knowledge imparted to the early inhabitants of the world, rather than from accidental speculation in distant parts of the globe,-a remark which applies equally to the creation of man, the deluge, the ark or boat, and numerous mysterious doctrines common to different people."-Wilkinson, vol. 1. p. 200. "The acute Mahometan divines attribute to the Deity a Triune manner of existence. The evidence of this extraordinary fact is given, with ample extracts and translations from the Arabic authors, whose works exist in manuscript chiefly in the Bodleian and in the libraries of Leyden and Berlin, in a late work by Dr. Tholuck, entitled 'Die Speculative Trinitatslehre des Spateren Orients, Berlin, 1826.'"-Dr. Pye Smith. venly JESUS CHRIST, Thy beloved SON, with Whom, to THEE and the HOLY GHOST, be glory, both now and to all succeeding ages. Amen." Justin Martyr, A. D. 140. He is unjustly charged with introducing the Platonic doctrine into the Christian church. But he, by anticipation, defends himself from this charge; and whilst he states that Plato was indebted to the writings of Moses for his knowledge of the creation of the world by the Logos, and of the Spirit as the Third Person, he also declares (1st Apology for the Christians, chap. lxxviii.), "It is not we therefore who take our opinions from others, but others take theirs from us; for you may hear and learn these things from such among us as are not able to distinguish a letter." 1 Apol. c. vi. "But Him, and the SON, Who came from Him and taught us these things, as well as that there is a host of good angels also who minister unto Him and are like Him; and the Prophetical Spirit, we worship, &c. (Professor Blunt's Sketch of the Church, p. 130.) Ibid. c. xiii. "We worship the Creator of Our teacher this universe Ibid. c. lx. "For the second place he (Plato) gives to the Logos of GOD, who (he said) was impressed upon the universe; but the third to the Spirit, who is said (Gen. i. 2) to have been borne over the waters, saying, But the third about the third." |