Distinction which we have but a confused perception of and cannot comprehend or explain by any particular Idea's which unknown inexplicable Distinction is the Foundation of all these Differences expresly conceived by us And since the Church has thought fit for the Sake of Unity and Peace and for the Suppressing all Private Disputes and Interpretations to appoint set Forms to express this our Faith in I think the Athanasian Creed as rational an Explication of the Trinity as can well be made The Worst that the Enemies of this Doctrine can say of it is That it is an unnecessary Multiplication of Terms and too nice an Endeavour to Explain what cannot be Explained but not that 't is False or Absurd nothing being there asserted in any sense inconsistent with the Vnity of God or the Principles of Right Reason All such Meanings and Significations of any Terms or Expressions in that Creed being very improper as they are there applied and utterly disclaimed by the Church that enjoins the Use of it Nor can it be esteemed an unreasonable Imposition That we should be obliged to profess our Faith of something which cannot be conceived but confusedly and indistinctly nor expressed but in general and obscure Terms For where 's the Hardship of being required to believe as far as we can believe God is Incomprehensible in his Nature and Perfections but are we not obliged to believe there is a God who is Incomprehensible Are we not obliged to believe there are Joys in Heaven which it has not enter'd into the Heart of Man to conceive And to repeat a former Instance may not a Blind Man be obliged to believe what a Friend of unsuspected Integrity tells him of the general nature of Colour tho' he is not able to form a particular Idea of it And if these Things cannot be denied What difference can be assigned why we should not be under as great an Obligation of believing the Trinity tho' we are not able to conceive it distinctly A Threefold Distinction in the Godhead consistent with the Unity of God is as plainly revealed in Scripture as any other Article of Faith Nor are those general Abstracted Terms we find in our Creeds to be condemn'd as meer useless and perplexing Niceties for tho' they are not sufficient to make us understand the Trinity fully and distinctly yet they are proper Limitations to exclude all the False and Unworthy Apprehensions of this Doctrine which Pretenders to a more particular Explication might introduce III. And now what dangerous Consequences can possibly attend such a Faith as this 'T is true indeed the Adversaries of the Trinity have drawn up a heavy Charge against this Doctrine and taken a great deal of Liberty in their Discourses about it But the principal Objections that have been made by any of them are but Three to which all the rest may be reduced And these I shall endeavour to shew by the Account before given are very Frivolous and Unjust 1. The first Pernicious Consequence the Doctrine of the Trinity stands charged with is the Introduction of a Plurality of Gods But 't is very plain from what we have said in the former part of this Discourse that 't is utterly impossible to believe a Trinity in any such sense as implies a Plurality of Gods For according to the Notions I have there shewed we have of the Nature and Attributes of God 't is undeniably certain to every Man's Experience that we cannot conceive more than One God All our Endeavours to comprehend more are only repetitions of the same Idea Let Those therefore take care to Answer this Accusation who under pretence of giving a more Rational Account of what we are to believe in this Point set up created subordinate Gods to be Partners with their Maker in the Glory and Worship due to him Besides we do explicitly declare that there is but One God at the same time we make Profession of our Faith in a Trinity or Three Persons 2. In the next place therefore we are accused of believing Contradictions and consequently of destroying all the certainty of Natural Knowledge Which Fence being down there 's no Error so gross or absurd but may be obtruded upon us and Transubstantiation has as good a Pretence to be an Article of our Faith as the Trinity But I need not make any particular Answer to this Objection having proved at large already that we neither do nor can believe a Trinity in any sense that contradicts the plain and evident Principles of Natural Reason We do not believe there can be more Gods than One that One can be Three in the same respect 't is One or that One God can be Three Persons in the same sense three Men are three Persons or any other Proposition that 's inconsistent with those Natural Notions which are the Foundation of all our other Knowledge But the Patrons of Transubstantiation cannot make this Plea who in this one Particular deny those very Principles which upon all other occasions they rely upon with the greatest Assurance Did they only affirm that Christ was present in that Sacrament in some way or manner they could not comprehend but in no way repugnant to the plain and necessary Dictates of well-informed Sense and right Reason there might be then some Resemblance found betwixt this Doctrine and that of the Trinity but at present the Comparison is palpably and notoriously unjust 3. But Thirdly 't is further Objected That though the Doctrine of the Trinity as we explain it could not be proved to contain down-right Contradictions yet at least it must be counted and esteemed as a Mystery and the Imposition of Mysteries for Articles of Faith is a thing of very ill Consequence In Answer to which Charge it is to be observed that