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
fully in the following Discourse We are therefore in the first place to consider how far 't is possible to believe a Trinity and next to examine what the Scripture requires us to believe in this matter Now there are two Conditions requisite to make it possible for us to believe a thing 1. That we know the Terms of what we are to assent to 2. That it imply no contradiction to our former Knowledge such Knowledge I mean which is accompanied with Certainty and Evidence First then we can believe a thing no further than we understand the Terms in which it is proposed to us For Faith concerns only the truth and falshood of Propositions and the Terms of which a Proposition consists must be first understood before we can pronounce any thing concerning the Truth or Falshood of it which is nothing else but the agreement or disagreement of its Terms or the Idea's expressed by them If I have no Knowledge at all of the meaning of the terms used in a Proposition I cannot exercise any Act of my Understanding about it I cannot say I believe or disbelieve any thing my Soul is perfectly in the same state it was before without receiving any new Determination If I have but a general confused Notion of the Terms I can give only a general confused Assent to the Proposition So my Faith will always bear the same Proportion to my Knowledge of the Subject-matter to be believed To make this plainer by an Instance suppose I am required to believe that A. is equal to B. If I don't know either what A. or B. stands for or have no Notion of Equality I believe nothing more than I did before this was proposed to me I am not capable of any new determinate Act of Faith All that I can believe in this case can amount to no more than this That Something has some respect to something else that the Matter I am required to believe is affirmed by a Person of great Knowledge and Integrity who ought to be credited in what he says and therefore the Proposition here laid down is probably true in that sense the Author means And what am I the wiser for all this What addition is there made to my Faith or Knowledge by such a Proposition But farther suppose I know that A. and B. stand for two Lines and that by Equal Lines is meant Lines of the same length such Knowledge can produce only a general confused belief that there is some certain Line imaginable just of the same length with some other Line But if by A. and B. are meant two right Lines which are the sides of a given Triangle and I take a Mathematician's Word for it without demonstration that they are equal or of the same length this is a particular distinct Act of Faith by which I am satisfied of the Truth of something which I did not believe or know before From whence it follows that Terms and simple Idea's must be clearly and distinctly understood first before we can believe any thing particular of the respects and relations they bear to one another which is the only proper Object of Faith Another Condition necessary to render a thing capable of being believed is that it implies no Contradiction to our former Knowledge I cannot conceive how 't is possible to give our assent to any thing that contradicts the plain Dictates of our Reason and those evident Principles from whence we derive all our other Knowledge As for Example I do not see how any Authority of Revelation can overthrow the Truth of this Proposition That the Whole is bigger than any of its Parts For First I cannot more clearly and distinctly perceive any external Impressions made upon my Soul nor be more certain that such Impressions proceed from God than I can perceive and be assured that the Idea's I have of Whole and part bear this relation to one another Secondly The nature and constitution of things makes it impossible that this Proposition should be false for such and such Things or Notions being supposed such and such Habitudes and Respects must necessarily result from them So long therefore as I have the same Idea's of whole and part and the same Faculties of Perception I shall always perceive the same relation betwixt them And if my Idea's of whole and part were changed or a new Texture and Frame of Soul given me I should indeed perceive different relations betwixt these new Idea's but this would by no means destroy the Truth of my former Conceptions 't would still be certain according to the Idea's I had before of whole and part that the whole was bigger than any of its parts Which Idea's will always unalterably have the same relation to one another But Thirdly Was it possible this Proposition could be false considering only the nature of the things themselves the Nature of God furnishes us with other Arguments of the Truth and Certainty of it And 1st It is not consistent with the Justice Wisdom or Goodness of God to require us to believe that which according to the Frame and Make he has given us 't is impossible for us to believe For however some Men have advanced this absurd Paradox that God can make Contradictions true I am very certain that upon an