man yet wee read Mat. 2. 11. That the Star doth manifest him and the wisemen doe worship him as he was God And though wee read Mat. 3. 16. that he was Baptized in Iordan as hee was man yet the same verse tells us that the holy Ghost descends on him from heaven as he was God And though we read Mat. 4. 1. that he was tempted of the Devill as he was man yet we also read verse 10. that he overcomes and expells the Devill as he was God And though it be said Ioh. 4. 6. Mat. 21. 18. Ioh. 19. 28. that hee was weary hungrie and thirstie as he was man yet is it also said Mat. 11. 28. Ioh. 6. 35. Ioh. 7. 37. that he refresheth the weary is the bread of life for the hungry and giveth drinke to the thirstie as he is God and though wee read Luk. 8. 23. 24. That he sleepes in the Ship and his disciples awake him as he is man yet wee read in the same place that hee rebuketh the winde and the raging of the waters as he is God And though we reade Mat. 26. 37. that he was sorrowfull and heavie and wept Ioh. 11. 35. as he was man yet doe we also read Ioh. 14. 1. 18. that he comforteth his sorrowfull and heavie Disciples as he was God and though it be said Mat. 27. that he cryed out my God my God why hast thou forsaken me as he was man yet it is also said Luke 23. 43. that hee comforteth the good Thief immediately after saying This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise as he was God and though we read Mat. 27. 50. 60. that he dyed and was laid in the Grave as he was man yet doe we also read Ioh. 10. 18. Luk. 24. 6. that he had power to raise yea and did raise himselfe to life again as he was God though we reade Luk. 24. 15. 31. that he talkes and walkes and eates with hs Disciples after his Resurrection as he was man yet wee also read Act. 1. 9. that hee ascended up into Heaven as he was God And this I hope is sufficient to convince you of the God-head of the second person in Trinity called the Son And that the third person in Trinity called the holy Ghost is also God is likewise evident and cleare from Scripture and that first of all from the testimony of Moses Gen. 1. 2. where he sheweth that even before the Creation the spirit of God was busied in the preserving of the confused lump of things which doth sufficiently demonstrate that he is God And how fully doth the Prophet Isaiah confirme it Chap. 48. verse 16. saying And now the Lord God and his Spirit hath sent me And when it said in the 6. Chap. and third verse of the same prophesie that the Angell did acknowledge one God whom they worship to bee holy and doe three times one answering another stile him so surely they doe thereby shew the mistery of the Trinity And it is evident by their writings that ancient Jewes before Christ did note this mistery of the Trinity in their exposition of the word Iehovah adding moreover that this mistery was to be kept secret untill the comming of the Messiah who should more clearly reveale it And indeed not onely the Deitie of the Son but also of the holy Ghost is far more clearely manifested in the new Testament then in the Old for the same person whom the Prophet Isaiah Chap. 6. 3. 5. calleth Iehovah The Apostle Paul repeating the very same words Act. 28. 25. saith it was the holy Ghost that spake them And whereas all the Prophets in the Old Testament doe ordinarily say Thus saith the Lord the Apostles in the new Testament doe ordinarily say Thus saith the holy Ghost Act. 21. 11. and the holy Ghost said Act. 13. 12. And the holy Ghost testifieth Act. 20. 21. and so in like manner the author to the Hebrews repeating that saying Psal 95. 7. To day if ye will heare his voice brings them in thus Wherefore as the holy Ghost saith Heb. 3. 7. And whereas the Lord tells Moses Exod. 4. 11. That it is he alone which giveth to man a mouth and wisedome to speake the Apostle Paul tells us 1 Cor. 12. 10. that it is the Spirit which giveth it to man And so in the new Testament wee finde that as unto the second person so unto the third are ascribed the very same name artributes and workes which properly belong unto God as for instance if you looke into 1 Cor. 3. 16 17. you shall finde that the Apostle doth give unto the Spirit of God the very name of God telling the beleeving Corinthians that they are the Temple of God because the holy Ghost dwelleth in them and if you looke into 2 Cor. 6. 16 17 18. you shall finde that the Apostle calls the holy Ghost the Lord almighty and if you looke into Act. 5. 3. you shall finde that the Apostle Peter telleth Annanias that he had lyed unto the holy Ghost and that he might give him to understand that the holy Ghost is God he telleth him verse 5. that hee had lyed unto God and if you look into Act. 10. you shall finde that in one place it is said that Cornelius was warned of God to send for Peter and in another place you shall finde that the holy Ghost himselfe telleth Peter that hee had sent him and if you looke into 1 Cor. 2. 