Contradiction to the most self-evident Sentiments of humane Understanding But some may say If such Passages as these are so generally to be overlook'd in the Business of Religion why then did God cause them to be recorded in the sacred Scripture I answer that it may as well be asked why God made so many sorts of small and as we think useless Insects to live upon the Earth since we know not what Benefit they are of to the World Doubtless God who does nothing in vain made them for some great Ends though our short-sighted Understanding cannot perceive what those excellent Ends of his are Even so likewise will his Wisdom be manifested some way or other by what to us is yet hard to be understood in Scripture And though we are ignorant of the true meaning of many of the most obscure and doubtful Parts thereof yet the Ends and Purposes of God in causing them to be written either are or shall in due time be accomplished In the mean time we ought to magnify that manifest Goodness of God who hath communicated to Mankind such a number of plain and evident Precepts as will be fully sufficient for Salvation if we carefully observe them All are concern'd in the Business of Life Eternal therefore hath God given us Laws sutable to our common Capacities The Gospel of Christ was preach'd to the Poor which intimates that the Glad-tidings of Salvation did not consist of unintelligible Mysteries but of such plain and evident Notions as did fit the Understandings of the lowest People Of Faith and Reason There are a sort of People in the World of several false Perswasions who when they can no longer maintain their Errors against the Power of true Reason fly to Faith as their last Refuge and tell us that 't is by Faith only that we are made able to overcome the World 1 Joh. 5. 4. And that therefore 't is necessary for Men to believe what yet they cannot comprehend To this I answer That Faith indeed is the chief Duty of the Christian Religion because 't is the Belief of God's Promises and Threatnings that does ingage Mankind to the Obedience of his Precepts Few I doubt would be religious were there no Fear of Hell nor Hopes of Heaven 'T is said that all things are possible to him that believes Mark 9. 23. which in other Words imports that no Difficulty nor Hazard how great soever shall be able to stop them in their Christian Race And in this Sense it only is that Faith is said to be the Victory that overcometh the World But though 't is only a firm Perswasion of the Truth of God's Promises and Threatnings that inspires the Faithful with Courage to overcome and conquer the Temptations not only of the Devil but of the Lusts of this World too yet this is no Argument that therefore we must assent to that which we see no Reason to believe for then we might be every whit as liable to believe things false as things that are true Wherefore it behoves us to be very watchful and circumspect in avoiding false Principles for Error of any kind will rather make us Slaves to the Devil than enable us to overcome and conquer him As therefore thou oughtst to imbrace Truth wheresoever thou dost find it so be as ready to relinquish Errors when by carefully examining into Religion thou hast discovered them to be such for 't is in every respect as Heroick an Act of Faith to believe our selves in the wrong when we really are so as 't is to adhere stedfastly to a Truth undoubted Know then that no kind of Faith can be true that is certainly unreasonable for the Light of Nature is as much God's Law as Divine Revelation and none must ever think that God's Law can contradict it self Right self-evident Reason is the only Touchstone that Men have to distinguish Truth from Error and 't is the Agreement even of Scripture with this Reason that makes us know it to be the Word of God 't is not our Forefathers saying so but the exact Concurrence of the Witness of our Spirit and that Testimony And though some would perswade us not at all to trust to Reason in Matters of Religion yet 't is observable that those very Men that exclaim most against it are yet necessitated to give Reasons of their own to prove if 't were possible that your Reason is not to be relied on and certainly that Guide must needs be most safe whom the whole World in some kind or other do find it so necessary to follow Of the true Nature of Religion 'T is certain that the Laws of Religion are design'd by God for the only Good of Mankind he forbids some things and commands others only because the one is prejudicial to Man's Well-being and the other is absolutely necessary to his Peace and Happiness In order then to the true Happiness of this Life there is required a sutable way of living even such as respects the Universal Good of the whole Kind which in short is that which Men call a Life of Holiness or a Life perfectly free from every kind of Injustice or Mischief both to one's self and others And as for the Heavenly State that is a State of perfect Goodness and Purity and 't is impossible that any one can take delight in that Divine kind of Life hereafter which he hated here And for that Reason could the Wicked be admitted into Heaven yet then would they be unhappy by reason that there none of those base and ignoble Pleasures would be found which their corrupted Minds on Earth did love and admire 'T is then only a good Life on Earth that can fit us for the Heavenly Inheritance Now this Goodness of Life so necessary to Man's both present and future Bliss does not consist in Speculation but in Practice Belief is of no other Use than as it enacts Obedience and that 's the Reason that the Day of Judgment is represented as taking no notice of the Opinions but of the Practices of Men. Have you fed the Hungry Have you clothed the Naked Have you visited the Sick Mat. 25. 