〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OR A TREATISE OF THE HOLY GHOST IN WHICH The God-head of the third Person of the Trinitie is strongly asserted by Scripture-Arguments And defended against the Sophisticall subtleties of JOHN BIDLE BY Mr. Nicolas Estwick B. D. somtime Fellow of Christ-Colledg in Cambridg and now Pastor of Warkton in the Countie of Northampton LONDON Printed by William Du-gard for Ralph Smith and are to bee sold at the Sign of the Bible in Corn-hill neer the Royal-Exchange 1648. THE PREFACE THe sublime Argument touching the unitie of the God-head and the Trinitie of the Persons is of that high concernment that it obligeth Christians to lay themselvs out to the uttermost in the search of the means in the which it hath pleased the Lord to reveal himself that wee might have right apprehensions of him partly because it is very dangerous and attended with sad consequences to have erroneous conceptions in this to-bee-adored subject and partly because no subordinate truths can bee more profitably learned whether wee respect the information of our judgments the reformation of our lives or our sound consolation in every condition In this licentious age wherein Heresies with more boldness the more is the pitie are not onely privately vented but printed and exposed to publick view then in former ages whereby many unwary and ungrounded Readers are infected with leprosie in their heads and their judgments are corrupted as other wicked phancies for want of humilitie knowledg in Scripture Arts and Tongues and due respect to the word of God and the testimonie of ancient and modern Divines have been broached so hath the fundamentall Article touching the Deitie of the holy Ghost been questioned yea plainly contradicted Many months passed before I had a sight of Mr. Bidle's abhorred lines nor did I so much as desire to read them but when I heard by the relation of a very learned man and of much observation touching these times that those twelve Reasons did a great deal of hurt I then used the means to get a sight of the Book and I saw it was Sophistically penned and plausibly contrived to do much mischief and when I could not hear that any of the learned which have far better abilities more leasure and encouraging accommodations then I have would spend their precious time in convincing this Adversarie of God I resolved by the grace of the Spirit of God to vindicate what lie's in mee his honor in shewing partly the weakness partly the blasphemie of his twelve Reasons to shew him if it may bee the danger of his Heresie and to clear the alledged Scriptures from his Sophistrie and to hold forth that little light which the blessed Spirit hath freely imparted to mee to the bettering of the understanding of the simple Readers There have been many erroneous opinions no fewer then six in my knowledg and 't is not unlike but there are many more touching the blessed Spirit the holy Ghost it is not fit nor safe for mee to set down a Catalogue of them lest unawares which is far from my intention som vain and unsound Christians in these unsettled daies should take an occasion to err from the beaten way of truth and others which have tender consciences should bee offended with the stinch of these rotten Heresies when they are presented to them yet necessary it is that I should set down my Adversaries tenet that the Reader may know it and that I may more punctually address myself to answer him and this hee hold's That the holy Ghost is a creature a finite person the prime and chief of all the good Angels as the Divel by an unhappy excellencie is called the chief of all the evill Spirits An ancient Heresie this is in the Church of Christ condemned both by the single testimonie of many famous Doctors and by a generall Synod at Constantinople which hath been alwaies honored and was held by the Summons of Theodosius the first more then twelve hundred and threescore years ago O blessed God! bee not angry with mee I beseech thee who am but sinfull dust and ashes for adventuring to speak of thy glorious Majestie Pardon I humbly pray for my Saviors sake all my sinfull apprehensions of thine unconceivable Greatness accept graciously my sincere intentions to promote thy glorie and guide mee O my God! that I may alwaies as a weak and sinfull creature ought to do both think and speak and write of thy glorious Majestie with holy fear and lowly reverence and instruct mee O thou blessed Spirit of Truth that I may readily untie the Sophistical knots of carnal and humane reason which in pretence are grounded on the truth of thy Word and yet there is no truth in them nor any divine word for them And enable mee to maintain thy Greatness against a wretched man which dare's stand up and both boldly and publickly argue against thine ever to bee adored Deitie The Deitie of the holy Ghost proved by Scripture and Argument True Arguments grounded on the Word of God whereby the Deitie of the holy Ghost is fully proved and such passages of Scriptures which are excepted against by the Adversarie are examined and clearly refuted Argum. 1 Maj. HEe that hath the names of God absolutely attributed to him is God Min. The Holy Ghost hath the names of God absolutely attributed to him Concl. Ergò the holy Ghost is God The Major is clear for albeit the name of God bee given to Angels Psal 8. 6. Heb. 2. 7. and to Magistrates they are Gods to whom the Word of God came Psal 82. 7. that is to whom by divine vocation the office of Magistracie is committed yet either this is not spoken in the singular number I said yee are Gods whereas the true God without contradiction is but one or when it is spoken singularly it is not without limitation Moses I have made thee a God to Pharaoh Exod. 7. 1. Every man may readily conceive that a made God is is not a true God or with such an affixed limitation that a simple man can hardly mistake I have said yee are Gods yet they are but mortal Gods for as is threatned there They must die like mortal men but the true God is immortal So that in all the Scriptures wee shall not finde the names of God asscribed to any creatures without addition limitation or correction of speech nor is this denied by the Adversarie The Minor is proved first more obscurely Gen. 1. 1. God creäted A word not of the singular or dual but plural number and that is also with a word of the singular number God creäted because God is but one in nature but in regard of the manner of beeing there are three Persons And in verse 26. of the same Chapter God saith Let Vs make man after Our image that is in the image of the holy Trinitie these and many like to these are alledged out of the old Testament and justified to bee pertinent to prove this
finde that the translation is not true for the verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ver 3. is construed with an Accusative case and with a Dative ver 4. and so it is to bee translated to bely and counterfeit the holy Ghost which is to bear us in hand that thou laidest down the money at the motion of the holy Ghost herein thou hast not lied to men but to God Answ The Adversarie would perswade the Reader that hee by his observation of the text had found out a fault in our common translations whereof the Authors out of their ignorance or inadvertencie took no notice if so hee think's hee is utterly mistaken for all translators ancient and of later days had the text before their eyes and saw the difference which is here noted by this Author and yet did purposely translate the words thou hast lied to the holy Ghost as holding forth the genuine meaning of the Spirit of God som excepted which yet for the point of controversie in hand proved out of this very Scripture are professed Adversaries to you Beza after hee had rendred the words to deceive or mock i. e. endeavor to deceive the holy Ghost I might add what others say hee retract's and go's in the steps of common translators Why I might say from others It 's not unusual amongst the Grecians to understand a preposition which is not expressed Hee saith because the 4th ver where the Dative