10. you shall finde the Apostle telling you that the Spirit scarcheth all things even the secret or deepe things of God Now if to search the heart of man and to know the secrets thereof be proper to God onely as you may see it is Ier. 17. 10. much more to know the secrets of God is proper to God onely and if you looke into Heb. 9. 14. you shall finde that eternity is attributed unto the holy Ghost in that the Apostle in expresse termes calleth him the eternall Spirit and if you looke into 1 Cor. 12. 9 10. you shall finde that the power which the Apostles had to worke miracles and wonders was from the holy Ghost now it is proper to God onely to worke miracles and wonders and therefore the holy Ghost must needs be God To conclude if you looke into 1 Pet. 5. 10. you shall finde that God is stiled the God of all Graces and if you looke into Ephe. 5. 9. and into Gal. 5. 22. you shal finde that all graces in the faithful are the fruits of the spirit of God whereby it is evident that the spirit of God is God thus you see it is evident by scripture that both the Sun and holy Ghost are God equall with the Father and that there are three persons in one Divince Essence Christ I know Sir that you Ministers doe speake and write much of the mistery of the Trinity and that there are three persons and yet but one God and that none of the three persons are
is immortall And in Act. 7. 59. it is said that when the martyr Stephen was at the point of death he cryed out Lord Jesus receive my Spirit meaning thereby none other thing but when that his soul should depart out of his body Christ Jesus shoul be the perpetuall keeper of it and therefore assuredly it dyed not with the body but is immortall And in Luk. 23. 43. it is recorded that when our Saviour hung upon the Cross he said unto the good Thief This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise whence I pray you take notice that he could not be there with him in the body for that was immediately dead and buried therefore the meaning must needs be that his soul was gathered with the soul of Christ into Paradise and so consequently it dyed not with the body And in Phil. 1. 23. the Apostle said that he desired to bee dssolved and to be with Christ by the which it is evident that he was assured that so soone as his spirit did take leave of his body he should be happie in the enjoyment of the Lord Jesus Christ And doth not the same Apostle plainly witnesse the same truth 2 Cor. 5. 8. in saying when the soules of beleevers are absent from the body they are present with the Lord And doth not the Apostle Peter likewise seale to the same truth 2 Pet. 1. 14. In giving us to understand that there was some thing in his bodily tabernacle which must not be put off which could be none other thing but his soul and we may assure our selves that if the soul did dye with the body our Saviour would never have brought in the soul of Lazarus joying in Abrahams bosom after his death nor yet the soul of the Rich man in Hell torments Luk. 16. 23. Many other testimonies of holy Scripture might be bought for the further confirmation of this truth but I hope these are sufficient Chris But Sir because I could never yet see either in my selfe or in any other man any thing but a body I could never conceive what a thing the soul should be nor how it differeth from the body and indeed this hath made me of late to bee of their judgements who hold that the soul and body are both one and that the soul dyeth with the body Pres Well to the intent that I may clear these things unto you I pray you first of all to consider that Moses telleth us Gen. 2. 7. That after the Lord had formed mans body of the dust of the earth he breathed into his nostrils the brtath of life whereby you may perceive that the soul is of a spirituall nature and an uncorruptible substance and not a body In the creation of the soul saith a learned Author The almighty Author of the French Acad. made a blast not of his owne nature nor of his Creature the Aire but even of nothing and so new in the ordinary generation of man the soul is placed in the body not by vertue of nature it is not begotten or produced by nature but properly and peculiarly by the special working of God so that although the soul liveth and dwelleth in the body sustaining and moving it yet it is a certaine substance severall from the body and though the body hath no life in it selfe and therefore cannot subsist without the soule yet can the soul subsist and live and preserve it selfe in its substance after that it is separated from the body the soule is therefore so far from dying and corrupting with the body that it keepeth it alive and uncorrupt whilst it is in the body and doth live move and understand after that it is out of the body and though you see nothing but the body yet by the doing of the soul you may perceive there is a soul and what the soul is for the soul being of a spirituall nature as aforesaid and not a bodily we cannot see it in its own substance or nature nor have any knowledge thereof but by the testimony of the word and by the effects thereof Chris Well then Sir as you have beene pleased to give me