is given is not sent for even God the Father who is never sent and who give 's all things as you will grant yet give 's himself in covenant to his children hee is their Father and all his glorious Attributes are set a work for their good for though one and the same Person cannot bee the sender and the Person that is sent yet may the same Person bee the Giver and the Gift There is no difference in the thing it self but in the different consideration of it the Giver so called as freely imparting himself som way to them to whom hee is given And the Gift in relation of the Terminus ad quem yea and wee ourselvs likewise as wee are bound may give ourselvs to God to bee disposed of and ruled by him according to his pleasure Further I say by limitation of your words hee that is not the Creätor Preserver and Giver of all things viz. which are creäted hee is not God This is true but is this any thing for your purpose Nothing at all Nay it make's strongly against you for the holy Ghost is the Creätor Preserver and Giver of all things hee give 's life and breath and all things to the creatures Hee is such a Gift that hee give 's all other gifts and so by this reason you might have soundly concluded that the holy Ghost is God for that text Act. 17. 25. speak's of God's blessings bestowed on the creatures And you ought not blasphemously to have made use of it to rob the blessed Spirit of the glorie of his Deitie Apply now what I have related of the several respects of the Giver and the Gift and you will easily discern that your advantage which you would gather from a seeming contradiction to bee a gift and not a gift to bee given and not to bee given is as good as nothing Advers A gift say you is in the power and disposal of another it 's absurd to think that God should bee so Answ There are three words of neer signification munus praemium and donum The two former munus and praemium are absolutely in the power of the Giver and do imply that they are a separate thing from him That the Giver hath a proprietie in them and that they are inferior to the Giver See Dan. in Lomb. l. 1. d. 18. Censura But it is otherwise of a Gift a thing is said to bee given which is either had or possessed from another when either simply or in a certain respect it was not so had or possessed before And so it doth not necessarily import any authoritie which the Giver hath over the gift but it signifie's onely a free communication of that which is given for hee give 's that make's this gift to bee had of another whether hee bee the author or original of it or not Hence is it as I said that God the Father when hee come's to us graciously and communicate's himself to us by his gifts is said to give himself And God the Son is said to bee given and to give himself for us and to us yea and the holy Spirit also doth give himself to us because it is an act of his free will and absolute power to communicate his gifts to whom hee pleaseth so saith the Scripture The Spirit blow's where it will John 3. And the Spirit divide's to every one his gifts as hee pleaseth 1 Cor. 12. And this is further evidenced because a righteous man hath God the Father God the Son and God the holy Ghost for hee is a Temple of the whole Trinitie and therefore hee hath received this best gift of all as given to him by the most sacred Trinitie Quest A scruple may here arise since the holy Ghost is given and that in time onely for it is a name of God which actually belong's to him not from eternitie but in time as do many other Creätor Preserver Lord the power indeed was from eternitie in God and these do belong to him ab aeterno in habitu Hal. because hee is habilis dominari creäre praeservare donabilis ab aeterno But the actual denomination to bee Creätor Preserver Lord Gift was not from eternitie when there was no creature no servant none to whom God was given Doth not this concession may some say prove a change in God Answ No it 's onely in the creatures which in time have a beeing and had none before that instant or som new work wrought in them by the unchangeable God and as for the relations which are betwixt the immutable God and the mutable creatures they are on the creatures part real relations on Gods part they are not real but in solâ ratione consistunt This is illustrated by these similitudes Wee say this is the right side and that is the left side of a pillar the right side or left side of the Equator and by the death of a son there is no change in the pillar the Equinoctial line or the father but in the man that turn's himself this way or that way to the pillar that cut 's the line and in the childe that die's and yet wee truly say this is the right side of the pillar of the Equator the man ceaseth to be a father when his childe is dead The like is to bee said of the holy Spirit when hee is given to us there is no change in him but the change is in us The decree that the Spirit should bee given to the elect was before all time yet the real execution of this decree as of all others was don in time Advers To prevent a solution of his Argument hee saith that not onely the gifts of the holy Ghost but himself is given Nehem. 9. 20. Rom. 5. 5. If hee was given out of his favor hee was not personally there before and consequently not God Answ To this I answer divers waies First ad hominem if hee come's personally to every Saint where hee was not before and is in this Saint in England in that Saint in Germanie c. Either the holy Ghost is divided from himself which cannot bee or else beeing in all Saints hee must needs bee infinite for you no where in all your reasons hint that there are many holy Ghosts and it is a strange creature to admiration which can bee in this place and not in that which is contiguous to it and in that which is far removed from it This I do mention that I might give an occasion to you plainly to discover yourself in such particulars as these are Secondly the weakness of this exception appear's because if it were convincing it would prove God the Father not to bee God for hee give 's himself to his children Why then should God the holy Ghost on this ground bee no God Thirdly I grant in a good sense that the holy Ghost and not onely the gifts of the holy Ghost are given Luke 11. 13. And albeit many Divines do varie in their
the minde or will of the Spirit for hee maketh intercession for the Saints according to or conformably to the will of God Your other Argument annexed to this whereby you would prove the holy Ghost to bee inferior to God hath been examined in its due place Argum. 9. ANSWER Answ The Major Hee that hath a will distinct from that of God is not God I grant the Proposition to bee true if it bee taken in your sense for a distinct and separate will for two such wills do necessarily require two distinct substances to which they do relate I denie your Minor The holy Ghost hath not a will distinct from that of God First I say this text doth not clearly hold forth to us any thing touching the will of God's Spirit The originall is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in our new translation is turned not the will but the minde of the Spirit Som render it the intention of the Spirit and others the spiritual sense and you know very well that the primarie signification of the word is thus to bee translated God know's the intention of the Spirit or act of the minde Secondly let us grant what you cannot prove that it is to bee translated what is the will or what is the desire of the Spirit To this I answer that the Spirit willeth and desireth as hee praieth it is a Metonymie hee is said to will and desire because hee inableth us to will and desire according to the will of God God know's the intention of the Spirit even as the Mother knoweth the crying and sobbing of her Infant and so our secret sighs which are infused into us are known of God our sighs indeed cannot bee expressed by us but the Spirit which work 's them in us direct's them unto God Apparent it is you were hard put to it to make up a ful dozen of Arguments out of an ambiguous text to prove a distinct will of the Spirit from the will of God the Father by a place where there is no convincing proof that there is any mention of the will of the Spirit at all Grant further that this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bee the will or what the Spirit of God desire 's by those groans yet will it not follow that there bee two distinct wills of God the Father and the Spirit What I have written touching the understanding of God and of the Spirit is by paritie of reason to bee applied to this Argument there is as I asserted but one will of God the Father and God the holy Ghost but yet this one will is otherwise in the Father otherwise in the holy Ghost in the Father of and from himself but in the holy Ghost by eternal communication of the Deitie to him Fourthly whereas you talk of conformitie and agreeableness which is alwaies betwixt two at the least I have answered the substance of this in the former Argument This agreeableness is not properly betwixt the will of the holy Ghost and of God the Father but betwixt the will of man acted to pray by the Spirit of God and the will of God and these must needs bee two To draw to a conclusion I denie not but agreeableness and equalitie are asscribed to the Persons of the Trinitie for the Jews collected and that justly too because the Son of God called God his Father hee made himself equal to God John 5. Nor did the Son of God think hee robbed God of his honor when hee made himself equal to his Father Phil 2. And what is spoken of the Son is true likewise of the holy Ghost and it is the general resolution of the Church that the holy Ghost is consubstantial co-equal co-omnipotent and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Son Now because equalitie is properly understood of quantitie and agreeableness in qualitie it will not bee amiss to explicate briefly in what sense similitude and equà litie are asscribed to the sacred Persons It is to bee observed that in regard of substance things are said to bee the same or divers If the substance bee one things are said to bee one in substance but if not the same substance they are said to bee divers in substance In regard of qualitie things are said to bee like which do agree in qualitie and unlike when they have not one qualitie In regard of quantitie they are said to bee equal or unequal Now because in God to speak properly there is neither qualitie nor quantitie for how should a finite qualitie or quantitie reside in an infinite substance or how is it possible that these should bee many infinites therefore it follow 's undeniably that these three viz. identitie similitude and quantitie are all one in God and one God because there is the same essence and substance of the three Persons and yet there is similitude and identitie betwixt the Persons founded not on the relation betwixt them but on the essence and therefore because there is no dissimilitude betwixt the essence there is no dissimilitude absolutely in the Persons yet it is so founded on the essence that it doth insinuate to us the pluralitie of the Persons The Persons are said to bee like as touching qualities because they do agree in the same perfection of qualities as in wisdom power goodness and such like these are really distinguished in the creatures but relating to God they neither amongst themselvs nor from the divine essence do differ really The Persons in Trinitie are said to bee equal because they do so agree in the same perfection that one Person doth not in the least degree exceed another for there are no degrees in that which is infinite that is said to bee better in quantitie that is better and hath a higher degree of excellencie then another as in Logick the degree of qualitie is quantitie so that greatness in God is nothing else but the excellencie of God in every perfection If the first Person was more potent and wiser then the holy Ghost there would bee likeness betwixt them but not equalitie there must of necessitie bee a distinction betwixt things like and equal for nothing is equal or like to it self The Father is not the holy Ghost and therefore when the Father Son and holy Ghost are said to bee one in essence goodness wisdom there is not in such an attribution a distinction of Persons but when wee say the Persons are like or equal as touching every imaginable perfection as in goodness wisdom power c. such an attribution necessarily require's a distinction of the Persons amongst themselvs I have now as I conceive fully answered your twelve Arguments I have set down all and concealed nothing which in your Arguments carrieth with it any shew of strength there remaineth yet one Argument in your Epistle by which you would countenance your Heresie in these words ARGUMENT 13. 13 Argum. of M. Bidle I beleeve say you the holy Ghost to bee the chief all ministring Spirits and I