case is used is an explication of the 3d. ver Besides the Hebrews do somtimes confound these whence these expressions benedico te evangelizo te which the Grecians derived from the Hebrews and the Latine Authors from the Grecians Besides in one manuscript I found the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so have the Syrian and Arabian Interpreters read it Lastly because this interpretation which is followed by Erasmus to say they counterfeited the holy Ghost seem's to mee not to bee full They were indeed notorious hypocrits but Peter by the sequele accuseth them of a far higher crime that when as by the motion of the Spirit they had sold a parcel of ground and consecrated it to the Church they afterward kept back a part thereof as if in that case they had not to deal with God but with men which could not discover this their sacriledg and so they are in this regard said to tempt the Spirit of God Further were it granted that your translation were sound and that the words ought to bee so interpreted as you have don this neither hinder's us nor further's you none ever dreamed by the common translation to correct the meaning of the text that they might have an Argument thence to confute the Adversaries of the holy Ghost hee needeth not our lie to defend his cause But the strength of the Argument is not from the words singly taken ver 3. but from them and the explication of them in the fourth and ninth verses you counterfeit the holy Ghost to bee the Author of this fact and this is expounded to bee a lying to God viz. to God the holy Ghost whom you have counterfeited hee speaking in us and discovering this hypocrisie of your heart which you litle dreamed off And your exposition of the words as they stand in your Book is of that nature that albeit I have perpended it as exactly as I can yet do I conceive nothing in it but I may readily subscribe to it I am sure it nothing crosseth the Argument Thus much for the first Argument Argum. 2 Maj. Hee to whom religious worship is truly exhibited is God Min. The holy Ghost is hee to whom religious worship is exhibited Concl. Ergò The Major is not denied by the Adversarie and is evident of it self and strange it is to mee that any learned men which do acknowledge the Deitie of the holy Ghost should avouch as they do that there is neither precept to worship him nor any clear example in the Word that hee was worshipped 'T is a certain rule the sacred Persons of the Trinitie which are undivided in nature must bee likewise undivided in worship for any one to say the holy Ghost is God and with the same breath to profess their doubting whether hee is to bee worshipped is to speak contradictions and 't is all one as to acknowledg a King and to deny him honor and this is to make him a titular King and in truth no King at all The Minor is proved thus the holy Angels of God do worship him they worshipped the Lord of hosts Esa 6. 3. Holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts Heb. 1. 6. Whether the Prophet Esay understood this mysterie or not 't is not material to the point in hand nor whether their thrice chanting out holy implied the sacred Trinitie Yet why might not that bee intended But the Angels beeing intellectual substances worshipped they knew what and beeing confirmed in holiness they onely worshipped a fit object of worship and had they or sinful men worshipped the highest creature with religious adoration would not hee as the Angel in the revelation have rejected it and said See you do it not I am your fellow-servant but the Angels worshipped the holy Ghost I prove the blessed Apostle and irrefragable Interpreter inform's us that the Lord of hosts who put words into the mouth of Esay was the holy Ghost Act. 28. 25. Well said the holy Ghost by Esaiah the Prophet and as the Son of God is directly prayed unto Lord Jesus said Stephen that blessed martyr receive my Spirit Acts 7. Lord Jesus com quickly Apocal. 22. So is likewise the holy Spirit Awake thou North-winde and com thou South blow upon my garden that the Spices thereof may flow out O blessed Spirit breathe into my heart that by the love of God and my neighbor it may send forth a sweet savor Cant. 4. 16. The blessed Spirit of God is compared to the winde that as the winde blow's where it list's so doth the Spirit of God blow where hee will regenerat's whom hee pleaseth John 3. 8. And to this intent it is that S. John prayeth grace and peace not onely from God the Father and from Jesus Christ but also from the seven Spirits Apocal. 1. 4. The Spirit is but one in nature but it is said to bee seven that is manifold in regard of the distribution of many gifts which are from the Spirit and more plainly 2 Corinth 13. 13. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the holy Ghost bee with you all And this Argument is asserted by Justin Martyr as I have shewed in answer to your thirteenth Argument and by Clemens Alexandrinus at the end l. 3. Paedag. used in the ancient Liturgies and practised by the reformed Churches Sancta Trinitas miserere O holy Trinitie have mercie To these I may add this consideration that wee are the Temples of the holy Ghost It 's God onely that hath a Temple and
the Second and Third Persons are not so called by the name of God nor is this concession to your advantage The Father is so called chiefly for these two reasons First because hee is God of himself and from no other Person hee is often stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without a principle of beeing so are not the Son and the holy Ghost Secondly because hee is the principle and the fountain communicating the Deitie to the Son and the holy Ghost and yet when it is said Wee have one God and it is immediatly subjoyned the Father this is not spoken by way of exclusion but inclusion of the Son and the holy Ghost for the Son is in the Father and so is the holy Ghost too All creatures and particularly Idol-Gods are excluded from beeing God for God is opposed to Idols in the later place and I suppose you will not take the Son of God and the holy Ghost to bee Idols Besides the text might have lead you to this construction for it is said Wee have one Lord Jesus Christ will you rashly exclude God the Father from beeing our Lord will you deny that hee hath dominion over us And if the Father bee included in this term Christ is our one Lord why should not the Son bee included in the former one God And as for the other places the works recited there do prove the holy Ghost to bee God the the 3d. Argument followeth Argum 3 Maj Hee that hath the incommunicable properties of God is God Min The holy Ghost hath the incommunicable properties of God Concl Ergò The Major is confessedly true and need 's no proof the Minor is confirmed by a few instances and if it can bee proved that but one of them belong's to him it 's virtually proved true of them all for all are but one in truth and nature and one is all First the holy Ghost is omniscient not onely in that hee lead's his servants into all truth Joh. 16. 13. Esa 40. 13. hee is true the Spirit of Truth and the Fountain of Truth but chiefly is this confirmed because hee searcheth all things yea the deep things of God 1 Corin. 2. 10. which no creature can do Secondly because hee is essentially and powerfully present every where The holy Prophet took this as an undeniable truth Psal 139. 