impartial Trial of their Faculties they would find 't were perfectly out of their power to believe explicitly and in the common Sense of the Terms that a Part can be bigger than the Whole it is a Part of But 2dly Admitting it possible for us to be deceived in such Propositions which have a constant uniform and universal appearance of Truth and Evidence this would destroy all manner of Certainty and Knowledge and leave us wholly in Darkness Ignorance and Despair or which is more Injurious to the Divine Goodness to imagine under an absolute necessity of being deceived For 't is not only impossible for me to believe that such a Proposition as this That the VVhole is bigger than any of its Parts is false but I cannot deny my positive express assent to it as true The Light and Evidence in this Case is so clear and strong that I am not at Liberty so much as to suspend my Judgment 3dly 'T is Blasphemy to think that God can contradict himself and therefore right Reason being the Voice of God as well as Revelation they can never be directly contrary to one another Now to apply all this to the present Case suppose I am required to believe That One and the same God is Three different Persons I only suppose it here because I have not yet proved how far and in what sense we are obliged to believe a Trinity If this I say be the Proposition I am required to give my assent to 't is plain by what has been proved before that I can believe it no farther than the Terms of which it is made up are known and understood and the Idea's signified by them consistent In
Some Considerations Concerning the TRINITY AND The WAYS of Managing that CONTROVERSIE LONDON Printed and Sold by E. Whitlock near Stationers-Hall MDCXCVI THE PREFACE TO THE READER THIS Discourse was Written some time ago for the Private Satisfaction of the Author who thought that a proper Season for an Impartial Enquiry into the Doctrine of the Trinity when several Persons of different Opinions in that Point had just before appeared in the Controversie about it and their Printed Papers being canvas'd over again in Conversation had produced many New Remarks upon the same Subject Which Advantages together with what he had formerly read having as he judged given him a pretty full comprehension of the Matters in Dispute he took the following Method of Re-examining that part of his Faith and Justifying what he believed to his own Reason and Conscience Some Persons to whom he communicated what he had writ advised him to Print Which he had done before now upon the Judgment of a Great and Learned Man of the Church lately dead who was pleased to approve the Papers without knowing to whom they belonged But Occasion being given him to fore-see some little Objections which might probably at that particular time have in some measure obstructed his Good Intentions in Printing them he thought fit to defer the Publication of them till a more convenient Opportunity such as he judges this to be when the Controversie of the Trinity is managed in such a manner as to offend a great many and satisfie very few and the Church is like to suffer very much by the too Adventurous Attempts made by some to Vindicate her Doctrines Those who pretend to Explain the Distinction in the Godhead by Modes Offices Relations and the like are censured as saying too little and coming much below the Characters of Distinction to be found in Scripture though at the same time they use these Terms they acquaint us that they use them in a different Sense from any they are taken in when applied to Creatures and in a sense importing greater Difference but such as is not conceivable by Human Understanding And some of those who call the Three Divine Persons Three Infinite Minds Spirits or Substances would not be thought to mean by these Expressions That the Three Persons in the Godhead are as much distinguished from one another as Three Men or Three Angels are but that the Distinction betwixt them is so great that no other Terms can reach it though these do somewhat exceed what they would signifie by them Which Distinction less than these Expressions in the common use of them do import and higher than any other can come up to is acknowledg'd likewise to be inconceivable Which being observed by the Author of this Discourse he thought it more Advisable to use no New Terms with a Design of Explaining what by the Confession of Persons of different sides in the Dispute is not to be rendred more conceivable And to Justifie his Opinion in this Matter he has endeavoured to prove that no New Terms can be used to any such purpose And this he thinks he has made very Evident by the Account he has given of what we can distinctly conceive and what we can confusedly believe of the Doctrine of the Trinity which ought carefully to be distinguish'd in all Disquisitions upon Subjects of this Nature As for those who will allow only a pure Nominal Distinction in the Godhead or that apply the Terms Son and Holy Ghost to meer Created Beings he has only the Language and Design of Scripture to oppose to them which seem to him