some light and knowledge of the soul by the testimony of the Word so I beseech you doe your endeavour to add somewhat more to my knowledge by shewing unto me what be the effects of the soul Pres Well friend seeing you doe desire it I shall by the Lords assistance endeavour to let you see this truth more clearly by naturall reasons drawne from the effects of the soul for the truth is naturall reasons are as beames of the light of Gods Word and helps that may greatly further us in the understanding of the soules immortality 1. And therefore in the first place I beseech you take notice that if you doe consider of that eternity which was before the creation of the world your thought is not able to comprehend it but if you doe enter into consideration of times which shall still follow after us unto all eternity you shall finde your selfe better able to comprehend that and have a more cleare in-sight into it which shews that although your soul is not eternall in regard of beginning yet is it eternall and immortall in regard of end and was created to live an eternall life Secondly I pray you consider that in as much as mans soul was not created with his body as the soules of beast were and that it is not now begotten by way of ordinary generation as the soules of all living Creatures are we are thereby taught that God did not intend that any thing in nature should extinguish mans soule nor destroy it for if hee had so intended then would he have created and have ordered it to have come into men by way of ordinary generation as he hath done touching all other living Creatures that are mortall and therefore wee may hence undoubtly conclude that mans soul is immortal Thirdly I beseech you seriously to consider that the soules of beasts doe onely desire things present and their desire of some present good proceedeth not from any knowing vertue that is in them but onely from a sensible vertue for though beasts have a soule whereby they live and move yet is not their soul partaker of understanding but man naturally hath knowledge of an eternity yea and a disposition to beleeve it and to conceive it to be a good and profitable thing for him and thereupon doth he desire it as it is evident by that man naturally hath to live if it were possible alwaies There is not saith a learned Author so base a minde to be Duples truness Christ Religion found which coveteth not to live for ever and because they see by the daily examples of mortality that they themselves must dye therefore they do endevour to make their names eternall as much as may be as doth evidently appeare by their care of and love to their issue and posterity and by their endeavouring to do
FAITH In Five Fundamentall Principles Strongly Fortified against the Diabolical Atheisticall blasphemous Batteries of these Times Serving for the conviction of Opposers the satisfaction of Doubters and the Confirmation of Believers In a Conference which a godly Independant Minister and a godly Presbyterian Minister had with a doubting Christian By E. F. a seeker of the Truth 2 COR. 13. 8. We can do nothing against the truth but for the truth LONDON Printed for John Wright at the Kings Head in the old Bailey 1650. The Author to the Reader LIke as it is good Military policy when the Inhabitants of one City do heare and understand that the common enemy hath not onely assaulted but also vanquished another City within the same Dominions to use all the means they can to fortifie themselves against him even so do I conceive it to be good Christian policy when one Christian doth heare and understand that the common enemy Satan hath not onely assaulted but also vanquished the faith of others to use al the means he can to fortifie his own Therefore I being credibly given to understand that this foule Fiend hath vanquished the faith of some men touching these five Fundamentall Principles did thinke it to be good policy in me to use all the means I could to fortifie my faith in them by searching all the Magazines I could finde for the best Ammunition therein contained and to place it in the best order I could for my faith's defence And having so done considering it to be Ammunition of that nature as might be communicated to the defence of others and yet be no lesse usefull to my self I thought it my duty to make it common by committing it to the Presse But yet alas what are all these humane perswasions grounded on reason without the testimony of Gods Spirit in our hearts truly nothing Let us therefore in the reading of these things lift up our prayer to God for the powerfull work of his Spirit to seale up unto our hearts the truth of these Principles And the Lord grant our Petitions for his Mercies sake in Christ Amen FAITH in five Fundamentall PRINCIPLES INTERLOCUTORS A moderate Independant Minister A moderate Presbyterian Minister And a tempted doubting Christian Presbyterian YOu are well met good Mr. B. whither are you going so fast this way if a man may know Ind. Why truly Mr. H. I am going whither I wish you would go also and that