7. Whither shall I flee from thy Spirit This Interrogation as appeareth also by the enumeration of places most distant one from another heaven and hell implieth a peremptory assertion that hee could go no where no not in his thoughts but the Spirit of God was present there and yet is hee not included or circumscribed in any places as bodily creatures or limited as the nature of Angels is Basil de Spir. San. c. 22. Advers This beeing a pinching Argument and easily apprehended to bee very forcible by slender capacities must seemingly bee answered and the wound which his cause receive's thereby must have a skin drawn over it though it is not curable by the art of man Thus hee saith By this reason the devil is omnipresent for hee steal's the Word sowen in a thousand places at once hee dwell's in all wicked men Let them answer to these and then I will tell them how the Spirit though hee is not omnipresent may bee in all the faithful at once Answ 1 First I must tell this Disputant that though hee saith much and enough to prove our assertion yet it is not so full as it ought to bee for the Argument holdeth forth this truth That God's Spirit is not onely in the hearts of his children but there and it is their happiness that hee is essentially there where they shall never bee Hee is every where Answ 2 Secondly I observe that though many lines are penned in answer to the question yet positively doth hee assert nothing at all Hee leave 's us to guess at his meaning to prevent absurdities with which hee might have been pressed if hee had told us how the holy Ghost a creature is in all the faithful and how the chief Devil is in all the wicked now possibly hee hath a starting hole and may say hee hath no such meaning It became a plain dealing man desirous to have the truth revealed to him as hee pretend's to bee to have opened his minde clearly and not to have left the Beader in suspence touching this particular You tell us and this is all you say that what wee can answer against the Omnipresence of the Devil you will apply the same Answer to our Objection And will you so indeed Shew mee then out of the Word of God in any place that the holy Ghost hath his beeing by creätion and not by eternal procession I can plainly prove and this you will not deny that the Devil and his Angels were creäted of God and were good in the instant of their creätion Shew mee out of the Word of God that it is any where thus spoken the holy Ghost and his Angels as it is said expresly the Devil and his Angels Wee read indeed that Michaël and his Angels did fight with the Dragon and his Angels Revel 12. Whosoever is meant by Michaël and there are several interpretations thereof yet none did so much as dream of the holy Ghost whom you make the Prince of Angels Shew mee out of the Word of God that the Devil and his Angels are every where as it is said expresly of the holy Spirit If you mount up into heaven are they there Are they not thrust headlong from thence never to bee re-admitted to the pure and blessed place Are they in the bottom of the sea or in the places of the earth which are not inhabited unless by restraint If in an instant you were placed there you might truly say that you fled from the Devil's presence and could be som where and the Devil not there Shew mee out of the holy Word that inferior good Spirits which as Guardians and Protectors do lead the servants of God into all truth that they do sanctifie them and that in the Scripture phrase they dwell in them and that it is not one onely holy Ghost that doth all these and as you your self contend The Person of the holy Ghost is given together with his gifts Argum. 7. but I can shew you that it is not one individual Devil but they are innumerable principalities and powers against which God's servants must fight as against enemies with whom they must make no peace and which do damnably seduce guid and hold in woful captivitie all sinners A legion of Devils was cast out of one man every one of these wicked Spirits is a Devil a Satan hee is like a similar bodie as a bone every one is a Devil Advers Whereas you object that one lying Spirit seduced four hundred Prophets 1 King 22. 23. and add that there is the same reason of four hundred and four millions To this I say speak out man doth one wicked
of your Argument and then will particularly applie it Somtimes the Superior heareth the Inferior thus God is frequently said to hear the praiers of his servants made in faith Somtimes the Inferior hear's the Superior and that is don many waies not onely by his bodily ears but by understanding what formerly was not known or when the judgment is more perfectly informed in a point before not fully known or beleeving what till that voice came was not beleeved or hearkning to the counsell or obeying the will and pleasure of God Somtimes an equall hear's an equall as common experience shew's If wee speak of the first acceptation God's hearing us and answering of us according to the tenor of our praiers then I appeal to your judgment and you must needs give sentence against your self that in this sense your Major is false If you speak of hearing in the second sense I grant your Major is true because so to hear argueth ignorance in whole or in part forgetfulness dulness slackness or plain neglect if not contempt of dutie which wee do all confess are inconsistent with the infinite knowledg and transcendent excellencie of the great God If you take it in the third sense an equal hearing an equal then I denie your Major for God the holy Ghost which heareth from God the Son is equal to him Advers The Minor say you is proved John 16. 13. Answ My answer is by advising that the words of the text may bee well observed the words run not thus Whatsoever the Spirit knoweth hee will speak but whatsoever hee heareth and this is likewise spoken of Christ John 8. 26. and 15. 16. Obj. This is not to bee understood as if the holy Ghost did hear any thing corporally and thus is hearing properly taken and for such a hearing I suppose you will not contend Sol. Nor secondly is it to bee taken of hearing viz. by revelation by which hearing hee should learn that which formerly hee knew not It 's indeed spoken that hee was that hee is and that hee shall bee if it had been onely said hee was one might have conceived that now hee is not If it had been said hee is onely it might have been thought that hee had not been alwaies If it had been onely said hee shall bee it might bee thought hee is not now Time past present and to come are asscribed to God yet not as to men to denote a beginning continuance and end of time for actions are said to have been which now are not and that they shall bee which now have no existence at all but when they are spoken of God there is no limitation of time at all God so hath been that hee is and shall bee hee shall bee yet so that hee is and hath been and this is to bee applied likewise to the hearing of the holy Ghost Hee hath alwaies heard and hee doth hear And in the future time it 's said in this place hee shall hear This hearing saith S. Austin Tractat. 99. in Joan. is everlasting Hee hath known hee doth know and hee will know His hearing is his knowing and his knowing is his beeing hee hath heard from him hee doth hear from him and hee will hear from him from whom hee proceed's so Austin And hee cal's the opening of this text John 16. arduam nimis arduam quaestionem This bee spoken to prevent that scruple in that it is said Hee shall hear Som of ours clear the words thus Whatsoever the holy Ghost shall hear that shall hee speak which import's thus much those things which the Father will have revealed to us those things and no other will hee reveal to us the truths which the Spirit shall reveal to us are truths received from God the Father the Spirit feign's nothing hee alter's nothing hee pervert's nothing The paraphrase of the text in the former Argument will dispell the foggie mists of this reason Advers The Major saith hee is proved thus Hee that is taught is not God Hee that heareth from another what hee shall speak is taught The Major is proved Esa 40. 13 14. Answ 1 To this I answer if you had not been infatuated you would have omitted that text in Esay for it directly overthroweth your assertion and expresly teacheth us that none have taught the Spirit of God But I answer Secondly hee that is taught properly that is learn's what hee formerly knew not is not God I readily assent for God's knowledg is infinite and cannot bee increased But how can you prove that the holy Ghost is taught by comparing say you John 8. 26 28 together Christ is taught by hearing This is but a very weak bul-rush it hath no strength at all in it This must needs bee your consequence in som places of Scripture and not onely so but even in common reason hee that heareth is taught therefore must it needs bee so taken John 16. 