the Father maketh no discovery of himself to the world immediately and Christ to prove his Authority and Mission from God appealeth to the works which he did by the finger of God the Holy Spirit see Luke 11. 20. compared with Mat. 12. 28. Wherefore I report this Argument against the Adversaries as quite subverting their opinion touching the Godhead of the Holy Spirit For if the Holy Spirit were God you would commit no sin but what would be against the holy Spirit in that all sins are committed against God as being the transgressions of his Law Again when we sinned against the Father we must of necessity also sin against the holy Spirit if he be the same God with the Father For as the Adversaries hold that the works of the Trinity ad extra that is to without are common to all three so must they by the same reason confess that whatsoever is done to any one of them ab extra that is from without is also common to all three An exposition of Isai. 6. 9 10. And he said Go and tel this people Hear ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not Make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert and be healed compared with Acts 28. 25 26 27. Well spake the holy Spirit by Isaias the Prophet unto our Fathers saying Go unto this people and say Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand c. Because that which in Isaiah is attributed to the Lord is in the Acts ascribed to the holy Spirit the Adversaries hence conclude that the holy Spirit is the Lord Which kinde of arguing though it be very frequent with them is yet very frivolous for at this rate I may also conclude that because what is attributed to the Lord Exod. 32. 11. Lord why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt is in the seventh verse of the same chapter ascribed to Moses And the Lord said unto Moses Go get thee down for thy people which thow broughtest out of the land of Egypt c. therefore Moses is the Lord And because what is attributed to the Lord Isa. 65. 1. I am sought of them that asked not for me I am found of them that sought me not I said Behold me behold me unto a nation that was not called by my name is in the 10 of the Romanes vers. 20. ascribed to Isaiah But Isaias is very bold and saith I was found of them that sought me not I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me therefore Isaiah is the Lord And because what is attributed to God 2 Tim. 1. 8 9. According to the power of God who hath saved us and called us c. is by Paul attributed to himself 1 Cor. 9. 22. I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some and to Timothy 1 Tim. 4. 16. In doing this thou shalt both save thy self and them that hear thee therefore Paul yen Timothy is God If the Adversaries say that these things are otherwise ascribed to the Lord then to the men aforesaid I answer This is more then is held forth in the texts themselves which neither express nor intimate any such thing If they further contend that though such a thing be neither expressed nor intimated in the said texts yet other texts and the nature of the thing it self doth sufficiently teach it I reply that I can make the same answer touching the Lord and the holy Spirit But it is well that there is such an intimation in the texts themselves for in the one the Lord speaketh those things to Isaiah in a vision in the other it is said that the holy Spirit spake them by Isaiah to the Fathers Which twain every one may easily perceive to be different since Isaiah onely heard those words in the vision for had the Fathers the people of Israel been also there why should God bid Isaiah go and tell them to the people wherefore Paul ascribeth these words to the Holy Spirit onely to intimate that whatsoever is spoken in the Scripture was recorded by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and so spoken by him An Exposition of 2 Cor. 3. 17. Now the Lord is that Spirit By that Spirit is not here meant the third Person of the HOLY TRINITY otherwise the Lord that is Christ for the Apostle Paul by {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} the Lord doth always unless he cite some place out of the Old Covenant understand Christ will be the Holy Spirit which is repugnant to the Scripture wherein there is a plain distinction everywhere made between Christ and the holy Spirit Understand therefore what the expression it self implyeth the same Spirit that was before in the sixth verse opposed to the Letter and consequently the mystery or hidden sence of the Law denoted by the Letter for thus the word Spirit is also taken Rom. 2. 29. Circumcision is that of the heart in the Spirit and not in the Letter And Rom. 7. 6. But now we are delivered from the Law that being dead wherein we are held so that we serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the Letter And Rev. 11. 8. Their dead bodies shall lye in the streets of the great City which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was crucified Jerusalem is here spiritually that is mystically called Sodom and Egypt because of the abominable filthiness thereof and cruelty towards the people of God Wherefore the sence of the words of Paul is this namely that the Lord Christ is the Mystery Life Scope and Kernel of the Law as being both foretold therein and prefigured by the Ceremonies thereof An Answer to the grand Objection of the Adversaries touching the supposed Omnipresence of the HOLY SPIRIT AFter I had thorowly sifted this Controversie I found that the Adversaries who so much cry down Reason saying that we must renounce it when we speak of Divine Mysteries and simply rest in the words of the Scripture do notwithstanding in the upshot wave the Scripture as giving a very uncertain testimony to their doctrine in this point and ground themselves on the meer conjectures of their own Reason For thus they argue The holy Spirit if he were not omnipresent and consequently God could not inspire and dwell in so many men at one time For answer hereunto I will onely ask them one Question which if they resolve I will then tell them how the holy Spirit though he be not omnipresent may inspire all the faithful in the world at one time Our Saviour in the fourth of Mark explaining the Parable of the sower saith in vers. 15. And these are they by the way side where the word is sown but when they have
the end of their prayers since there is neither precept nor example for it in all the Scriture and being taxed by me for giving the glory of God to another and w 〈…〉 ing what the hath not commanded nor ever came into his heart have in a cruel and unchristian manner resorted to the arm of flesh and instigated the Magistrate against me hoping by his sword not that of the Spirit to uphold their Will-worship but in vain since every plant that the Heavenly Father hath not set shall be rooted up and that this practice of Worshipping the Holy Spirit as God is such a plant as God never set in his word would soon appear to the Honourable House could they be but so far prevailed with as laying aside all prejudice seriously to weigh the many and solid proofs that I produce for my opinion out of the Scripture together with the sleight or rather no proofes of the adverse party for their opinion which they themselves know not what to make of but that they endeavour to delude both themselves and others with Personalities Moods Subsistences and such like brain-sick Notions that have neither sap nor sence in them and were first hatched by the subtilty of Satan in the heads of Platonists to pervert the worship of the true God Neither could this controversie be set on on foot in a fitter juncture of time then this wherein the Parliament and Kingdome have solemnly engaged themselves to reform Religion both in Discipline and Doctrine For amongst all the corruptions in Doctrine which certainly are many there is none that more deserveth to be amended then this that so palpably thwarteth the whole renour of the Scripture and trencheth to the very object of our worship and therefore ought not to be lightly passed over by any man that professeth himself a Christian much more a Reformer God is jealous of his honour and will not give it to another we therefore as beloved children should imitate our Heavenly Father hetein and not upon any pretence whatsoever depart from his express command and give the worship of the supreme Lord of Heaven and Earth to him whom the Scripture nowhere affirmeth to be God For my own particular after a long impartial inquiry of the