as in the Doctrine of the Trinity so in most other Objects of Faith and Knowledge there 's something that we plainly and certainly understand and something that we cannot possibly comprehend Thus a Man by inward Reflection is Infallibly conscious of his own Thoughts and he judges whatever he perceives within himself to proceed from one Common Principle which he calls his Soul and which from the Nature of its Operations he is fully perswaded is something of a different kind from his Body tho' it always Acts in consent with it But what this Soul is or in what manner united to his Body he is not able to conceive and therefore the Doctrine of the Human Soul taken all together may as justly be stiled a Mystery as the Trinity We ought not then to be offended at the word Mystery since if we strictly examine our thoughts we shall find that almost every thing we pretend to know comes under that name even those things we have the greatest Assurance of our very Souls and Beings This being observed we may consider the Trinity either with respect to what may be understood of it or what cannot So far as we are capable of
Christians to believe concerning this Point III. What ill Consequences can attend such a Faith First then I am to Enquire What it is that perplexes and obscures our Faith in the Holy Trinity For before I enter upon a distinct and particular Consideration of the Doctrine it self 't is necessary to point out some of the Principal Causes which have occasioned so many False Absurd and Ineffectual Expositions of it And they are these four The Prejudice and Bigottry of Men indiscreetly Pious The Vanity and Design of such as value themselves upon inventing New Notions or laughing at the Old ones The not discerning or considering the Bounds and Limits of our Knowledge And lastly An imprudent Choice of improper ways of Expression The two first of these have a general Influence upon all Religious Controversies but are more especially concerned in this For there 's never more room for Superstitious and Rigorous Impositions nor fairer Advantages for Cavilling and drawing absurd Consequences than where a Mystery is the Subject of Debate There are some who are apt to be concerned and cry out as if the very Foundations of all Religion were overturning when any particular Scheme or Notion they are fond of is called in Question On the other side I have no small Reason to believe there are several who strike at Christianity it self under the Pretence of bringing down the value of Mysteries And indeed if we consider the general Temper of Mankind 't is no wonder that there 's more Superstition and Infidelity in the World than True Religion For believing every thing and believing nothing a sudden Veneration or Contempt of whatsoever is proposed to us equally gratifie the lazy Inclinations of the Soul which loves an easie undisturbed course of Thoughts and is very difficultly brought to endure the Labour of Attention and Enquiry Nay of those who seem to have conquer'd this Trouble there are few who lay themselves out in a free and impartial search of Truth but are wholly employed in the pursuit of some Notion they have before-hand taken up and are resolved to maintain They are already determined what to believe and only seek out Arguments to Justifie or Recommend their Opinions to others How far these general Reflections are applicable to the present Case has been hinted already in the beginning of this Discourse where 't is very discernible from the Ways and Methods made use of for settling the Doctrine of the Trinity that Prejudice and Vanity a false Zeal and an ill-grounded Contempt have had a large share in the Management of this Controversie Another Reason why our Endeavours of Expounding this Point have been vain and unsuccessful is the want of discerning or considering the Bounds and Limits of our Knowledge from whence it comes to pass that oftentimes we strive to soar above our pitch and imagine we understand some things better than really we do But especially Men of abstracted Thinking are very apt to deceive themselves with false Idea's and are firmly perswaded they conceive things distinctly which they have but a confused Notion of As for instance It has been delivered down as the constant Faith of a long Succession of Eminent Philosophers that the whole Substance Nature and Essence of the Soul is wholly and entirely in all the Body considered together and wholly and entirely in every single Particle of it And this is a Notion which at first view has a great appearance of truth and clearness and is such as the Understanding readily closes with But if we would strictly and distinctly Examine our selves what we mean by those Terms I believe we should be able to give but a very obscure Account of our Opinion and at last be forced to confess we understand no more than this by them That the Soul is the Principle of all the Operations performed in the Body But so it sometimes happens that we are transported too far in our Enquiries after hidden Truths till we are lost in Speculation and vainly think to Fathom the depths of Knowledge and Wisdom without considering the shortness of our time Whereas we ought rather to examine and find out the Bounds of our Thoughts know the just extent and compass of our Understanding and then rest satisfied with what we are Capable of without desiring to know more than we can or pretending to know more than we do But further the Doctrine of the Trinity has suffered very much by the Discourses made about it upon another Account And that is that some of the Authors of such Discourses have