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
only as a Tryal and Exercise of our Faith and the more implicit that is the fuller do we express our trust and relyance upon God Nay farther There are those who do not scruple to say the more Contradictions the better the greater the Struggle and Opposition of Reason the greater is the Triumph and Merit of our Faith But there 's no likelihood of suppressing any of our Doubts or Disputes in Religion this way For besides the Natural Propension of the Soul to the search of Truth and the strong and impatient desire we have to know as much as ever we can of what immediately concerns us 't is generally and very justly look'd upon both as the Priviledge and Duty of Man to Enquire and Examine before he believes or judges and never give up his assent to any thing but upon Good and Rational Grounds And therefore 't would be a very hard thing to perswade the World to stifle and restrain so many Powerful Motives of Action But should they be farther prevailed upon to go directly contrary to their Reason 't would be much more difficult to Conquer the uneasiness of the Reluctance And indeed 't is well the difficulties of subduing the Understanding are too great to be master'd For a slight Reflection will serve to convince us that the necessary Consequences of a blind Resignation of Judgment would be far more Fatal to Christianity than all our present Divisions What Blasphemies and Contradictions may and have been imposed upon mens belief under the Venerable Name of Mysteries And how easie are Villainous Practices derived from an absurd Faith This is matter of common Observation and has brought a just Scandal upon a large Party of Christians and given occasion to Men of light undistinguishing Capacities to deny and scoff at the Saving Truths of the Gospel because they were accompanyed with a ridiculous mixture of Errors No doubt therefore we may and ought carefully to Examine the Faith and Principles we design for the Rule of our Lives and endeavour to understand all our Religion so far as to be able to Justifie it both to our Selves and Unbelievers We ought indeed to proceed with all the Caution and Humility imaginable and take a just Estimate of our Task and Abilities But to deny us the Liberty either of using or obeying our Reason is a suspicious as well as an unjust Restraint 2. There are others who call the Doctrine of the Trinity an Incomprehensible Mystery and yet are at a great deal of pains to bring it down to a Level with Humane Understanding and are all very earnest to have their own particular Explications acknowledged as necessary Articles of Faith But the number and disagreement of the Expositors plainly discover the vanity of such Pretences This has proved so unsuccessful a way that instead of uniting the different Judgments of Christians in one Point it has broke the Controversie into a Thousand more For Zeal and Opposition raising up a great many Assertors of the Common Belief and every one looking out for some new Terms and Modes of Speech which should be fuller and more expressive than those in Question the Differences and Disputes were by consequence proportionably multiplyed For the Terms and Forms of Speech made use of being capable of several sences and each of them attended with other Accessory Idea's Mistakes must necessarily arise and divers new Thoughts be suggested to such whose Heads were employed upon the same Subject And thus it came to pass that Defences and Vindications of the Orthodox Faith produced more Heresies Wherefore in all such Matters as these which are too big to be grasp'd we had better sit down contented with what we have firm hold of than tire our selves with vain Endeavours to take in more 'T would certainly be the truest and the safest way strictly to confine our selves to Scripture Expressions and never speak of Supernatural Things but in the Language of Revelation which being the proper Standard of all other words that shall be used on these Occasions 't is in vain to shift the Measure when there 's never another to be found which can or ought to reach farther It may however sometimes be necessary to change this Method and introduce New Terms to secure the True Faith against the False Interpretations of such as pervert Scripture For if Hereticks will make use of New Expressions to contradict the received Doctrine we must have New Terms to express the same Truth in in Opposition to their Heresie And in this case the Church may very reasonably require her Members to shew their steady continuance in the Ancient Faith by the use of such Terms as plainly infer their denyal of any later erroneous Inventions set up against it 3. There are a Third sort of Men in the World who pretend That there is no Mystery proposed to us as an Object of Faith and in order to make this of the Trinity appear to be none they bring a Cloud over the whole Bible and with strange forc'd Criticisms and Allegories give the very plainest Texts such an unusual Mysterious turn as neither the Language will bear nor is any ways consistent with the Design or Character of the Holy Writers But this is a very odd preposterous Method of Explaining Scripture by darkening a great part of it to illustrate the rest and as ridiculous a Project of healing Divisions as pulling down a whole side of standing Wall to mend a Breach And after all the Socinian Hypothesis seems to me to have more of Mystery and Contradiction to Natural Reason in it than what is objected to the Catholick Doctrine I am not for clogging the Faith nor multiplying Mysteries yet we ought not presently to deny what we do not understand but soberly and impartially consider how much we are able to Comprehend and how far we are obliged to Believe what we do not The Method therefore I design to observe in the following Discourse shall be different from any of those now mentioned I shall not go about to press Men to a Blind Veneration or Presumptuous Belief of any thing without Examination or in Defiance to Reason I shall not offer to impose any New Arbitrary Explications of my own upon other mens Consciences but confine my self wholly to the usual warranted Forms of Expression I will not wrest and strain Scripture to help out a Private Notion nor do any thing to betray the Just Rights and Priviledges of our Common Reason but carefully endeavour to distinguish How far the Doctrine of the Trinity is a Mystery and how far a Mystery may become an Object of Faith From whence I hope to make it appear that nothing hard or unreasonable is required of us by our Church for the belief of this Article In order to which I shall rank all my Reflections upon this Subject under these Three Heads of Enquiry I. What it is that perplexes and obscures our Faith in the Trinity II. What is sufficient for