truth in this controversie and after much and earnest calling upon God to give unto me the spirit of wisdome and revelation in the knowledge of him I finde my self obliged both by the principles of Scripture and of Reason to embrace the opinion I now hold forth and as much as in me fyeth to endeavour that the honour of Almighty God be not transferred to another not onely to the offence of God himself but also of his Holy Spirit who cannot but be grieved to have that ignorantly ascribed to himself which is proper to God that sends him and which he nowhere challengeth to himself in the Scripture What shall befal me in the pursuance of this work I refer to the disposal of the all wise God whose glory is dearer to me not onely then my libery but then my life It will be your part Honored Sir into whose hands God hath put such an opportunity to examine the business impartally and to be an helper to the truth considering that this controversie is of the greatest importance in the world and that the divine truth suffers her self not to be despised scot-free Neither let the meanness of my outward presence deter you from stirring since it is the part of a wise man as in all things so especially in matters of Religion not to regard so much who it is that speaketh as what it is that is spoken remembring how our Saviour in the Gospel saith that God is wont to hide his secrets from the wise and prudent and to reveal them unto Children In which number I willingly reckon myself being conscious of mine own personal weakness but well assured of the strength and evidence of the Scripture to bear me out in this cause and remain April 1. 1647. Yours in the Lord J. Biddle XII ARGUMENTS drawn out of the Scripture Wherein the commonly-received Opinion touching the Deity of the Holy Spirit is clearly and fully refuted Argument 1. HE that is distinguished from God is not God The holy Spirit is distinguished from God Ergo The Major is evident for if he should be both God and distinguished from God he would be distinguished from himself which implieth a contradiction The Minor is confirmed by the whole current of the Scripture which calleth him the Spirit of God and saith that he is sent by God and searcheth the depths of God c. Neither let any man here think to flie to that ignorant refuge of making a distinction between the Essence and Person of God saying that the holy Spirit is distinguished from God taken Personally not Essentially For this wretched distinction to omit the mention of the Primitive Fathers is not onely unheard-of in Scripture and so to be rejected it being presumption to affirm any thing of the unsearchable nature of God which he hath not first affirmed of himself in the Scripture but is also disclaimed by Reason For first it is impossible for any man if he would but endeavour to conceive the thing and not delude both himself and others with empty terms and words without understanding to distinguish the Person from the Essence of God and not to frame two beings or things in his minde and consequently two Gods Secondly If the person be distinct from the Essence of God then it must needs be something since nothing hath no accident and therefore neither can it happen to it to be distinguished If something then either some finite or infinite thing if finite then there will be something finite in God and consequently since by the confession of the adversaries every thing in God is God himself God will be finite which the adversaries themselves will likewise confess to be absurd If infinite then there will be two infinites in God to wit the Person and Essence of God and consequently two Gods which is more absurd then the former Thirdly to talk of God taken impersonally is ridiculous not onely because there is no example thereof in Scripture but because God is the name of a * Person and signifieth him that hath sublime dominion or power and when it is put for the most high God it denoteth him who with Soveraign and absolute authority ruleth over all but none but a person can rule over others all actions being proper to persons wherefore to take God otherwise then personally is to take him otherwise then he is and indeed to mistake him Argument II. If he that gave the Holy Spirit to the Israelites to instruct them be Jehovah alone then the Holy Spirit is not Jehovah or God But he that gave the Holy to the Israelites to instruct them is Jehovah alone Ergo The sequele of the major is plain for if he that gave the Holy Spirit be
the power or at the disposal of another Neither let any man here think to evade by saying that not the Holy Spirit himself but onely his gifts are imparted to men Since both the more learned adversaries themselves confess that the Person of the Holy Spirit is given together with his gifts and the Scripture putteth the matter out of doubt if you consult Neh. 9. 20. and Rom. 5. 5. In both which places the Holy Spirit is said to be given contradistinctly from his gifts and operations in the first contradistinctly from the instruction flowing from him in the other contradistinctly from the love of God diffused in our hearts by him Whence we may draw this Corollary that if the Person of the Holy Spirit be out of favour given to certain men as the aforesaid places testifie then he was not personally present with them before and consequently by the concession of the adversaries themselves cannot be God since they will not deny that God is always personally present with all alike But I forestal the following Argument Argument VIII He that changeth place is not God The holy Spirit changeth place Ergo The Major is plain for if God should change place he would cease to be where he was before and begin to be where he was not before which everteth his Omnipresence and consequently by the confession of the adversaries themselves his Deity The Minor is ocularly apparent if following the * advice of the adversaries you will but go to Jordan for there you shal have the holy Spirit in a bodily shape despending from heaven which is the terminus a quo and alighting upon Christ which is the terminus ad-quem Luke 3. 21 22. Joh. 1. 32. Neither let any man alleadge that as much is spoken of God Exod. 3. and chap. 20. and Gen. 18. For if you compare Acts 7. 30 35 38 53. Gal. 3. 19. Heb. 2. 2 3. and chap. 13. 2. with the foresaid places you shall finde that it was not God himself that came down but onely an Angel sustaining the Person and Name of God which hath no place in the history touching the descent of the holy Spirit Argument IX He that prayeth unto Christ to come to judgement is not God The holy Spirit doth so Ergo The Major is granted The Minor is evident from Revel. 22. 17. compared with the 12 verse Neither let any man think to elude this proof by saying that the Spirit is here said to pray onely because he maketh the Bride to pray for when the Scripture would signifie the assistance of the holy Spirit in causing men to speak it is wont to affirm either that the holy Spirit speaketh in them as Matth. 10. 20. or that they spake by the holy Spirit as Rom. 8. 15. We have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry Abba Father But here it is expresly said that the Spirit and the Bride say Come not the Spirit in the Bride nor the Bride by the Spirit Argument X. He in whom men have not believed and yet have been disciples and believers is not God Men have not believed in the holy Spirit and yet have been so Ergo The Major is plain for how can they be disciples and believers according to the phrase of Scripture and not believe in him that is God The Minor is proved thus Men have not so much as heard whether there were an holy Spirit and yet have been disciples and believers Ergo They have not believed in the holy Spirit and yet have been disciples and believers The Antecedent is apparent from Acts 19. 2. The Consequence is grounded on that of the Apostle Rom. 10. 