so it 's necessarie saith S. Austin l. 1. de Trinitat c. 6. that wee should yield religious service to him that which is proper to God I shut up this Argument with the words of our Savior Matth. 28. 19. Go and baptize all Nations in the Name of the Father the Son and holy Ghost to bee baptized into the Name of the Father Son and holy Ghost is to bee obliged to the Faith Worship and Obedience of God the Father Son and holy Ghost Adver You endeavor to elude this plain convincing testimonie touching the Deitie of the holy Ghost Baptize them into the holy Ghost that is into the guidance of the holy Ghost which may I deny not bee a part of the meaning of the text You add Thus all the Israëlites were baptized into Moses 1 Corinth 10. 2. These two texts are unequally matched and paralleled Answ 1 First it is not said 1 Corinth 10. 2. that the Israëlites were baptized into the Name of the Father Son of God and Moses which would have been a seeming advantage to you but yet not forcible enough to have shielded you from the dint of the Argument Secondly the Baptism into which the Israëlites were baptized was not such a Sacrament as ours of Baptism is it was not a spiritual Sacrament of the Covenant of Grace appertaining to eternal life as our Baptism is their passing through the Sea and under the Cloud was don without sprinkling them with or dipping them in water and did seal up and evidently confirm that Moses was by the Lord deputed to bee a Guid and a Leader of his people whose Ministerie was not fully spiritual but 't is termed carnal God made choice of him to bee a happy instrument to deliver them out of bondage Now such as the deliverance is such is the Baptism but consider wee their passing through the red Sea and by the guidance of the Cloud as types and figures of the benefits which wee receive from Christ our true and spiritual Mediator for servitude in Egypt was a type of spiritual servitude under the power of Satan and sin and deliverance out of Egypt was a type of our deliverance from the snares of the devil and the commanding power of our own sins In this regard it 's denied that they were baptized into Moses hence is it said that som were baptized into the Baptism of John Act. 19. 2. but they are not said to bee baptized into John the reason is because the Ministerie of John was meerly spiritual and not carnal And S. Paul doth take it as a very absurd thing to bee abhorred of Christians to bee baptized into the name of any man 1 Corinth 1. 13 15. were yee baptized into the name of Paul and yet would hee bee acknowledged to bee their Guid and Doctor and a Father who by his Ministerie begot them through the Gospel 1 Corinth 4. 15. Thirdly this will further appear if wee do consider the use and the end of Baptism it is a sign and a seal of the new Covenant the Covenant of Grace which is signified and ratified thereby now consider this on the one part the great God of heaven and earth God the Father God the Son and God the holy Ghost undertake's to bee the God of his people which is their happiness on the other part the confederates the parties baptized and sealed as Gods own by Baptism which Austin call's Regius Character a Kingly Character do solemnly profess and oblige themselves to the faith and service not of any Angel for where is there such a condition expressed in the Covenant to tie us to creatures but as I said to the Faith Service and Obedience of God the Father God the Son and God the holy Ghost That which you say is true in it self though not in your meaning that God the Father and the Son by the Spirit do guid govern sanctifie and endow the Church and whereas before conversion and the giving up their names to Christ they lived according to the Prince of this world they ought thenceforth beeing admitted into the Church resign up themselves to the guidance of the holy Ghost But your saying that the holy Ghost is our Advocate in your sense and a chief instrument under God is as a dead slie in precious ointment this is spoken but cannot bee proved by you and it hath been before and shall hereafter bee disproved yea and your own concession touching the benefits received from the holy Ghost stand's not with this assertion Advers You say in your Dedicatory Epistle that the holy Ghost is our Advocate If I go not away the Advocate will not com unto you John 16. 7 8. And you boldly avouch that it ought so to bee translated every where as ours have also don 1 Joh. 2. 1. Wee have an Advocate with the Father Answ Hereto I answer You should have plainly told us what you meant by Advocate Is it to plead our cause with God as Lawyers do their clients cause before the Judg Or do you mean an Advocate one that make's prayers for us the rule hold's A deceitful man speak's in generalities I am not ignorant that som learned men which are strong defenders of the Deitie of the holy Ghost do translate the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in som texts as you do Advocate and if you had rendred it so in their sense I would have passed it over in silence The holy Ghost may bee called an Advocate but not so an Advocate to God the Father as Christ is which is by the merit of his passion and intercession In this meaning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is often used in the Scripture but the holy Ghost may bee called an Advocate because in doubtful cases and in straits hee help 's us with his counsel and teacheth us all things John 14. 