the Second and Third Persons are not so called by the name of God nor is this concession to your advantage The Father is so called chiefly for these two reasons First because hee is God of himself and from no other Person hee is often stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without a principle of beeing so are not the Son and the holy Ghost Secondly because hee is the principle and the fountain communicating the Deitie to the Son and the holy Ghost and yet when it is said Wee have one God and it is immediatly subjoyned the Father this is not spoken by way of exclusion but inclusion of the Son and the holy Ghost for the Son is in the Father and so is the holy Ghost too All creatures and particularly Idol-Gods are excluded from beeing God for God is opposed to Idols in the later place and I suppose you will not take the Son of God and the holy Ghost to bee Idols Besides the text might have lead you to this construction for it is said Wee have one Lord Jesus Christ will you rashly exclude God the Father from beeing our Lord will you deny that hee hath dominion over us And if the Father bee included in this term Christ is our one Lord why should not the Son bee included in the former one God And as for the other places the works recited there do prove the holy Ghost to bee God the the 3d. Argument followeth Argum 3 Maj Hee that hath the incommunicable properties of God is God Min The holy Ghost hath the incommunicable properties of God Concl Ergò The Major is confessedly true and need 's no proof the Minor is confirmed by a few instances and if it can bee proved that but one of them belong's to him it 's virtually proved true of them all for all are but one in truth and nature and one is all First the holy Ghost is omniscient not onely in that hee lead's his servants into all truth Joh. 16. 13. Esa 40. 13. hee is true the Spirit of Truth and the Fountain of Truth but chiefly is this confirmed because hee searcheth all things yea the deep things of God 1 Corin. 2. 10. which no creature can do Secondly because hee is essentially and powerfully present every where The holy Prophet took this as an undeniable truth Psal 139. 7. Whither shall I flee from thy Spirit This Interrogation as appeareth also by the enumeration of places most distant one from another heaven and hell implieth a peremptory assertion that hee could go no where no not in his thoughts but the Spirit of God was present there and yet is hee not included or circumscribed in any places as bodily creatures or limited as the nature of Angels is Basil de Spir. San. c. 22. Advers This beeing a pinching Argument and easily apprehended to bee very forcible by slender capacities must seemingly bee answered and the wound which his cause receive's thereby must have a skin drawn over it though it is not curable by the art of man Thus hee saith By this reason the devil is omnipresent for hee steal's the Word sowen in a thousand places at once hee dwell's in all wicked men Let them answer to these and then I will tell them how the Spirit though hee is not omnipresent may bee in all the faithful at once Answ 1 First I must tell this Disputant that though hee saith much and enough to prove our assertion yet it is not so full as it ought to bee for the Argument holdeth forth this truth That God's Spirit is not onely in the hearts of his children but there and it is their happiness that hee is essentially there where they shall never bee Hee is every where Answ 2 Secondly I observe that though many lines are penned in answer to the question yet positively doth hee assert nothing at all Hee leave 's us to guess at his meaning to prevent absurdities with which hee might have been pressed if hee had told us how the holy Ghost a creature is in all the faithful and how the chief Devil is in all the wicked now possibly hee hath a starting hole and may say hee hath no such meaning It became a plain dealing man desirous to have the truth revealed to him as hee pretend's to bee to have opened his minde clearly and not to have left the Beader in suspence touching this particular You tell us and this is all you say that what wee can answer against the Omnipresence of the Devil you will apply the same Answer to our Objection And will you so indeed Shew mee then out of the Word of God in any place that the holy Ghost hath his beeing by creätion and not by eternal procession I can plainly prove and this you will not deny that the Devil and his Angels were creäted of God and were good in the instant of their creätion Shew mee out of the Word of God that it is any where thus spoken the holy Ghost and his Angels as it is said expresly the Devil and his Angels Wee read indeed that Michaël and his Angels did fight with the Dragon and his Angels Revel 12. Whosoever is meant by Michaël and there are several interpretations thereof yet none did so much as dream of the holy Ghost whom you make the Prince of Angels Shew mee out of the Word of God that the Devil and his Angels are every where as it is said expresly of the holy Spirit If you mount up into heaven are they there Are they not thrust headlong from thence never to bee re-admitted to the pure and blessed place Are they in the bottom of the sea or in the places of the earth which are not inhabited unless by restraint If in an instant you were placed there you might truly say that you fled from the Devil's presence and could be som where and the Devil not there Shew mee out of the holy Word that inferior good Spirits which as Guardians and Protectors do lead the servants of God into all truth that they do sanctifie them and that in the Scripture phrase they dwell in them and that it is not one onely holy Ghost that doth all these and as you your self contend The Person of the holy Ghost is given together with his gifts Argum. 7. but I can shew you that it is not one individual Devil but they are innumerable principalities and powers against which God's servants must fight as against enemies with whom they must make no peace and which do damnably seduce guid and hold in woful captivitie all sinners A legion of Devils was cast out of one man every one of these wicked Spirits is a Devil a Satan hee is like a similar bodie as a bone every one is a Devil Advers Whereas you object that one lying Spirit seduced four hundred Prophets 1 King 22. 23. and add that there is the same reason of four hundred and four millions To this I say speak out man doth one wicked
individual Spirit seduce all the wicked by himself If you dare not say so why is this example alledged yea and by your own silence your cause is lost I dare tell you that the holy Spirit sanctifieth with his gracious presence all the Saints that are in the world Nor is the reason alike betwixt those four hundred and all the wicked men in the world for they were assembled together in one place and all of them of one Spirit but suppose these four hundred had been severed and placed in so many remote Kingdoms will you have the forehead to say that one Spirit could seduce them all at once The former I grant may bee done by a creäted Spirit but not possible the later Argum. 4 Maj. Hee that is simply superior to Christ as man is God Min. The holy Ghost is so Concl. Ergò hee is God The Major is clear by the confession of the Adversarie for hee ranketh Christ in the second order next under God and the holy Ghost below Christ in the third rank and rightly if his supposition had been true for the humane nature simply considered beeing assumed into the person of the Son of God is neerest the cause and fountain of all greatness and is thereby exalted far above the state and condition of the highest Angels but hee is said to bee made lower then they are onely for a short time in regard of his sufferings Hebr. 2. from which those blessed Spirits were exempted The Minor is proved by those very Arguments whereby you endeavor to prove the holy Ghost to bee inferior to God First because Christ in this notion is sent of the holy Ghost The Lord God sent mee and his holy Spirit Esa 48. 16. I know som of ours do expound this of the Prophet Esay the Spirit sent him and so do the Hebrews suddenly change the Person saith Oecolampadius without any necessitie because they do abhor the mysterie of the Trinitie but wee saith hee with Catholiques do avouch that these are the words of Christ as the whole context evinceth But let that text bee meant so or otherwise It 's clear by Fsa 61. 1. applied to Christ Luke 4. 18. The Spirit of the Lord hath sent mee to binde up the broken hearted to preach the Gospel Secondly hee that receiveth of another is inferior to him of whom hee receiveth and dependent on him these are your own expressions but the humane nature of Christ receive's from the Spirit it's beeing for hee was conceived by the holy Ghost Matth. 1. and was anointed by him with abundant gifts without measure Luke 4. 18. To these I add that the holy Spirit by his mighty power raised Christ corporally from death Rom. 8. 11. as hee doth his people spiritually from the death of sin Lastly because it is a greater sin which is committed against the holy Ghost then that is which is committed against the Son Mat. 12. 31 32. this is pardonable the other shall never bee forgiven Advers To this last objected place you frame this Answer The sin against the holy Ghost is unpardonable not because the holy Ghost is God but because hee that sinneth against the holy Ghost doth in the same act sin against God with an high hand against his conscience renouncing the truth as the Renegadoes did Hebr. 10. 25 26. which things are the greatest affronts that can bee offered to God who useth the Spirit in none but in things of greatest importance Answ I grant the sin against the holy Ghost is not therefore simply unpardonable because it is simply against God for so are all sins and yet are they not the unpardonable sin and they are in a proper and true sense against the holy Ghost even the sins of his own people and hee is said to bee grieved for them Ephes 4. 