14. How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard Now if any man to decline the dint of this Argument shall say that by holy Spirit in these words {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} is meant not the Person but the Gifts of the holy Spirit He besides that he perverteth the plain and genuine meaning of the words and speaketh without example * doth also evacuate the emphasis of the Particles {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} which imply that these disciples were so far from having received the gifts of the holy Spirit whereof we may without prejudice to our cause grant that the question made mention that they had not so much as heard whether there were an holy Spirit or not Again that the holy Spirit is not God doth further appear by this very instance since the Apostle when there was so ample an occasion offered to declare it if it had been so doth quite decline it for it is incredible that he who was so intent and vigilant in propagating the Truth as that casually seeing an Altar at Athens inscribed To the unknown God he presently took a hint from thence to preach unto the Heathen the true God yet here being told by disciples that they had not so much as heard whether there were an holy Spirit or not should not make use of the opportunity to discover unto them and in them to us the Deity of the holy Spirit but suffer them to remain in ignorance touching a point of such consequence that without the knowledge thereof if we believe many now-a-days men cannot be saved Certainly the Apostle had a greater care both of the Truth of God and the salvation of men then to do so Argument XI He that hath an understanding distinct from that of God is not God The holy Spirit hath an understanding distinct from that of God Ergo The Major is clear for he that hath an understanding distinct from that of another must needs likewise have a distinct essence wherein that understanding may reside The Minor is proved thus He that heareth from God at the second hand namely by Christ Jesus what he shall speak hath an understanding distinct from that of God The holy Spirit so heareth from God Ergo The Minor is evident from Joh. 16. 13 14 15. The Major is confirmed thus He that is taught of God hath an understanding distinct from that of God He that heareth from God what he shall speak is taught of God Ergo The Minor is manifest from Joh. 8. where our Saviour Christ having said in vers 26. Whatsoever I have heard from him the Father these things I speak In vers 28. he expresseth the same sence thus According as the Father hath taught me these things I speak The Major is of it self clear for he that is taught hath an unknowing understanding since none can be taught what he knoweth already and he that teacheth hath a knowing understanding otherwise he could not teach another something but it implieth a contradiction that the same understanding should at the same time be both knowing unknowing of the same thing Besides that the holy Spirit hath an understanding distinct from that of God is easily deducible from the words of the Apostle 1 Cor. 2. 10. where he affirmeth that the
heard Satan cometh immediately and taketh the word that was sown in their hearts Suppose now that the seed of the Word be sown in ten thousand places at one time as it happeneth on every Lords day How can Satan whom the Adversaries will deny to be omnipresent come and immediately snatch the Word out of the hearts of the greatest part of the hearers The same Resolution that they shall give to this Question will I apply to their own Objection If this be not sufficient take yet more proofs that may seem to evince the omnipresence of the unclean spirit Thus is he said to have been a lying spirit in the mouth of four hundred false prophets 1 King 22. 22 23. and there is the same reason between four hundred and four millions Thus is he said to hold the impenitent who make the greatest part of mankinde in his snare and to take them captive at his will 2 Tim. 2. ult. To blinde the mindes of them that believe not 2 Cor. 4. 4. To dwell in the ungodly Rev. 2. 13. To shew the wicked whatsoever they practise Joh. 8. 38. Yea to deceive the whole world Rev. 12. 9. 20. 2 3. If they dare not for all this to affirm the unclean spirit to be omnipresent Why do they on less ground conclude the omnipresence of the holy Spirit especially when the Scripture so plainly testifieth that he changeth place as Joh. 15. 26. But when the Advocate is come whom I will send you from the Father the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth or goeth out from the Father he shall testifie of me How could the holy Spirit be sent and go out from the Father to the disciples if he were already with them and could not but stay with the Father Gal. 4. 6. Because ye are sons God hath sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father This sheweth that the Spirit was not in their hearts before otherwise he needed not to be sent out into them 1 Pet. 1. 12. The things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the Gospel unto you with the holy Spirit sent down from heaven Could the holy Spirit be sent down from heaven if he were already upon the earth and continued still in heaven For that the coming of the holy Spirit down from heaven is properly to be taken appeareth by the very sight in that John the Baptist did see the Spirit descending from heaven in a bodily shape like a dove and he abode on Christ Joh. 1. 32. compared with Luke 3. 21 22. where the words of the Scripture are diligently to be heeded for it is not said that the bodily shape did descend but the Spirit in the shape so that the descent did primarily and by it self agree to the holy Spirit but in a secondary way and by accident to the shape which he had assumed Now is it possible to descend out of heaven to the earth and not change place Or is there any thing better then an ocular demonstration to evince a change of place Certainly if notwithstanding all this and much more which may be alleadged it is yet true that the holy Spirit doth not go from place to place what assurance can I have when the Scripture saith of any one whomsoever that he is sent or cometh down or goeth out that he moveth from one place to another and doth not abide where he was before Neither is it rightly done by the Adversaries when against so many evident Scriptures they alleadge one obscure passage Psal. 139. 7 8. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence If I ascend up into heaven thou art there if I make my bed in hell behold thou art there For to omit that the Psalmist as the precedent and subquent words yea the passage it self cited at large doth shew intendeth onely to prove the omnipresence of God himself and not of his Spirit and that divers of the very Adversaries as namely the Divines of the Assembly in their Annotations on this place do by Spirit here understand the knowledge or power of God and not the holy Spirit should it be granted that thesewords Whither shall I go from thy Spirit are meant of the holy Spirit yet do they import no more then that David could go into no place but the Spirit could be there with him and so sign fie not that he is in all places at one time but can be in them at several times accordingly as David should come into them Again should it be further granted what the Adversaries are not able to evince that Davids meaning is that he could go into no place where the Spirit was not present yet would not this presently argue that he was there present in his person or substance as the Adversaries conceive when they say that he is Omnipresent and therefore God since it is sufficient for the truth hereof that he is in every place by his knowledge so that a man can be in no place whatsoever but the holy Spirit will know where he is This Omnipresence which I verily believe belongeth to the holy Spirit doth not hinder him to go from one place to another Yea whosoever diligently looketh into Davids words shall finde that he intended in this Psalm to assert no other Omnipresence to God himself then that of knowledge and power For he openly speaketh of the knowledge of God in the first six verses saying in the second of them Thou understandest my thoughts afar off Which implyeth that the person or substance of God himself was not upon the earth with David otherwise he would understand David's thought neer at hand and not afar off But in the tenth verse which is an explication of the three preceding ones he speaketh of the hand of God whereby is wont to be understood his power Afterwards vers. 11. and 12. he returneth to the knowledge of God whereof he had before spoken Moreover the main current of the Scripture runneth that way and plainly intimateth that the person or substance or shape of God I speak the language of the Scripture see Job 13. 7. Will ye accept his God's Person will ye contend for God Heb. 1. 3. Who being the brightness of his God's Glory and express Image of his person Gr. substance John 5. 