Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A75506
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An apology for the sentiment of the modalists and a defence of the scriptural terms.
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1700
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Wing A3556A; ESTC N52941
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8,889
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8
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An Apology for the Sentiment of the Modalists and a Defence of the Scriptural Terms TO defend the Doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation requires not many Arguments when these matters are rightly taken for in order to vindicate them they need only be represented and put into a true light As for the Doctrine of the Trinity it has been sufficiently clear'd even in the Pamphlet intitled The Consequences of the Modalists System p. 8 c. For there these Remarks are made concerning it The Divine Intellect or Mind and Understanding is the Cause o◠〈…〉 the Divine Wisdom and from both the Divine Intellect and the 〈…〉 doth proceed the Divine Will or Power which is the same thing in a perfect Being for God doth whatsoever he pleases These three Properties Intellect Wisdom Power comprehend the whole Divine Essence God may be particularly and distinctly consider'd with respect to each of these three Properties and thus being thrice consider'd may be call'd three Persons according to the original Signification of the word Person which imports a Being consider'd with respect to a certain Capacity or Property The first Property being the Cause of the second and the third proceeding from the two former the first Person is therefore call'd the Father the second the Son the third the Spirit that proceeds from the Father and Son Thus the Orthodox Expressions are susceptible of a good Sense and pertainly meaning this Sense by these Terms it cannot be deny'd but that the Sentiment of the Modalists is true It is actually true that there is in God on infinite Vnderstanding Wisdom and Will c. And as for the Doctrine of the 〈◊〉 one would think there could be no great difficulty in it intending thereby as the Catholic Church doth that the Divine Wisdom so dwelleth in Christ as always to assist illuminate-conduct and actuate him Christ thus being God in respect of the Indwelling Divinity which is in an content manner manifested both iâ— and by out Lord Jesus Christ as also in respect of his representing God to us and of his acting in the stead of God at the Helm of the Universe Yet some weighty Objections are here made as that this confounds Christ with God and is the occasion that the Names of Christ are given to God and Christ is taken to be literally the most High God as if from a Being's dwelling in a Temple it follow'd that the House or Temple is literally that Being which dwelleth in it Now it is to be observ'd in answer hereunto that the Doctrine of the Incarnation doth not necessarily confound Christ with God for all that can be understood thereby agreeably to the System of the Modalists who are generally esteem'd to be the most Orthodox is that our Saviour is both God and the Man Christ Jesus or that the Man Jesus Christ and God are most eminently united together in the work of Salvation in that Christ is made the Head of the Church and plac'd at the Helm of the Universe and God constantly assists and actuates him to enable him to save those that come to God thro him and thus Christ is evidently distinguish'd from God by Christ properly being meant the Man Jesus Indeed it is very improper to give to God the Names of Christ as it seeme to be done in these Invocations O Christ hear us O Son of David have mercy upon us c. But the Orthodox do readily acknowledg the Inconveniency of these Expressons Athanasius himself declares that it is always God and not the Creature that is worship'd by the Orthodox 3d Oration against the Arians so that these Invocations are to be undersTood as implying this Sense O thou who dwellest in Christ or in the Son of David hear us and hve mercy upon us c. And undoubtedly it were well if the said Praâ—â—â— were thus express'd Most properly the Gospel-Method is to pray 〈…〉 ther in the Name or thro the Mediation and Intercession of his Son our Lord Jesus Christ so that after having said in the beginning of the Litany O God our Creator have mercy upon us O God our Redeemer have mercy upon us O God our Comfortere have mercy upon us it would be most proper to address the rest of the Prayer particularly to the Father who eminently sustains the Majesty and Character of the Deity The ordinary Expressions that follow from taking another Method seem often uncouth and much must tacitly be supply'd thereto not to take them in a wrong Sense as the Vulgar are very apt to do men of ordinary Capacities not being accustom'd to nice Distinctions and not being able to make any deep Reflecttions of themselves Besides it is certain that when the Father is worship'd the whole Deity is worship'd and our Prayers then cannot be defective or imperfect As for Christ's being or not being the most High God that is in a great measure a Dispute of Words The Deity that dwelleth in Christ is certainly the most High God If then by Christ be meant both the Man Jesus and the Deity that dwelleth in or that constantly assisteth him no dobut in that sense Christ is the most High God But if Christ be taken as an Appellation peculiar to the Man Jesus as it seems to be in Scripture then it is most proper to say with the Scripture that in Christ Jesus dwelleth the Fulness of the Godhead to esteem otherwise were to assert that an Appellation peculiar to the Manhood is peculiar to the Godhead No body will say that a Man as a Man is literally the most high God but our Salvation being wrought both by the Man Christ Jesus and God that dwelleth in him it is certain that our Saviour is both God and Man as sometime several Men make one Admiral c. Ideas may arbitrarily be join'd to certain Terms and then those Terms are understood according to those Ideas Accordingly the Church has us'd the Name Christ to denote both the Man Jesus Christ and the Deity that manifesteth it self in and by him and has us'd the Term Incarnation to signify the Union of God with Jesus Christ In that sense the Church saith that Christ is God and that God is become Man But she means to be sure and ought to mean no more but what may be worded in the Expressions themselves of the Scripture which Expressions or the like in Articles of Communion are even to be left in that general Sense which they are susceptible of that every man may be allow'd the Judgment of discerning These Considerations must be before our eyes whenever we will give a rational account of the Orthodox System It is objected by some That meaning what has been said by the Incarnation and on that account giving to Christ the Honor and Name of God the like might be done to other Creatures which God likewise assists or enables to perform their several Officers and in and by which God manifests his Wisdom his Glory and