26. and when his servants shall bee convened before persecuting Magistrates and they then know not how to speak to them nor how to pray to God the holy Ghost will enable them both to speak to men and pray to God as Christians ought to do And because the instilling of this heavenly doctrine into the hearts of Gods servants is usually accompanied with spiritual joy and comfort hence is it as Cam. guesseth that this word is translated by the Learned oftentimes the Comforter You say the holy Ghost is not ranked with the Father and Son of God as beeing equal to them as is evident by other punctual places of Scripture 1 Cor. 12. 3 4 5 6. Ephes 4. 4 5 6. and 1 Corinth 8. 5 6. the holy Ghost is emphatically excluded from beeing either God or Lord by beeing contradistinguished from them both Answ 1 I answer these places might have been more fitly and seasonably alledged as Arguments to prove your Position then introduced as shifts to disprove our Reasons Answ 2 I answer directly by granting that in those places which you alledg and many others the Father is called God whereas
the express name of the Father the Son or the holy Ghost or when it is not limited by som circumstances in the text which do infallibly lead us thereunto And thus most frequently in the Scriptures it is taken but then it is taken personally or secundùm quid in regard of a certain proprietie which point's out a certain Person which is somtimes God the Father somtimes God the Son and somtimes God the holy Ghost or else wee are guided to such a limitation by perpending the text or places of Scriptures parallel to it For instance John 1. 1. the Word was God and that Word was with God In the first place it must bee taken essentially in the second personally with God viz. his Father thus Christ is said to bee the Son of God the image of God viz. the Father To the second I might take exception to your rule in many particulars which is not true in any creäted acting things which are not persons no nor in the soul of man which hath many immanent actions both in and when separated from the bodie which are not actions of a person But let your rule bee granted as it relate's to this particular actions are of persons and not of the nature consideredin the abstract So barbarous School-men say it is a man which doth dispute not homeïtas It is a horse that carrie's a man not equina natura or equeïtas this is onely suppositum But then I must tell you to abate your mirth that you give through your ignorance a false interpretation of the meaning of Orthodoxal Divines touching that distinction as though they thought that Gods nature generally absolutely and essentially considered as abstracted from God the Father God the Son and God the holy Ghost did rule the world this is but a figment of your own brain But when they say God worketh this or that God is taken essentially they mean nothing else but God the Father God the Son and God the holy Ghost and the government of the world the particular instanced in being a work ad extra relating to the creatures belong's to all the Persons joyntly this is a received Maxim of all Divines Thus much of this Argument ARGUMENT 2. 2 Argum. of M. Bidle If hee that gave the holy Spirit to the Israëlites to instruct them bee Jehovah alone then the holy Spirit is not Jehovah or God But hee that gave the holy Spirit to the Israëlites to instruct them is Jehovah alone Ergò The sequele of the Major is plain for if hee that gave the holy Spirit bee Jehovah alone and yet the holy Spirit that was given bee Jehovah too the same will bee Jehovah alone and not Jehovah alone which implieth a contradiction The Minor is evidenced by Nehem. 9. 6 20. ANSWER Answ I denie the consequence of this hypothetical Syllogism which is not necessarily inferred as it should bee from the antecedent I will not question the truth of your assumption but suppose that the first Person is evidently meant Nehem. 9. 6. who is said to bee Jehovah alone yet wil it not by the rules of Divinitie bee a necessarie sequele that the holy Ghost is not Jehovah or God nor is there so much as a shadow of contradiction as shall bee evidenced and they do know this well that are versed in these points When you say Jehovah or the first person is Jehovah alone there is in the words a fallacie of composition and division as the Logicians speak And that I might fortifie your Argument and make it advantageous to you if the exclusive particle had been added to the antecedent thus onely the Father is Jehovah yet were not your cause confirmed thereby for it is a rule in the Logician Kecker lib. 2. cap. 4. exclusiva particula subjecti non excludit concomitantia and hee instanceth in this very example Onely the Father is true God whereby saith hee the Son of God and the holy Ghost are not excluded from beeing God but creatures onely And profound Zanchius add's another example Onely Christ is the Savior of the world taken inclusively all creatures are excluded but neither the Father nor the holy Ghost are to bee excluded from the great work of our redemption Nor do wee want examples in the Scriptures to this purpose None know the Son but the Father nor doth any know the Son but the Father Matth. 11. 27. that is onely the Father know's the Son and onely the Son know's the Father And again No man know's the things of God but onely the Spirit 1 Cor. 2. that is onely the Spirit know's the things of God as in the former place the holy Ghost is not to bee excluded so in the later both Father and Son of God are to be included Thus our blessed Savior is described to have eies like a flame of fire and to have many crowns on his head and a name which none knew but hee himself Revel 19. 