the Spirit searches all things yea the deep things of God It follows because he cannot be sent as Servants are by their Masters or Ambassadors by their Lords since in that mission there is always some dependency there is a Superior and inferior there is one Major and one Minor which can never be found in God it follows I say by a necessary Consequence he being sent from the Father and the Son it is because he proceeds from both You may further urge the Holy Ghost is not truly and properly God therefore he doth not proceed from the Father and the Son according to the manner as it is believed in the Church of England The Antecedent appears by these words of St. John When 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 he speak and will shew you things to come From whence I thus argue First He that doth not speak of himself supposes another distinct Person from whom he hath received Instruction but the Holy Ghost doth not speak of himself therefore he supposes another distinct Person from whom he hath received Instruction therefore he is not truly and properly God because he that is truly and properly God cannot suppose any other Person from whom he should receive Instruction Secondly He that speaks what he heareth supposes another Person speaking distinct from him that heareth but the Holy Ghost speaketh what he heareth therefore he supposes another Person speaking distinct from him therefore he is not truly and properly God because he that is truly and properly God cannot suppose any other Person speaking unto him from whom he could receive Instruction this being contrary to the Nature of the true God The Major Proposition of these two Arguments is clear and certain the Minor is from St. John therefore it follows that the Holy Ghost is not truly and properly God and consequently that he doth not proceed from the Father and the Son as the Church of England believes Answ I grant that the Holy Ghost doth not speak of himself but speaks what he heareth he being not of himself but of the Father and the Son however it doth not follow but that he is truly and properly God But before I make it appear it is necessary to observe that the Holy Ghost is sometimes taken for God himself sometimes for a divine Quality sometimes for a Person really distinct from the Father and the Son First He is taken for God himself God is a spirit John 4. 24. For God being Holy and a Spirit it is evident that he is holy Spirit and Reciprocally he that is called holy Spirit per Excellentiam and without dependency is God For these Terms God and holy Spirit are really one and the same thing as likewise these following Eternal Lord Creator Conservator They differ only in reference to the different effects which we apply them to God is named Eternal because he is without Beginning and Ending Is called Lord because of his Power over all things Creator because he made them of nothing and Conservator because he keeps them from returning into nothing And he is called Holy Ghost per Excellentiam because to speak properly none but he is truly Holy and because he receives his Holiness from no body all other Creatures whatsoever have their holiness by Communication and Dependency In that sence the Holy Ghost is not really distinguish'd from the Eternal Father but only per Intellectum or in as much as the Definition which is ascribed to the Eternal Father is different from that of the Holy Ghost as the Eternal is distinguish'd from the Creator For although it be really one and the same thing yet our Understandings conceive the Eternal otherwise than the Creator in as much as the Eternal is a Being without beginning and ending and the Creator is a first and Independent Cause who produced all things out of nothing Therefore in that sence the Holy Ghost being not really distinguish'd from the Eternal Father we cannot say that he proceeds from him because it would follow that one and the same thing should be supposed at the same time existing and not existing existing because we conceive it to be so and not existing because in that instance of Reason when we should conceive it proceeding from the Father it should not be existing which is contrary to Reason since there is no instance of Reason wherein we can conceive the true God not to be Therefore it follows that the Holy Ghost in the aforementioned sence doth not proceed from the Father Secondly He is taken for a divine Quality as when the Holy Ghost said unto those of Antioch Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them We must conceive it was God who spake these words but because God did all this by that Power within him which is his Spirit therefore these words and actions are attributed to the Holy Ghost in that sence likewise the Holy Ghost is not really distinguish'd from the Eternal Father and consequently is not proceeding from him Thirdly He is taken for a Person really distinct from the Eternal Father and that he is so is evidently proved by these Texts Grieve not the holy spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption and by this to the Romans The spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered and by that of the first to the Corinthians The spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God For Grief is certainly a personal Affection of which a quality is not capable We can understand what is an interceding Person but we have no apprehension of interceding and groaning Qualities and we understand also that to search is a property belonging to a Person and not to a Quality You will urge that it is ordinary in the holy Scripture to find the like Expressions which are proper unto Persons given unto those things which are no Persons as when the Apostle saith Charity suffereth long and is kind charity envieth not vaunteth not it self c. All which personal Actions are attributed to Charity which is no Person but belonging to that Person which is charitable because that Person which is so qualified doth perform those Actions according to and by the vertue of that Charity which is in him In the same manner personal Actions are attributed to the Holy Ghost which is no Person but only the Virtue Power and Efficacy of God the Father who is a Person and doth perform those personal Actions attributed to the Holy Ghost by the Virtue Power and Efficacy in himself which is the Holy Ghost Answ This giveth no satisfaction for there are several personal Attributes given in the holy Scriptures expresly to the Holy Ghost which cannot be ascribed to God the Father as for Example to make Intercession is a