13. Is not this a wild inference That Scripture John 8. 26 28. speaketh not of the holy Ghost but expresly of Christ and then it must bee spoken of him either as God or Mediator man If in the former way then the text furthereth not but marreth your Argument if in the later then it is unfitly alledged for albeit a creäted substance by hearing another may properly bee taught yet far bee it from us to conceive that the Creätor the supreme God can learn what hee knew not Advers But saith hee let a man turn himself every way yet shall hee never bee able to make it out to a wise man that any can hear from another what hee will speak who is the prime Author of his speech Answ Well I see M. Bidle is a wise man in his own eies and all Christian men in the world besides himself and a handful of seduced ones are no better then fools but if hee had well perpended that text quoted by himself out of Esa 40. 13 14 15. hee would not have concluded the great God the three sacred Persons which are one Almightie God within the shallow compass of his brains I perceive hee is alwaies wrapped in the briars and cannot possibly extricate himself because hee apprehendeth not the meaning of that common distinction of God the holy Ghost as God for in this respect hee hath infinite knowledg of himself and of God the holy Ghost as hee is the holy Ghost for so doth hee receive knowledg and wisdom from God the Father and God the Son yet I pray let this bee remembred so as hee was never ignorant and life yet so as hee never wanted life and power yet so as hee was never weak because these persons communicating essence to the holy Ghost did communicate life power and knowledg So that the holy Ghost hath knowledg not by learning but by proceeding and all the creatures which hear and are taught they are taught by the holy Ghost And whereas hee illustrate's as hee think's his Assertion by a comparison taken from
know when hee make's others know Now saith hee to Abraham I know that thou fearest mee Gen. 22. 12. Advers None say you can intercede for himself but this action require's a third person Many Scrip heaped up Answ I denie this assertion To intercede is a general word and of that latitude that somtimes a man intercede's for himself and somtimes for others as the occasion or text will hold out the meaning either to the later or to the former And thus the Spirit interpellat orat or as others translate the word postulat clamat when hee make's us intercede pray and crie to God and those three words as som say are but one thing called by different names 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 praiers when wee lay open to God our wants the same praiers are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because by our praiers wee testifie the desires of our hearts to God and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intercessions because wee do not pray diffidently and fearfully but in an humble familiaritie wee speak to God and do go boldly to the throne of grace Com. in locum The praiers which 1 Tim. 2. are intended Rom. 8. 26. are of that nature that whether they bee directed to God for ourselvs or for others as wee are bound to pray both for our selvs and others are intercessions interpellations or appellations but yet they are not formally as School-men speak the praiers of the holy Ghost but they are his as an efficient cause thereof they are the praiers which the holy Ghost enableth his servants to make both for themselvs and others Touching the many Scriptures which you have unconscionably heaped up together to prove that intercession is alwaies for another I briefly answer by freely yielding that in those places which you have recited The praiers are made or intreated to bee made for other men but will it therefore follow that in all other texts which mention praier the Scripture is to bee so expounded Nothing less And if by virtue of those words in the texts fore-named a Christian had no ground to pray for himself hee must not then follow that maxim and approved rule Charitie begin's at home hee must onely pray for others never for himself for in som texts you have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 15. 30. Colos 4. 12. and in som other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 2 Corinth 1. 11. Ephes 6. 18. which is such a dotage as never entred into the brains of an advised Christian Advers Albeit say you the Scripture speake's many things after the manner of men yet never what argueth inferioritie and dependencie on another Answ I grant this is a truth when rightly expounded it 's but a begging of the question or but a vain supposition to take for granted that the holy Ghost doth truly pray which is constantly denied Your Conclusion is proved by a false medium although it cannot bee denied but the Lord not out of any power of ours but out of a gracious condescension to us out of his free goodness doth somtimes in the Scripture speak as if wee base and feeble creatures were able to encounter with God yea and to overcom him as Jacob wrastled with God and hee could not prevail over him Gen. 32. Jacob as a Prince had power not onely with men but with God and let mee alone saith the Lord to Moses that I may consume transgressing Israël Exod. 32. The praiers of Moses did as it were binde the hands of the Almightie that hee could not smite his people and that is yet a higher expression Esa 45. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord is as it were at the command of the praiers of his servants and many the like gracious expressions might bee named so that neither head nor foot neither Argument nor Inference hath any soundness in it ARGUMENT 10. 10 Argum. of M. Bidle Hee in whom men have not beleeved and yet have been Disciples and Beleevers is not God Men have not beleeved in the holy Spirit and yet have been so Ergò The Major is plain for how can any bee Disciples Beleevers according to the phrase of Scripture and yet not beleeve 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 Beleevers Ergò They have not beleeved in the holy Spirit and yet have been Disciples and Beleevers The Antecedent is apparant from Acts 19. 2. The Consequence is grounded on that of the Apostle Rom. 10. 14. How shall they beleeve on 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 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is meant not the Person but the Gifts of the holy Spirit Hee besides that hee perverteth the plain and genuine meaning of the words and speaketh without example doth also evacuate the emphasis of the Particles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which imply that these Disciples were so far from having received the Gifts of the holy Spirit whereof wee may 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 been so doth quite decline it For it is incredible that hee who was so intent and vigilant in propagating the Truth as that casually seeing an Altar at Athens inscribed to the unknown God hee presently took a hint from thence to preach unto the Heathens 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 Deitie of the holy Spirit but suffer them to remain in ignorance touching a point of such consequence that without the knowledg thereof if wee beleeve many now adaies men cannot bee saved Certainly the Apostle had greater care both of the truth of God and the salvation of men then to do so ANSWER Answ This Argument as the rest is so captiously and ambiguously propounded that I judg it expedient before I do punctually answer it to put down as I take it three undeniable Conclusions the one of them is touching the predicate or later part the other two touching the subject or antecedent of the Proposition Conclus 1 The first Conclusion wee are to consider of God absolutely as hee is plainly revealed in the Word and accordingly acknowledged by all those which are in outward covenant with him that hee is true God the ever-living God the onely wise and powerful God c. Thus in the Chaldean language in Jer. 10. 10 11. both for a caution and instruction to the Jews when they should bee captives there 't is said The gods that