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
Three Infinite Beings distinct from one another any more than Three Infinite Powers or Three Infinite Spaces because all Distinction implies some Limitation and Limitation is a Contradiction to Infinity We can indeed conceive Infinite Power as in some manner bounded by Infinite Wisdom Justice Mercy or the like but in no wise as limited by any other Power We cannot therefore conceive one Infinite Being as bounded by another Infinite Being for then we should conceive Infinite Power limited by another Power and the like of all other Attributes which are the same in both For the Notion of an Infinite Being includes in it all the imaginable kinds of Infinite Perfection But if we say there are Three Infinite Beings and all the Perfections of each are coincident what ground can we have for such a Distinction Not so much to use the former Instance as for that of three straight Lines between the same Points for there the different times of describing the same Line may in some manner help us to form a confused Conception of different Lines But 't is not in the Power of the Soul to represent to its self Three Eternal Beings of Coincident Perfections Here 's nothing for the Imagination to lay hold of no manner of ground to deceive our selves into a confused belief of such a Distinction And therefore I do not see how 't is possible for us to believe there are Three distinct Principles or Natures all of the same Infinite Perfections which together we call God And if there be but One Omnipresent Infinitely Perfect Being how can he be truly and fully represented to any Mind under Three different Idea's The truth of an Idea consists in its Agreement and Conformity to the Original it represents And if so how is 't possible there should be Three Idea's exactly and adequately conformable to the same Original and yet different from one another Either these Differences found in the Idea's are not in the real Pattern and then the Representation is false or they are and then the Unity of the Object is destroyed 'T is true indeed we do often apply different Idea's to the same individual Object but these are either Partial and Inadequate Conceptions of the Nature and Essence of it or Expressive of something Accessory and Extrinsecal to the Nature of the thing such as Modes Circumstances and Relations Those Partial Conceptions we frame of the Divine Nature are what we call the Attributes of God Which how different soever from one another in our thoughts are all necessarily included in the simple Idea of God and therefore cannot be the ground of such a Distinction as we are now enquiring after For when I say that God is Holy Wise or Powerful I only say that explicitly and in part which I said implicitly and in full when I pronounced the Name of God and the meaning of such Propositions is no more but this That a Holy Wise Powerful Being of all other Infinite Perfections is Holy Wise Powerful c. All which Perfections though considered separately under different Appearances by our imperfect Faculties being really but one simple Idea can be applyed to but one Single Person in the first sense of the word Person as it signifies a particular Intelligent Being Nature or Principle and that for the Reasons just now mentioned concerning the Conformity of Idea's with their Patterns From whence it follows that according to the Notions we are capable of framing of Vnity and Distinction which I have particularly examined with Reference to the Holy Trinity all the Personal Distinction we can conceive in the Deity must be founded upon some Accessory Idea's Extrinsecal to the Divine Nature a certain Combination of which Idea's makes up the Second Notion signified by the word Person And if we fairly and impartially Examine our own Thoughts upon this Subject we shall find that when we name God the Father we conceive the Idea of God so far as we are capable of conceiving it as Acting so and so under such Respects and Relations and when we name God the Son we conceive nothing else but the same Idea of God over again under different Relations and so likewise of the Holy-Ghost But if this be all that is meant by Trinity in Vnity Three Persons and One God where is that stupendious Mystery so much reverenced and adored by some What becomes of the great Difficulty and Obscurity complained of by others What is it that has puzled the Understandings and staggered the Faith of so many Learned and Inquisitive Men in all Ages since this Doctrine was first delivered This is an invincible Prejudice against the Account now given and indeed against any other Explication whatsoever that has nothing in it hard to be understood or believed For how can it be imagined that what has passed for a Mystery these Sixteen Hundred Years should now at last be comprehended as plainly as a common ordinary Notion But if this Account of the Trinity be too easie and falls far short of those High Expressions of Distinction found in Scripture as I think it does and no other grounded upon any Notions our Souls have framed of Vnity and Distinction can be true or consistent as I have before particularly proved then it necessarily follows that God must be One and Three in some way or manner not conceivable by Humane Understanding And what we are to believe in this case is the Subject of my next Enquiry which I am perswaded may very easily and quickly be resolved For if we are fully satisfied from Revelation that these Terms One and Three may and ought to be affirmed of God but not in any sense of the words we are here in this present state capable of conceiving And moreover if it be true as I have already shewn it is that we can believe a thing no farther than we understand the Terms in which it is proposed to us 't is plain from hence that all we can possibly believe in the matter of the Trinity is That One and the same God is Three in some way or manner we are not able to comprehend And if we are sure we cannot comprehend what this Distinction is whereby God is Three in vain do we look out for Terms to express something which we have no manner of Conception of Whatever words we use whether Person Hypostasis or any other we can invent or Languages furnish us with they all signifie the same thing that is some kind of Distinction we do not understand And we may rack our Thoughts tire our Imaginations and break all the Fibres of our Brain and yet never be able to deliver our selves clearer All therefore that we can know of the Trinity by Reason can amount to no more than an Obscure confused Knowledge which we are forced to express in general and abstracted Terms because we are sure no other reach our thoughts though these are not sufficient to explain all we mean by them Nor is