30. and the sins of the wicked for which hee will bee revenged on them Esa 63. 10. But yet this I do peremptorily avouch unless the holy Ghost were God and equal to the Father and the Son of God it could not bee the greatest sin that was committed against him as the immediate and ultimate object thereof I will on your own principles argue against you for the fuller confirmation of this point I take this for a granted Maxim that the unpardonable sin is a sin and of necessitie must bee a sin against the holy Ghost This Assertion cannot with reason be denied Upon this supposition of yours that the holy Ghost is a creature I argue thus That the unpardonable sin may bee committed and yet the holy Ghost not at all sinned against First because the first and universal cause can immediatly of himself without the intervening of any creature so far enlighten a reprobate that this sin maliciously committed against this light shall bee for nature the very same every way as heinous and as unpardonable and yet not all against the holy Ghost It is true instruments are God's hands and as they can do nothing without God so God ordinarily will not work without them but is Gods hand shortened Can you give any reason why hee cannot do the same work without the creatures which is instrumentally produced by them Secondly suppose the Lord will not work thus immediatly by himself cannot hee imploy an Angel inferior to the holy Ghost about this work of illumination Cannot hee so far elevate this blessed creature above it self touching the former state and actuate his abilities that hee shall as a means under God so far enlighten man as is don at other times by the holy Ghost And the blessed Spirit in the mean time according to your profane opinion reside in one place and not intermeddle at all either to command or have any influence on this Angel in this imployment or if there should bee a deficiencie still in this creature which is very unreasonable to imagine cannot the great God supply the defect thereof In this case wee have the unpardonable sin committed and yet not at all committed against the holy Ghost Thirdly I confute you from this Scripture Matth. 12. on which our Argument is grounded The holy Ghost say you is God's Messenger and hee is sent as God's servant to enlighten men at the same time this great God send 's his Son also as his Messenger for so hee is often called but the holy Ghost is never called his Son this Son of God as you grant is next unto God himself higher and greater then the holy Ghost and besides which is another advantage to strengthen the Argument the holy Ghost is invisible the Son of God present's himself visible to them and his Person is directly and purposely scorned and abused by them and 't is not easie to bee proved that they had the like mischievous intentions and malicious purposes against the Person of the holy Ghost Judg now impartially whether is the greater sin and which in likelihood is the sin most unpardonable Whether the Lord will bee more offended
for a sin against the servant against a Person inferior to the Son then for a sin against the greater and against his wel-beloved Son And if a man bee not bereft of common sense hee must need 's conclude against this Disputant and therefore since the sin against the holy Ghost is unpardonable but the sin against the Son of God is not unpardonable as the text sheweth it must of necessitie bee yielded that the holy Ghost is God and superior to Christ as hee is man as hee is Mediator Fourthly if the holy Ghost were not God the sin committed against him could not bee the greatest sin Can a sin immediatly committed against a creature bee greater then that which is directly against the Creätor Doth not the greatness of the Person against whom the sin is committed aggravate the offence and make the sin to be so much the more heinous as the Person wronged by it is the greater Is not a sin against God which is a breach of the first Table greater I mean of an equal comparison then a sin against the 2d Table as this sin whereof wee treat must bee if it bee a sin against the creature I deny not but they that sin against a creature do sin against God whose authoritie and law forbidding it are slighted but shall therefore an immediate sin against the workmanship of God bee as you contend the more heinous then that which is against the great God himself I might tell you that you do onely say that this sin through the holy Ghost doth strike at God himself as a superior object thereof You can never prove that this sin is not terminated in the holy Ghost but for Argument sake grant it At the Assises as I remember malefactors are indicted for sinning against our Soveraign Lord and his Laws but is it as great a sin as that which is immediatly against his Majestie Suppose supreme Authority send 's Ambassadors to a forain Prince and they are disgraced and killed 't is your own comparison Argum 4 this redound's I deny not very much to the wrong of the supreme Authority and 't is don and interpreted to bee don to them not for their own but for his sake Suppose again a King should send more honorable Ambassadors then the former as Balak did to Balaam and joyn in commission with them his chief favorites was not the same sin committed against these later servants greater then the former But suppose a King himself should go in his own Person about the same business and they should e-equally contemn him was not the affront now and sin committed of a deeper die Give me leave Christian Reader to endeavor to explicate in as few words as may bee how the sin is said to bee against the holy Ghost It is an undeniable truth that all the actions of the divine Persons those onely excepted which are ad intra of intrinsecal relation are the joynt and undivided works of the three Persons because there is not a multiplied but one divine essence and the unitie of their working depend's on the unitie of the power which is all one with the essence Gregor Nazianz. Orat. de Theolog. Yet the blessed God is described in Scripture by a gracious condescending to our dull capacities which are unable to conceive the distinction of the Persons in the unitie of the God-head but by a distinction of their operations to us-ward and hence it is that the great works of Redemption Creätion and Sanctification are severally attributed to the several Persons not in a way of opposition but distinction which the School-men call Appropriation Thus power is asscribed to the Father because hee is the principle of the Son and of the holy Ghost and therefore because the mightie power of God is manifested by Creätion the Father is frequently stiled the Creätor Wisedom is asscribed to the Son of God because hee is termed conceptus Sapientiae hence is it that Redemption wherein the manifold wisedom of God is seen is appropriated to the Son hee is called Redeemer Goodness is asscribed to the holy Ghost because hee proceed's from the Father and the Son per modum amoris hence the good things of God which are communicated to us are appropriated to him hee is called our Sanctifier And for the same reason are sins thus distinguished there is a sin of Frailtiness and that is said to bee against the Father who is Power there is a sin of Ignorance and that is said to bee against the Son who is the Wisedom of God and there is a sin of Wilfulness and Malice and that is said to bee against the holy Ghost who is Goodness Bonav p. 1. Quaest 39. Art 8. This is a reason why this sin is unpardonable it 's a sin by appropriation both against his Person and his Gifts 't is not a sin of weakness nor a sin of ignorance no nor every gross sin against knowledg no nor every apostasie from the truth against the known truth for som may fall away either out of fear of the loss of their goods or lives or for preferment nor a few of this kinde have bewailed their follies have obtained pardon and proved glorious Martyrs but this is a sin wittingly and willingly and out of cankred malice committed against God the Father Son and a I said by appropriation against God the holy Ghost and his great work in their hearts and whereby they offer contumelie and despite to the Spirit of Grace and so will hee never give them the grace to repent Adver You say that God useth the Spirit but onely in things of greatest importance By this your saying you give your Reader a hint to suspect that you think every sin committed against God's Spirit is that unpardonable sin against the holy Ghost Speak out is not this your meaning if not so to what purpose should you say God never useth the Spirit but in matters of greatest importance If so I demand then who can be saved For every good man grieveth the blessed Spirit and sinneth against him I add this your Conclusion is such a Paradox which hath searce dropped from the pen of any Christian man You think belike that the Spirit is like to Arch-angels which are said to preside over Kingdoms and great Personages onely but the care of singular mean persons is under God committed to the Angels You think it seem's the Spirit work 's not but to bring forth a male-childe of whom the woman hath been long in travel to bee delivered for whom the Church hath sighed much and made many prayers to God to give her a Christian orthodoxal King or Emperor or to divert the rage of the persecutors of the Saints and to procure rest to the Church to raise up men of heroical spirits and parts to reform the Church or such like Belike then they that have but one talent or two talents or mean men which have but a low degree of sanctifying graces are not
beholding to the Spirit for them God never sent his blessed Spirit to them how false and unsavory this expression is who seeth not And the follie thereof shall bee fully disproved in the next Reason When you wrote this you were half asleep or if deliberatly I will bee bold to say That your Sophistrie hath the upper hand of your Divinitie 5 Argum. Maj. Hee that produceth those works which God alone produceth is God Min. The holy Ghost doth so Concl. Ergò The Major is plain the Minor is proved by particular instances 1 Hee that create's the world is God The holy Ghost create's the world Ergò the holy Ghost is God The Major is proved both by Reason and Scripture First by Reason because to create is to make somthing of nothing or of that which to such a purpose is as good as nothing and this require's an infinite power which cannot no not by the absolute power of God bee communicated to a creature and by Scripture every where Gen. 1. 1. Jer. 10. 11. The true God the living God the everlasting God hath made the Earth the Heavens the Seas and the Fountains of water Apoc. 14. 7. The Minor is proved by Scripture the first verse in the Bible Elohim creäted Heaven and Earth and after in the same Chap. ver 26. Let Vs make man after Our Image hence it is said in the Original Where is God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my Makers and Psal 149. 2. Let Israël rejoyce in him that made him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his Makers which denote's the Trinitie of the Persons More distinctly Psal 33. 6. By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made and all the host of them by the Spirit of his mouth that is God the Father by his Word i. e. his Wisedom which is Christ and by his Virtue which is the holy Ghost hath made all things and these three are but one God More clearly Psal 104. 