individual Spirit seduce all the wicked by himself If you dare not say so why is this example alledged yea and by your own silence your cause is lost I dare tell you that the holy Spirit sanctifieth with his gracious presence all the Saints that are in the world Nor is the reason alike betwixt those four hundred and all the wicked men in the world for they were assembled together in one place and all of them of one Spirit but suppose these four hundred had been severed and placed in so many remote Kingdoms will you have the forehead to say that one Spirit could seduce them all at once The former I grant may bee done by a creäted Spirit but not possible the later Argum. 4 Maj. Hee that is simply superior to Christ as man is God Min. The holy Ghost is so Concl. Ergò hee is God The Major is clear by the confession of the Adversarie for hee ranketh Christ in the second order next under God and the holy Ghost below Christ in the third rank and rightly if his supposition had been true for the humane nature simply considered beeing assumed into the person of the Son of God is neerest the cause and fountain of all greatness and is thereby exalted far above the state and condition of the highest Angels but hee is said to bee made lower then they are onely for a short time in regard of his sufferings Hebr. 2. from which those blessed Spirits were exempted The Minor is proved by those very Arguments whereby you endeavor to prove the holy Ghost to bee inferior to God First because Christ in this notion is sent of the holy Ghost The Lord God sent mee and his holy Spirit Esa 48. 16. I know som of ours do expound this of the Prophet Esay the Spirit sent him and so do the Hebrews suddenly change the Person saith Oecolampadius without any necessitie because they do abhor the mysterie of the Trinitie but wee saith hee with Catholiques do avouch that these are the words of Christ as the whole context evinceth But let that text bee meant so or otherwise It 's clear by Fsa 61. 1. applied to Christ Luke 4. 18. The Spirit of the Lord hath sent mee to binde up the broken hearted to preach the Gospel Secondly hee that receiveth of another is inferior to him of whom hee receiveth and dependent on him these are your own expressions but the humane nature of Christ receive's from the Spirit it's beeing for hee was conceived by the holy Ghost Matth. 1. and was anointed by him with abundant gifts without measure Luke 4. 18. To these I add that the holy Spirit by his mighty power raised Christ corporally from death Rom. 8. 11. as hee doth his people spiritually from the death of sin Lastly because it is a greater sin which is committed against the holy Ghost then that is which is committed against the Son Mat. 12. 31 32. this is pardonable the other shall never bee forgiven Advers To this last objected place you frame this Answer The sin against the holy Ghost is unpardonable not because the holy Ghost is God but because hee that sinneth against the holy Ghost doth in the same act sin against God with an high hand against his conscience renouncing the truth as the Renegadoes did Hebr. 10. 25 26. which things are the greatest affronts that can bee offered to God who useth the Spirit in none but in things of greatest importance Answ I grant the sin against the holy Ghost is not therefore simply unpardonable because it is simply against God for so are all sins and yet are they not the unpardonable sin and they are in a proper and true sense against the holy Ghost even the sins of his own people and hee is said to bee grieved for them Ephes 4. 30. and the sins of the wicked for which hee will bee revenged on them Esa 63. 10. But yet this I do peremptorily avouch unless the holy Ghost were God and equal to the Father and the Son of God it could not bee the greatest sin that was committed against him as the immediate and ultimate object thereof I will on your own principles argue against you for the fuller confirmation of this point I take this for a granted Maxim that the unpardonable sin is a sin and of necessitie must bee a sin against the holy Ghost This Assertion cannot with reason be denied Upon this supposition of yours that the holy Ghost is a creature I argue thus That the unpardonable sin may bee committed and yet the holy Ghost not at all sinned against First because the first and universal cause can immediatly of himself without the intervening of any creature so far enlighten a reprobate that this sin maliciously committed against this light shall bee for nature the very same every way as heinous and as unpardonable and yet not all against the holy Ghost It is true instruments are God's hands and as they can do nothing without God so God ordinarily will not work without them but is Gods hand shortened Can you give any reason why hee cannot do the same work without the creatures which is instrumentally produced by them Secondly suppose the Lord will not work thus immediatly by himself cannot hee imploy an Angel inferior to the holy Ghost about this work of illumination Cannot hee so far elevate this blessed creature above it self touching the former state and actuate his abilities that hee shall as a means under God so far enlighten man as is don at other times by the holy Ghost And the blessed Spirit in the mean time according to your profane opinion reside in one place and not intermeddle at all either to command or have any influence on this Angel in this imployment or if there should bee a deficiencie still in this creature which is very unreasonable to imagine cannot the great God supply the defect thereof In this case wee have the unpardonable sin committed and yet not at all committed against the holy Ghost Thirdly I confute you from this Scripture Matth. 12. on which our Argument is grounded The holy Ghost say you is God's Messenger and hee is sent as God's servant to enlighten men at the same time this great God send 's his Son also as his Messenger for so hee is often called but the holy Ghost is never called his Son this Son of God as you grant is next unto God himself higher and greater then the holy Ghost and besides which is another advantage to strengthen the Argument the holy Ghost is invisible the Son of God present's himself visible to them and his Person is directly and purposely scorned and abused by them and 't is not easie to bee proved that they had the like mischievous intentions and malicious purposes against the Person of the holy Ghost Judg now impartially whether is the greater sin and which in likelihood is the sin most unpardonable Whether the Lord will bee more offended
for a sin against the servant against a Person inferior to the Son then for a sin against the greater and against his wel-beloved Son And if a man bee not bereft of common sense hee must need 's conclude against this Disputant and therefore since the sin against the holy Ghost is unpardonable but the sin against the Son of God is not unpardonable as the text sheweth it must of necessitie bee yielded that the holy Ghost is God and superior to Christ as hee is man as hee is Mediator Fourthly if the holy Ghost were not God the sin committed against him could not bee the greatest sin Can a sin immediatly committed against a creature bee greater then that which is directly against the Creätor Doth not the greatness of the Person against whom the sin is committed aggravate the offence and make the sin to be so much the more heinous as the Person wronged by it is the greater Is not a sin against God which is a breach of the first Table greater I mean of an equal comparison then a sin against the 2d Table as this sin whereof wee treat must bee if it bee a sin against the creature I deny not but they that sin against a creature do sin against God whose authoritie and law forbidding it are slighted but shall therefore an immediate sin against the workmanship of God bee as you contend the more heinous then that which is against the great God himself I might tell you that you do onely say that this