imprudently made choice of improper ways of Expression Either perplexing plain Revelation too much with Philosophical Terms and Niceties or exposing the Faith to contempt by homely indecent Similies and disproportionate Comparisons Now to keep clear of all those Rocks I have discovered others to have split upon I have endeavoured what I could to deliver my self from Prejudice and confusion of Terms and to speak Justly and Intelligibly And not being yet prepossest in favour of any particular Explication the better to preserve my freedom of Examining the Subject in hand I have purposely forborn to search the Fathers Schoolmen or Fratres Poloni or read over any later Treatises concerning this Controversie while I was composing the present Essay resolving to consult nothing but Scripture and my own Natural Sentiments and draw all my Reflections from thence taking only such which easily and without constraint offered themselves 2. And thus having cleared the way and removed every thing which I thought might obstruct or misguide my Enquiries I come in the second place to consider the Doctrine it self and Faithfully and Impartially to Examine what is sufficient for Christians to believe concerning the Trinity or which is all one in this case what is necessary to be believed For certainly he believes enough and cannot in reason be taxed for a narrow defective Faith who believes as much as is required of him For the better proceeding in which Enquiry I shall lay down this as an evident Truth which every Man will grant me that nothing is necessary to be believed but 1. what 's possible to be believed and 2. what 's plainly revealed But here I would be understood as to the last part of the Assertion only of such matters which are known to us no other way than by Revelation For in several other cases I confess we may be obliged to believe meerly upon Humane Testimony Nay even Revelation it self as it is a matter of Fact claims our Assent upon no higher a ground But further I shall take this for granted too in a Protestant Country that Scripture is the only Standard of all Necessary Revealed Truths Neither in the present Instance is there any room for a Traditionary Faith For besides that all the Fathers and Ancient Writers ground their Expositions of the Trinity wholly upon Scripture I cannot conceive that the Subject is capable of a plainer Revelation as I shall endeavour to shew more
order therefore to form a determinate Act of Faith in this Point I must carefully examine my self what Notions I have of God of Vnity and Identity Distinction and Number and Person As to the Notion of a Deity 't is true indeed I have not a full and adequate Idea of God neither is my Soul capable of it but what Conceptions I have of his Nature and Perfections are according to my Apprehension so far clear as to enable me truly and justly to determine which of those distinct Idea's I have in my Mind are applicable to him and which are not And such a Knowledge of the Divine Nature as this is a sufficient direction of my Faith in any Proposition concerning God where I clearly understand all the Idea's attributed to him In the next place therefore I am to consider what Notions I have of Vnity and Identity Distinction and Number And here I confess I am at a Loss how to deliver my self these being some of our first and most simple Idea's which are so clear of themselves that I cannot find clearer to explain them by For this is certain that every Man is conscious to himself that he has a power of perceiving and comparing his Perceptions and consequently must know when any thing is presented to his Mind whether it be perceivable at one entire view and whether the Object have one uniform appearance or not He must be also sensible in a succession of Idea's when the same Appearances are repeated again and how often the Representation is varied However notwithstanding the Clearness of these Notions with respect to what passes in our own Minds we are not able to make true and distinct Judgments of the unity or multiplicity of things without us For it does not follow that what is represented to the Soul at once under one Idea or Appearance should according to the reality of things be one undivided nature neither can it be inferred that what is represented to the Soul under different Idea's are so many distinct real Beings For there are some Idea's purely of the Soul 's own making and not copied from any external Patterns where there are a great many particular real Beings of different kinds and natures comprehended under one Representation Thus all the Hills Plains Rivers Trees and Towns c. which the Eye can reach from such or such a Point we put into one Picture and call it a Landskip or Prospect Thus does the Soul enlarge its View to all the Works of God and Nature it takes in the whole Creation at a Thought and calls it World On the other side the real Natures and Essences of Things which are allowed to consist in a simple undivided Vnity are not conceivable by us at once but at different Views by different partial Conceptions which the Soul afterwards compounds and calls by one Name Thus when we endeavour to comprehend the Nature and Essence of what we call Man we form at different times several confused Notions of Substance Body Life Sense and Reason every one of which is a complicated Idea and to be resolved into a great many others more simple and distinct As for instance I must form a great many Idea's of particular Actions and the Modes Differences and Relations of them before I can have any tolerable knowledge of what Reason is and so for the rest