30. Thou sendest forth thy Spirit and they are creäted The Prophet sheweth how the orderly course of the creatures is wisely disposed off and the Antithesis betwixt the Spirits i. e. souls of the creatures which die and the Spirit of God which creäte's and renewe's them So Elihu in Job The Spirit of God hath made mee and the breath of the Lord hath given mee life Job 35. 10. And 't is said touching our Savior That which is conceived of Marie is of the holy Ghost creäting the body by his omnipotent power of the substance of the Virgin Marie in a way unheard off from the begining of the world and his soul immediatly of nothing 2 Hee that support's and uphold's all the creatures in their beeing is God The holy Ghost doth so Ergò The Major is confirmed because preservation of the creatures is a work equivalent to creätion and 't is rightly called a continued creätion hence is the Lord described to bee a God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the present stretching out the heavens Esa 40. 22. All means under the Sun are but dead instruments without God To bee of himself is proper to the Lord and incommunicable to any creature hence is it as Glass observe's Orat. de Hebr. lin Necess that the Lord is called Adonai of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because hee is the basis and the prop to uphold all the creatures in the world they all depend on him as artificial works do on natural substances What can a Carpenter do without wood What can a Mason do without stones Yea as the light in the aire depend's on the bodie of the Sun wee live and move and have our â—eeinâ— in God Acts 17. 28. The Minor is confirmed not onely because the holy Ghost is Adoâ—ai as is shewed in the first Reason but because this is particularly affirmed of one work and in paritie of reason it hold's true in all the rest Gen. 1. 2. The Spirit of God is said to move upon the face of the waters By the Spirit of God cannot bee meant the winde which is the moving of the air for there was no distinction of things below in the first day they were a confused mass without form and without any virtue or efficacie Nor could the air of winde if there had been any such creature at that time have had the cherishing effect which is there asscribed to the Spirit wee are then to understand no creäted Spirit but the Creätor and Cherisher of all The Lord would teach us that this confused lump of the Elements creäted in the begining could not consist of it self but as it was necessarie it should have a Creätor for its beeing so likewise that it should have a Protector a Conservator and a Quickner for the continuance of the same and the Spirit that upheld this mass was the Spirit of God The word used by the Spirit is very emphatical 't is a Metaphor taken from Birds which do sit upon their eggs wave over them to bring forth their young ones or â—o cherish them beeing hatched Deut. 32. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Deuter. the Lord protected his Children as the Bird doth her young ones and brought them out of Egypt as hee did a beautiful world out of the Chaos so that in this place of Genesis is set forth the effectual comfortable motion of the Spirit on the indigested Chaos whereby hee sustained and as it were cherished that vast creature I might shew that this is not a singular exposition devised of late daies but asserted by many ancient Fathers yea and by som ancient Rabbins as P. Galatm l. 2. and H. Ainsworth on this text do witness but I omit them Hee that truly and properly work 's miracles is God The holy Ghost doth so Ergò The Major is proved even by one of the words which is used for a miracle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which like a beautiful creature hath an allureing nature to drawmen to beleeve in God and to obey him Ainsworth on Exod. 7. 9. Or as Schindler of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it demâ—nstrat's the truth and is as a divine seal thereof not imprinted in wax which will soon wear out but engraven as it were in brass and so is an indeleble Character Hereby did our Savior prove that hee was God Matth. 9. 5. as if hee had said it 's the same divine power to forgive sins and work miracles The Lord alone doth wondrous works Psal 78. 18. Somtimes hee work 's them for the prayers of his servants as hee did at and for the prayers of Elias 1 King 18. Somtimes by divine instinct and inspiration and then is the miracle said to be a miracle ex potestate Josuah said Sun stand thou still in the firmament And Peter to Aeneas Arise and this is a work so peculiar to God that the great School-man Aquin. cap. 2. quaest 14. 8. art 1. concludeth that that it cannot bee communicated to a creature no not to the
humane nature of Christ as properly and originally wrought by it The Deitie shined with miracles and the Humanitie was exposed to injuries The Minor is proved by the words of our Savior Luke 11. 20. Christ cast's out devils by the finger of God Hee hath reference as is probable to Exod. 8. 19. The Magicians of Pharaoh acknowledged that the miracle of â—ice was wrought by the finger of God the holding up of the singer argue's power and authoritie and is a kinde of threatning to desist from evil and this text is expounded in S. Matth. 12. 28. Christ cast's out devils by the Spirit of God and yet more plainly if any thing can bee more plain there is no servant of God which God hath graced with this honor to bee an instrument of working miracles But it is the blessed Spirit that give 's this gift unto them 1 Cor. 12. 10. 4 Hee that inspired the holy Prophets and Apostles and infallibly guided the Penners of the holy Scripture is God The holy Ghost hath don both these Ergò hee is God The Major is clear by Scripture Luke 1. 70. God spake by the mouth not of som but of all the Prophets since the world began and the whole Scripture and every clause of Scripture is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 given by divine inspiration hence is it that the Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is called the Word of God and to bee esteemed of us as if it had been written with Gods own hand as the Decalogue was it is chirographum Dei as Austin elegantly a writing under God's own hand The Minor is proved by evident Scripture Prophesies of old time saith S. Peter came not by the will of man but the Prophets spoke as they were moved both for the matter and the words by the holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1. 21. The Spirit which began by inspiration sat still moving on those soul-refreshing waters sweetly and wisely assisting his Pen-men according to their several stiles till there was a perfect production till the Canon of the Scripture was completed And this is further proved in that what God is said to speak in the old Testament to David to Esay c. that in the new which is a commentary of much in the old is asscribed to the holy Ghost Heb. 3. 7. Act. 28. 25. and in many other places Well said the holy Ghost by Esaias to your Fathers Ergò I conclude the holy Ghost is God Hee that rule 's and govern's the Church by his absolute power is God The holy Ghost doth so Ergo. The Major is plain and cannot with any color of reason bee denied for the Church is the Church of God Acts 20. 28. his own enclosure from the commons of the world and one inferior to God cannot by his absolute power govern it it is God's own propertie and peculiar not to bee claimed by any creature to command by his own authority over the whole Church The Minor is evidently proved by Scripture the holy Ghost instruct's Peter remove's his scruples and laie's a charge upon him Arise get thee down and go to Cornelius with the Messengers doubting nothing for I have sent them Act. 10. 20. Is this a language beseeming a creature Will a creature speak thus with authority a holy creature Acts 13. 2. Separate to or for mee Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them Hath any creature a good creature the boldness thus imperiously to command in God's house Certainly this is the voice of God and not of an Angel Consonant hereto is that profession of the holy Assemblie at Jerusalem Acts 15. 28. It seemed good to the holy Ghost and to Vs that is to us inspired by the holy Ghost Had this happy societie of Saints consulting for the rest and peace of the Church and by the blessing of the Lord making a happy conclusion most sutable to the state and condition of those times forgotten to acknowledg God the Author and resolve finally this great work into a creature's inspiration Lastly to name no more Acts 20. 28. Take heed to your selves and to all the flock over which the holy Ghost hath made you overseers Words very emphatical belonging to the great God but too high to bee attributed to any creature Argum. 6 Hee that doth what hee will and disposeth his gifts as hee himself pleaseth is God The holy Ghost doth so Ergò The Major is plain our God is in the heavens and hee hath don whatsoever hee pleaseth Psal 115. 3. It 's blasphemie to conceive that God should bee like som Kings of Egypt which seem's to bee intimated by that speech of Pharaoh to Joseph and is asserted of these Caliphs in later times that they committed the whole Government of their Kingdom to their Vice-roys according to whose word and commandment all the people were ruled Gen. 41. 40. And they in the mean time enjoy themselvs and meddle not with the administration of the Kingdom Let Christians abhor such cogitations and firmly beleeve that there is nothing at all don by the creature but the Lord is the first efficient cause thereof and produceth it immediatly immediatione suppositi for hee is every where and immediatione virtutis suae infinitae Greg. de Val. tom 1. d. 8. q. 1. p. 2. And our Bradwardine laie's down these three Conclusions and prove's them First no creature at all can work without God Secondly no creature can make any thing at all unless God by himself and immediatly doth make the same thing Thirdly yea more immediatly then doth any working creature de causa Dei lib. 1. cap. 3. I may further confirm this Proposition by your own Arguments God give 's all things to all Argum. 5. And it is God that hath the power and disposition of all things Argum. 7. The Minor is confirmed Hebr. 2. 4. where the Apostle teacheth that several gifts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 distributions and parting of his gifts severally to men are according to his pleasure And 1 Cor. 12. 11. hee divide's not to som only but to every man as hee pleaseth all gifts not onely the greatest most admirable gifts but those also of the middle sort yea and the meanest are the gifts of the Spirit hee worketh all in all Heathens sottishly asscribed several gifts to several gods som to Jupiter som to Apollo Mercurie som to Juno Diana but wee have been better taught then so to asscribe all to God the holy Ghost who give 's all to all Whereby this Author is confuted who affirmeth in answer to Mat. 12. 31. the acts of the Spirit his ministrie is not used but in things of the greatest importance Seventhly I add another Argument as a choice specialtie under the general concluded in the former Argument Hee that is the Author of saving Graces is God The holie Ghost is the Author of saving Graces Ergò The Major is proved because conversion and regeneration not to spend time in runing