36. At that great Solemnity the Inquiry will not be What had you in the World or what did you profess but what good Deeds have you done therein how has your Care been to promote the Universal Good of rational Beings Have you renounced the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life 1 John 2. 26. and lived soberly and righteously and godlily in this present World Tit. 2. 12. and done justly and loved Mercy and walked humbly with God Mich. 6. 8. Now if 't is the Goodness of our Practice that is the one thing necessary to Salvation then the disbelieving either a few doubtful or else a few unreasonable Opinions can never be dangerous Let us then as to the Point now under Examination ask our selves but this one Question Will the Belief of the Doctrine
mighty Salvation for us out of the House of his Servant David Luke 1. 68 69. A general Rule for answering all Objections Having considered and answered the principal Objections urged in favour of the Doctrine which asserts Jesus Christ to be truly God in opposition to that of his being only the Man who is the Mediator between God and Men 1 Tim. 2. 5. or that which asserts that none is God but the Father of Christ 't will be needless to confute those other little Objections which still remain since when the chiefest Strength that does uphold an Error is overthrown 't is not in the Power of some little Props to maintain and support it nevertheless lest the Minds of some should thereby be perplex'd I here lay down one general Rule by which all other Objections may be easily refuted and that is this If any Principle in Religion be true by the greater and by the plainer Number of Evidences it can never be false by a few in number or by them that are dark and doubtful If then the Arguments to prove the true God to be only the Father of Jesus Christ are more in number and plainer to be understood than those are which are objected in favour of the contrary you need then only to reply thus that the Proofs that make for it are more both in Number and Weight than those that are against it and that therefore 't would be unpardonable to suffer such Trifles to unsettle and shake your Faith Suppose a Man objects against the Doctrine of God's being but one in Person this Text Let us make Man Gen. 1. 26. and endeavour to prove from thence that God is more than one in Person is it reasonable to suffer this to alter your Judgment when for that one Passage Vs urged in favour of the Belief of more Persons than one you have ten thousand that mention God to be but only one in such Terms as these I thou me he his And as for the Terms of we they them c. they are not mentioned in Scripture so much as once as applied to God alone If every single Objection that is started should be admitted to be of Authority sufficient to invalidate the best and clearest Proofs or if every hard and doubtful Passage in Scripture were enough to overthrow all them that are clear and plain then all true Religion would soon be at an end for some plausible Exceptions may be made against the chiefest and plainest Truths in Religion otherwise so many false and erroneous Opinions would not have obtained that Authority that they have in the World Indeed when we are told plainly that we are in an Error and Arguments truly considerable are at the same time offered to undeceive us we ought then to suffer our selves to be convinc'd for if what is thus urged carries with it so much clear Evidence as makes it undoubted the changing then of our Opinions will not only be reasonable but very honourable too since nothing is more ignoble and base than to be a Slave to Error from which not any thing in this World but Truth can free us Of the true Notion of the Holy Ghost 'T is plain from the general Analogy of true Faith grounded on Scripture-Evidence that the Holy Ghost is no distinct Person subsisting of himself for then 't is clear that our Lord could not be the Son of him who is now called God the Father or the first Person in the supposed Trinity since 't is plain that the Virgin Mary's Conception was occasioned by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost Luke 1. 35. which all Trinitarians acknowledg to be the third Person and not the first 'T is expresly said that that which was conceived in her was of the Holy Ghost Mat. 1. 20. And that she was with Child by him Mat. 1. 18. Wherefore 't is evident from these additional Words and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee Luke 1. 35. that the Holy Ghost is only that Divine and Invisible Power of God by which he works his Will and Pleasure in the World and by Consequence that God and the Spirit of God are no more two distinct Persons than Man and the Spirit of Man are for to the one the other is compared in the sacred Scripture 1 Cor. 2. 