Selected quad for the lemma: doctrine_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A42447
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Some considerations concerning the Trinity and the ways of managing that controversie
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Gastrell, Francis, 1662-1725.
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1696
(1696)
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Wing G303; ESTC R14599
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33,473
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64
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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
Some Considerations Concerning the TRINITY AND The WAYS of Managing that CONTROVERSIE LONDON Printed and Sold by E. Whitlock near Stationers-Hall MDCXCVI THE PREFACE TO THE READER THIS Discourse was Written some time ago for the Private Satisfaction of the Author who thought that a proper Season for an Impartial Enquiry into the Doctrine of the Trinity when several Persons of different Opinions in that Point had just before appeared in the Controversie about it and their Printed Papers being canvas'd over again in Conversation had produced many New Remarks upon the same Subject Which Advantages together with what he had formerly read having as he judged given him a pretty full comprehension of the Matters in Dispute he took the following Method of Re-examining that part of his Faith and Justifying what he believed to his own Reason and Conscience Some Persons to whom he communicated what he had writ advised him to Print Which he had done before now upon the Judgment of a Great and Learned Man of the Church lately dead who was pleased to approve the Papers without knowing to whom they belonged But Occasion being given him to fore-see some little Objections which might probably at that particular time have in some measure obstructed his Good Intentions in Printing them he thought fit to defer the Publication of them till a more convenient Opportunity such as he judges this to be when the Controversie of the Trinity is managed in such a manner as to offend a great many and satisfie very few and the Church is like to suffer very much by the too Adventurous Attempts made by some to Vindicate her Doctrines Those who pretend to Explain the Distinction in the Godhead by Modes Offices Relations and the like are censured as saying too little and coming much below the Characters of Distinction to be found in Scripture though at the same time they use these Terms they acquaint us that they use them in a different Sense from any they are taken in when applied to Creatures and in a sense importing greater Difference but such as is not conceivable by Human Understanding And some of those who call the Three Divine Persons Three Infinite Minds Spirits or Substances would not be thought to mean by these Expressions That the Three Persons in the Godhead are as much distinguished from one another as Three Men or Three Angels are but that the Distinction betwixt them is so great that no other Terms can reach it though these do somewhat exceed what they would signifie by them Which Distinction less than these Expressions in the common use of them do import and higher than any other can come up to is acknowledg'd likewise to be inconceivable Which being observed by the Author of this Discourse he thought it more Advisable to use no New Terms with a Design of Explaining what by the Confession of Persons of different sides in the Dispute is not to be rendred more conceivable And to Justifie his Opinion in this Matter he has endeavoured to prove that no New Terms can be used to any such purpose And this he thinks he has made very Evident by the Account he has given of what we can distinctly conceive and what we can confusedly believe of the Doctrine of the Trinity which ought carefully to be distinguish'd in all Disquisitions upon Subjects of this Nature As for those who will allow only a pure Nominal Distinction in the Godhead or that apply the Terms Son and Holy Ghost to meer Created Beings he has only the Language and Design of Scripture to oppose to them which seem to him utterly irreconcileable to such Notions and he hopes those general Reflections he has drawn from thence will make this appear so to others But the Opinion of those who make the Persons in the Godhead as distinct as Three Men or Three Angels he is sure both from Revelation and Reason is false And that advancing any such Explications of the Trinity as will fairly bear this Construction is of such dangerous Consequence that he hopes he has done some Service to Religion by proving That Three Persons in the Godhead as distinct as Three Men or Three Angels is not only an Incomprehensible Notion but an Impossible Thing which implies a manifest Contradiction to the plainest and surest Principles of Knowledge Having given this short Account of the Author and his Performance in this Discourse I have only this further to acquaint his Readers with That he desires they would believe him to be a sincere Man that has a serious Regard for Religion and no other aims behind what he professes For whatever his Arguments are he is sure his Design is good And that his Reasoning may appear so too he would be glad that They who take up these Papers would give them the Reading over before they pass any Judgment upon what is advanced in them For the Discourse being written in the Demonstrative way where the Main Conclusions are establish'd by a long Train of Preparatory Proofs no true Judgment can be made but upon the whole together May it please God to make these Endeavours of the Author successful to Satisfie and Unite the Minds of Men in their Belief of the Doctrine of the Trinity or may He direct some abler Persons to find out more Effectual Methods of Establishing the Primitive Faith and settling the Present Peace of the Church SOME CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING THE TRINITY c. THere 's no part of the Christian Faith has produced so many Disputes and Controversies such a numerous Variety of Opinions and Sects as the Doctrine of the Blessed Trinity If we consult the large Catalogues of Primitive Heresies we shall find the far greatest Number of them nothing else but so many several Modes and Ways of Explaining the Common Undivided Nature and Essence of the Trinity and the different Offices and Operations of each Person How far the uncertainty of our Faith in these Points the many Absurd and Blasphemous Expositions that have been made of them and the warm and indiscreet Management of contrary Parties have contributed to the Prejudice of Religion and the Scandal of its Professors has been a common Observation and Complaint in all Christian Ages And several Expedients have been proposed for the Redressing of this Mischief but all Attempts of this kind have hitherto miscarried The principal Reason of which I humbly conceive to be this That those who have laboured in this good Design have for the most part proceeded upon wrong Measures Now the Methods that have been generally and chiefly insisted upon are Three which are all improper or insufficient and have therefore proved ineffectual as will plainly appear upon a particular Examination of each 1. First then There are some who are for Reverencing the Mystery of the Trinity without ever looking into it at all who think it not to be the Subject either of Dispute or Enquiry imagining every thing of this high and transcendent Nature is proposed to us