through particulars sanctification is Gods alone work None can wash away the filthiness of the minde but hee that made the minde Optat. Mil. l. 5. The Heathen shall know that the Lord doth sanctifie Israël Ezek. 37. 28. And is not this state compared to the raising up of the dead to life and to a new creätion Is not grace of a supernatural order and by it the Saints do regularly move to a supernatural end Every one of these of necessity require's the powerful work of a supreme Agent A creature hath no more power to make a Saint of a sinner then hee hath to make of a vile lump of earth a glorious star in heaven The Minor is proved hee is called the holy Ghost because holiness is from him per modum principii inhaerentis assistentis 1 Pet. 12. called the Spirit of holiness Rom. 1. 4. and wee are said to bee regenerated by the holy Ghost Joh. 3. 5. renewed by the holy Ghost Tit. 3. 5. to bee washed and sanctified by the Spirit of our God 1 Cor. 6. 11. As there is but one soul in a man which quicken's all the members of the natural bodie so is there but onely one holy Ghost which animate's all the mystical members of Jesus Christ and as Christ our head was conceived by the holy Ghost so the mystical bodie is conceived by the Spirit of God Every Christian as hee is a Christian hath his conception and new birth by the holy Ghost I might shew this at large in the particular graces which are sanctifying a catalogue of many of them wee read Gal. 5. 22. and it is as true of the rest which are not there recited they are all of them the fruit of the Spirit The Arguments which I have already recited will I hope and conceive give ample satisfaction to the Christian Reader there remaineth another grounded on the Word of God to prove the Deitie of the holy Ghost which I will set down not onely because many eminent Protestants and men of note of the Church of Rome do relie on it but because the Adversarie hath upon som plausible pretences excepted against it I am perswaded that there is scarce a good cause maintained but it is proved by som weak and false mediums It is acknowledged by Mel. Canus and 't is not contradicted by any loc l. 6. c. ult that not onely sacred Synods but the Popes themselves may thus err som of whose proofs may bee so far from beeing necessarie that they are not fit nor probable to conclude infallible cathedral definitions of Faith If then this Argument which is in the rere and hind-most should bee cut off as the faint and feeble Israëlites were by the Amalekites Deut. 25. 18. yet even then were the people of God victorious over their enemies so do not I doubt albeit this Argument should bee unproper I do not say it is but if it could bee demonstrated to bee so but som of the former if not all are unanswerable and like invincible fortresses which cannot bee surprised Thus I frame the Argument Argum. 8 Hee that is a heavenly witness and one in nature with God the Father is God The holy Ghost is so Ergò The Major is evident of it self and not contradicted by the Adversarie the reason why I onely name God the Father and not God the Son is because Mr Bidle will not yeild that the Word is God The Minor is proved by those words of S. John 1 Epist chap. 5. ver 7. There are three that bear witness in heaven the Father the Word and the holy Ghost and these three are one an express place one would think for the distinction of three Persons and the Unitie of nature in the blessed Trinitie I do take for granted that the Person to whom this witness is given is that Jesus is the Son of God the Messiah The heavenly witnesses which give testimonie hereof are three the Father at his Baptism speaking from heaven This is my beloved Son The Son called the Word for three reasons The Son of God who is called the Word either because hee is the Person on whom the promises of God do run God the Father promised him so Beza or because hee reveale's the secret counsel of God touching our salvation as wee by our words do open the meaning of our mindes to others or because in a divine eminent and ineffable manner is expressed to us by a term agreeable to our capacitie that the Son of God so is and was from everlasting from God the Father as our first act and conceit which is our internal and mental Word is and issueth out of our understanding For these or som other reasons it is that the Son of God is called the Word and hee bear's record to himself that hee is the Messiah partly by his works Joh. 4. 26. partly by his Doctrine Joh. 5. 18. Joh. 6. 29. 6. 37 46. partly by bis miracles Joh. 10. 25. The holy Ghost bare record of him at his Baptism when hee in a visible shape asscended from heaven and alighted on him I argue from this text This is hinted from this text because the holy Ghost is joyned with God the Father in giving witness which is all one upon supposition that hee is a creature as to add a drop to the Ocean It is true that the Spirit is joyned with the creatures somtimes in witness bearing But Acts 15. 28. Rom. 8. speaking by his Prophets but those very texts do strengthen our faith touching the Deitie of the holy Ghost For the further confirmation let it bee considered that all the creatures were made by J. Christ and nothing was made without him It is never spoken in the Scripture that the holy Ghost was made by him Colos 1. 16. all things in heaven and in earth visible and invisible were creäted by him and it is there added for illustration that thrones dominations principalities and powers were creäted by him The holy Ghost had hee been a creature and the chief of all the creatures would not have been omitted but by name expressed the holy Ghost principalities powers c. The Reader if hee please may see more proofs of this point in the Answer to the 8th Argument These three do bear witness in heaven the meaning is not as if the place where this record was given is in heaven or to the heavenly Inhabitants but this is a record to men on earth nor is it a testimonie which is given by the Angels hence I draw a second Argument If by the holy Ghost was not meant a divine testimonie or the testimonie of God himself then there are not onely three which bear witness in heaven as the text hold's forth and must bee verified of three but there are many more that witness Jesus is the Messiah Before his birth to Joseph Mat. 1. 20. After his birth to the Shepherds Luke 1. 10. And a multitude of the heavenly host praising
received truth by solving the strongest Objections which are framed against it Objection 1 Neither the Father nor the holy Ghost but onely the Son of God did assume our nature and this is an outward work to this it is answered that onely the Son of God became man yet the whole Trinitie did frame and work to the assumption of the humane nature illustrated thus Three do weave cloth to bee worn of one of them onely inchoativè it belonged to all the Persons terminativè it was personal and proper to the Son of God Objection 2 If it bee said onely the Father spoke from heaven This is my welbeloved Son so it is said not because all the Persons did not frame that voice but because the words were uttered in his Person the Father alone is said to speak those words because they related to the Son of God the thing signified did alone appertain to the Person of the Father nor is this rule crossed by the apparition of a Dove Objection 3 The holy Ghost alone descended and appeared to the Apostles in fiery cloven tongues because those visible Symbols did onely signifie the Person of the holy Ghost which the three Persons by one undivided operation did produce Mark then albeit the work bee the same and 't is from all the Persons yet is there a difference in the manner of working the Father and the Son as they are the Fountain of the Person of the holy Ghost so likewise are they the Fountain of the operations of the holy Ghost When wee read this expression then the holy Ghost speak's not of himself wee must not conceive that phrase to import any diminution of the Majestie of the holy Ghost nor doth it implie that hee is not God that hee is inferior to the first Person of the Trinitie hereby our Savior would teach the Disciples for they are his own words in John that they should not think the holy Ghost to bee greater then the Son of God albeit his works in the hearts of his Apostles should bee greater then those which hee whiles hee visibly conversed with them had wrought in them Nor should they think that the holy Ghost should bring any new Doctrine but the truths taught by him are the truths of God the Father there is a plenary consent of the Doctrine of the holy Ghost and of God the Father that which the holy Ghost speak's from the Father hee had not in time but by eternal procession from the Father and the Son of God There is no diversitie at all in the work in it self considered but the order of externally working answer's to the order of the divine Persons thus is the holy Ghost said not to work from himself but from the Father and Son By this which hath been spoken his reasons are already answered yet a word of them Advers God speak's of himself The holy Ghost speak's not of himself Ergò hee is not God Answ There is nothing but homonymies in both Propositions but I answer to this Objection God essentially taken speak's of himself and thus the holy Ghost as hee is God speak's of and from himself but if you take it thus by a reduplication of the Subject by a specificative limitation the holy Ghost as the holy Ghost is not of himself in regard of his Person but from the Father and the Son and in this regard speak's not from himself yet is a holy true God blessed for ever Advers If God say you speaketh not from himself hee should not bee the primary Author of his speech but the secondary and this is absurd impossible Answ I deny the consequence which is true when wee speak of causes subordinate to superior causes or of instrumental causes but the holy Ghost is not an instrument either separate from or conjunct with the first Person Hee is not inferior in dignitie or power to God the Father and God the Son for there is but one divine Essence subsisting in the three Persons which are not the subject of the Deitie for they are one God in Essence and so the prioritie of the first Person is in regard of the order of working without inferioritie in the third Person whether wee regard the Persons relatively and considered or the work produced by them It is needless for mee to spend time in examining the many particular places alledged by him for som of them do directly speak of the creatures and those are impertinent for what call you this The holy Ghost that speak's not from himself is not God why Because the same phrase is used of a creature or else they speak of Christ as God and then they are already answered I add that som of those expressions are so far from proving Christ not to bee God that they do strongly evince the Deitie of the Son of God I conclude in S. Austin's words Whatsoever the Father is as hee is God as hee is a substance as hee is eternitie the same is the Son of God and the holy Ghost If you will say What riddles are these I answer How litle is it that wee conceive of God Wee can have better apprehensions of God then wee can make expressions of him and hee is transcendently above both our apprehensions and expressions of him ARGUMENT 4. 4 Argum. of M. Bidle Hee that heareth from another what hee shall speak is not God The holy Spirit doth so Ergò The Minor is plain from the fore-cited place John 16. 13. The Major is proved thus Hee that is taught is not God Hee that heareth from another what hee shall speak is taught Ergò The Major is clear by Esay 40. 13 14. compared with Rom. 11. 34. 1 Cor. 2. 16. The Minor is evidenced by John 8. where our Savior having said in the 26. verse Whatsoever I have heard from him the Father these things I speak In the 28. verse hee expresseth the same sense thus According as the Father hath taught mee these things I speak Neither let any man go about to elude so pregnant an Argument by saying that this is spoken of the holy Spirit improperly for let him turn himself every way and scrue the words as hee please yet shall hee never bee able to make it out to a wise and considering man how it can possibly bee said that any one heareth from another what hee will speak who is the prime Author of his speech and into whom it is not at a certain time insinuated by another For this expression plainly intimateth that whatsoever the holy Spirit speaketh to the Disciples is first discovered and committed to him by Christ whose Embassador hee is it being proper to an Embassador to bee the Interpreter not of his own but of anothers will But it is contradictious to imagine that the most high God can have any thing discovered and committed to him by another ANSWER Answ I answer first in general by distinguishing of this word hearing which is the basis and ground