Children were circumcised now since Baptism is in the place of Circumcision weare to baptize young Children since they were circumcised and seeing Circumcision which was a Ceremony and divine Institution did neither require Doctrine nor Repentance in young Children though it were necessary in adult Persons as it appears in Abraham and in all others who turned Jews even so Baptism which is a Ceremony and a divine Institution doth neither require Faith nor Repentance in young Children although it doth in adult Persons Which is confirmed by the words of St. Matthew where it is said that They brought unto Jesus Christ little Children that he should put his hands on them and pray and that the Disciples rebuking them Jesus said suffer little Children and forbid them not to come unto me for of such is the Kingdom of God From whence I argue thus To whom do belong the things signified unto them belong the Signs also as the Crown which is the Sign and Mark of Royalty belongs to him to whom the Kingdom belongs but unto little Children belongs the Kingdom of God as it is written in St. Matthew 19. 13. Therefore unto them belongs Baptism which is the Sign of the entring into that Kingdom For except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Therefore young Children born with original sin as it appears in several places of the holy Scripture but especially by these words of St. Paul to the Romans By the Offencof one Ju dgment came upon all men to Condemnation are not to be deprived of Baptism lest they should not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven which is the Reason that St. Cyprian and Austin have so often declared the Baptism of little Children to be necessary Moreover if they brought unto Jesus Christ young Children and he put his hands on them and prayed for them why shall they not bring unto him little Children in the Church Why shall not the Minister pray for them And why shall he not confer unto them the Ceremony or the Institution of Baptism as Jesus Christ gave unto little Children the Ceremony or Institution of Imposition of hands I ask this Question whether the Ceremony of Imposition of hands was in vain or whether they received by it some particular Grace from Christ Ye will not say that it was in vain because then Jesus Christ in whom were hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledg would not have used it if they received by it some special Grace notwithstanding their want of Repentance and Faith which they were not then capable of why shall not young Children now receive the Ceremony of Baptism and thereby all Graces annexed unto it though they be not capable of Faith and Repentance When a Father or Mother were baptized all those of the Houshold were baptized also as it appears in the Acts where it is said that Lydia a seller of Purple of the City of Thyatira was baptized and her Houshold and that the Keeper of the Prison was baptized he and all his And in the first Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians St. Paul saith that he hath baptized the Houshold of Stephanus but it is probable though not convincing that in so many Families there were Children And since our Fathers and their Children were baptized in the Cloud and in the Sea and they being the Figures of our Baptism as is evident by St. Paul that that which is by them figured may be accomplished the Children now ought to be baptized in the Baptism of Jesus Christ Object It is forbidden in several places of the holy Scriptures to Swear or to take an Oath Ye have heard that it hath been said to them of old time thou shalt not forswear thy self but I say unto you Swear not at all neither by Heaven c. But let your Communication be yea yea and nay nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh o evil and in the Epistle of St. James Above all things my Brethren swear not lest ye fall into Condemnation But the Church of England is not against swearing or taking an Oath yea she uses and maintains it lawful therefore she believes and practises an Article forbidden in the holy Scripture therefore she is not the holy Catholick Church Before I give an Answer it is necessary to know that an Oath is an Invocation to God or an Appeal to him as a Witness of the Truth of what we say so that in case that that we swear be not true we if not expresly at least virtually invoke God as a Judge and Avenger There are two sorts of Oaths one Assertory and the other Promissory an assertory Oath is when we promise by Oath something that is Future and if our promise be made directly and immediately to God 't is called a Vow if to men an Oath That being supposed I Answer That an Oath is not only lawful but also is sometimes necessary as when mens Estates are concern'd and no Evidence can be had to decide and clear the matter but what is assured by Oath Then it is necessary to make an end of and decide the Controversie as it appears by these words of St. Paul An Oath for Confirmations is to them an end of strife And its lawfulness appears by several Texts of the holy Scripture wherein God who is truth it self and cannot lie and consequently might be believed of men upon his bare word and without necessity of making an Oath yet to confirm his promises is willing to take it For when God made the Promise to Abraham because he could not swear by a greater he sware by himself And verse 17. God willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his Counsel confirmed it by an Oath Therefore if God himself swears and takes an Oath why shall it not be lawful to men to take an Oath in dubious matters and of great Concern and when no Evidence can be had to decide and clear them Was not Mephibosheth spared because of the Lord's Oath that was between them between David and Jonathan the Son of Saul Did not the Law of Moses in many cases require them Doth not St. Paul use them oftentimes as when he saith God is my witness I call God for a Record upon my Soul Before God I lie not Which Oaths St. Paul who was to teach the Precepts of Christ to others should not have used if they had been unlawful and forbidden in the holy Scriptures And Christ himself as ye may read Mat. 26. 63 64. did not refuse it when the High-Priest asked him to answer upon his Oath whether he was the Son of God I adjure thee saith the High-Priest by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ the Son of God and Jesus said unto him thou hast said Therefore seeing Jesus Christ himself doth answer when he is