utterly irreconcileable to such Notions and he hopes those general Reflections he has drawn from thence will make this appear so to others But the Opinion of those who make the Persons in the Godhead as distinct as Three Men or Three Angels he is sure both from Revelation and Reason is false And that advancing any such Explications of the Trinity as will fairly bear this Construction is of such dangerous Consequence that he hopes he has done some Service to Religion by proving That Three Persons in the Godhead as distinct as Three Men or Three Angels is not only an Incomprehensible Notion but an Impossible Thing which implies a manifest Contradiction to the plainest and surest Principles of Knowledge Having given this short Account of the Author and his Performance in this Discourse I have only this further to acquaint his Readers with That he desires they would believe him to be a sincere Man that has a serious Regard for Religion and no other aims behind what he professes For whatever his Arguments are he is sure his Design is good And that his Reasoning may appear so too he would be glad that They who take up these Papers would give them the Reading over before they pass any Judgment upon what is advanced in them For the Discourse being written in the Demonstrative way where the Main Conclusions are establish'd by a long Train of Preparatory Proofs no true Judgment can be made but upon the whole together May it please God to make these Endeavours of the Author successful to Satisfie and Unite the Minds of Men in their Belief of the Doctrine of the Trinity or may He direct some abler Persons to find out more Effectual Methods of Establishing the Primitive Faith and settling the Present Peace of the Church SOME CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING THE TRINITY c. THere 's no part of the Christian Faith has produced so many Disputes and Controversies such a numerous Variety of Opinions and Sects as the Doctrine of the Blessed Trinity If we consult the large Catalogues of Primitive Heresies we shall find the far greatest Number of them nothing else but so many several Modes and Ways of Explaining the Common Undivided Nature and Essence of the Trinity and the different Offices and Operations of each Person How far the uncertainty of our Faith in these Points the many Absurd and Blasphemous Expositions that have been made of them and the warm and indiscreet Management of contrary Parties have contributed to the Prejudice of Religion and the Scandal of its Professors has been a common Observation and Complaint in all Christian Ages And several Expedients have been proposed for the Redressing of this Mischief but all Attempts of this kind have hitherto miscarried The principal Reason of which I humbly conceive to be this That those who have laboured in this good Design have for the most part proceeded upon wrong Measures Now the Methods that have been generally and chiefly insisted upon are Three which are all improper or insufficient and have therefore proved ineffectual as will plainly appear upon a particular Examination of each 1. First then There are some who are for Reverencing the Mystery of the Trinity without ever looking into it at all who think it not to be the Subject either of Dispute or Enquiry imagining every thing of this high and transcendent Nature is proposed to us
Distinction which we have but a confused perception of and cannot comprehend or explain by any particular Idea's which unknown inexplicable Distinction is the Foundation of all these Differences expresly conceived by us And since the Church has thought fit for the Sake of Unity and Peace and for the Suppressing all Private Disputes and Interpretations to appoint set Forms to express this our Faith in I think the Athanasian Creed as rational an Explication of the Trinity as can well be made The Worst that the Enemies of this Doctrine can say of it is That it is an unnecessary Multiplication of Terms and too nice an Endeavour to Explain what cannot be Explained but not that 't is False or Absurd nothing being there asserted in any sense inconsistent with the Vnity of God or the Principles of Right Reason All such Meanings and Significations of any Terms or Expressions in that Creed being very improper as they are there applied and utterly disclaimed by the Church that enjoins the Use of it Nor can it be esteemed an unreasonable Imposition That we should be obliged to profess our Faith of something which cannot be conceived but confusedly and indistinctly nor expressed but in general and obscure Terms For where 's the Hardship of being required to believe as far as we can believe God is Incomprehensible in his Nature and Perfections but are we not obliged to believe there is a God who is Incomprehensible Are we not obliged to believe there are Joys in Heaven which it has not enter'd into the Heart of Man to conceive And to repeat a former Instance may not a Blind Man be obliged to believe what a Friend of unsuspected Integrity tells him of the general nature of Colour tho' he is not able to form a