of your Argument and then will particularly applie it Somtimes the Superior heareth the Inferior thus God is frequently said to hear the praiers of his servants made in faith Somtimes the Inferior hear's the Superior and that is don many waies not onely by his bodily ears but by understanding what formerly was not known or when the judgment is more perfectly informed in a point before not fully known or beleeving what till that voice came was not beleeved or hearkning to the counsell or obeying the will and pleasure of God Somtimes an equall hear's an equall as common experience shew's If wee speak of the first acceptation God's hearing us and answering of us according to the tenor of our praiers then I appeal to your judgment and you must needs give sentence against your self that in this sense your Major is false If you speak of hearing in the second sense I grant your Major is true because so to hear argueth ignorance in whole or in part forgetfulness dulness slackness or plain neglect if not contempt of dutie which wee do all confess are inconsistent with the infinite knowledg and transcendent excellencie of the great God If you take it in the third sense an equal hearing an equal then I denie your Major for God the holy Ghost which heareth from God the Son is equal to him Advers The Minor say you is proved John 16. 13. Answ My answer is by advising that the words of the text may bee well observed the words run not thus Whatsoever the Spirit knoweth hee will speak but whatsoever hee heareth and this is likewise spoken of Christ John 8. 26. and 15. 16. Obj. This is not to bee understood as if the holy Ghost did hear any thing corporally and thus is hearing properly taken and for such a hearing I suppose you will not contend Sol. Nor secondly is it to bee taken of hearing viz. by revelation by which hearing hee should learn that which formerly hee knew not It 's indeed spoken that hee was that hee is and that hee shall bee if it had been onely said hee was one might have conceived that now hee is not If it had been said hee is onely it might have been thought that hee had not been alwaies If it had been onely said hee shall bee it might bee thought hee is not now Time past present and to come are asscribed to God yet not as to men to denote a beginning continuance and end of time for actions are said to have been which now are not and that they shall bee which now have no existence at all but when they are spoken of God there is no limitation of time at all God so hath been that hee is and shall bee hee shall bee yet so that hee is and hath been and this is to bee applied likewise to the hearing of the holy Ghost Hee hath alwaies heard and hee doth hear And in the future time it 's said in this place hee shall hear This hearing saith S. Austin Tractat. 99. in Joan. is everlasting Hee hath known hee doth know and hee will know His hearing is his knowing and his knowing is his beeing hee hath heard from him hee doth hear from him and hee will hear from him from whom hee proceed's so Austin And hee cal's the opening of this text John 16. arduam nimis arduam quaestionem This bee spoken to prevent that scruple in that it is said Hee shall hear Som of ours clear the words thus Whatsoever the holy Ghost shall hear that shall hee speak which import's thus much those things which the Father will have revealed to us those things and no other will hee reveal to us the truths which the Spirit shall reveal to us are truths received from God the Father the Spirit feign's nothing hee alter's nothing hee pervert's nothing The paraphrase of the text in the former Argument will dispell the foggie mists of this reason Advers The Major saith hee is proved thus Hee that is taught is not God Hee that heareth from another what hee shall speak is taught The Major is proved Esa 40. 13 14. Answ 1 To this I answer if you had not been infatuated you would have omitted that text in Esay for it directly overthroweth your assertion and expresly teacheth us that none have taught the Spirit of God But I answer Secondly hee that is taught properly that is learn's what hee formerly knew not is not God I readily assent for God's knowledg is infinite and cannot bee increased But how can you prove that the holy Ghost is taught by comparing say you John 8. 26 28 together Christ is taught by hearing This is but a very weak bul-rush it hath no strength at all in it This must needs bee your consequence in som places of Scripture and not onely so but even in common reason hee that heareth is taught therefore must it needs bee so taken John 16. 13. Is not this a wild inference That Scripture John 8. 26 28. speaketh not of the holy Ghost but expresly of Christ and then it must bee spoken of him either as God or Mediator man If in the former way then the text furthereth not but marreth your Argument if in the later then it is unfitly alledged for albeit a creäted substance by hearing another may properly bee taught yet far bee it from us to conceive that the Creätor the supreme God can learn what hee knew not Advers But saith hee let a man turn himself every way yet shall hee never bee able to make it out to a wise man that any can hear from another what hee will speak who is the prime Author of his speech Answ Well I see M. Bidle is a wise man in his own eies and all Christian men in the world besides himself and a handful of seduced ones are no better then fools but if hee had well perpended that text quoted by himself out of Esa 40. 13 14 15. hee would not have concluded the great God the three sacred Persons which are one Almightie God within the shallow compass of his brains I perceive hee is alwaies wrapped in the briars and cannot possibly extricate himself because hee apprehendeth not the meaning of that common distinction of God the holy Ghost as God for in this respect hee hath infinite knowledg of himself and of God the holy Ghost as hee is the holy Ghost for so doth hee receive knowledg and wisdom from God the Father and God the Son yet I pray let this bee remembred so as hee was never ignorant and life yet so as hee never wanted life and power yet so as hee was never weak because these persons communicating essence to the holy Ghost did communicate life power and knowledg So that the holy Ghost hath knowledg not by learning but by proceeding and all the creatures which hear and are taught they are taught by the holy Ghost And whereas hee illustrate's as hee think's his Assertion by a comparison taken from
in this sense Princes send their subjects Parents their children Masters their servants And thus bodies representative whether civill or ecclesiastical may send som of their members about publick affairs of Church or State because the whole is greater then the parts thereof And when an equal or superior act 's for an equal or inferior in points of wrong and justice charitie and mercie this is not don unless upon a compact and mutual consent by sending them but by a voluntarie condescension or by the prevalent persuasion of equals or inferiors But now when wee speak of divine sending in reference to the Persons of the blessed Trinitie wee must abandon all base and low conceptions and raise up our spirits by the light of other Scriptures to an apprehension of the excellencie of the nature thereof The mission of a divine Person may bee considered Divine Mission considered First negatively what it is not and then positively what it is First it denote's not a division or separation of the divine Persons for this would necessarily imply the multiplication of the 1. Negatively Deitie and destroy the unitie of the divine nature which is impossible Secondly it denote's not a moving from place to place a change of place for the third Person in regard of the essence is every-where and there is no place any where whither hee can com where hee was not alwaies present Thirdly nor doth it denote any inferioritie or inequalitie of the divine Person but in respect of the divine Person sending they are one in nature and co-equal and co-eternal touching their Persons But positively this mission argue's a distinction of the divine Persons 2. Positively The Father in Scripture phrase is no where said to bee sent but hee send 's the Son and the holy Ghost because hee is first in order The first Person of the Trinitie hee is of himself and from himself and the fountain of communicating the God-head to his Son and both the Father and the Son to the holy Ghost And as it denote's a distinction of Persons so is it properly an external personal operation for although mission quantum ad principale significatum is external yet ratione connotati it 's onely in time Halensis And so the whole is called temporal as when a necessarie thing is joyned with a contingent the whole is judged contingent so saith our Countriman plainly thus This mission is nothing else but a new manner of the manifestation of the presence of the holy Ghost by som effect And this is don either visibly by som visible Symbol and external representation of his presence as by descending from heaven on Christ in the likeness of a Dove or in fierie cloven tongues on the Apostles And this was extraordinarie or ordinarily God the Father or Son is said to send him into the hearts of his children by working saving graces in them when hee manifest's his presence by spiritual operations It 's not in the power of man thus to send him for all that hee can do is onely external disposing by administration of Sacraments obtaining by Prayer instructing and moving outwardly by preaching The holy Ghost is sent in the use of these Ordinances yet not by them but by reason of internal grace which God alone creätes in the soul These conclusions being laid down it will bee an easie task to untie the supposed knots of this Argument Advers Hee that is sent by another is not God the holy Ghost is sent The Major is proved because hee that is sent ministreth Hebr. 1. ult Answ I answer if the Major Proposition in sense bee general