37. And the Father himself which hath sent me hath born witness of me Ye have neither heard this voice at any time nor seen his shape is nowhere else but in Heaven Neither let the Adversaries reply that if I ascribe an universal knowledge of humane affairs to the holy Spirit this very thing will evince him to be God For first I have already excepted the searching of the heart proving in the twelfth Argument that it agreeth not to the holy Spirit Secondly had the holy Spirit an Universal knowledge as of other things so also of the heart yet would not this prove him to be God unless he had this knowledge originally and of himself For it is apparent from the Scripture John 5. 22. that God hath given all judgement unto Christ and consequently all knowledge without which that judgement cannot be managed But if he hath given all knowledge unto Christ he can as well give it to the holy Spirit Wherefore let the Adversaries when they are driven from their opinion by that invincible Argument drawn from the Intercession which the holy Spirit is said to make for the Saints cease to take up the same weapon and contend that the holy Spirit inasmuch as he maketh intercession for the Saints must needs know all their wants and so be God For is not Christ also said to make intercession for the Saints and doth he not intercede with God as a man and so as a man know all their wants But if Christ as a man and so as a Creature maketh intercession unto God for the Saints and knoweth all their wants why not the holy Spirit also though he be a created Spirit and not God As for the dwelling of the holy Spirit in so many persons though I might forbear to shew in what manner this is done untill the Adversaries had answered my Querie yet will I for the satisfaction of such as are studious of the truth here declare it He dwelleth therefore in all the Saints dispersed through the whole world not in his person or substance for then his person or substance would fill the world and dwell in all men a like whereas the indwelling of the holy Spirit is by the Scripture made a peculiar priviledge of the Saints Rom 8. 9. But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if so be or for the Spirit of God dwelleth in you Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Wherefore he dwelleth in them by his Gifts or Effects since no other dwelling can be imagined which is an Expression frequent in the writings of the Adversaries themselves but that they are wont to forget it when they reason about the Godhead of the holy Spirit FINIS * See Heb. 1. 1 14. whence these words are borrowed and compare it with 1 Pet. 1. 12. as also Heb. 1. 7. compared with Act. 2. 2 3 4. and it will easily appear that the holy Spirit is a minister of God as well as others a 1 Pet. 5. 8. b Zech. 13. 2. c 1 Sam. 16. 15 16. d Ibid. verse the last e 1 Kings 22. 21. See the Original a Joh. 16. 7. b Eph. 4. 30. c Neh. 9. 20. d 1 Cor. 7. 40. e Acts 10. 19. m So the word {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} in the Original perpetually signifieth amongst Greek Authors and is so rendred by the Translators themselves 1 Joh. 2. 1. and ought to have been so rendred here especially because he saith in the following words that the Holy Spirit shall convince the world for it is proper to an Advocate to convince * By Person I understand as Philosophersdo suppositum intelligens that is an intellectual substance compleat and not a mood or subststence which are fantastical sensless terms brought in to cozen the simple * Abi Ariane ad Jordanem Trinitatem videbis * For when the verb Substantive to be is joyned with the holy Spirit it signifieth his Being or Person not the gifts issuing from him
XII ARGUMENTS Drawn out of the Scripture WHEREIN The commonly-received Opinion touching the Deity of the Holy Spirit is clearly and fully refuted To which is prefixed a Letter tending to the same purpose written to a Member of the PARLIAMENT And to which is subjoyned An Exposition of seven principal Passages of the Scripture alleadged by the Adversaries to prove the Deity of the HOLY SPIRIT Together with an Answer to their grand Objection touching the supposed Omnipresence of the Holy Spirit BY JOHN BIDDLE Master of Arts 1 Thess. 5. 21. Prove all things hold fast that which is good Printed in the yeer 1647. To the impartial Reader Reader WHen I consider with my self how many Truths have in their dawnings gone forth like the Morning are now risen unto a glorious day unto the amazement and confounding of those who were grand Opposers of them though I know truth hath and still shall have many Adversaries whilst the face of the covering and the vail spread over all Nations remains undestroyed yet I know too that Truth 's bare brests are Armour of Prooff against all the daring darts of Satan and all the furious attempts and stormes of the flesh I cannot but abundantly rejoyce in the glory of its strength How many things have in several Ages as well as in Ours been cryed up for truths And how hath God blown upon them that they have withered and the whirlewind hath taken them away as stubble Again how many Truths have been cryed downe as Blasphemy and Errour the beames of whose glory are now ready to dazzle and obscure all the glory of the flesh Sometimes taking in those through the goings forth of God in it who have been the mightiest enemies insomuch that standing amazed a while they have soon been swallowed up in the power of it And Oh that mine eyes might behold more of that day of Gods power and of the out-lettings of the beauties of his holiness that the tall Cedars of Lebanon might be bended and the Oakes of Bashan ashamed that the creature and its glory might be brought low and men who are now like bullocks unaccustomed unto the yoak might be made willing and the Lord alone exalted in them by them and amongst them Did we but seriously consider how most men are adorned with living names viz. of Believers Christians Protestants c. whilst they are indeed dead as will appear seeing there are no symptomes of life in them we could not but startle at it what is the profession or Religion of most part of men but formal and fleshly Are they not like those barbarous Lettoes who were alwaies in the fields and woods heard uttering these words Feru Feru Masco Lon but being demanded the reason they replyed That they knew nothing but that they had been so of long taught by their Ancestours Mens mouths are now filled with Forms and they are daily crying out The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord God and Christ and Spirit when 't is evident they have no more then what Education affords nay lesse because not moralized wherein Heathens out-stript them they know not God did they they could not lightly Blaspheme him they go Christless and have not received the Spirit of wisdome in the Revelation and knowledge of him and this makes them to cry out that whatsoever is not according to their fleshly Forms is Errour Heresie Blasphemy because it will not hold according to carnal principals unto which they must needs reduce all things who have no principal of life within them such are those who are called Christians and yet reel to and fro through wine and strong drink and swell by reason of Oathes living in abominations of which sort of men most of our Parish-Churches are constituted such men have not discerning spirits neither are they competent judges because enemies to Truth as well as Errour wherefore the Author betakes himself to the Christian Reader i. e. one that is so indeed I know many men as well as my self will be ready to cry out Blasphemy Blasphemy at the first view of the Title-Page yet I could wish that they would imbrace the Apostles counsel Prove all things bolding fast that which is good Call all things to a serious examen and reject nothing hand over-head take nothing upon trust without a fore-examining of every circumstance lest in the one they should reject truth in stead of errour and in the other embrace errour in stead of truth The Author hath a long time waited upon learned men for a satisfactory answer to these Arguments but hath received none his hopes are that the publishing of them will be a means to produce it that he may receive satisfaction and others may be held no longer in suspence who are in travel with an earnest expectation of a speedy resolution as well as he I should desire those who view it but especially those who undertake to answer it for my hopes are that some one will to consider first that to say Such an Argument is invalid