sin through the holy Ghost doth strike at God himself as a superior object thereof You can never prove that this sin is not terminated in the holy Ghost but for Argument sake grant it At the Assises as I remember malefactors are indicted for sinning against our Soveraign Lord and his Laws but is it as great a sin as that which is immediatly against his Majestie Suppose supreme Authority send 's Ambassadors to a forain Prince and they are disgraced and killed 't is your own comparison Argum 4 this redound's I deny not very much to the wrong of the supreme Authority and 't is don and interpreted to bee don to them not for their own but for his sake Suppose again a King should send more honorable Ambassadors then the former as Balak did to Balaam and joyn in commission with them his chief favorites was not the same sin committed against these later servants greater then the former But suppose a King himself should go in his own Person about the same business and they should e-equally contemn him was not the affront now and sin committed of a deeper die Give me leave Christian Reader to endeavor to explicate in as few words as may bee how the sin is said to bee against the holy Ghost It is an undeniable truth that all the actions of the divine Persons those onely excepted which are ad intra of intrinsecal relation are the joynt and undivided works of the three Persons because there is not a multiplied but one divine essence and the unitie of their working depend's on the unitie of the power which is all one with the essence Gregor Nazianz. Orat. de Theolog. Yet the blessed God is described in Scripture by a gracious condescending to our dull capacities which are unable to conceive the distinction of the Persons in the unitie of the God-head but by a distinction of their operations to us-ward and hence it is that the great works of Redemption Creätion and Sanctification are severally attributed to the several Persons not in a way of opposition but distinction which the School-men call Appropriation Thus power is asscribed to the Father because hee is the principle of the Son and of the holy Ghost and therefore because the mightie power of God is manifested by Creätion the Father is frequently stiled the Creätor Wisedom is asscribed to the Son of God because hee is termed conceptus Sapientiae hence is it that Redemption wherein the manifold wisedom of God is seen is appropriated to the Son hee is called Redeemer Goodness is asscribed to the holy Ghost because hee proceed's from the Father and the Son per modum amoris hence the good things of God which are communicated to us are appropriated to him hee is called our Sanctifier And for the same reason are sins thus distinguished there is a sin of Frailtiness and that is said to bee against the Father who is Power there is a sin of Ignorance and that is said to bee against the Son who is the Wisedom of God and there is a sin of Wilfulness and Malice and that is said to bee against the holy Ghost who is Goodness Bonav p. 1. Quaest 39. Art 8. This is a reason why this sin is unpardonable it 's a sin by appropriation both against his Person and his Gifts 't is not a sin of weakness nor a sin of ignorance no nor every gross sin against knowledg no nor every apostasie from the truth against the known truth for som may fall away either out of fear of the loss of their goods or lives or for preferment nor a few of this kinde have bewailed their follies have obtained pardon and proved glorious Martyrs but this is a sin wittingly and willingly and out of cankred malice committed against God the Father Son and a I said by appropriation against God the holy Ghost and his great work in their hearts and whereby they offer contumelie and despite to the Spirit of Grace and so will hee never give them the grace to repent Adver You say that God useth the Spirit but onely in things of greatest importance By this your saying you give your Reader a hint to suspect that you think every sin committed against God's Spirit is that unpardonable sin against the holy Ghost Speak out is not this your meaning if not so to what purpose should you say God never useth the Spirit but in matters of greatest importance If so I demand then who can be saved For every good man grieveth the blessed Spirit and sinneth against him I add this your Conclusion is such a Paradox which hath searce dropped from the pen of any Christian man You think belike that the Spirit is like to Arch-angels which are said to preside over Kingdoms and great Personages onely but the care of singular mean persons is under God committed to the Angels You think it seem's the Spirit work 's not but to bring forth a male-childe of whom the woman hath been long in travel to bee delivered for whom the Church hath sighed much and made many prayers to God to give her a Christian orthodoxal King or Emperor or to divert the rage of the persecutors of the Saints and to procure rest to the Church to raise up men of heroical spirits and parts to reform the Church or such like Belike then they that have but one talent or two talents or mean men which have but a low degree of sanctifying graces are not
Lord yet are there not three Lords but one Lord saith the Athanasian Creed I am the Lord and there is none else there is no God besides mee and it shall bee known from East to West that there is none besides mee and there is none else Isa 45. 5 6. ARGUMENT 3. 3 Argum. of M. Bidle Hee that speaketh not of himself is not God The holy Spirit speaketh not of himself Ergò The Minor is clear from John 16. 13. The Major is proved thus God speaketh of himself therefore if there bee any one that speaketh not of himself hee is not God The antecedent is of it self apparant for God is the primarie Author of whatsoever hee doth but should hee not speak of himself hee must speak from another and so not bee the primarie but secondarie author of his speech which is absurd if at least that may bee called absurd which is impossible The consequence is undeniable For further confirmation of this Argument it is to bee observed that to speak or to do any thing not if himself according to the ordinarie phrase of Scripture is to speak or do by the shewing teaching commanding authorising or enabling of another and consequently incompatible with the supreme and self-sufficient Majestie of God Vid. John 5. 19 20 30. ch 7. v. 15 16 17 18 28. ch 8. v. 28. 42. ch 11. v. 50 51. ch 12. v. 49. 50. ch 14. v. 10 24. ch 15. 4. ch 18. 34. Luke 12. 56 57. ch 21. 30. 2 Cor. 3. 5. ANSWER Answ Hee that speaketh not of himself say you is not God I denie this your Major Proposition for though in a sense the Spirit of God speaketh not of himself yet is hee truly and properly God nor will I content my self with a bare denial of it which is enough for an Answerer but I will give you the reason hereof nor need I go far for a proof this Verse in John alledged by you might have taught you this truth for the person here is called by an excellencie the Spirit of truth and which lead's the Apostles and the Faithful into all truth the heavenly truth of eternal salvation This leading into truth is all one for substance with that translation of others shall teach you all truth And that which is in the Hebrew Psal 86. 11. lead mee thy way 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Septuag render it with the same word which the Evangelist useth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now this is properly a work of the great God and that which was long before fore-told They shall bee all taught of God John 5. 45. Can any thing bee more plainly spoken It is not denied but one man is said to bee a teacher of others Matth. 28. Go and teach all Nations And this is don two waies principally if not onely vel proponendo auxilia Aq. 1. 