12. let the mysterie bee what it wil bee which is intended by this name yet certainly the Father and Spirit are not to bee denied the knowledg of it and many the like * 1 Tim. 6. 16. The King of kings onely hath immortalitie none but the Father know's the day and hour of judgment expressions wee may reade in Scripture by which exclusive particle onely such things are to bee excluded which are not one and the same in a Tertul. saith of the Son of God hee is individâ—â—â— inseparatus à Patre in Patre â—â—putandâ—â— et si non nominatus advers Praâ—eum So of the holy Ghost essence with the subject to which the exclusive particle is annexed As if one should say I beleeve in God the Father who alone made the world wee must not conceive that hee exclude's God the Son and God the holy Ghost from that great work of creätion but onely the creatures which had no hand at all therein This which I have spoken seem's to carrie som probabilitie with it and that one may not without cause suspend his judgment from concurrence with those Divines which do commonly judg this proposition thus enunciated to bee false onely the Father is Jehovah To the substance of your Argument as it is propounded by you the answer is easie Alone both in the cited text and in your argument is referred to the later part of the axiom Thus the first person of the Trinitie is Jehovah alone this I grant is a very true Proposition if it bee rightly understood and yet make's nothing at all for your advantage because the particle alone doth not exclude any thing in respect of the subject but onely of the predicate and therefore is clearly true both of the Father Son and of the holy Ghost Thus the Father is alone Jehovah the Son is alone Jehovah and God the holy Ghost is alone Jehovah and the reason is plain and unanswerable because albeit the Father is Lord the Son is Lord and the holy Ghost is
in this sense Princes send their subjects Parents their children Masters their servants And thus bodies representative whether civill or ecclesiastical may send som of their members about publick affairs of Church or State because the whole is greater then the parts thereof And when an equal or superior act 's for an equal or inferior in points of wrong and justice charitie and mercie this is not don unless upon a compact and mutual consent by sending them but by a voluntarie condescension or by the prevalent persuasion of equals or inferiors But now when wee speak of divine sending in reference to the Persons of the blessed Trinitie wee must abandon all base and low conceptions and raise up our spirits by the light of other Scriptures to an apprehension of the excellencie of the nature thereof The mission of a divine Person may bee considered Divine Mission considered First negatively what it is not and then positively what it is First it denote's not a division or separation of the divine Persons for this would necessarily imply the multiplication of the 1. Negatively Deitie and destroy the unitie of the divine nature which is impossible Secondly it denote's not a moving from place to place a change of place for the third Person in regard of the essence is every-where and there is no place any where whither hee can com where hee was not alwaies present Thirdly nor doth it denote any inferioritie or inequalitie of the divine Person but in respect of the divine Person sending they are one in nature and co-equal and co-eternal touching their Persons But positively this mission argue's a distinction of the divine Persons 2. Positively The Father in Scripture phrase is no where said to bee sent but hee send 's the Son and the holy Ghost because hee is first in order The first Person of the Trinitie hee is of himself and from himself and the fountain of communicating the God-head to his Son and both the Father and the Son to the holy Ghost And as it denote's a distinction of Persons so is it properly an external personal operation for although mission quantum ad principale significatum is external yet ratione connotati it 's onely in time Halensis And so the whole is called temporal as when a necessarie thing is joyned with a contingent the whole is judged contingent so saith our Countriman plainly thus This mission is nothing else but a new manner of the manifestation of the presence of the holy Ghost by som effect And this is don either visibly by som visible Symbol and external representation of his presence as by descending from heaven on Christ in the likeness of a Dove or in fierie cloven tongues on the Apostles And this was extraordinarie or ordinarily God the Father or Son is said to send him into the hearts of his children by working saving graces in them when hee manifest's his presence by spiritual operations It 's not in the power of man thus to send him for all that hee can do is onely external disposing by administration of Sacraments obtaining by Prayer instructing and moving outwardly by preaching The holy Ghost is sent in the use of these Ordinances yet not by them but by reason of internal grace which God alone creätes in the soul These conclusions being laid down it will bee an easie task to untie the supposed knots of this Argument Advers Hee that is sent by another is not God the holy Ghost is sent The Major is proved because hee that is sent ministreth Hebr. 1. ult Answ I answer if the Major Proposition in sense bee general as it ought to bee thus whosoever is sent is less then hee is that sent him is false hee indeed that is sent by the command properly of another