11. And as the Members of Man's Body do secretly and wonderfully obey the Dictates of his Will or Mind so and much more so do all Creatures act and are commanded by the Almighty Power of God's Divine and most Wise Will and Pleasure When therefore all the elect People of God are said to be sanctified by the Holy Ghost it must be understood of that new Temper and Inclination of Mind which God by his Divine and Invisible Power does work or cause in Men. When he powerfully raises up in them holy Thoughts and excites in their Minds new Desires he is then truly said to sanctify them by his Spirit And when Men wilfully reject those Motions to Goodness which God by his Power does raise up in them they are then truly said to resist and grieve and quench his Spirit And whereas the Spirit is said to receive and to be sent from whence some would infer its distinct Personality 't is replied that these are but improper Expressions such as are before noted to be spoken of God and Christ they are Words fitted to our dull Apprehensions rather than to the true Nature of the Spirit it self even as God is represented as having the Actions and Passions of a Man and to come down from Heaven when yet we know that he is already every where though our mortal Eyes have not Powers fitted to perceive him He that filleth all things can no ways be capable of moving out of his Place Such Expressions as these therefore are plainly improper and must not be understood literally or as at first sight they seem to express The CONCLVSION TO what has been said on this Subject I will only add this one solemn Protestation that as what I here offer is grounded on the Dictates only of plain and positive Scripture and the most evident and perfect Reason as I humbly judg So the Design of this its Publication is the alone Glory of God Almighty and the Church's Peace which no ways can be establish'd firmly but on the Foundations of Truth And though I am sensible the Work is not perform'd with that Exactness as to be in every part without Reproof yet I am satisfied that in the main I have therein managed the true Cause of God and Religion Nevertheless I have a secret Distrust within me that what I here offer will not be kindly received for my best Indeavours must not expect to find better Success than did those of my blessed Lord and Master who though he spake as never Man spake and confirmed his Doctrine with such Miracles as did demonstrate him to be a Teacher sent of God yet was believed on but by a few The Praise of Men was then generally much more belov'd than the Praise of God Joh. 12. 43. And I doubt the Case is still the same Men now seek their own and not the things of Jesus Christ Phil. 2. 21. They that love Riches will hardly run the hazard of losing any temporal Preferment for the sake of Truth Others will be averse from acknowledging themselves in a Mistake who before have been honoured with the Repute both of Orthodox and Learned Men and those who have been long prepossess'd with the contrary Perswasion will hardly relinquish it though the best of Reasons be offered to convince them of their Error In short the Religion of Mankind generally is but a Self-righteousness a Law rather of their own making than of God's appointing There are but very few that in all things do either live or believe as the Gospel directs them the whole World does for the most part prefer some senseless Humour before sacred Truth and that immortal Bliss to which it would conduct them THE END
A DESIGNED END TO THE Socinian Controversy Or a Rational and Plain DISCOURSE To Prove That no other Person but the Father of Christ is God most High By JOHN SMITH Father This is Life Eternal to know thee the only true God John 17. 3. LONDON Printed in the Year MDCXCV AN ADVERTISEMENT THE Reader is desired to take notice that these Papers were written at different times as Matter did offer it self to the Author's Mind and for that Reason some Particulars are therein touch'd upon more than once for which 't is hoped however that there will need little Excuse since in relation to the whole Design it may be pertinent enough The Method also for that Reason is somewhat unusual but I have ventur'd however to let it pass as it is since not Method but Matter in such Cases is chiefly to be minded and I doubt not but that in one Part or other thereof every Part of the Controversy will be found to be both fully and fairly discuss'd And I wish none that read it may be of that evil Temper as to forbear the Acknowledgment of that Truth which yet in Conscience they dare not deny like those Jews of old who though they believed in Christ yet did not confess him lest they should be put out of the Synagogue Joh. 12. 