as it ought to bee thus whosoever is sent is less then hee is that sent him is false hee indeed that is sent by the command properly of another is inferior to the person that send 's him but the mission of the holy Ghost is as I said but a manifestation of his presence by som effect which was actually in the very same place invisibly and with the same persons to whom hee is sent it argue's the distinction of the persons not the multiplication of the natures or the diminution of the divine power state authoritie or honor Advers You would prove the Major because hee ministreth that is sent Answ I grant the Major to bee true if it bee properly taken if ministring bee taken for serving for the holy Ghost is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the servant of the first or second Person This to assert is I confess an odious error and though the phrase is strange and harsh and not to bee allowed no not to say that God is a Minister à ministrando gratiam not intending thereby to imply that hee is under God but above the faithful yet two of our eminent Divines do so speak And Ruffin in expos Symboli saith Deus justis ministrat ad perpetuitatem gloriae peccatoribus ad prolixitatem poenae confusionis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exulet I grant your Major The Minor I denie for whosoever is sent ministred not Bee it granted that whosoever ministreth may bee said to bee sent yet it hold's not reciprocally whosoever is sent ministreth that proof out of Hebr. 1. is no proof at all It is your ordinarie fault to apply what is directly spoken of the creatures to the great God The Angels indeed which are ministring spirits are sent abroad for the benefit of the heires of salvation but you cannot solidly from thence infer that the holy Ghost which is sent is in the rank of ministring spirits It is true of the creature but you can never from thence conclude it to bee true of the Creätor If there bee any pertinencie in that which you alledg touching our Saviors sitting at the right of God it make's against you for notwithstanding his sitting there hee is said to bee sent and whereas you say Gods sitting in heaven note 's his soveraigntie implying that the holy Ghosts being sent from heaven 1 Pet. 1. 11. should note inferioritie this would bee much for your purpose if you could prove which you shall never bee able to do that the holy Ghost when hee is sent to his servants to dwell in them to sanctifie and to govern them did leave heaven God the Father Son and holy Ghost sit in heaven and rule by a general providence all the creatures in the world and shall hee bee said not to rule in heaven when by his Spirit which is there also hee by his special and admirable providence rule 's in the hearts of his own children Assuredly there can bee no good reason so to determine Advers Hee that receive's a commandement you say doth minister Hee that is sent receive's a commandement John 12. 49. Answ First I say an equal may receive a commandement from an equal by consent of both parties as a Prince of another Prince a brother of a brother one citizen of another so Christ as the eternal Son of God received
expressions yet all agree in the main point against you that the holy Ghost was with all them to whom hee is given before hee was a gift to them as touching his natural and powerful presence and thus hee is also with the very devils reprobates the elect uncalled and all other creatures which are uncapable of this gift of holiness and of happiness Yet the holy Ghost when hee is given hee is with the Saints in a new way in such a manner as hee was not present before in this regard it is that the Saints are called the Temples of the holy Ghost and a Temple is Gods peculiar hee dwell's in the Saints and is graciously present with them they have him present by faith and other graces when hee is known and beloved of man And this is not onely understood of the gifts of God but of God himself whom wee know by faith and love by charitie Nor is it any marvel that God should bee present without any change on his part for the bodily Sun as wee know without any mutation in the Sun at all is present to him that will open his eies to look upon it This is then your palpable fallacie à dicto secundùm quid ad dictum simpliciter The holy Ghost was not graciously present with the elect before their calling Ergò hee is not God or was not essentially present with them before I abhor the consequence ARGUMENT 8. 8 Argum. of M. Bidle Hee that changeth place is not God The holy Spirit changeth place Ergò The Major is plain for if God should change place hee would cease to bee where hee was before and begin to bee where hee was not before which everteth his Omnipresence and consequently by the confession of the adversaries themselves his Deitie The Minor is ocularly apparant if following the * advice of the adversaries you will but go to Jordan for there Abi Ariane ad Jordanem Trinitatem videbis you shall have the holy Spirit in a bodily shape descending from heaven which is the terminus à quo alighting upon Christ which is the terminus ad quem Luke 3. 21 22. Neither let any man alledg that as much is spoken of God Exod. 3. and chap. 20. and Gen. 18. For if you compare Acts 7. 30 35 38 53. Gal. 3. 19. Heb. 2. 2 3. and chap. 13. 2. with the fore-said places you shall finde that it was not God himself that came down but onely an Angel sustaining the Person and Name of God which hath no place in the history touching the descent of the holy Spirit ANSWER Answ I except not against your Major nor against the explication and confirmation of it that God is every-where is religiously and unanimously acknowledged because the essence of God is most simple and infinite absolutely and so is the vertue of working infinite also and if it was not every-where it would be limited It 's a memorable expression used by Hermes Trismegistus a Heathen hee compare 's God to a perfect Sphere whose centre is every-where and circumference no where As the soul is in the bodie wholly in the whole bodie and wholly in every part of the bodie albeit it 's said to bee chiefly in the heart or brain because in and by those parts it perform's the most excellent operations so is our great God wholly in heaven wholly on the earth wholly every-where in a divine and spiritual manner not included in any place nor excluded out of it although hee is frequently said to bee in heaven because there most conspicuously hee manifest's his glorie and his goodness to the holy Angels and blessed Saints I denie your Minor for although the holy Ghost is said to descend from heaven yet was hee in heaven then and every-where else And there are divers circumstances in the text to convince what you from thence would denie that hee is God who descended and that the holy Ghost was not personally contained within the compass of a Dove real or in representation because hee did not assume into the unitie of his Person this Dove and if hee had don so yet would not hee have been definitively or circumscriptively therein nor can hee bee said to descend on Christ in regard of sanctification because Christ even from the instant of his incarnation was full of grace Nor was there any addition of holiness to Christ by the descent of a Dove upon him but hee represented himself in the shape of a Dove as in his sign and 't is not obscurely made out by the text that hee is God for what was the scope of the Evangelist why doth hee relate this storie was it not to manifest that Jesus Christ both by the voice of his Father and this descent of a Dove was publickly authorised to exercise his prophetical sacerdotal and regal offices to redeem the elect and to reconcile them to God The circumstance of the time may leade us to such a consideration hee is first inaugurated to this office and then hee begin's to put it in execution and so wee see that the Father by his voice and the holy Ghost by his visible descent upon him did call him to this great work None can send any Prophet but God alone much less is it in the power of any creature to send Jesus Christ to redeem the world Deut. 18. 15. See Luke 4. 18. Esa 61. 1. Moreover it is never spoken of any Angel or pure creature that the heaven was rent and opened as it is said hereof Mar. 1. 10. this was a symbol of the singular presence of God whereby wee may learn that this Spirit was God's Spirit yea God himself Add that it is somthing that this Spirit whereof you do speak descended on Jesus and remained on him John 1. 33. but where do wee reade that creäted spirits descended on and abode on him It is their office wee know to minister as servants unto him and to worship him Hebr. 1. 6. Lastly the same Spirit that descended on Jesus did also lead him into the wilderness to bee tempted of the Divel Matth. 4. 1. Is it in the power of any creature to lead Jesus Christ up and down especially into solitarie deserts and to this end to bee tempted by the Divel Well if this circumstance fail yet by other circumstances in the text it 's clear enough that S. Austin with good reason did say Go thou Arian to Jordane and there thou shalt see the Trinitie I add if there bee any sense of the Deitie in you consider I pray of your shall I call it extreme blindness or rather abominable impietie which you discover by this your Argument Why so the Prophet David saith that hee could not go any where from the presence of God's Spirit Psal 139. But if you say true suppose wee that you could have taken the wings of the morning and remove as the light of the Sun doth as it were transfuse it self from East to West
know when hee make's others know Now saith hee to Abraham I know that thou fearest mee Gen. 22. 12. Advers None say you can intercede for himself but this action require's a third person Many Scrip heaped up Answ I denie this assertion To intercede is a general word and of that latitude that somtimes a man intercede's for himself and somtimes for others as the occasion or text will hold out the meaning either to the later or to the former And thus the Spirit interpellat orat or as others translate the word postulat clamat when hee make's us intercede pray and crie to God and those three words as som say are but one thing called by different names 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 praiers when wee lay open to God our wants the same praiers are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because by our praiers wee testifie the desires of our hearts to God and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intercessions because wee do not pray diffidently and fearfully but in an humble familiaritie wee speak to God and do go boldly to the throne of grace Com. in locum The praiers which 1 Tim. 2. are intended Rom. 8. 26. are of that nature that whether they bee directed to God for ourselvs or for others as wee are bound to pray both for our selvs and others are intercessions interpellations or appellations but yet they are not formally as School-men speak the praiers of the holy Ghost but they are his as an efficient cause thereof they are the praiers which the holy Ghost enableth his servants to make both for themselvs and others Touching the many Scriptures which you have unconscionably heaped up together to prove that intercession is alwaies for another I briefly answer by freely yielding that in those places which you have recited The praiers are made or intreated to bee made for other men but will it therefore follow that in all other texts which mention praier the Scripture is to bee so expounded Nothing less And if by virtue of those words in the texts fore-named a Christian had no ground to pray for himself hee must not then follow that maxim and approved rule Charitie begin's at home hee must onely pray for others never for himself for in som texts you have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 15. 