is to meet a man whom I am perswaded is truly godly and yet by reason he hath been accustomed of late to frequent the meetings of divers erronious persons he seemeth to be somewhat tainted with divers of their erronious opinions at least to make question of divers fundamentall truths and is unsetled in his judgement and my intent in going to meet with him is to do mine indeavour to shew him the truth and settle him in the same And truly Sir if your occasions will permit you I think you shall do very well if you go with me and afford us your assistance Pres But Sir if we go shall we be sure to meet with him think you and will he be willing to confer with us Ind. Sir the man seems to be of an humble spirit and willing to see his errours and to know the truth and it is his own desire that I should meet him this day at a convenient place not far hence to answer his doubts Pres Well Sir then will I defer the businesse which I was going about till to morrow and go along with you 〈◊〉 you do desire it and spend this afternoon with you Ind. The houre he hath appointed for our meeting is one of the clock and I think it is now about that time Pres Yea indeed I think it is Ind. Well yonder 's is the place and yonder comes the man Pres Doth he meet you alone Ind. Yea so it seems Christ Oh Sir are you come according to your promise how much am I obliged unto you Ind. Yea I am not onely come my selfe but meeting with this godly Minister by the way I have desired him to come along with me Christ Sir I humbly thank you I know Mr. H. very well and he is very welcome to me Ind. Well now my loving friend if you will be pleased to propound your doubts we shall be ready to answer you as the Lord shal enable us Christ Why truly Sir as you know I hinted unto you before I have lately been where many points of Divinity have beene questioned and controverted and some of them flatly denied which hath made many scruples arise in my heart and especially about five fundamentall principles Ind. What be they I pray you Christ Why truly I am afraid to name them yet being I am in hope to receive satisfaction from you I shall adventure to tell you First that I make some question whether there be a God Secondly whether those Books which are called the Scriptures be the Word of God Thirdly Whether the Sonne and Holy Ghost be God Fourthly Whether the soule of man be immortall And fifthly Whether there shall be a resurrection of the body And to tell you the truth all these things are denied by some in whose company I have lately been Ind. Surely it is a sad and lamentable thing that men in these daies are growne to such a height of impiety as flatly to deny these fundamentall truths and so as it were to pluck up the foundation it self surely these men are meer Libertines and licentious men for as the firme and strong believing of these first Principles is the ground of our exact and even walking with God so when men do not onely question them but also flatly deny them it is the very roade way to all wickednesse and ungodlinesse it is therefore time for us that are Ministers to labour to strengthen these Principles both in our own hearts and in the hearts of others but blessed be God my friend though you make some question of them yet you do not flatly deny them so that there is much more hopes of rooting out these seeds of Atheisme out of your heart then out of theirs who flatly deny them Touching the being of the Godhead And therefore I beseech you in the first place consider that the first of these five Principles to wit That there is a God may be most clearly demonstrated by plain naturall reason for as Calvin truly saith God hath planted in all men a certain understanding of his Divine Majesty so that all men none excepted do know there is a God for indeed there is ingraven in the minds of men a certain feeling of the Godhead And to tell you truly this Doctrine That there is a God is such a Doctrine as every man is a teacher thereof unto himself even from his mothers womb yea and such a Doctrine as the first use of reason is imployed about and which nature suffereth no man to forget And although there have been some
need of the body nay may he not hence conclude more then this namely for the soul to worke and doe well it ought either to be without the body or else to be utterly unsubject to the body and that the full and perfect life of the soul is the full and utter with-drawing thereof from the body and whatsoever the body is made of for though the soul be the forme of the body yet it being no materiall forme the more it is discharged of the matter the more it retaines its own peculiar form To conclude then seeing that the nature the nourishment and the actions of our soules are so far different from the nature nourishment and actions of our bodyes and from all that is done or wrought by our bodies can there be any thing more childish then to imagine our soules to bee mortall because of the mortality of our bodies And now my good friend I hope by this time your soul hath so beheld her selfe in the glass of her own marvelous actions that she will henceforth conclude her selfe to bee immortall Touching the Resurrection of the body Christ WEll Sir I doe acknowledge that you have very sufficiently proved the immortality of the soul and now if Mr. B. will be pleased to prove the Resurrection of the body then wee shall have done Inde Surely friend the Scripture is exceeding full and cleare for this point and therefore I pray you first of all consider that Job saith in plaine termes Job 19. 