Comparison between that Infinite Eternal and Independent Being and what is Finite Temporal and Dependent He therefore who did truly think himself equal with God as being in the form of God must be conceived to subsist in that one infinite eternal and independent Nature of God And therefore as here Christ was really and essentially man of the same Nature with us in whose similitude he was made so certainly was he also really and essentially God of the same Nature and Being with him in whose form he did subsist This truth is confirmed by these words of the 1st of John We know that the Son of man is come and hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true and we are in him that is true even in his Son Jesus Christ this is the true God and Eternal Life And by these of St. Paul to the Romans Out of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever From whence we may infer that he who was truly subsisting in the form of God and equal with him before he was in the Nature of man and who is called God and the true God the Almighty and that in all those ways by which the supreme Deity is expressed hath an eternal and indivisible Essence and Nature with God But Christ was so and is so called therefore c. Moreover is it not written in your Law saith Christ Ye are Gods Are not these the very words of the eighty second Psalm If God himself so spake or the Psalmist from him if this be the Language of the Scripture if Kings and Magistrates and they be called Gods unto whom the Word of God came may we not say with greater Reason of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the World and in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily that he is God We grant That the Father is the true God we grant that God only is to be worshipped and served Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Therefore we must grant that the Son also is the true God since we are commanded to worship him and the same honour is given to him as to the Father which is seen by these words Let all the Angels of God worship him and by these of John Who hath committed all Judgment unto the Son that all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father If then we be obliged to worship the God of Israel only if we be also commanded to give the same worship to the Son which we give to the Father or to the God of Israel it is necessary that we should believe that the Son is the God of Israel and consequently truly and properly God Which is seen clearly by these words of Austin upon those of St. John All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made Neque enim dicit omnia nisi quae facta sunt id est omnem Creaturam Vnde liquido patet ipsum factum non esse per quem facta sunt omnia si factus non est Creatura non est si autem Creatura non est ejusdem cum Patre substantiae est Omnis enim substantia quae Deus non est Creatura est quae Creatura non est Deus est Et si non est Filius ejusdem substantiae cujus est Pater ergo fact a substantia est si facta substantia est non omnia per ipsum facta sunt at omnia per ipsum fact a sunt unius igitur ejusdemque cum Patre substantiae est ideo non tantum Deus sed verus Deus That is For he doth not say all things but the things which are made to wit all Creatures From whence it appears clearly that he by whom all things were made was not made And if he was not made he is not a Creature if he be not a Creature he is of the same substance with the Father for every substance which is not God is a Creature and that which is not a Creature is God And if the Son be not of the same Substance with the Father then he is a Substance made if a Substance made all things were not made by him but all things were made by him therefore he is of the same Substance with the Father and consequently he is not only God but true God Which is confirmed by these words wherein he is said to exist before all things for if he was not true God he should be a Creature if a Creature we could not say that he is before all things because he who should have created him should have his Existence before him for every Creature supposes a Being antecedent from whom it hath received its Existence Since therefore he is said to be before all things it is because he is the true God for none but the true God can be said properly to be before all things every Creature having its Being of him and he neither hath nor can have his Existence from any thing whatsoever having it of himself from all Eternity Object The Church of England believes as an Article of Faith that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son and though they can make it appear that he proceeds from the Father from the words of St. John 15. 26. yet they cannot prove that he proceeds from the Son I answer as before to wit that these words the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son are not found distinctly in the holy Scripture but yet are inferr'd from it by clear and necessary Consequences So these words of Jesus Christ All things that the Father hath are mine and those of the 17. Chapter All mine are thine and thine are mine prove this evidently for if it be true as it is granted by all Divines viz. That all things that the Father hath the Son hath likewise the Relation of Paternity only excepted the Father producing the Holy Ghost it follows that the Son doth produce him also and consequently that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Son as he proceeds from the Father This is manifested by these words of St. John It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart part I will send him unto you And by that of the 15. When the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father For if ye suppose what ye do already believe and as I will make appear in the sequel of my Discourse viz. That the Holy Ghost is God as it is declared by the words of the 5th of the Acts To lie to the Holy Ghost is to lie unto God and as it appears by the essential Attributes of the Godhead ascribed unto him as the Sanctification of Souls and Omniscience For