117. q. either by proposing to scholars general helps whereby the scholar is led as it were by the hand to the knowledg of unknown truths as by general rules sensible examples lively similitudes and such like to help the understanding or else by strengthning the understanding of the learner by shewing him how hee should deduce conclusions from principles but when a creature hath don all that hee can to the utmost of his power hee cannot infuse light into his scholars and elevate their minds to apprehend divine truth Let the Sun shine never so bright yet a blind man cannot see it and wee are taught to call no man Master on earth Mat. 23. So God alone is the fountain of illumination hee sitteth in his chair in heaven who teacheth our hearts on earth Object Besides if wee consider the condition of the Apostles to speak onely of them though they bee not the onely persons on whom that promise run's they were to bee dispest over all the known Regions of the world and if so how should a creature bee with them all as you do hold the holy Ghost to bee and assist all their mouths and pens infallibly in every place Sol. Surely to do so require's not onely celeritie but ubiquitie which is a propertie of the true God but incompatible to the condition of a creature which is finite as in essence so likewise in place and operation Nor will that shift serve the turn which is used by this Author in answer as hee saith to that grand Objection touching the Omnipresence of the holy Ghost by comparing this with the Parable of the Sower where Satan is said to snatch the Word of the hearts of hearers in ten thousand places at once for this is fallacia non parium The holy Ghost which dwell's in all the godly and leadeth them into all truth is one individual Spirit but it neither is nor possibly can bee one individual Devil which acteth his wickedness in all the wicked ones at once for there are millions of them dispersed every where in this lower Region of the world full of malice and policie to do mischief and every one of them is a Satan Wee read of the Devil and his Angels but you do not read of the holy Ghost and his Angels though I grant they are his Angels as creäted and commanded by him but not so as the Devil's Angels are his as a superior creature having rule over fellow-creatures I will once again propound your Major Hee that speaketh not of himself is not God This Proposition is not universally true I grant in this sense it is true hee that speaketh not of himself but what hee learn's by revelation and in time and what hee did not know from all eternitie hee is not God but such a kinde of hearing from another hath no place in the holy Ghost and therefore the Proposition if it bee taken generally is denied and the reason of my denying it is this because it is a propertie of the Father as to bee of and from himself the Fountain and the Principle as Divines do usually speak though not properly the cause of the Son of God and of the holy Ghost for then they should bee effects which sound 's harshly the Father is I say of himself and communicate's the Essence and the essential properties to the Son and both Father and Son to the holy Ghost who is eternal infinite omnipotent and omnipresent Our learned Junius hath observed a three-fold consideration of a Person one common in essence as the Person is God the second consideration as it is singular and absolute in Person as saith hee it subsist's in the unitie of the Essence the third is relative in the distinction and order of one Person to another contra Bellar. Controv. 2. l. 1. Praefat. let the Learned judg of these the last is to my purpose Now as the Persons do differ in the manner and order of subsisting so likewise though the outward action bee the same and common to all the Persons yet in the manner of working wee must conceive a difference Give mee leave to clear this
received truth by solving the strongest Objections which are framed against it Objection 1 Neither the Father nor the holy Ghost but onely the Son of God did assume our nature and this is an outward work to this it is answered that onely the Son of God became man yet the whole Trinitie did frame and work to the assumption of the humane nature illustrated thus Three do weave cloth to bee worn of one of them onely inchoativè it belonged to all the Persons terminativè it was personal and proper to the Son of God Objection 2 If it bee said onely the Father spoke from heaven This is my welbeloved Son so it is said not because all the Persons did not frame that voice but because the words were uttered in his Person the Father alone is said to speak those words because they related to the Son of God the thing signified did alone appertain to the Person of the Father nor is this rule crossed by the apparition of a Dove Objection 3 The holy Ghost alone descended and appeared to the Apostles in fiery cloven tongues because those visible Symbols did onely signifie the Person of the holy Ghost which the three Persons by one undivided operation did produce Mark then albeit the work bee the same and 't is from all the Persons yet is there a difference in the manner of working the Father and the Son as they are the Fountain of the Person of the holy Ghost so likewise are they the Fountain of the operations of the holy Ghost When wee read this expression then the holy Ghost speak's not of himself wee must not conceive that phrase to import any diminution of the Majestie of the holy Ghost nor doth it implie that hee is not God that hee is inferior to the first Person of the Trinitie hereby our Savior would teach the Disciples for they are his own words in John that they should not think the holy Ghost to bee greater then the Son of God albeit his works in the hearts of his Apostles should bee greater then those which hee whiles hee visibly conversed with them had wrought in them Nor should they think that the holy Ghost should bring any new Doctrine but the truths taught by him are the truths of God the Father there is a plenary consent of the Doctrine of the holy Ghost and of God the Father that which the holy Ghost speak's from the Father hee had not in time but by eternal procession from the Father and the Son of God There is no diversitie at all in the work in it self considered but the order of externally working answer's to the order of the divine Persons thus is the holy Ghost said not to work from himself but from the Father and Son By this which hath been spoken his reasons are already answered yet a word of them Advers God speak's of himself The holy Ghost speak's not of himself Ergò hee is not God Answ There is nothing but homonymies in both Propositions but I answer to this Objection God essentially taken speak's of himself and thus the holy Ghost as hee is God speak's of and from himself but if you take it thus by a reduplication of the Subject by a specificative limitation the holy Ghost as the holy Ghost is not of himself in regard of his Person but from the Father and the Son and in this regard speak's not from himself yet is a holy true God blessed for ever Advers If God say you speaketh not from himself hee should not bee the primary Author of his speech but the secondary and this is absurd impossible Answ I deny the consequence which is true when wee speak of causes subordinate to superior causes or of instrumental causes but the holy Ghost is not an instrument either separate from or conjunct with the first Person Hee is not inferior in dignitie or power to God the Father and God the Son for there is but one divine Essence subsisting in the three Persons which are not the subject of the Deitie for they are one God in Essence and so the prioritie of the first Person is in regard of the order of working without inferioritie in the third Person whether wee regard the Persons relatively and considered or the work produced by them It is needless for mee to spend time in examining the many particular places alledged by him for som of them do directly speak of the creatures and those are impertinent for what call you this The holy Ghost that speak's not from himself is not God why Because the same phrase is used of a creature or else they speak of Christ as God and then they are already answered I add that som of those expressions are so far from proving Christ not to bee God that they do strongly evince the Deitie of the Son of God I conclude in S. Austin's words Whatsoever the Father is as hee is God as hee is a substance as hee is eternitie the same is the Son of God and the holy Ghost If you will say What riddles are these I answer How litle is it that wee conceive of God Wee can have better apprehensions of God then wee can make expressions of him and hee is transcendently above both our apprehensions and expressions of him ARGUMENT 4. 