25. I know my redeemer liveth and that hee shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and though after my skin wormes destroy my body yet in my flesh I shall see God Now doth not this Scripture plainly hold forth under us the certainty of the Resurrection of the body in that this holy man doth professe he doth beleeve that he shall see God with these very eyes at that day And I would also intreat you to consider that the prophet Isai saith Chapter 26 19. Thy dead men shall live c. In which words the prophet speakes of the Resurrection of the Saints giving us to understand that all those Saints who dye and whose bodies are layd in the dust all those shall certainly rise againe to life And I would also beseech you to consider that in Ezek. 37. the Prophet speakes most excellency of the Resurrection of the dead in shewing that a spirit of life and power shall come upon the dry bones and dust of the Saints and that they shall live in the presence of God And I would also intreat you seriously to consider that the prophet Daniel telleth us that many who sleep in the dust shall awake Some to everlasting life and some to everlasting shame and contempt And surly our Saviour doth confirme the same by uttering almost the same words Joh. 5. 28. 29. saying They that are in the Graves shall here the voyce of the Son of man and shall come forth they that have done good to the resurrection of life and they that have done evill to the resurrection of condemnation And consider I beseech you that Jesus Christ himselfe is risen from the dead and doubtlesse he did not rise as a private person he did not rise privately for himselfe but as a publike person representing all the faithfull and hence it is that the Apohle saith 1 Cor. 15. 13. If there be no resurrecteon of the dead then is Christ not risen And againe in the same Chapter verse 19. he concluds that if there be no resurrection of the dead then the faithfull are of all men most miserable But saith the same Apostle to the comfort of the Thessalonians who seemed to make some question of the Resurrection if we beleeve that Jesus Christ dyed and rose againe even so them also that 1 Thes 4. 29. sleep in Jesus Christ will he bring with him And I beseech you also to consider that it is said Revel 20. 21 15. And I saw the dead both great and small stand before God and the Sea gave up her dead which were in her and death and hell delivered up the dead To conclude I would pray you to minde the Argument which our Saviour useth to prove the Resurrection of the dead Mat 22. 32. in saying God is the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob. And God is not the God of the dead but of the living But he should not be the God of Abraham Isaac and Jocob if they should not rise againe from the dead many other places of Scripture might be brought for the further confirmation of this truth if it were needfull and especially out of the new Testament for in very deed there is no Doctrine more plainly and fully taught in the new Testament then the Doctrine of the Resurection and therefore unlesse we will make both Christ and his Apostles lyers and all the Ministers of the Gospell Cheaters Juglers and Deceivers of the people wee must needs acknowledge the Resurrection of the body and soothly if there were no Resurrection the most just and righteous God should seeme to be unjust and unrighteous who many times in the time of this life doth not reward the godly as he hath promised nor punish the wicked as hee hath threatned and hence it is that the Apostle saith 2 Thes 1. 6. it is a righteous thing with God to recompence tribulation to them that trouble the Saints and to them that are troubled rest when the Lord Jesus Christ shall be reveled from Heaven Chris But I cannot conceive how it is possible that when our bodyes are consumed to dust they should bee raised againe and besides some mens body have beene drowned in the Sea and eaten of Fishes how then is it possible that all men should rise again as you say Inde Though it be impossible with men yet it is not impossible with God for with him all things are possible yea not onely possible but also easie and therefore I beseech you be perswaded of it as an undoubted truth that that God who in the beginning was able to create all things of nothing is much more able to make every mans body at the Resurrection of his owne matter for doubtlesse it is a harder matter for him to make man of nothing out of the dust and although untill the day of Judgement the dust of all men