All therefore that we understand of the unity of things without us is this When we perceive any Object in a continued Position bounded and fenced out from other things round about it all within such Terms and Limits we call One And then again observing a great many different Actions produced in and by such an Object we judge all these Actions and Operations to proceed from one common Principle in some such manner as Streams from a Fountain or several Lines from the same Centre And whatever we thus judge to be One tho' a great many Thoughts and Conceptions go to the forming of such a Judgment we endeavour as well as we can to represent to our selves under one Idea or Appearance tho' the Representation be often very confused and indistinct And this we do as supposing it wholly and uniformly conceivable at one single View were it not for the Imperfection of our Faculties Which Supposition is not without good Ground for this we have plain Experience for that when any visible Object is of such a magnitude or in such a situation that the Eye cannot receive the whole Image of it at once we take it in at different times from different points of Sight and yet for all this we find no more Reason to doubt of the real Unity of such an Object than of any other whose Image came into the Soul entire at one Act of Vision for we easily conceive there may be other Organs of Sight which would reflect the whole Object together And from thence we conclude further that there may be also some other Mind more perfect than ours which perceives that as one simple Idea which we cannot apprehend but by a union of several different Conceptions From whence it follows that the most perfect Mind which is God is the only true and proper Standard of all Unity and Distinction The Summe of all my Thoughts is this What is meant by one or more the same or different Idea's is better to be conceived by inward Reflexion than can possibly be explained by Words Such an Idea which is not distinguishable into different Appearances I call a simple Idea When I have any Thought or Perception which is resolvable into several Idea's I call this a complex or compounded Notion And hence I term any Being simple or compounded according as it is perceivable by some Mind under one simple Appearance or a complex Idea Whether my Idea's are agreeable to the real Natures of Things or those original Fatterns in the Mind of God I cannot certainly know but when they are the same and when they differ from one another I plainly perceive tho' I cannot always judge of the Identity or Distinction of Things according as they are represented to my understanding under the same or different Appearances For here I should be sometimes mistaken too as 't is plain I often must if I judged of the real unity or multiplicity of Things by my own Idea's The Notions we have of the unity of Things without us come the nearest that can be imagin'd to our Idea's of Point and continued Extension one of which represents simple unity the other compounded the one we apply to what we call spiritual Beings the other to material For 't is certain the Conception we have of Body can never furnish us with any Idea of simple Unity By a Spirit then we mean something without extension and consequently indivisible capable of performing some such kind of Actions which do in some manner or degree resemble those we are conscious of But what that is from whence I suppose such
Holy Ghost may be considered as Persons or Personal Characters which do not imply any distinction of Being or Nature The Greeks are supposed to have meant the same by Hypostases as we do by Person this word being sometimes the very Translation of the other And if so there 's the same ground for the use of both But if they meant any thing else they could hardly have so good Warrant for it from Revelation Now that one of these Persons or Hypostases should be both God and Man there is this Foundation in the Scriptures for He who is there called the Son of God did certainly appear in the likeness of Men being in all respects Sin only excepted truly and properly Man as his Birth Necessities Sufferings and Death sufficiently testifie 'T is certain also that the same Jesus Christ who was called the Son of God and was made in the likeness of Man is affirmed by St. Paul Phil. 3. 7 8. to have been in the form of God when he took the Nature of Man upon him But besides this and many other Texts to the same effect 't is plain from what before has been proved that God did suffer himself to be worshipped and adored in and by the Man Christ Jesus The least that can be inferred from which is that God was more immediately and peculiarly present in Christ than ever he is said to have been any where else As in the Heavens Jewish Temple between the Cherubims in Prophets and Holy Men who spake as they were moved by the Spirit of God What created Object was ever allowed to intercept the Worship paid to God or share with him in it Were the Heavens the Temple the Cherubim or Prophets to be adored Nay has not God taken a particular care to preserve Men from Idolatry by forbidding them to Worship him in or by any sensible Representation Did not the Apostles who worship'd Christ forbid others to Worship Men of like Passions with themselves commanding them to direct all their Devotion to the Living God who made Heaven and Earth How then can we suppose that Christ was only a meer Man or some other Creature and not rather believe that he had the Fulness of the Godhead dwelling in him bodily But here it is Objected How can God and Man be united And to this I must fairly