personal Action and this Action is attributed to the Spirit of God as it appears by these words of St. Paul Because he maketh intercession for the Saints according to the Will of God But to make Intercession is an Act which cannot be attributed to God the Father for it would follow that the Father should make Intercession to himself which is absurd because he that maketh Intercession is supposed to be distinct from him to whom he maketh Intercession Moreover To come unto men as being sent unto them is a personal Action but the Comforter or the Holy Ghost did come being sent as it is seen by these words of St. John When the Comforter is come whom I will send you from the Father and if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you ergo the Holy Ghost cannot be ascribed in this place to God the Father since God the Father sendeth but is never sent And to speak and hear are personal Actions and both together attributed to the Holy Ghost in such a manner as they cannot be attributed to God the Father as it appears by those words of John When 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 he shall speak Now to speak and not of himself cannot be attributed to God the Father since he doth all things of himself And to speak what he heareth cannot be also attributed to God the Father who can receive no Instruction from another Seeing then the Holy Ghost speaketh and not of himself and speaketh what he heareth it followeth evidently that he is not God the Father neither a divine Quality which cannot be said properly to speak and hear but that he is a Person distinct from the Father Now that the Holy Ghost as a Person really distinct from the Father is truly and properly God appears by these words of St. Peter for when Peter said Ananias Why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Ghost He repeateth the same Question in reference to the same Offence Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God He means there the true God as it appears by these words Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God For when he saith Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God it is as if he should say thou hast not lied unto Creatures since men are Creatures but thou hast lied unto him who is no Creature and consequently unto him who is true God And if the Holy Ghost could be taken sometimes for a Creature this Proposition of St. Peter To lie to the Holy Ghost is to lie unto God would not always be true therefore St. Peter speaking without distinction and without a limited sence 't is to prove that this word Holy Ghost is never taken in the holy Scripture but for the true God Moreover to whom the divine Attributes do belong as certainly as they belong unto God the Father he is truly and properly God because these are divine Attributes which are properties of the Divine Nature and none can be indued with to whom the Nature of God doth not belong But the divine Attributes as Omniscience the Sanctification of Souls and the like do belong as certainly unto the Holy Ghost as they do unto God the Father therefore it followeth that the Holy Ghost is truly and properly God and consequently that he proceedeth from the Father and the Son as it is declared in the Symbole of Nice Obj. The Church of England doth neither believe nor practice all that is contained in these words viz. Abstain from meats offered to Idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication therefore she is not the holy Catholick Church since the holy Catholick Church is that that believes and practises the whole Christian Doctrine as I have made it appear already Answ This Commandment was in the time of the Primitive Church but was abolished by the Apostles Because the Jews would not eat things strangled nor Blood the Apostles enjoyned that the Gentiles embracing the Christian Religion ought in Charity to Conform herein to the Jews and not give Offence where the thing was it self indifferent Wherefore St. Paul saith If meat make my brother to offend I will eat no flesh while the World standeth lest I make my brother to offend But now this Commandment is past and abolish'd by the Apostles and therefore it is not true that the Church of England doth believe and practise any thing contrary to the holy Scripture For the-better understanding of this Truth we must know that in these words enjoyned to the Gentiles embracing the Christian Religion to wit Abstain from pollution of Idols and from Fornication and from things strangled and from blood there is something bad in it self and something bad by Accident something bad for a time only something belonging to the Moral Law and something belonging to the Ceremonial The thing bad in it self for ever and belonging to the Moral Law is to abstain from Idolatry and from Fornication and the thing bad by accident for a time only and belonging to the Ceremonial Law is to abstain from things strangled and from Blood Now it is certain that to abstain from Idolatry and Fornication is a part of the Moral Law seeing it is written Thou shalt have no other Gods but me and thou shalt not commit Adultery It is also true that these things are bad of themselves and for ever because they were forbidden in time past are now unlawful and shall be for time to come which appears by these words of St. Paul to the Corinthians Neither Fornicators nor Adulterers shall inherit the Kingdom of God 'T is likewise certain that to Abstain from things strangled and from Blood belongs to the Ceremonial Law it is also without doubt that it was abolished as it is seen in these words of St. Paul Whatsoever is sold in the Shambles that eat asking no question for Conscience sake for the Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof if any of them that believe not bid you to a Feast and ye be disposed to go whatsoever is set before you eat asking no question for Conscience sake And by these to Timothy where it is said that Every Creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving and forbidding to abstain from meats is a doctrine of Devils And by these to the Romans I know and am perswaded by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of it self but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean to him it is unclean And that ye may not say that these words of St. Paul were written before those of the Council held at Hierusalem or of the 15th of the Acts the