buried doe lye in Common together in the bowels of the earth and that also with the dust of beasts yet if a man skillfull in seeds be able to seperate one seed from another and if a man skilfull in mettels be able to seperate and distinguish the earth and dust of Gold from the earth and dust of Silver and so of other mettals then surely the great and wise Creator of man Seeds and Mettals and all things else is able to distinguish the dust of men from the dust of beasts and the dust of one mans body from the dust of another and though the bodies of some men be burnt to ashes and the bodyes of other devoured of wilde beasts and others drowned in the Sea and eaten of Fishes yet God is able and will certainely gather together in one every mans body and they shall all receive that substance which belongeth to them so that there shall not be an heire of their head wanting to any one of them Chris But Sir can you shew me any resemblance of the resurrection in nature Inde Yea wee have many resemblances thereof in nature for what doth the world daily in the elements and creatures thereof but imitate our Resurrection as for example doe wee not see by the degrees of times the whithering and failing of the leaves from the trees the intermission of their fruits c. And behold upon the suddaine from a dry and dead tree by a kinde of Resurrection the leaves break forth againe the fruits wax bigh and ripe and the whole tree apareled with a fresh beauty consider wee also the little seed whereout the tree ariseth and let us comprehend if wee can how in that smallnesse of seed so mighty a tree can bee where were the Wood the Barke the glory of the beames the plentie of the fruit when we first sowed it when we first threw it into the ground were any of these things apparant no they were not what marvel is it then if of the dust of the earth God at his pleasure remarke man when from the smallest seeds hee is able to produce so bigg a tree doe we not also see the dying of the day daily into night and freshly arising againe in the morning as if it had never dyed Aagin doe we not see that before the Corne can grow and beare fruit it must be first cast into the ground and there rott and even as it springeth up againe and the Lord giveth to every graine it s owne body even so at the Resurrection shall every man be raised up with his own body And again both Philosophers and Divines tell us that the Phenix is first consumed to ashes by the heat of the Sun and that afterwards of her ashes ariseth a young one Lastly to mention no more the swallows wormes and Fishes which have layen dead in the winter yet in the spring time by vertue of the heat of the Sun they revive againe thus you see that the whole Creation doth as it were writ a Cmmentary to give us assurance of the Resurrection of the dead and so I hope this may suffice to assure you of the Resurrection Chris Well Gentlemen I must confesse you have said more for the confirmation of the truth of these points then I had thought could have beene said and I hope that my heart shall bee hereby the better establisht therein whilest I live and with many thanks unto you both for your pains I take my leave of you Inde Fare you well good friend and the Lord write the truth of these points In your heart by the power of his owne Spirit Pres The Lord bee with you and grant that what we have said may take deepe impression both in your heart and ours that wee may bee fully confirmed in the truth of these points Amen FINIS
greater or lesser then the other nor none before or after other but for my part I cannot conceive how it can be and therefore cannot believe it Inde But you ought to believe it because the Scripture doth so fully prove it though you cannot conceive how it can be nevertheless for the helping of you to conceive how it can be I pray you consider that it is manifest by Gods effects and doings that there is in him a working nature or power and in every of his workes there is a singular cunning and a wonderfull order whence it is evident that there is in God a soveraigne understanding and there is nothing in God that is not his very essence or being whereupon it followeth that God not onely hath understanding but that his understanding is his very essence that is he is very understanding it selfe and that from everlasting and God is a meare doing and therefore this his understanding must needs bee everlastingly doing and what can it meet withall from everlasting to be exercised upon but it selfe therefore of necessity this understanding of God must needs yeeld a reflection back again to it selfe and so conceive and beget in it selfe a perfect image of its owne selfe which indeed is the very same thing which in the Trinity we call the Son or the word namely the lively and perfect image and wisedome of the Father and in regard that this understanding in God is everlastingly doing this second person must needs be everlasting and in regard that the being of the Father and his understanding are both one and his very essence therefore the