Answer that I cannot tell I have confessed already in the Account I have given of those Notions of Vnity and Distinction that I have not any just or distinct Conceptions of the Vnion of Spiritual Beings either with Bodies or with one another But this I will venture to say that I can as well conceive God and Man together under one Idea at one view as I can conceive a Soul and Body so united All that I know of the Vnion of Soul and Body is that there is some Intelligent Power that makes use of the Organs of my Body and Acts in conjunction with the Motions there produced And I may as well consider God united to Man when he so Acts by the Ministry and Operation of Man that the Actions of God seem conveyed to us the same way as the Actions of one Man are to another Had those who upon some occasions spake by the extraordinary Assistance of a Divine Power been constantly so directed and assisted how would they have distinguished the Motions of their Souls from the Impressions of God And why then should not we think such an Extraordinary Power as this as much united to such Men as that Common ordinary Power we call the Soul is to those Bodies in which it acts and exerts it self Some have been of Opinion that what we call the Soul is nothing else but a constant regular Inspiration or a determinate Concurrence of God Almighty with such and such Motions and Capacities of Matter But whether this be so or no as most probably it is not it seems to me very plain from Scripture that such a Power which we ascribe to God did as Constantly and Regularly Act in and through Christ as the Human Soul is perceived to do in any other Man As appears from his absolute security from all manner of Sin and Error from his constant knowledge of the Thoughts and Designs of Men and the Will and Decrees of God and from his Readiness and Ability to work Miracles at any time and upon any occasion All which are manifest Tokens of an uninterrupted Presence and Concurrence of the Deity Especially if we consider the Calmness and Evenness of Spirit observable in our Saviour entirely free from all the transports of over-ruling Impressions 't is a further Argument that he did not receive the Spirit of God at times or by measure but was as conscious of all the Divine Perfections in himself as a Man is conscious of his own Thoughts Such are the Grounds we find in Scripture for those particular Explications of the Trinity before-mentioned In the next place we are to Enquire what the Scriptures necessarily oblige us to believe in this Point But before this Question can be resolved there are two things to be premised 1. That whatever Articles of Faith are absolutely necessary to Salvation all Persons of every Rank and Condition are equally obliged to believe them There is not one Religion for the Peasant and another for the Scholar We have the same general Rule to walk by though particular Obligations may be greater or lesser fewer or more according to different Circumstances and Relations And whatever Principles and Duties are of general Necessity ought to be so plainly revealed as to be easily understood by ordinary Capacities upon a fair and careful Examination 2. That in order to this end it seems to have been the Design of the Scriptures to represent God in a sensible manner though at the same time they take care to assure us that God is in his own Nature a Being of different Perfections not conceivable by Human Understanding And is thus represented only in condescention to our weakness for the help and assistance of our Devotion So that all Expressions of this kind where God is the Subject are to be understood in a higher and more Spiritual sense but still with some Analogy to what they properly and usually signifie Thus to use a common Instance when 't is said that God looks down and beholds what 's done among the Children of Men that he hears the Cries of the Righteous and the Blasphemies of the Wicked 't is not to be imagined that he sees as Man sees that he makes use of any Organs of Sense but 't is thus expressed to give us more lively Notions and Impressions of the certainty of God's Vniversal Knowledge to assure us that God more plainly fully and infallibly knows whatever is done in all the Earth than we are capable of knowing those things which fall within the reach of our Senses This being premised it seems very plain to me that the Doctrine of the Trinity is
Actions to proceed I have not the least conception of for all that I conceive is only several Idea's of different particular Actions which no more express the Idea of that Principle from whence they spring than the Idea's of several particular Lines express the Idea of that Point they are drawn from All that we can perceive or imagine of corporeal Vnity is nothing else but a Connexion or joint Position of several Bodies which according as it is more or less perceivable according to the simplicity or multiformity of the Figure resulting from it and the easiness or difficulty of Separation makes several degrees of Vnion which all receive the common Denomination of Vnity Now as Extension by reason of its perpetual divisibility cannot give us a true Notion of simple Vnity so neither can I have any distinct knowledge of Vnion or Composition abstracted from all Considerations of Extension I do not understand how a Mind and Body are united any otherwise than that I perceive such and such spiritual Actions produced within the Compass of such a Body which I call One Neither am I able to comprehend the Union or Separation of Two spiritual Beings without considering them as in the same or different