is inferior to the person that send 's him but the mission of the holy Ghost is as I said but a manifestation of his presence by som effect which was actually in the very same place invisibly and with the same persons to whom hee is sent it argue's the distinction of the persons not the multiplication of the natures or the diminution of the divine power state authoritie or honor Advers You would prove the Major because hee ministreth that is sent Answ I grant the Major to bee true if it bee properly taken if ministring bee taken for serving for the holy Ghost is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the servant of the first or second Person This to assert is I confess an odious error and though the phrase is strange and harsh and not to bee allowed no not to say that God is a Minister à ministrando gratiam not intending thereby to imply that hee is under God but above the faithful yet two of our eminent Divines do so speak And Ruffin in expos Symboli saith Deus justis ministrat ad perpetuitatem gloriae peccatoribus ad prolixitatem poenae confusionis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exulet I grant your Major The Minor I denie for whosoever is sent ministred not Bee it granted that whosoever ministreth may bee said to bee sent yet it hold's not reciprocally whosoever is sent ministreth that proof out of Hebr. 1. is no proof at all It is your ordinarie fault to apply what is directly spoken of the creatures to the great God The Angels indeed which are ministring spirits are sent abroad for the benefit of the heires of salvation but you cannot solidly from thence infer that the holy Ghost which is sent is in the rank of ministring spirits It is true of the creature but you can never from thence conclude it to bee true of the Creätor If there bee any pertinencie in that which you alledg touching our Saviors sitting at the right of God it make's against you for notwithstanding his sitting there hee is said to bee sent and whereas you say Gods sitting in heaven note 's his soveraigntie implying that the holy Ghosts being sent from heaven 1 Pet. 1. 11. should note inferioritie this would bee much for your purpose if you could prove which you shall never bee able to do that the holy Ghost when hee is sent to his servants to dwell in them to sanctifie and to govern them did leave heaven God the Father Son and holy Ghost sit in heaven and rule by a general providence all the creatures in the world and shall hee bee said not to rule in heaven when by his Spirit which is there also hee by his special and admirable providence rule 's in the hearts of his own children Assuredly there can bee no good reason so to determine Advers Hee that receive's a commandement you say doth minister Hee that is sent receive's a commandement John 12. 49. Answ First I say an equal may receive a commandement from an equal by consent of both parties as a Prince of another Prince a brother of a brother one citizen of another so Christ as the eternal Son of God received
do place him both according to Scriptures and the Primitive Christians and by name Justin Martyr in his Apologie in the third rank after God and Christ giving him a preheminence above all the rest of the heavenly host ANSWER I do willingly grant that since there is a Trinitie of Persons there must of necessitie bee acknowledged an order amongst them But how Not in regard of time as though the holy Ghost should bee in time after the Father and the Son of God for they are co-eternal nor 2ly in order of nature as if the holy Ghost should bee in nature after God the Father and God the Son for in this sense that is said to bee after another which depend's upon the nature of another which hath no place in this subject because the three Persons have but one undivided nature Neither in the third place is the holy Ghost to speak properly after the Father in dignitie for there is but one Deitie and there is equal glorie equal majestie of the three Persons The order then is in regard of original and principle as it is called the Father as Father is the principle of the Son and the Father and the Son are the principle of the holy Ghost In this regard it is that wee commonly say the Father is the first Person of the Trinitie as being of none The Son is the second Person of the Trinitie from his Father The holy Ghost is the third Person being from eternitie both from the Father and the Son This concession is not answerable to your opinion for if you would speak out of the Son as you do of the holy Ghost you hold as appear's by many of your Arguments both God's Son and the holy Ghost to bee creatures after God in time in nature and in dignitie Whereas you say this in your sense is according to Scriptures the texts which you have alledged I have discussed and made it clear both by my positive Arguments in proof of the point and by my answers to your Scriptures that your tenet is directly against Scriptures But say you this is agreeable to the Fathers this say I is very falsly and impudently spoken I am now upon the defensive part and will not set down a catalogue of their testimonies in their several ages as I might do and those that are not learned may clearly see how falsly you do boast of the Fathers by the Apostolical as it is called the Nicene Constantinopolitane and Athanasian Creeds Advers But yet say you Justin Martyr placeth the holy Ghost in the third rank Answ The blessed Martyr which wrote his Apologies about the year of our Lord 162. placeth the holy Ghost in his second Apologie in the third order