and weak and not worth the Answering is no convincing way of arguing nor able to yield the least satisfaction to a doubting spirit Secondly that invectives railings or reproachful terms are no convincing Arguments as all men of a sober judgement well know at these rates the weakest man may subvert the strongest Controversie yet these have been the arguings of our times both in Press and Pulpit Thirdly to prohibit the progress of it can no wayes unscruple doubting spirits amongst whom for the present I number my self expecting an Answer to these ensuing Arguments and that God will be with him that undertaketh it and give in a spirit of meekness and of wisdome in the revelation and knowledg of truth shall be the matter of his prayers who desires truth may be cleared up and shine like the noon-day and all error confounded and vanish before truth like a mist before the Sun I. H. To the Christian Reader CHristian Reader I beseech thee as thou tenderest thy salvation that thou wouldest throughly examine the following Disputation in the fear of God considering how much his glory is concerned therein and at any hand forbear to condemn my opinion as erroneous till thou art able to bring pertinent and solid Answers to all my Arguments for thou must know that though I have contested with sundry learned men yet hath none hitherto produced a satisfactory Answer to so much as one Argument Farewel J. B. A Letter written to a certain Knight a Member of the Honourable house of Commons Sir HAving now attended for the space of sixteen Months partly in the Country and partly in Westminster that I might come to my Answer before the Parliament and finding after all this tarriance that I am still as far from having my cause determined as ever I am even forced to make my address to you and to beseech you if you have any bowels towards them that are in misery that you
would either procure my discharge or at least make report to the House touching my denial of the supposed Deity of the Holy Spirit For that this onely is the matter in contestation you very well know having both heard my confession before the Committee and remembring how when I was urged to declare my judgement concerning the Deity of Christ I waved the question as neither being that I was accused of nor which I had yet sufficiently studyed to engage my self publickly therein As for my opinion touching the Holy Spirit it is thus I believe the holy Spirit to be the chief of all * ministring spirits pecultarly sent out from heaven to minister on their behalf that shall inherit salvation and I do place him both according to the Scripture and the Primitive Christians and by name Justin Martyr in his Apologie in the third rank after God and Christ giving him a pre-eminence above all the rest of the heavenly host So that as there is one principal spirit amongst the evil angels known in the Scripture by the name of Satan or the a Adversary or b the unclean spirit or c the evil spirit of God or d the Spirit of God or e the Spirit by way of eminence even so is there one principal Spirit I borrow this appellation from the Septuagint who render the later clause of the 12 vers. of Psal. 51. in this manner {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Spiritu principali fulci me Stablish me with thy principal Spirit there is I say one principal spirit amongst the good Angels called by the name of the a Advoate or b the holy Spirit or c the good Spirit of God or d the Spirit of God or e the Spirit by way of eminence This opinion of mine is attested by the whole tenour of the Scripture which perpetually speaketh of him as differing from God and inferiour to him but is irrefragably proved by these places of Scripture Neh. 9. 6 20. Thou even thou art Lord or Jehovab alone thou hast made Heaven the Heaven of Heavens with all their hast Thou gavest thy good Spirit to instruct them the Children of Israel John 16. 7 8. c. Nevertheless I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the m Advocate will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you And when he is come he will reprove in the Original convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment I have yet many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now Howbeit when he the Spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall be speak and he shall shew you things to come He shall glorifie me for he shall receive of mine and shall shew it unto you All things that the Father hath are mine therefore said I be shall take of mine and shew it unto you Rom. 8. 26 27. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groans that cannot be uttered But he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the minde or desire of the spirit for be maketh intercession for the Saints according to the will of God Acts 19. 2. And Paul finding certain Disciples said unto them Have ye received the holy Spirit since ye believed And they said unto him we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Spirit Eph. 4. 4 5 6. There is one body and one Spirit even as ye have been called in one hope of your calling One Lord one Faith one Baptisme One God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all 1 Cor. 12. 3 4. c. Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Spirit But there are diversities of gifts yet the same Spirit And there are diversities of administrations yet the same Lord and there are diversities of operations yet it is the same God that worketh all in all Luk. 3. 21 22. It came to pass that Jesus also being baptized and praying the Heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a Dove upon him 1 Cor. 2. 11 12 13. But God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things even the depths of God For what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of a man which is in him even so the things of God knoweth none but the Spirit of God he doth not adde as before which is in him Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given us of God Rev. 22. 12 17. Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me to give unto every man according as his work shall be and the Spirit and the â—ride say Come Act. 5. 32. And we are his witnesses of these things and so is also the Holy Spirit whom God hath given to them that obey him Gal. 3. 5. He therefore that ministreth or giveth to you the Spirit and worketh miracles among you doth he it by the works of the Law or by the hearing or rather preaching of Faith He that ministreth or giveth the Spirit to you a strange kinde of speech if the Holy Ghost were God The Scripture is wont to speak more soberly of Almighty God then to say that he is given by another much less by men as it is here said of the Holy Spirit 1 Cor. 8. 4 5 6. We know that an Idol is nothing in the world and that there is no other God but one For though there be that are called Gods whether in Heaven or in Earth as there be many Gods and many Lords yet unto us there is but one God even the Father of whom are all things and we unto him and one Lord even Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him You see here that the Apostle being about to set downe who is the onely God and onely Lord of Christians maketh no mention of the Holy Spirit which could not have been done by so faithful an Apostle had the Holy Spirit been either God or Lord Of these places thus recited no man though never so subtile and though he turn and wind his wit every way shal ever be able to make sence unless he take the Holy Spirit to be what I say Behold now the cause for which I have lien under persecution raised against me by my adversaries who being unable to justifie by Argument their practice of giving glory to the Holy Spirit as God in