particular Idea of it And if these Things cannot be denied What difference can be assigned why we should not be under as great an Obligation of believing the Trinity tho' we are not able to conceive it distinctly A Threefold Distinction in the Godhead consistent with the Unity of God is as plainly revealed in Scripture as any other Article of Faith Nor are those general Abstracted Terms we find in our Creeds to be condemn'd as meer useless and perplexing Niceties for tho' they are not sufficient to make us understand the Trinity fully and distinctly yet they are proper Limitations to exclude all the False and Unworthy Apprehensions of this Doctrine which Pretenders to a more particular Explication might introduce III. And now what dangerous Consequences can possibly attend such a Faith as this 'T is true indeed the Adversaries of the Trinity have drawn up a heavy Charge against this Doctrine and taken a great deal of Liberty in their Discourses about it But the principal Objections that have been made by any of them are but Three to which all the rest may be reduced And these I shall endeavour to shew by the Account before given are very Frivolous and Unjust 1. The first Pernicious Consequence the Doctrine of the Trinity stands charged with is the Introduction of a Plurality of Gods But 't is very plain from what we have said in the former part of this Discourse that 't is utterly impossible to believe a Trinity in any such sense as implies a Plurality of Gods For according to the Notions I have there shewed we have of the Nature and Attributes of God 't is undeniably certain to every Man's Experience that we cannot conceive more than One God All our Endeavours to comprehend more are only repetitions of the same Idea Let Those therefore take care to Answer this Accusation who under pretence of giving a more Rational Account of what we are to believe in this Point set up created subordinate Gods to be Partners with their Maker in the Glory and Worship due to him Besides we do explicitly declare that there is but One God at the same time we make Profession of our Faith in a Trinity or Three Persons 2. In the next place therefore we are accused of believing Contradictions and consequently of destroying all the certainty of Natural Knowledge Which Fence being down there 's no Error so gross or absurd but may be obtruded upon us and Transubstantiation has as good a Pretence to be an Article of our Faith as the Trinity But I need not make any particular Answer to this Objection having proved at large already that we neither do nor can believe a Trinity in any sense that contradicts the plain and evident Principles of Natural Reason We do not believe there can be more Gods than One that One can be Three in the same respect 't is One or that One God can be Three Persons in the same sense three Men are three Persons or any other Proposition that 's inconsistent with those Natural Notions which are the Foundation of all our other Knowledge But the Patrons of Transubstantiation cannot make this Plea who in this one Particular deny those very Principles which upon all other occasions they rely upon with the greatest Assurance Did they only affirm that Christ was present in that Sacrament in some way or manner they could not comprehend but in no way repugnant to the plain and necessary Dictates of well-informed Sense and right Reason there might be then some Resemblance found betwixt this Doctrine and that of the Trinity but at present the Comparison is palpably and notoriously unjust 3. But Thirdly 't is further Objected That though the Doctrine of the Trinity as we explain it could not be proved to contain down-right Contradictions yet at least it must be counted and esteemed as a Mystery and the Imposition of Mysteries for Articles of Faith is a thing of very ill Consequence In Answer to which Charge it is to be observed that as in the Doctrine of the Trinity so in most other Objects of Faith and Knowledge there 's something that we plainly and certainly understand and something that we cannot possibly comprehend Thus a Man by inward Reflection is Infallibly conscious of his own Thoughts and he judges whatever he perceives within himself to proceed from one Common Principle which he calls his Soul and which from the Nature of its Operations he is fully perswaded is something of a different kind from his Body tho' it always Acts in consent with it But what this Soul is or in what manner united to his Body he is not able to conceive and therefore the Doctrine of the Human Soul taken all together may as justly be stiled a Mystery as the Trinity We ought not then to be offended at the word Mystery since if we strictly examine our thoughts we shall find that almost every thing we pretend to know comes under that name even those things we have the greatest Assurance of our very Souls and Beings This being observed we may consider the Trinity either with respect to what may be understood of it or what cannot So far as we are capable of