4 Argum. of M. Bidle Hee that heareth from another what hee shall speak is not God The holy Spirit doth so Ergò The Minor is plain from the fore-cited place John 16. 13. The Major is proved thus Hee that is taught is not God Hee that heareth from another what hee shall speak is taught Ergò The Major is clear by Esay 40. 13 14. compared with Rom. 11. 34. 1 Cor. 2. 16. The Minor is evidenced by John 8. where our Savior having said in the 26. verse Whatsoever I have heard from him the Father these things I speak In the 28. verse hee expresseth the same sense thus According as the Father hath taught mee 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 hee please yet shall hee never bee able to make it out to a wise and considering man how it can possibly bee said that any one heareth from another what hee 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 Embassador hee is it being proper to an Embassador to bee the Interpreter not 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 ANSWER Answ I answer first in general by distinguishing of this word hearing which is the basis and ground
office Saul and the Messengers of Saul prophesied amongst the Prophets 1 Sam. 19. And that hee is yet more fully revealed in the New Testament you cannot denie although you do boldly and wickedly denie his Deitie Well then if these Ephesians never heard of the holy Ghost either it was because they never had sufficient means to instruct them in that profound mysterie and do you think that this is very probable for they had or might have had the writings of the Prophets and if they were baptized by John doth not hee expresly speak of the holy Ghost Christ saith hee should baptize with the holy Ghost Matth. 3. 11. Or might they not have repaired to som Christians in som place or other for a further instruction in the faith Or if they never heard of the holy Ghost it is else because albeit they had som means of knowledg this way yet did they not regard them or sufficiently profit by them Take it which way you will and in neither of the waies is there any strength in the Argument to prove your odious assertion but it argue's clearly that you are given up by the just judgment of God to strong delusions to beleeve lies How could it else have entred into your heart to think that the ignorance of a few untaught Christians should bee a sound proof to overthrow a truth which was unanimously imbraced by sounder Christians Shall God's truths bee no truths because som sinfull and ignorant persons do not know them Nay rather you should thus have reasoned since this was a divine truth preached by John the Baptist and afterward more fully taught by Christ and his Apostles therefore without wavering much more without contradicting them I will submit to their better judgment The Argument by this which is already spoken is fully answered yet I will follow the Adversaries steps and gather up his mistakings for the better satisfaction of the Reader Advers If any shall say by the holy Spirit is meant not the Person but the gifts of the Spirit besides that hee speak's without example hee evacuate's the emphasis wee are so far from receiving the holy Ghost that wee have not heard whether there bee an holy Ghost or not Answ First let the Reader observe how the Adversarie is possessed with the spirit of giddiness in contradicting himself It 's without example saith hee to say the Spirit is taken for the gifts of the Spirit and yet within three lines after hee saith wee may grant that this question Have you received the holy Ghost may bee meant of the gifts of the holy Ghost And with the same breath hee saith strangely forgetting himself that it is without example to take the holy Ghost for the gifts of the holy Ghost I add further that it is clearly prophesied that extraordinarie gifts as of prophesying and tongues are called the holy Ghost Joël 2. 28. Acts 2. 17. and in this Chapter Acts 19. 6. the holy Ghost came upon them How this is to bee understood the words following do expound They spoke with tongues and prophesied Ver. 6. So Acts 2. 4. thus John 7. 39. the holy Ghost was not yet you cannot denie but hee was in Person before that time and that hee was as touching sanctifying graces before How then is it said the holy Ghost was not yet Of necessitie it must bee meant as touching miraculous operations which were not yet bestowed on the Disciples What can bee more plainly spoken Nor doth this overthrow the Ephesians arguing and the emphasis of the words for however the holy Ghost bee taken yet your Argument is not good this onely can bee soundly inferred from their words Wee are so far from receiving the miraculous gifts of the holy Ghost that wee have not so much as heard whether there bee any such miraculous gifts of the holy Ghost or not And if the question moved to them was not touching the Person and sanctifying graces of the holy Ghost but onely touching miraculous gifts as 't is most probable for they being Disciples might bee presumed not to bee ignorant that there was an holy Spirit and that hee was a Sanctifier of his servants then either their answer is impertinent to the question or else they must needs return their answer in effect thus Wee have not heard whether there bee such miraculous gifts of the holy Ghost or not Advers S. Paul would have taken the hint which hee did not to have instructed them in the Deitie of the holy Ghost Answ 1 First to this I say that this your pleading make's as strongly against your self as against the truth for do not you also put a difference betwixt that prime creäted Spirit as you do blaspheme and his gifts What then do you say against us which make's not as much against your self also Secondly how prove you that the holy Apostle did not instruct these Ephesians touching the holy Ghost Is not this your pleading It is not written therefore it was not don this is say I inconsequent All that hee preached is not written and do not you see that by this reasoning you wound your own cause For can you shew that S. Paul taught these Ephesians such a doctrine touching the holy Ghost which you do maintain that hee was a creature Thirdly it is not to bee doubted but that hee opened to them the doctrine of the holy Ghost that hee was God and that hee taught them that holy graces are fruits of the holy Spirit which none but God can give Advers Yet now say you wee are made to beleeve that a man is damned that beleeve's not the Deitie of the holy Ghost And so saying you think to aggravate our error Answ To this I answer you are to know that wee make a great difference of times and persons wee do not despair of their salvation which were in the state of these Ephesians or of others now in the like condition if beleeving in one God and that Jesus Christ is a Savior and seeing their own sins and miseries should relie on him for eternall life And then as the converted thief on the Cross presently die though they never heard of the holy Ghost I would charitably judg of them and conceive that God intended mercie to them by these gracious discoveries of himself to them at this time but if God will graciously wink at such ignorance and have mercie on them this will yield no comfort at all to you who have been bred up in the Church of Christ and in our Schools and have read the word of God for you have wilfully shut your eies against the truth which is as clear touching the holy Ghost as if it had been written with the Sun beams and you have stretched your wits to the uttermost to pervert the plain meaning of the Scripture as appear's by your endeavoring to answer Matth. 28. and Acts 5. I may say to you as S. Cyprian de Sacram. Dom. calicis saith of som which