Jehovah alone and yet the Holy Spirit that was given be Jehovah too the same will be Jehovah alone and not Jehovah alone which implyeth a contradiction The minor is evidenced by Neh. 9. 6 20. Argument III. He that speaketh not of himself is not God The Holy Spirit speaketh not of himself Ergo The minor is clear from Joh. 16. 13. The major is proved thus God speaketh of himself therefore if there be any one that speaketh not of himself he is not God The antecedent is of it self apparent for God is the primary Author of whatsoever he doth but should he not speak of himself he must speak from another and so nor be the primary but secondary author of his speech which is absurd if at least that may be called absurd which is impossible The consequence is undeniable For further confirmation of this Argument it is to be observed that to speak or to do any thing not of himself according to the ordinary phrase of the Scripture is to speak or do by the shewing teaching commanding authorizing or enabling of another and consequently incompatible with the supream and self-sufficient Majesty of God Vid. John 5. 19. 20 30. Joh. 7. 15 16 17 18 28. John 8. 28 42. Joh. 11. 50 51. John 12. 49 50. John 14. 10 24. John 15. 4. John 18. 34. Luke 12. 56 57. Luke 21. 30. 2 Cor. 3. 5. Argument IIII. He that heareth from another what he shall speak is not God The Holy Spirit doth so Ergo The Minor is plain from the forecited place John 16. 13. The Major is proved thus He that is taught is not God He that heareth from another what he shall speak is taught Ergo The Major is clear by Isa. 40. 13 14. compared with Rom. 11. 34. 1 Cor. 2. 16. For these places of the Apostle compared with that of the Prophet shew that Isaiah did not by the Spirit of the Lord there understand the Holy Spirit but the minde or intention of God The Minor is evidenced by John B. where our Saviour having said in the 26. verse Whatsoever I have heard from him the Father these things I speak in the 28. verse he expresseth the same sence thus According as the Father hath taught me these things I speak Neither let any man go about to elude so pregnant an Argument by saying that this is spoken of the Holy Spirit improperly For let him turn himself every way and scrue the words as he pleases yet shall he never be able to make it out to a wise and considering man how it can possibly be said that any one heareth from another what he will speak who is the prime Author of his speech and into whom it is not at a certain time insinuated by another For this expression plainly intimateth that whatsoever the Holy Spirit speaketh to the Disciples is first discovered and committed to him by Christ whose Embassadour he is it being proper to an Embassador to be the Interpreter nor of his own but of anothers will But it is contradictious to imagine that the most high God can have any thing discovered and committed to him by another Argument V. He that receiveth of anothers is not God The Holy Spirit doth so Ergo The Minor is witnessed by the aforesaid place John 16. 14. The Major is proved thus God is he that giveth all things to all wherefore if there be any one that receiveth of anothers he cannot be God The antecedent is plain by Acts 17. 25. Rom. 11. 35 36. The consequence is undeniable for if God should give all things to all and yet recieve of anothers he would both give all things and not give all things have all things of his owne and have something of anothers both which imply a contradiction The Major of the Prosyllogisme is otherwise urged thus He that is dependent is not God He that receiveth of anothers is dependent Ergo The Major is unquestionable for to say that one is dependent and yet God is in effect to say he is God and not God which implyeth a contradiction The Minor also is evident for to receive of anothers is the notion of dependency Argument VI He that is sent by another is not God The Holy Spirit is sent by another Ergo The Minor is plain from the fore-quoted place John 16. 7. The Major is evinced thus He that Ministreth is not God He that is sent Ministreth Ergo The Major is indubitable it being dissonant to the supreame Majesty of God to Minister and serve another for that were to be God and not God to exercise soveraign dominion over all and not to exercise it The Minor is confirmed by Heb. 1. ult. where the divine Author sheweth that the Angels are all Ministring Spirits in that they are sent forth as he before intimateth Christ to be Lord because he sitteth at the right hand of God Thus David Psal. 2. declareth the Soveraignty of God in saying that he sitteth in Heaven The Minor is further proved thus He that receiveth a command for the performance of something doth Minister He that is sent forth receiveth a command for the performance of something Ergo The Major is evident to common sence since it suiteth with none but Ministers and inferiours to receive commands The Minor is manifested by John 12. 49. The Father that hath sent me he gave me a Command what I shall speak Neither let any man here reply that this very thing is spoken also of Christ unless having first proved that Christ is supream God he will grant that whatsoever is spoken of him is spoken of him as God or can make good that to be sent at least may agree to him as God The contrary whereof I suppose I have clearly proved in this Argument shewing that it is unsutable to the divine Majesty Argument VII He that is the gift of God is not God The holy Spirit is the gift of God Ergo The Minor is plain by Acts. 12. 17. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift meaning the Spirit as he did unto us who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ was I one that could withstand God The Major though of it self sufficiently clear is yet further evidenced thus He that is not the giver of all things is not God He that is the gift of God is not the giver of all things Ergo The Major is apparent from Act. 17. 25. God giveth to all life breath and all things The Minor is proved thus He that is himself given is not the giver of all things He that is the gift of God is himself given Ergo The Major is undeniable for otherwise the same would be the giver of all things and yet not the giver of all things inasmuch as he himself a principal thing is given which implyeth a contradiction The Minor needeth no proof Moreover a gift is in the power and at the disposal of the giver but it is gross and absurd to imagine that God can be in
Spirit searcheth the depths of God as Rom. 8. 27. he intimateth that God searcheth the heart of the Spirit but to search the depths of any one necessarily supposeth one understanding in him that searcheth and another understanding in him-whose depths are searched as is evident not onely by collation of other places of the Scripture as 1 Pet. 1. 11. Rev. 2. 23. but even by common sense dictating to every man so much that none can without absurdity be said to search the depths of his own understanding Whence the Apostle going about to illustrate what he had spoken of the Spirit of God by a similitude drawn from the spirit of a man doth not say that the spirit of a man doth search but know the things of a man though his former words did seem to lead him thereunto Argument XII He that hath a will distinct in number from that of God is not God The Holy Spirit hath a will distinct in number from that of God Ergo The Major is irrefragable The Minor is asserted thus He that willeth conformably to the will of God hath a will distinct in number from that of God The Holy Spirit so willeth Ergo The Major is plain for conformity must be between twain at least else it will not be conformity but Identity The Minor is confirmed by Rom. 8. 26 27. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what to pray for as we ought but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with grones unutterable But he that searcheth the hearts knoweth the minde of the Spirit for he maketh intercession for the Saints according to the will of God Neither let any man here reply that there is no mention made in the Greek either of the will of the Spirit or of the will of God For first the word intercede which signifieth to make suit for something implyeth both the will of him that maketh the suit for if he did not will the thing he would not make suit for it and also the will of him to whom the suit is made for were he not endued with a will it would be bootless to make suit unto him all suits whatsoever being made to bend the will of him to whom they are made so that this without any more sufficiently sheweth that the Holy Spirit hath a will distinct in number from that of God since the one sueth the other is sued to at the same time and for the same thing Secondly the word {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} in English rendred Mind doth here signifie the same with Will or Desire as appeareth from the 6. and 7. verses of this Chapter and also from the verb {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} whence it is derived which signifieth to Affect Will Desire Pursue see verse 5. of the same chapter and Col. 3. 