being of the secong person who is begotton by the Fathers understanding or minding of himself must needs be the same whereupon we may conclude that look what the Father is the same is the Son only they differ in the way of relation Againe in the second place I pray you consider that in God there is not onely an understanding but also a will and this will so farre as we be able to discerne it by the effects is a certaine abilitie whereby he applyeth his workfull power and this will is his very essence as well as his understanding is still a doing as well as his understanding from all eternity and therefore as his understanding by a certaine reflection of it selfe upon it selfe hath begotten us a second person whom we call the Son so this will which worketh everlastingly having none other thing to worke upon but it selfe doth also by his working stricke backe upon it selfe and delighteth it selfe in that infinite good which it knoweth there and so sheddeth out it selfe wholly to the loving thereof and by this action it bringeth us forth a third person whom we call the Spirit or holy Ghost That is to say the mutuall kindnesse and lovingnesse of the Father towards the Son and of the Son towards the Father of the Father the understander towards the Son conceived and begotten by his understanding and of the Son backe againe towards the Father acknowledging all that he hath and all that hee is to be of the Father now because there alwaies goes some act of the understanding before the act of the will therefore wee say the third person is not onely from the will but also from the understanding and because he is from two and that by act of will and understanding therefore wee terme him proceeding and not begotten and because the third person proceedeth of Gods will and understanding and Gods will and understanding is his essence and of his essence can nothing proceed which is not his essence it must needs follow that the third person is not onely coeternal and coequall but also coessentially for as to be and to understand are all one in God so to will and to understand are all one in him and so all three come into one essence so that as we have God of God that is to say the Son of the Father by the everlasting in working of the understanding so have we also God of God again that is to say the holy Ghost or love of them both by the joynt working of the understanding and will together whereupon we conclude three distinck persons or in beings in one essence and though we say speaking after the manner of men that the act of the understanding goeth before the act of the will yet are we not to imagine any going before or comming after in these persons but onely to lay forth these things according to the order of nature And now by this time I hope you do perceive the evident foot-stepts of three in beings or persons in one essence Chris But Sir the thing which I must desire to heare is some resemblance of these things in the Creatures Indep If you would have resemblance of these things in the Creatures then I pray you consider that the Sun begetteth his one beames which the Poets doe call the Sun of the Sun and from them two proceedeth light which imparteth it selfe to all things here beneath and yet is not the one of them before the other for neither is the Sun before his beames or the Sun or his beames before the light otherwise then in consideration of order and relation in that the beames are begotten and the light is proceeding which is an apparent image of what I have said Likewise in waters we have the head of them in the Earth and the Spring boyling out of it and the streame which is made of them both and sheddeth it selfe far from thence yet it is but one selfe same continuall and unseparable essence which hath neither forenesse nor afternesse in regard of time but onely in regard of order and our considerations of it for the well head is not a head but in respect of the Spring nor the Spring a Spring but in respect of the well head nor the Stream a Stream but in respect of them both and so all three be but one water and cannot almost be considered without one another which is also an expresse marke of the originall relations and persons coessentiall in the onely one essence of God other resemblances hereof might be shewed but I hope by this time you doe behold this mistery more clearly and therefore thus much shall suffice to have been spoken touching this point Touching the Immortality of the Soule Pres SIr you have in my judgement spoken to this point most briefly and plainly and yet fully I hope for his conviction And now it falling to my lot to speake to the next point I say unto you my deare friend that as touching the immortality of the soul I hope you will now give credit to the Scripture And therefore I would intreat you seriously to consider that this truth is confirmed Eccle. 12. 7. where the wise man telleth us that at death the dody returnes to the dust and the spirit to God that gave it and therefore assuredly the soul dyeth not with the body but