conceiving a Trinity 't is no Mystery and consequently no Oppression of our Faith And so far as it cannot be comprehended it does not bind us to any Explicit Act of Faith As is plain from what has been said before concerning the Nature of Faith and the Persons obliged to believe this Article For all things necessary to Salvation are to be believed by all sorts of Men and nothing can be believed any farther than the terms in which it is proposed are understood But a Mystery cannot be brought down to the lowest Capacities and be delivered in Terms that are plainly and distinctly understood for then it would be no longer a Mystery So far therefore as we are obliged to believe is no Mystery For whatever Terms I am bid to believe a thing in I cannot comprehend I can mean no more but that I believe it to be in some manner I cannot comprehend And I am sure there 's no difficulty or danger in believing that there are some things which we are not able to find out or comprehend These are the Reflections which offered themselves upon a careful and impartial Consideration of this Subject But here I fore-see it may be asked What do we understand more of the Trinity now than we did before What new Hypothesis is here advanced to solve all the Difficulties of that Doctrine by In Answer to which Objection I have this further to add for the Justification of the foregoing Discourse First That the Principal Design of my Enquiries was to know what God required us all to believe in order to our Salvation not how far the Soul of Man was capable of discovering the deep things of God For I am fully perswaded that there may be things necessary to be believed and yet we not obliged to believe them in that distinct particular sense in which some Learned Men have explained them Though their Hypothesis should be very Rational and Consistent and perhaps really true And therefore could there be any new way found out of making the Trinity conceivable by Human. Understanding I do not think we should be under any Obligation of believing that particular Exposition of it For besides the difficulty of such abstracted Notions even in their plainest dress with respect to mean Capacities which are all equally concerned in necessary Articles of Faith it cannot be imagined that we should be obliged to believe more than the Christians who lived before us were that more should be necessary to our Salvation than was to theirs And 't is certain their Faith was sufficient and effectual for obtaining Eternal Life who could not possibly believe what we suppose to be but lately discovered But 2dly Considering that we were permitted with Humility and Reverence to Exercise our Souls in the search of Divine Knowledge And moreover that we ought as Christians as well as Men to give a Reason of the Faith we profess and defend it against all false and unjust Imputations I have also made it my business to enquire how far we were capable of forming distinct Conceptions of a Trinity And upon Enquiry found that after a Faithful Tryal of our Faculties and a strict Examination of all the simple Notions which make up the Proposition to believed we cannot arrive at greater Knowledge in this Point than our fore-fathers have done And that so much of the Doctrine of the Trinity as was a Mystery to them is like to be so to the end of the World Which if I have as fully and sufficiently proved to others as I am convinced of it my self I shall not think my Time or Labour lost upon this Subject For next to understanding a thing throughly is to know we cannot understand it next to resolving a Problem in Mathematicks is to demonstrate it cannot be done Our Souls are as much at rest our Desires as quiet and all our Designs and Pursuits as much at an end when we despair of Victory as when we actually Conquer And therefore if these be the true and proper Limits of our Faith and Knowledge which I have assigned If I have given a Just Account of what we are required to believe concerning the Trinity How much 't is possible for us to believe of it and how far we are capable of having distinct Conceptions about it 't is in vain to search for new Notions and Hypotheses which may probably puzzle or deceive our Understandings but can never lead us farther into the Knowledge of the Trinity But I will not pretend to measure the Abilities of other Men by my own I shall only say this more which I am sure I can truly affirm that I have taken all the care imaginable to deliver my Judgment impartially and sincerely and have not dared to impose any thing upon others which I do not believe my self or is any ways inconsistent with the Principles of right Reason POST-SCRIPT These Papers were in the Press and every Word in the Book and Preface as they stand now was Written before His Majesty's Injunctions came forth The Author is glad to find that he has not transgress'd 'em the Authority and Reasonableness of which he pays such a Submission to that if he had not prescribed to himself the same Rules in Writing that be now sees enjoyned by his Superiours he wou'd have shewed his Obedience to 'em by Suppressing what he had written FINIS Acts 14. ver 15.