not in your sense but in that meaning which is unanimously acknowledged by Orthodoxal Divines and this I prove by Justin Martyr himself who positively assert's in his first Apologie that the Son of God placed by him the second in order was alone properly the Son of God that hee was with his Father before the world was made Now as the Son of God the second in order was truly God so may wee argue by proportion that the holy Ghost who is the third in order is likewise God And this you might have learned by the words which do immediatly follow in Justin for when hee had said Wee have the Prophetical Spirit in the third place hee immediatly subjoin's these words Wee teach that hee is rightly to bee worshipped which honor agree's well to God not to a creature And in the same Apologie afterwards hee would prove the Trinitie of the Persons out of Plato And this of the third Person that it is written by Moses of him that hee moved in the begining of the creation upon the waters And in the same Apologie hee relate's the custom of the Church in his daies both touching Baptism that the person is washed with water not in the names but in the Name of the Father Son and holy Ghost And likewise touching the Eucharist as hee call's it when the Minister had taken bread and wine hee giv's the praise and glorie of all things to the Father Son and holy Ghost And after the receiving the Sacrament and giving relief to the poor the assembly is dismissed and saith hee in all things which wee use wee praise God the Father of all by his Son Jesus Christ through the holy Ghost And in his exposition of the Faith touching the holy Trinitie there is one saith hee truly the God of all and hee is known and understood in the Father Son and holy Ghost and saith they are of one essence and one divinitie and much more to this effect But this is enough Go now and boast of the Fathers in general and of Justin Martyr in particular and blush for shame if there bee any modestie left in you for your intolerable wrong offered to the holy Fathers and for fathering on them that abominable Heresie which they did detest A Post-script to the Readers THis Paper may fall into the hands both of the unknowing and skilfull Readers and is liable to various censures I do fore-see that those which are little versed in these points will complain that I affect obscurities and that they cannot understand my writing I desire them to consider that I do treat about the highest mysteries of Faith and that it is neither fit nor safe for mee to change the terms which are in common use amongst the learned the danger hereof is apparent by this memorable example Gregor Nazianz in an Oration of the praises of great Athanasius shew's the rents betwixt the Eastern and Western Churches occasioned by the use of these terms Hypostasis and Persona the Eastern Churches used the word Hypostasis and utterly disliked the name Person On the other side the Western Churches adhered to the name Person and could not endure the name Hypostasis The Eastern Churches judged the Western Churches to bee Sabellians i e. that they held but one Person called by three names And the Western Churches judged the Eastern to bee Tritheites and Arians maintaining three substances Athanasius apprehended the mistake and that both sides were sound in the faith though they differed in terms and so reconciled them I do intreat these Readers if they meet with difficulties that they would not presently cast the Book out of their hands but to take pains to know the meaning pray read perpend the text the context and parallel places of Scriptures meditate and where your endeavors fail you have recourse to the learned which will if it bee needfull for you to know resolve your doubts and somwhat clear your judgments and to encourage you I dare promise that you shall not repent of your labors but better understand som texts of Scriptures and humane Authors which handle this subject then formerly you have don I do fore-see also that the judicious Reader will accuse mee for frequent repetitions which are little better
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
beholding to the Spirit for them God never sent his blessed Spirit to them how false and unsavory this expression is who seeth not And the follie thereof shall bee fully disproved in the next Reason When you wrote this you were half asleep or if deliberatly I will bee bold to say That your Sophistrie hath the upper hand of your Divinitie 5 Argum. Maj. Hee that produceth those works which God alone produceth is God Min. The holy Ghost doth so Concl. Ergò The Major is plain the Minor is proved by particular instances 1 Hee that create's the world is God The holy Ghost create's the world Ergò the holy Ghost is God The Major is proved both by Reason and Scripture First by Reason because to create is to make somthing of nothing or of that which to such a purpose is as good as nothing and this require's an infinite power which cannot no not by the absolute power of God bee communicated to a creature and by Scripture every where Gen. 1. 1. Jer. 10. 11. The true God the living God the everlasting God hath made the Earth the Heavens the Seas and the Fountains of water Apoc. 14. 7. The Minor is proved by Scripture the first verse in the Bible Elohim creäted Heaven and Earth and after in the same Chap. ver 26. Let Vs make man after Our Image hence it is said in the Original Where is God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my Makers and Psal 149. 