Localites for I have not distinct Idea's of several spiritual Natures nor if I should perceive the several Operations of different Spirits could I distinguish the several individual Beings or Principles they proceeded from For who is there that if all the Thoughts and Motions of the Souls of several Men were communicated to him could tell which proceeded from which Nay we cannot tell what difference of Actions is sufficient to determine the different kinds of Principles they proceeded from neither can any Co-operation or Consent of Actions make us conceive a spiritual Vnion without conceiving the same Term of Action too For suppose two Souls were so exactly framed alike that they always thought and will'd the same Things at the same times and were conscious of each other's Thoughts and Actions if they were put into different Bodies 't is plain we could not properly say they were united or made one And again supposing they were in the same Body we could not possibly conceive them to be two any otherwise than we knew them capable of a separate Existence that is if we examine our Thoughts honestly of a separate Vhi in different Bodies or elsewhere Not that I think local Presence or Determination is any way contained within the Idea of a spiritual Being but it helps us to conceive it better and discourse more distinctly about it And if we observe it there are several cases where our Conceptions and Judgments must necessarily differ These then are all the kinds of Vnity and Distinction I can possibly imagine namely in Idea Principle and Position Whatever else is called Unity is more properly termed Agreement the very Notion of which implies a distinction in some of the fore-mentioned kinds Identity is nothing else but a repetition of Vnity as Number is of Difference with the Judgment of the Understanding upon it What Personal Vnity and Distinction are will be easily understood by explaining the word Person which signifies one of these two things either a Particular Intelligent Being or an Office Character or some such complex Notion applicable to such a Being In the first sense one Man or Angel is one Person and several Men or Angels are several Persons In the second sense of the word there may be so many Persons as there are different Combinations of the Actions Relations and Circumstances of Intelligent Beings And thus having given an Account of the meaning and signification of the Terms in which we are required to express our Faith we are next to Examine how far and in what sense we can believe this Proposition That One and the same God is Three different Persons Now 't is certain that if those before-specified are all the Notions we are able to frame of Vnity and Distinction then God must be One and Three in some way or manner there laid down or else in some other way or manner not conceivable by Human Understanding First then let us see how and in what manner God can be One and Three according to those Notions our Souls have framed of Vnity and Distinction And here 't is granted on all hands that nothing can be One and Three in the same manner and respect We cannot conceive a thing to be in One determinate Position or Vbi and in Three separate Vbi's all at once We cannot conceive that One Principle or Nature should be but One and yet Three different Principles or Natures too or that any Object should be truly and adequately represented to any Mind or Understanding under One Idea and truly and adequately represented under Three different Idea's 'T is impossible to believe any thing of this kind because it implies a plain Contradiction to the clearest and most certain knowledge we can have of Unity and Distinction so that if One may be Three in the same respect 't is One then One and Three must stand for other Idea's than we conceive when we pronounce these words and if so they ought to have other Names and not be called One and Three Since therefore we cannot say that God is One and Three in the same respect in the next place let us Enquire In what different respects this may be affirmed of him Now as to the Vnity of God this is easily believed and acknowledged as being very agreeable to all our other Notions of the Deity The chief difficulty lyes in assigning the Distinction In attempting which the best and clearest way of proceeding will be by going over the several kinds of Distinction before-mentioned I will begin with that of Position And here 't is plain at first sight that we cannot possibly conceive God under any difference of Position we cannot exclude Omnipotence from any imaginable point of space 'T is the limited Powers and Faculties of created Beings which are the Foundation of all Local Distinctions And therefore when we endeavour to represent God to our thoughts in this manner we consider him as Omnipresent and I can no more conceive Three Omnipresents than I can conceive Three straight Lines drawn between the same Points But though there can be but One undivided Omnipresence may there not be Three Infinite Beings Co-equal to one another and Commensurate to One Infinite Space This is far above my Conception too Infinite swallows up all my thoughts Whatever Idea we apply this Term Infinite to I think it impossible to apply it to another of the same Denomination As for Example If I apply it to Power I cannot consider it as applicable to more than One Infinite Power For Infinite Power includes all the Possibilities of Action so that to conceive more than One Infinite Power would be to conceive more Power than is possible which is a gross and palpable Absurdity And therefore we cannot conceive