42. A DESIGNED END TO THE Socinian Controversy That there is a God THAT there is such a Being as God by which is meant one Eternal Mind Essence or spiritual Power who is the Original and first Cause of all other Beings besides is manifest for 't is not possible that any other Being whatsoever could give a Being to it self Certainly nothing can be more absurd than to imagine that a thing can act any ways towards its own Production before it is Hence it follows that every one of these Beings is but the real Effect of this first Cause that had a Being before it and this first Cause of necessity must have been Eternal and without Beginning since had there been once no kind of Being at all there then could never have been such a Being as God no nor any other Being besides for doubtless of nothing nothing can be produc'd That this God is but one in Nature or Essence And as 't is thus plain that there is a God so 't is utterly impossible that there can be any more than one God for whoever is truly God must be absolutely Infinite or Immense that is His Divine Essence must be boundless and fill all that endless and inconceivable Space that is without or beyond the Limits of this World as well as this World For 't is impossible that any Being whatever can in any respect be greater than God is or contain him for then he himself could not be truly Infinite nor excel in all Perfections The Nature or Essence therefore of God is Infinite and in Extent is without Bounds and 't is self-evidently impossible for two or more infinitely extended Beings to subsist together which demonstrates by Consequence that God can be but one as to his Divine Essence or Nature And as right Reason does plainly teach this Truth so do the Scriptures as evidently declare the same to instance in a few The Lord he is God there is none else besides him Deut. 4. 35. See now that I even I am he and there is no God with me Deut. 32. 39. There is none like thee neither is there any God besides thee 1 Chron. 17. 20. I am the first and I am the last and besides methere is no God Isa 44. 6. We know that an Idol is nothing in the World and that there is none other God but one 1 Cor. 8. 4. To us there is but one God 1 Cor. 8. 6. I might add a great Number of other Texts that speak to the very same purpose but I think 't is needless in a Case so plain That this one true God is but one in Person Now as 't is thus plain that God is but one as to his Nature or Essence so 't is evident likewise that he can in no Sense be any more than one in Person for if as some affirm the Divine Nature did contain in it several Persons as does the humane Nature then each of those must be truly Immense truly Almighty and truly most Wise else they could not each of them be truly God as some have unwarily asserted and the Trinitarian Notion supposes for whoever is truly God must be every way thus qualified in all Respects For if that Person that is supposed to be God be not truly immense then some other Being of necessity must be greater than he for whoever is not Infinite must be bounded by some other Being which in that respect does truly surpass that bounded Being in Greatness But as I said before nothing can in any kind or respect whatsoever be greater than God is or contain him and by Consequence he alone is truly Immense The Person that is truly God must be also Almighty that is he must be able to do more than any or than all other Beings together can do for doubtless none is the most High but he that in Might and Strength does transcend all others Touching the Almighty says Job he excels in Power ch 37. 28. The Person also that is truly God must be most wise and knowing 'T is doubtless a Property essential to the true God to know more than any other Being besides can know Of that Day and Hour saith our Saviour knoweth no Man no not the Angels which are in Heaven neither the Son but the Father only Matth. 24. 36. Mar. 13. 32. Now if that Person who is truly God must be thus Immense in his Person Almighty in his Power and most Wise in his Knowledg then it follows by direct Consequence that 't is impossible for more than one Person to be truly God for nothing can be more absurd than to believe or affirm that two or three distinct Beings such as all personal Beings are can be each of them unlimited as to the extent of their personal Beings can be each of them able to do more than the rest can do or that each of them can know more than the others know Suppose for Instance two such Beings as A and B Now if the Person of A can do more than the Person of B then the Person of B cannot do more than the Person of A for if he could then would not A be able to do more than B and by Consequence he could not be Almighty Again if the Person of A be most wise and knows more than the Person of B then B cannot know more than A for if he did then would not A know more than B and so by Consequence would not be most wise which evidently demonstrates that no more than one Person can be truly God since no more than one can be truly Infinite in all these afore-mentioned Divine Perfections That this one Person who
God is in every Respect yet at the same time we may know certainly what indeed he is not we know certainly that he is not a Man or that he was made of a Woman as Christ was We know certainly that he is not mortal or that he cannot die as Christ did and we know certainly that he has not a God above him as Christ had and we know certainly that he has not received any kind of Power from another as Christ Jesus is said to do And as one Truth naturally infers another so we do from hence assuredly conclude that the Person of Jesus our Lord is not truly God for he was made of a Woman Gal. 4. 4. He died to redeem us 2 Cor. 5. 14. He had a God above him 1 Cor. 11. 3. And he did receive all the Power he had of another Joh. 5. 30. Mat. 28. 