2. Let Israël rejoyce in him that made him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his Makers which denote's the Trinitie of the Persons More distinctly Psal 33. 6. By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made and all the host of them by the Spirit of his mouth that is God the Father by his Word i. e. his Wisedom which is Christ and by his Virtue which is the holy Ghost hath made all things and these three are but one God More clearly Psal 104. 30. Thou sendest forth thy Spirit and they are creäted The Prophet sheweth how the orderly course of the creatures is wisely disposed off and the Antithesis betwixt the Spirits i. e. souls of the creatures which die and the Spirit of God which creäte's and renewe's them So Elihu in Job The Spirit of God hath made mee and the breath of the Lord hath given mee life Job 35. 10. And 't is said touching our Savior That which is conceived of Marie is of the holy Ghost creäting the body by his omnipotent power of the substance of the Virgin Marie in a way unheard off from the begining of the world and his soul immediatly of nothing 2 Hee that support's and uphold's all the creatures in their beeing is God The holy Ghost doth so Ergò The Major is confirmed because preservation of the creatures is a work equivalent to creätion and 't is rightly called a continued creätion hence is the Lord described to bee a God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the present stretching out the heavens Esa 40. 22. All means under the Sun are but dead instruments without God To bee of himself is proper to the Lord and incommunicable to any creature hence is it as Glass observe's Orat. de Hebr. lin Necess that the Lord is called Adonai of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because hee is the basis and the prop to uphold all the creatures in the world they all depend on him as artificial works do on natural substances What can a Carpenter do without wood What can a Mason do without stones Yea as the light in the aire depend's on the bodie of the Sun wee live and move and have our â—eeinâ— in God Acts 17. 28. The Minor is confirmed not onely because the holy Ghost is Adoâ—ai as is shewed in the first Reason but because this is particularly affirmed of one work and in paritie of reason it hold's true in all the rest Gen. 1. 2. The Spirit of God is said to move upon the face of the waters By the Spirit of God cannot bee meant the winde which is the moving of the air for there was no distinction of things below in the first day they were a confused mass without form and without any virtue or efficacie Nor could the air of winde if there had been any such creature at that time have had the cherishing effect which is there asscribed to the Spirit wee are then to understand no creäted Spirit but the Creätor and Cherisher of all The Lord would teach us that this confused lump of the Elements creäted in the begining could not consist of it self but as it was necessarie it should have a Creätor for its beeing so likewise that it should have a Protector a Conservator and a Quickner for the continuance of the same and the Spirit that upheld this mass was the Spirit of God The word used by the Spirit is very emphatical 't is a Metaphor taken from Birds which do sit upon their eggs wave over them to bring forth their young ones or â—o cherish them beeing hatched Deut. 32. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Deuter. the Lord protected his Children as the Bird doth her young ones and brought them out of Egypt as hee did a beautiful world out of the Chaos so that in this place of Genesis is set forth the effectual comfortable motion of the Spirit on the indigested Chaos whereby hee sustained and as it were cherished that vast creature I might shew that this is not a singular exposition devised of late daies but asserted by many ancient Fathers yea and by som ancient Rabbins as P. Galatm l. 2. and H. Ainsworth on this text do witness but I omit them Hee that truly and properly work 's miracles is God The holy Ghost doth so Ergò The Major is proved even by one of the words which is used for a miracle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which like a beautiful creature hath an allureing nature to drawmen to beleeve in God and to obey him Ainsworth on Exod. 7. 9. Or as Schindler of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it demâ—nstrat's the truth and is as a divine seal thereof not imprinted in wax which will soon wear out but engraven as it were in brass and so is an indeleble Character Hereby did our Savior prove that hee was God Matth. 9. 5. as if hee had said it 's the same divine power to forgive sins and work miracles The Lord alone doth wondrous works Psal 78. 18. Somtimes hee work 's them for the prayers of his servants as hee did at and for the prayers of Elias 1 King 18. Somtimes by divine instinct and inspiration and then is the miracle said to be a miracle ex potestate Josuah said Sun stand thou still in the firmament And Peter to Aeneas Arise and this is a work so peculiar to God that the great School-man Aquin. cap. 2. quaest 14. 8. art 1. concludeth that that it cannot bee communicated to a creature no not to the