Here perhaps men may differ in the manner of expressing themselves but yet all those who acknowledg the Queen's Authority and who therefore obey her Viceroy's Commands according to her Will express'd in the Commission cannot but actually agree in the thing and mean actually the same thing This Comparison how imperfect soever it be doth in a sufficient measure illustrate the matter before us We may say that Christ is the most High God but by this his Supreme Godhead meaning the Divine Authority thta appears in him we say no more than what others mean when they express themselves in other Terms namely that in him dwells the Fulness of the Godhead God will not indeed have his Glory be given to another neither do we ascribe Divinity but to God himself For still the Authority by which Christ acts is God's own Authority and we do not of our own accord or without God's warrant assert it to be in Christ Now when God says he will not give his Glory to another the meaning visibly is this that he wills not that Men of themselves and according to their own Fancies should dispose of the Honour and Glory that is due to him As for God himself he may communicate of his own without doing any wrong and his meaning was not that he never would thus communicate himself he has not ty'd his own hands the question was not what himself might do but what his Creatures were not to presume of themselves to do Thus the Queen of England may say she will not give her Glory to another and yet she may order the same Honors to be paid to her Viceroy which are only due to her which indeed terminate on her Majesty wherever they are paid according to her Order but which could not lawfully be render'd to her in the Person of him who is her Viceroy before her Declaration of her Will and Pleasure in this matter and the delivering of the Viceroy's Commission Notwithstanding this saying of God that he will not give his Glory to another the Orthodox believe that he has given himself and so his Glory to the Man Christ Jesus Howbeit after all it is certain God has but so given his Glory to Jesus Christ as that it still remains his own Glory and the said Glory after all truly is ascrib'd to and terminates on God Tho God's Lieutenant inasmuch as he represents God to us be term'd God because the Supreme Authority he appears invested with is God's own Authority yet it cannot truly be said that we make a Creature God or hold one for God that is only a Creature for it is God or the Divine Majesty and Supreme Authority we consider and adore in Jesus Christ for in Jesus Christ dwelleth the Fulness of the Godhead and when we say that Jesus Christ is God we mean it in respect of the Deity or the Divine Wisdom Majesty and Authority that dwell in him If any think it not so proper upon that account to call Christ the most High God it is true it would be most proper to content our selves to say with the Scripture that the Fulness of the Godhead dwelleth in the Man Christ Jesus Howbeit the Deity that dwelleth in the Man Christ Jesus and is communicated to him as has been said is truly and properly the most High God or the Majesty Wisdom and Supreme Authority of the most High God and that is all we mean by the Orthodox Expressions but we do not intend that it is the Creature that is the most High God But to prove that it is Idolatry to call Christ God and to honour him as God upon the account that God dwelleth in him by Manifestation of his Wisdom in and by him and on the account that God constantly assisteth him in the discharge of his Office of representing God and acting in the stead of God at the Helm of the Universe some urge That it would be treasonable to give the Name of the Sovereign to the Viceroy on any account whatsoever whether upon the account of representing or upon the account of being upheld by the Sovereign or upon the account of the Sovereign's Majesty appearing and dwelling in him c. To this I shall reply thus much In that case the fault would be only in the Expression but not in the Sentiment it self and so this would be only a Controversy of Words And besides there is this difference in the present Comparison that in an earthly Sovereign who is a finite and imperfect Being the Sovereign's Wisdom Majesty and Authority are different from the Sovereign's own Person but it is an Axiom of Divines That every thing in God is God and it is upon this Axiom that it is said that Christ is God upon the account that the Divine Wisdom and Majesty in a supreme degree appear and dwell in him or else by Christ we mean both the Man Jesus Christ and the Divine Wisdom and Majesty that dwell in him Howbeit as to the Practice of honouring Christ as God that is countenanc'd by the Example of the Viceroy's being honour'd like the Sovereign In the Person of the Viceroy the Sovereign is honour'd and the Scripture likewise commands that every Knee should bow to Christ to the Glory of God The Viceroy in publick Solemnities wherein he represents the Sovereign might be ddress'd unto as being the Sovereign upon the account of the Sovereign's Authority by which he acts and which is present in him or dwells in him whilst he discharges his Office If that were usual it would not at all seem strange or unreasonable There is yet this difference in the said Comparison that an earthly Viceroy may prove a Rebel but this cannot be said of Christ We are sure that Christ's Laws are God's Laws Christ's Kingdom is God's Kingdom Christ's Majesty is God's Majesty Christ doth not require of us any Services that are carnal or vicious and that may be term'd Works of the Flesh as did the Pagan Gods The Gods of the Heathens were worship'd by the Slaughter of human Sacrifices by Prostitutions and by other corrupt and immoral Practices Christ commands us to worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth and directs us to ask all things of God in his name or as his Disciples and for his sake And the Orthodox declare that this is all they intend to do howsoever they express themselves What Idolatry then or what Work of the Flesh is here There can be suppos'd one would think but an Impropriety of Speech in saying that the Man Jesus Christ is truly and properly the most High God meaning that the most High God or the Divine Wisdom Majesty and Supreme Authority do truly and properly appear in him Howbeit the Meaning and Sentiment of the Modalists is certainly good And now the Result of all that has been said seems to be as followeth 1. That some Persons may condescend to the use of unscriptural Terms 2. That others who are no less sincere may