18. We also know certainly that if the Divine Godhead did consist of three Persons that then neither of the three Persons singly can be God If all three be but that one God together as the Trinitarians assert then no one of them can be the true God by himself for the same Denomination cannot properly fit each Person singly as does fit them when conjoined in one mutual Relation for then they might be said to be indeed three supreme Godheads which is utterly impossible We also know certainly that if any of the three Persons said to be in the Godhead be God by himself as we have proved God the Father undoubtedly is then all the rest are but superfluous and unnecessary as to the Constitution of a Godhead for one Infinite Almighty and most Wise Person is as sufficient to all the Purposes of a Godhead as ten thousand Deities but if three be but the one true God together then no one of them can be that one true God by himself alone Lastly we may be infallibly certain that if Doctrines grounded on so many numerous and great Evidences both of Scripture and self-evident Reason as these are That God is but one in Person That the Person who is truly God is no other than the Father of Jesus Christ and that the most excellent of Men even Jesus Christ was only a Man be false Then we cannot be certain of the Truth of any other Principle in Religion If the Evidences here collected do deceive us 't is in vain to hope by any other Methods to find the Truth Of the Coming down of Christ from Heaven Some as a Proof of our Saviour's Godhead urge those Texts of Scripture where 't is said He came down from Heaven came forth from the Father and ascended up where he was before To which I answer that these prove not that for which they are intended since 't is plainly inferred from other Scriptures that Christ some time before he was sent to declare the Glad-tidings of the Gospel was assumed or taken up from the Earth into his Father's more immediate Presence as St. Paul was some time after into the third Heaven there to be instructed in the Mind and Will of God and to be invested with that great Dignity and Power of being a Prince and a Saviour To this the Prophet Daniel's Vision plainly alludes I saw saith he in the Night Visions and behold one like the Son of Man came to the Antient of Days and they brought him before him and there was given him Dominion and Glory and a Kingdom that all People and Nations and Languages should serve him Dan. 7. 13. And from the Words of our Saviour himself 't is plain that he ascended up into Heaven before he came down to declare his Father's Will to Men No Man saith he hath ascended into Heaven but he that came down from Heaven Joh. 3. 13. But no Man but Christ ever came down from thence which he never could have done had he not first ascended up thither And that he was taken up to be instructed in the Doctrine he was to publish to the World is plain also The Father saith he that sent me he gave me a Commandment what I should say and what I should speak Joh. 12. 49. The Redemption or Restoration of Mankind was a Work of prodigious Difficulty and God who had fore-ordained our Saviour for the Performance thereof did for his greater Incouragement present to his View the Glories which before the World was Joh. 17. 5. he had designed as a Reward for his Son the Messiah and 't was doubtless this Fore-taste of the Divine and Heavenly Happiness that animated him with Courage and Fortitude to encounter all the Difficulties that stood in his way Hence 't is said that he for the Joy that was set before him did endure the Cross and despise the Shame Heb. 12. 2. Of the Eternity of Christ Some object that Christ is said to be before Abraham before all things and that he had Glory with God before the World was This say they proves him to be Eternal and by Consequence God I answer 't is impossible that Christ can be the true and living God since 't is plain from what has been said in the former part of this Work that no Person is truly God but the Father of Christ and that Christ has a God above him 'T is impossible for Christ to be Eternal for if God be his Father as all acknowledg then there was a time when the Son had not a Being for to be a Son and to be equal in Duration with his Eternal Father that begot him is undoubtedly impossible Besides we are told plainly that the Son was first fore-ordained before he came to have a Being in these latter times 1. Pet. 1. 20. Now no fore-ordained Being can possibly be Eternal since he that did ordain his Being must be before him of Necessity and none but the very first of all Beings can be truly Eternal How could he have a Being before Abraham since 't is declared he was of the Seed of Abraham How could he be before David when 't was out of David's Posterity that God raised up Jesus according to his Promise And since Jesus the Son of God was made of a Woman Gal. 4. 4. he could not be more antient in time than his Mother that bare him If follows then that these Scriptures on which the Objection depends are purely figurative and are not to be understood in their literal Sense and Meaning They declare indeed that Christ in some Sense or other was before all things before Abraham and had Glory before the World was but not in that Sense which the Objectors suppose For 't is not reasonable they should be understood in such a Sense as contradicts both common Understanding and the greatest and plainest part of all the Bible they are Places of the same Nature with those which St. Peter affirms are hard to be understood 2 Pet. 3. 16. and for that Reason must by Interpretation be brought to such a Sense as is agreeable to the