humane nature of Christ as properly and originally wrought by it The Deitie shined with miracles and the Humanitie was exposed to injuries The Minor is proved by the words of our Savior Luke 11. 20. Christ cast's out devils by the finger of God Hee hath reference as is probable to Exod. 8. 19. The Magicians of Pharaoh acknowledged that the miracle of â—ice was wrought by the finger of God the holding up of the singer argue's power and authoritie and is a kinde of threatning to desist from evil and this text is expounded in S. Matth. 12. 28. Christ cast's out devils by the Spirit of God and yet more plainly if any thing can bee more plain there is no servant of God which God hath graced with this honor to bee an instrument of working miracles But it is the blessed Spirit that give 's this gift unto them 1 Cor. 12. 10. 4 Hee that inspired the holy Prophets and Apostles and infallibly guided the Penners of the holy Scripture is God The holy Ghost hath don both these Ergò hee is God The Major is clear by Scripture Luke 1. 70. God spake by the mouth not of som but of all the Prophets since the world began and the whole Scripture and every clause of Scripture is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 given by divine inspiration hence is it that the Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is called the Word of God and to bee esteemed of us as if it had been written with Gods own hand as the Decalogue was it is chirographum Dei as Austin elegantly a writing under God's own hand The Minor is proved by evident Scripture Prophesies of old time saith S. Peter came not by the will of man but the Prophets spoke as they were moved both for the matter and the words by the holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1. 21. The Spirit which began by inspiration sat still moving on those soul-refreshing waters sweetly and wisely assisting his Pen-men according to their several stiles till there was a perfect production till the Canon of the Scripture was completed And this is further proved in that what God is said to speak in the old Testament to David to Esay c. that in the new which is a commentary of much in the old is asscribed to the holy Ghost Heb. 3. 7. Act. 28. 25. and in many other places Well said the holy Ghost by Esaias to your Fathers Ergò I conclude the holy Ghost is God Hee that rule 's and govern's the Church by his absolute power is God The holy Ghost doth so Ergo. The Major is plain and cannot with any color of reason bee denied for the Church is the Church of God Acts 20. 28. his own enclosure from the commons of the world and one inferior to God cannot by his absolute power govern it it is God's own propertie and peculiar not to bee claimed by any creature to command by his own authority over the whole Church The Minor is evidently proved by Scripture the holy Ghost instruct's Peter remove's his scruples and laie's a charge upon him Arise get thee down and go to Cornelius with the Messengers doubting nothing for I have sent them Act. 10. 20. Is this a language beseeming a creature Will a creature speak thus with authority a holy creature Acts 13. 2. Separate to or for mee Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them Hath any creature a good creature the boldness thus imperiously to command in God's house Certainly this is the voice of God and not of an Angel Consonant hereto is that profession of the holy Assemblie at Jerusalem Acts 15. 28. It seemed good to the holy Ghost and to Vs that is to us inspired by the holy Ghost Had this happy societie of Saints consulting for the rest and peace of the Church and by the blessing of the Lord making a happy conclusion most sutable to the state and condition of those times forgotten to acknowledg God the Author and resolve finally this great work into a creature's inspiration Lastly to name no more Acts 20. 28. Take heed to your selves and to all the flock over which the holy Ghost hath made you overseers Words very emphatical belonging to the great God but too high to bee attributed to any creature Argum. 6 Hee that doth what hee will and disposeth his gifts as hee himself pleaseth is God The holy Ghost doth so Ergò The Major is plain our God is in the heavens and hee hath don whatsoever hee pleaseth Psal 115. 3. It 's blasphemie to conceive that God should bee like som Kings of Egypt which seem's to bee intimated by that speech of Pharaoh to Joseph and is asserted of these Caliphs in later times that they committed the whole Government of their Kingdom to their Vice-roys according to whose word and commandment all the people were ruled Gen. 41. 40. And they in the mean time enjoy themselvs and meddle not with the administration of the Kingdom Let Christians abhor such cogitations and firmly beleeve that there is nothing at all don by the creature but the Lord is the first efficient cause thereof and produceth it immediatly immediatione suppositi for hee is every where and immediatione virtutis suae infinitae Greg. de Val. tom 1. d. 8. q. 1. p. 2. And our Bradwardine laie's down these three Conclusions and prove's them First no creature at all can work without God Secondly no creature can make any thing at all unless God by himself and immediatly doth make the same thing Thirdly yea more immediatly then doth any working creature de causa Dei lib. 1. cap. 3. I may further confirm this Proposition by your own Arguments God give 's all things to all Argum. 5. And it is God that hath the power and disposition of all things Argum. 7. The Minor is confirmed Hebr. 2. 4. where the Apostle teacheth that several gifts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 distributions and parting of his gifts severally to men are according to his pleasure And 1 Cor. 12. 11. hee divide's not to som only but to every man as hee pleaseth all gifts not onely the greatest most admirable gifts but those also of the middle sort yea and the meanest are the gifts of the Spirit hee worketh all in all Heathens sottishly asscribed several gifts to several gods som to Jupiter som to Apollo Mercurie som to Juno Diana but wee have been better taught then so to asscribe all to God the holy Ghost who give 's all to all Whereby this Author is confuted who affirmeth in answer to Mat. 12. 31. the acts of the Spirit his ministrie is not used but in things of the greatest importance Seventhly I add another Argument as a choice specialtie under the general concluded in the former Argument Hee that is the Author of saving Graces is God The holie Ghost is the Author of saving Graces Ergò The Major is proved because conversion and regeneration not to spend time in runing