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
not to be look'd upon as a nice abstracted Speculation designed for the Exercise of our Understandings but as a plainer Revelation of God's Love and Good Will towards Men and a greater Motive and Incitement to Piety than any we had before this Doctrine was delivered Had man stood confirmed in his Original Righteousness and there had been no need of Redemption 't is highly probable God had never been considered by Man in his state of Probation under any such Distinction as is now revealed to us And therefore I should think those different Titles and Relations by which God has been pleased to express that Eternal Distinction in the Godhead to us should be chiefly considered by us with reference to the great Work of Man's Salvation Thus far then the Scriptures require us to believe That the One only Supream God upon his fore-knowledge of Man's Fall did from all Eternity Purpose and Decree to Redeem Mankind into a capacity of Salvation by the Death and constant Mediation of a Man chosen and enabled for this Work by the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in him And in consideration of his Passion and Intercession to impart such Gifts Graces and Spiritual Assistances as would be sufficient to render this Redemption effectual to the Saving of much People And moreover we are to believe that God has accordingly executed this his Gracious Design towards us By sending into the World Christ Jesus the Man who before he had ordained should in the Fulness of Time be born and suffer for our Sins in and by whom as has already been shewn God acted in a wonderful manner was worshipped and adored and acknowledged in all his Attributes and with whom he abideth in the Fulness of Power and Glory for ever And since his Death and Reception into Heaven by a plentiful Effusion of Spiritual Graces and Influences by which means a great many have embraced the Gospel of Christ and become Heirs of Salvation and more from henceforth to the end of all things shall daily be added to the Church of God be supported in the Faith and be made Partakers of the purchased Inheritance reserved in Heaven for those that are Sanctified by the Spirit of God Now with respect to this great Design of Saving Mankind and the Order and Method of the Divine Wisdom in the Execution of it To give us as full and distinct Apprehensions as our Souls are able to conceive of the Misery of our sinful Condition the difficulty of Deliverance and the unspeakable Mercy of God in restoring us to the Happiness we had justly forfeited and to raise our Souls to the highest pitch of Veneration Love and Gratitude we are capable of expressing for such an inestimable Blessing God has been pleased to reveal himself to us under several Personal Characters and Relations Such as Father Son and Holy Ghost Saviour Mediator and Comforter By which Names and all other Expressions consequent thereupon we are directed to consider some such kind of Distinction and Subordination of Offices and Relations in God as the Terms made use of do commonly import Thus when God is pleased to represent his Love to Mankind in the highest Image of Nature that of a Father sacrificing an only well-beloved Son the exact Transcript and Resemblance of himself perfectly Innocent and Obedient to his Will in all Things we are to believe that by the Sufferings and Death of Christ God has given greater Proofs of his Love towards us than any Man is capable of doing to another and that such an Action of an Earthly Parent suggests the nearest and likest Conception we can possibly frame of what our Heavenly Father has done for us tho' at the same time we must acknowledge it comes infinitely short of expressing the Riches and Fulness of his Mercy and Loving-kindness And the same Use and Spiritual Improvement is to be made of all other Revelations of this nature And thus we have seen how far we are capable of conceiving a Trinity and what the Scriptures expresly oblige us to believe concerning this Point All that is beyond lies far out of our Reach and Comprehension and no particular Explications can add any thing to our Faith for the Terms made use of for that End being in use before this Doctrine was taught must either signifie the same they did before or not If the same where 's the Mystery If not what do they signifie Something that we cannot explain but in Words used already and then the Question will return again The same Difficulty would attend new Terms invented on purpose for either they would have no meaning at all affixed to them or else they would be understood in the sense of some other in use before And therefore had the very same Terms and Forms of Expression been found in the Scriptures as are now in our Creeds the Revelation of the Trinity had been no plainer nor we obliged to believe any farther than the present Language does import For upon a fair and distinct Examination both of Scripture and Reason it plainly appears that what 's already revealed amounts to as much as we are capable of conceiving and does besides imply something more which we can not comprehend and 't is not in the Power of Language to make us understand any thing better For 't is utterly impossible to frame any Notions above our own Level And should God be pleased to stamp some new Idea's upon the Minds of Men they could not be conveyed to others by the help of Words or any other Signs but only by the same Divine Impressions so that whatever Idea's the Apostles and Inspired Writers might have of a Trinity by immediate Infusion the Terms they have made use of can give us but this imperfect Discovery of them that they were such as we are not able to comprehend without the like Assistance This then is the utmost we are required to believe or are capable of believing concerning the Doctrine of the Trinity viz. That these Three different Terms Father Son and Holy Ghost are all applied in Scripture to the One only supreme God That all the Actions Offices and Relations which are in Scripture ascribed to any of these Names excepting those proper to the Humane Nature of Christ are there plainly attributed and do truly belong to one and the same Divine Nature That there are such frequent and evident Assertions of the Vnity of God in Scripture and yet such plain Expressions of distinction signified by these Terms Father Son and Holy Ghost as imply a consistency of unity and distinction in the Godhead That this Distinction whatever it be is not the same with that we conceive betwixt the Attributes of God which are partial Conceptions of his Essence nor a meer difference of Name Office or Relation such as is signified by the like Terms when applied to Men tho' these are all the Differences we can expresly conceive as applicable to the Divine Nature but some other