30. Colos 4. 12. and in som other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 2 Corinth 1. 11. Ephes 6. 18. which is such a dotage as never entred into the brains of an advised Christian Advers Albeit say you the Scripture speake's many things after the manner of men yet never what argueth inferioritie and dependencie on another Answ I grant this is a truth when rightly expounded it 's but a begging of the question or but a vain supposition to take for granted that the holy Ghost doth truly pray which is constantly denied Your Conclusion is proved by a false medium although it cannot bee denied but the Lord not out of any power of ours but out of a gracious condescension to us out of his free goodness doth somtimes in the Scripture speak as if wee base and feeble creatures were able to encounter with God yea and to overcom him as Jacob wrastled with God and hee could not prevail over him Gen. 32. Jacob as a Prince had power not onely with men but with God and let mee alone saith the Lord to Moses that I may consume transgressing Israël Exod. 32. The praiers of Moses did as it were binde the hands of the Almightie that hee could not smite his people and that is yet a higher expression Esa 45. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord is as it were at the command of the praiers of his servants and many the like gracious expressions might bee named so that neither head nor foot neither Argument nor Inference hath any soundness in it ARGUMENT 10. 10 Argum. of M. Bidle Hee in whom men have not beleeved and yet have been Disciples and Beleevers is not God Men have not beleeved in the holy Spirit and yet have been so Ergò The Major is plain for how can any bee Disciples Beleevers according to the phrase of Scripture and yet not beleeve in him that is God The Minor is proved thus Men have not so much as heard whether there were an holy Spirit and yet have been Disciples and Beleevers Ergò They have not beleeved in the holy Spirit and yet have been Disciples and Beleevers The Antecedent is apparant from Acts 19. 2. The Consequence is grounded on that of the Apostle Rom. 10. 14. How shall they beleeve on him of whom they have not heard Now if any man to decline the dint of this Argument shall say that by holy Spirit in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is meant not the Person but the Gifts of the holy Spirit Hee besides that hee perverteth the plain and genuine meaning of the words and speaketh without example doth also evacuate the emphasis of the Particles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which imply that these Disciples were so far from having received the Gifts of the holy Spirit whereof wee may grant that the question made mention that they had not so much as heard whether there were an holy Spirit or not Again that the holy Spirit is not God doth further appear by this very instance since the Apostle when there was so ample an occasion offered to declare it if it been so doth quite decline it For it is incredible that hee who was so intent and vigilant in propagating the Truth as that casually seeing an Altar at Athens inscribed to the unknown God hee presently took a hint from thence to preach unto the Heathens the true God yet here being told by Disciples that they had not so much as heard whether there were an holy Spirit or not should not make use of the opportunity to discover unto them and in them to us the Deitie of the holy Spirit but suffer them to remain in ignorance touching a point of such consequence that without the knowledg thereof if wee beleeve many now adaies men cannot bee saved Certainly the Apostle had greater care both of the truth of God and the salvation of men then to do so ANSWER Answ This Argument as the rest is so captiously and ambiguously propounded that I judg it expedient before I do punctually answer it to put down as I take it three undeniable Conclusions the one of them is touching the predicate or later part the other two touching the subject or antecedent of the Proposition Conclus 1 The first Conclusion wee are to consider of God absolutely as hee is plainly revealed in the Word and accordingly acknowledged by all those which are in outward covenant with him that hee is true God the ever-living God the onely wise and powerful God c. Thus in the Chaldean language in Jer. 10. 10 11. both for a caution and instruction to the Jews when they should bee captives there 't is said The gods that
great without quantitie God is good and just without qualitie God is merciful without passion God is every where present without place the first and the last without time nor is hee compounded of Nature and Person because the Essence of God is most simple most infinite most immense and the same thing is both the Nature and the Person nor is this overthrown because there are three Persons for they are not three by composition of parts for the Persons are not many things they are but one thing though distinguished by relative properties for the divine relation in God is not properly an accident but a substantial attribute and make's no real composition in God but a distinction of our reason which crosseth not the absolute simplicitie of God no more then the same distinction of reason opposeth the absolute unitie of God because this denomination is extrinsecal arising from our manner of conceiving of it Suarez Thus is hee Deus trinus by co-existencie of Persons but the Catholick Faith teacheth us that in creatures the nature may bee really divided from the person thus the Son of God did assume the nature but not the person of man Advers The holy Spirit say you hath an understanding distinct from that of God because hee heareth from God and is taught of God Answ I denie your Minor if you mean distinct really as you ought to do if you intend thereby to prove your Assertion And your first reason because hee heareth from God and is taught of God is but an idle repetition of the fourth Argument For answer hereto that I may not bee charged with needless tautologies I refer you thither for your satisfaction Advers This say you is deducible from the words of the Apostle none can search his own understanding 1 Corinth 2. 10. Answ 1 If this bee true as you say why are wee then commanded to trie and to prove our own hearts to speak to our hearts to examine our hearts to consider our waies yea to search ourselvs How should wee comfortably know that wee are enriched with saving graces but by a reflexed act of the understanding whereby wee know that wee have them And are not our hearts deceitfull and wicked above all things Is there not great need then that wee should search them Or do you mean hereby that the Spirit hath a distinct understanding from the Father and the Son of God because hee searcheth the deep things of God what doth this else import but an ignorance till that is found which is searched out Not so nor will this help you for God who exactly and perfectly know's all things yet do you cite a text Rom. 8. 27. which sheweth that hee searcheth the heart of the Spirit yea further it is his peculiar honor to search the hearts and reins of men which import's thus much and no more that there is nothing so secret in man but the Lord both can and doth see the same most perfectly For the clearing of the main doubt know assuredly that there is the same understanding of God the Father God the Son and God the holy Ghost nor can wee truly say that the understanding of the Father is superior or equal to the understanding of the holy Ghost for these do alwaies presuppose a comparison betwixt divers which doth not agree to the unitie of the God-head Advertite Fratres for as wee cannot say the power of the Persons is equal nor the goodness of the Persons is equal but the same power the same goodness no more can wee say the understanding of the Father is equal to the understanding of the holy Ghost But thus may wee say the Persons of the Father of the Son and of the holy Ghost are equal in power and equal in goodness so are they likewise equal in understanding and albeit the divine understanding is but one and the same beeing yet is it considered of us in a common way as referred to the essence but singularly in regard of the Persons And hence is it also that such phrases are spoken of the Son of God and they are also truly verified of the holy Ghost that hee is a Principle of a Principle very God of very God light of light a fountain of a fountain when taken not essentially but personally so that the Son is a Principle true God a light and a fountain and so is the holy Ghost yet the Father is considered first in order and the Son from the Father and the holy Ghost from them both I add that this text 1 Corinth 2. 10. is so far from evincing that the holy Ghost is a creature that it strongly prove's his Deitie First because that hee must needs bee God that know's whatsoever the Father know's for how should a smite creature by search attain to the unsearchable depths of God's knowledg As of many other things so were the Angels without sin ignorant of God's counsels Revel 5. 13. and of the time when the day of Judgment shall bee Secondly the Apostle compare 's the Spirit of God to mans spirit and the Spirit of God is in God the Father and God the Son There is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 circumincessio as the Latines speak whereby is signified the unitie of the God-head in the distinct Persons that the Persons are so distinguished betwixt themselvs that they are altogether and most intimately one and the same thing and further hereby is noted a peculiar manner of the original of one Person from another distinguished from that procession of creatures as the Son from the Father which is sejunct from the Father and therefore it is called processio ad extra but here it is otherwise the Son from the Father and the holy Ghost from them both by a procession ad intra because hee doth intimè continue and is not another thing from the Person from whom hee proceed's Singula sunt in singulis omnia in singulis singula in omnibus omnia in omnibus unum omnia Hence may wee conclude that as the spirit of a man and a man are not two men so the Spirit of God and God viz the Father are not two separated substances but one God ARGUMENT 12. 12 Argum. of M. Bidle Hee that hath a will distinct in number from that of God is not God The holy Spirit hath a will distinct in number from that of God Ergò The Major is irrefragable The Minor is asserted thus Hee that willeth conformably to the will of God hath a will distinct in number from that of God The holy Spirit so willeth Ergò The Major is plain for conformitie must bee between two at least else it will not bee conformitie but identitie The Minor is confirmed by Rom. 8. 26 27. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for wee know not what to pray for as wee ought but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groans unutterable but hee that searcheth the heart knoweth what is