2. Thirdly though the Greek hath {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} according to God yet is this in the judgement of the English Translators themselves the same as if it had been said {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} according to the will of God neither can any other commodious interpretation be put upon the words But this passage of the Apostle doth further afford us a second and third impregnable Argument of the Holy Spirit 's being inferiour to God For first he is here said to make intercession for us as we before urged his praying to Christ Argument 9. and that with grones unutterable which is not so to be understood as if the Holy Spirit were here said to help our infirmities onely by suggesting petitions and groanes unto us as is commonly but falsly affirmed for the very words of the context sufficiently exclude such a gloss since they say that the Spirit himself not we by the Spirit as we have it in the 15. verse of the same chapter maketh intercession for us yea vicarious intercession as the Greek word {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} signifieth But to help others infirmities by making intercession and what is more vicarious intercession for them is not to instil petitions into them but to pour out petitions apart in their behalf as is apparent both from the thing is self since none can intercede for himself all intercession at least such as is here spoken of requiring the entermise of a third person and by the Collation of verse 34. of the same Chapter and 1 Tim. 2. 1. Heb. 7. 25. Neither let any man think to baffle off this place which is written with a beam of the Sun and hath together with that Joh. 16. 13 14. quite nonplussed not onely Modern Authors but the Fathers themselves by saying that this is improperly spoken of the Holy Spirit for besides that he hath no other ground to say so but his own preconceived opinion touching the Deity of the Holy Spirit he ought to know that the Scripture though it speaketh some things of God in a figure and improperly yet doth it nowhere say any thing that argueth his inferiority to and dependance on another But this passage of the Apostle plainly intimateth that the Holy Spirit is inferiour to God and dependent on him otherwise what need had he to make intercession to God and that with grones unutterable for the Saints Secondly the Holy Spirit is here distinguished from him that searcheth the hearts and this description is made use of to put a difference between God and the Holy Spirit but how could this be done were the holy Spirit also a searcher of the hearts For can a description that is common yea alike common to twain for so the Adversaries hold concerning God and the Holy Spirit be set to distinguish the one from the other For instance to prepare the Passover for Christ is an action common to Peter with John for they twain were sent by Christ to that purpose and did accordingly perform it see Luke 22. 8 13. wherefore can a description taken from this action be fit to difference Peter from John and is it suitable to say He that prepared the Passeover for Christ was a greater Apostle then John would not this plainly argue that John did not prepare the Passeover for Christ So that it is apparent that the Holy Spirit is not a searcher of the hearts If therefore it would not follow that the Holy Spirit is God although it had been said in the Scripture that he searcheth the hearts unless he had such a faculty originally and of himself for nothing hinders but that God may confer it upon others as we see by the Scripture that he hath de facto conferred it on Christ having given him all judgement and that because he is the Son of man John 5. 22 27. for such judgement requireth that he be a searcher of the hearts If I say it would not even then follow that he is God how clearly how irrefragably doth it on the contrary follow that he is not God but hath an
understanding distinct from and inferiour to that of God inasmuch as he is distitute of such a perfection as the searching of the hearts which is inseparable from the divine majesty These two considerations have I added at the close of my twelfth Argument because they are not so much new Arguments as props and further confirmations of the ninth and eleventh Arguments An Exposition of Mat. 28. 19. GO ye therefore and make all the Nations Disciples so the Original hath it baptizing them into the name so it is also in the Original of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe whasoever I have commanded you Into the name of the Holy Spirit that is into the holy Spirit by a circumlocution usual in the Scripture see Act. 19. 5. And when they had heard they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus compared with Rom. 6. 3. Know ye not that as many of us as have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into his death And into the Holy Spirit that is into the guidance of the Holy Spirit Thus the Jewes are said to have been all baptized into Moses for so the Greek hath it 1 Cor. 10. 2. So that our Saviour's words amount to thus much Initiating them into the confession and obedience of God the Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of the Father and of the Holy Spirit the Advocate and Guide of all the Truth Now the Holy Spirit is mentioned together with God and Christ because he is their chief instrument whereby they guide govern sanctifie and endow the Church and to intimate that whereas men before they gave their names to Christ lived according to the Prince of this world the unclean Spirit that worketh in the Children of disobedience they ought henceforth being sequestred from the world and admitted into the Church to resign up themselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit whom God and Christ appoint and send to order and direct the Church Neither can it be rightly inferned that because the Holy Spirit is here ranked with the Father and the Son therefore he is equal to them by this account when the Apostle 1 Tim. 5. 21. saith I charge thee Gr. I obtest before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect Angels that thou observe these things without prejudice doing nothing by partiality joyning the elect Angels with the Father and the Son in so great a matter as obtestation to excite an Evangelist to do his duty with sincerity this would imply that the elect Angels are equal to the Father and the Son Nor doth it follow that because it is said not into the names but into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit therefore they three have but one Name power or dignity since by the like reasoning I might argue that because Christ Luke 9. 26. saith Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when he shall come in the glory of himself so it is in the Greek and of the Father and of the Holy Angels therefore the Father the Son and the Holy Angels have but one and the self-same glory For that the Holy Spirit is not ranked with the Father and the Son as being equal to them is evident by other punctual places of the Scripture as 1 Cor. 12. 3 4 5 6. Eph. 4. 4 5 6. where when the mention of him is joyned with that of the Father and of the Son he is expresly and emphatically excluded from being either that one God or that one Lord of Christians by being contradistinguished from both but if he be neither that one God nor that one Lord of Christians as the Apostle not onely in the fore-quoted places but elsewhere also plainly testifieth see 1 Cor. 8. 5 6. Yet to us there is one God the Father of whom are all the things and we for him And one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all the things and we by him he cannot be equal to the Father and the Son but is onely the chiefe Minister of both peculiarly sent out to Minister on their behalf that shall inherit salvation An Exposition of 1 John 5. 7. For there are three that bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Spirit and these three are one It would have been hard if not impossible had not men been precorrupted that it should ever come into any ones head to imagine that this phrase are one did signifie have one Essence since such an exposition is not onely contrary to common sence but also to other places of the Scripture wherein this kinde of speaking perpetually signifieth an union in consent and agreement or the like but never an union in Essence To omit other Sacred Writers this very Apostle in his Gospel chap. 17. verse 11. 21 22 23 useth the same expression six times intimating no other but an union of agreement yea in verse 8. of this very chapter in his Epistle he useth it in the same sence For though the expression variech somewhat in the ordinary Greek Testaments in that the preposition {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} is prefixed although the Complutensian Bible readeth it {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} in both verses yet is the sence the same this latter being spoken after the Hebrew idiome the former according to the ordinary phrase for confirmation whereof see Matth. 19. comparing verse 5. and 6. together in the Original wherefore this expression ought to be rendred alike in both verses as the former Interpreters did it though the latter Interpreters in verse 8. have rendred it agree in one putting the glosse in stead of the Translation So that this place maketh nothing for them that hold the Holy Spirit to have one and the same Essence with the Father unless they can prove that those who are one in agreement must likewise necessarily be one in essence or that two or three cannot be one but it must presently be in essence I omit for the present to speak of the suspectedness of this place how it is not extant in the ancient Greek Copies and namely in that famous one of Tecla here in England nor in the Syriack Translation nor in most ancient Books of the Latine edition and rejected by sundry Interpreters both ancient and modern An Exposition of Act. 5. 3 4. BVt Peter said Ananias why hath Satan filled thy heart to lye to or deceive the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the Farm while it remained remained it not to thee and being sold was it not in thine owne power why fast thou conceived or put or purposed in thy heart this thing Thou hast not lyed to men but to God In this passage the Holy Spirit is neither expresly as every one seeth nor by good consequence called God For admit the ordinary Translation were true as it
is not yet would it not presently follow because Ananias by lying to men endued with the Holy Spirit for even Piscator in the words acknowledgeth and the words themselves according to this Interpretation imply a Metonymie of the adjunct the Holy Spirit being put for men endued with the Holy Spirit lyed not to men but to God that there fore the Holy Spirit is God because in lying to them that are endued with the Spirit of God one may lye to God and yet neither they nor the Spirit in them be God but onely the messengers of God for what is done to the messengers redoundeth to him that sends them see 1 Thes. 4. 8. John 13. 20. Luke 10. 16. But if any man look more narrowly into the words he shall finde that the verb {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} is construed in a different manner namely with an accusative verse 3â— and with a dative verse 4. with an accusative it signifieth in Greek Authors to bely pretend or counterfeit thus Lucian in his Pseudomantis {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} nomen quoddam mentitus counterfeiting a certain name This being so the words are to be rendred thus Why hath Satan filled thy heart to bely the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price that is Why hast thou skffered the unclean Spirit so to prevail with thee as that thou shouldest sell thy Farm and lay down this money at his suggestion as appeareth in that thou hast purloined part of the price and not laid down all and yet to bear us in hand that thou didst it at the motion of the Holy Spirit thou hast not lyed to men but to God that is assure thy self that this dissimulation of thine is not so much to us as to God himself whose Servants we are This Exposition is not onely agreeable to the Greek context and scope of the place but is also seconded by Erasmus Calvin and Aretius But if any man will contend that though {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} be not here rendred to lye unto as I have not yet met with an instance where it is so rendred when an Accusative is put after it yet the other signification set in the Margin of our English Bible is altogether to be admitted and I confess I have in good Greek Authors found the word so used and the place to be rendred Why hath Satan filled thy heart to deceive the Holy Spirit This will overthrow the opinion touching the Godhead of the Holy Spirit For if the Holy Spirit be God then will it be all one as if it had been said Why hath Satan filled thy heart to deceive God Which seemeth to be blasphemy for it importeth either that God may be deceived or else that Satan or at least Ananias thought so otherwise he would not have purposed in his heart to do it But what force or use if this Interpretation of {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} be admitted will those words have And to keep back part of the price and also those While it remained remained it not to thee and being sold was it not in thy power For these expressions argue that Ananias pretended to have received a command from the Holy Spirit to sell his Farm and lay downe the price thereof at the Apostles feet and so did not deceive or lye to but bely the Holy Spirit and consequently was guilty not onely of coverousness in keeping some of the money back but also of Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit in fathering upon the Holy Spirit that which was injected into his heart by the unclean Spirit For he alike Blasphemeth the Holy Spirit who doth with Ananias wilfully father the works of the Devil upon the Holy Spirit as he who with the Pharisees Mat. 12. 24. wilfully ascribeth the works of the Holy Spirit to the Devil An Exposition of 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. What know ye not that your body is the Temple of the holy Spirit that is or dwelleth in you whom ye have from God and ye are not your own for ye have been bought with a price Wherefore glorifie God both with your body and your spirit which are God's Whereas it is objected by some out of this place that the holy Spirit is God in that our body is said to be his Temple I answer that it would follow could it be proved that our body is so the temple of the holy Spirit as to be his by the highest interest and primarily dedicated to his honour for every one will confess our body to be God's in such a manner But these things are so far from being intimated in this passage yea that our body is at all his by interest or dedicated to his honour both which are here affirmed of God contradistinctly from the Spirit as that the contrary may from thence not obscurely be evinced For after the Apostle had hinted in what respect our body is the Temple of the holy Spirit to wit by inhabitation for so much is implied by those words that is or dwelleth in you since descriptions in sacred Writers are not idle and impertinent he addeth that we have the Spirit from God thereby implying that he is disposed of and given by God to us and consequently he is ours by interest not we his and accordingly concludeth from thence that we ought with our body to glorifie not the Spirit but God who is openly distinguished from the Spirit and declared to be the Proprietor of our body An Exposition of Matth. 12. 31. All sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men but the blasphemy against the holy Spirit shall not be forgiven For the Objection drawn from hence that the sin against the holy Spirit is unpardonable I answer that the sin against the holy Spirit is not therefore unpardonable because he is God for this the Scripture nowhere acknowledgeth and besides by the same reason every sin against God would be unpardonable but because he that sinneth against the holy Spirit doth in the same act sin against God for every sin against whomsoever committed is terminated in God with an high hand to wit either by slandering and opposing such works whereof a man is convinced in conscience that God hath wrought them by the holy Spirit as the Pharisees did or by renouncing and opposing such Truths whereof a man is convinced in conscience that God hath revealed them by his holy Spirit as the Renegadoes did who are mentioned by the Author to the Hebrews Chap. 10. 25 26 c. which things are the greatest affronts that can be offered to God who useth the ministery of the Spirit in none but things of the highest importance and maketh the clearest discovery of himself as to his Power and Majestie by him Hence it cometh to pass that a sin against the Father or the Son may be forgiven but not a sin against the holy Spirit inasmuch as it is also against the greatest light For God