expressions yet all agree in the main point against you that the holy Ghost was with all them to whom hee is given before hee was a gift to them as touching his natural and powerful presence and thus hee is also with the very devils reprobates the elect uncalled and all other creatures which are uncapable of this gift of holiness and of happiness Yet the holy Ghost when hee is given hee is with the Saints in a new way in such a manner as hee was not present before in this regard it is that the Saints are called the Temples of the holy Ghost and a Temple is Gods peculiar hee dwell's in the Saints and is graciously present with them they have him present by faith and other graces when hee is known and beloved of man And this is not onely understood of the gifts of God but of God himself whom wee know by faith and love by charitie Nor is it any marvel that God should bee present without any change on his part for the bodily Sun as wee know without any mutation in the Sun at all is present to him that will open his eies to look upon it This is then your palpable fallacie à dicto secundùm quid ad dictum simpliciter The holy Ghost was not graciously present with the elect before their calling Ergò hee is not God or was not essentially present with them before I abhor the consequence ARGUMENT 8. 8 Argum. of M. Bidle Hee that changeth place is not God The holy Spirit changeth place Ergò The Major is plain for if God should change place hee would cease to bee where hee was before and begin to bee where hee was not before which everteth his Omnipresence and consequently by the confession of the adversaries themselves his Deitie The Minor is ocularly apparant if following the * advice of the adversaries you will but go to Jordan for there Abi Ariane ad Jordanem Trinitatem videbis you shall have the holy Spirit in a bodily shape descending from heaven which is the terminus à quo alighting upon Christ which is the terminus ad quem Luke 3. 21 22. Neither let any man alledg that as much is spoken of God Exod. 3. and chap. 20. and Gen. 18. For if you compare Acts 7. 30 35 38 53. Gal. 3. 19. Heb. 2. 2 3. and chap. 13. 2. with the fore-said places you shall finde that it was not God himself that came down but onely an Angel sustaining the Person and Name of God which hath no place in the history touching the descent of the holy Spirit ANSWER Answ I except not against your Major nor against the explication and confirmation of it that God is every-where is religiously and unanimously acknowledged because the essence of God is most simple and infinite absolutely and so is the vertue of working infinite also and if it was not every-where it would be limited It 's a memorable expression used by Hermes Trismegistus a Heathen hee compare 's God to a perfect Sphere whose centre is every-where and circumference no where As the soul is in the bodie wholly in the whole bodie and wholly in every part of the bodie albeit it 's said to bee chiefly in the heart or brain because in and by those parts it perform's the most excellent operations so is our great God wholly in heaven wholly on the earth wholly every-where in a divine and spiritual manner not included in any place nor excluded out of it although hee is frequently said to bee in heaven because there most conspicuously hee manifest's his glorie and his goodness to the holy Angels and blessed Saints I denie your Minor for although the holy Ghost is said to descend from heaven yet was hee in heaven then and every-where else And there are divers circumstances in the text to convince what you from thence would denie that hee is God who descended and that the holy Ghost was not personally contained within the compass of a Dove real or in representation because hee did not assume into the unitie of his Person this Dove and if hee had don so yet would not hee have been definitively or circumscriptively therein nor can hee bee said to descend on Christ in regard of sanctification because Christ even from the instant of his incarnation was full of grace Nor was there any addition of holiness to Christ by the descent of a Dove upon him but hee represented himself in the shape of a Dove as in his sign and 't is not obscurely made out by the text that hee is God for what was the scope of the Evangelist why doth hee relate this storie was it not to manifest that Jesus Christ both by the voice of his Father and this descent of a Dove was publickly authorised to exercise his prophetical sacerdotal and regal offices to redeem the elect and to reconcile them to God The circumstance of the time may leade us to such a consideration hee is first inaugurated to this office and then hee begin's to put it in execution and so wee see that the Father by his voice and the holy Ghost by his visible descent upon him did call him to this great work None can send any Prophet but God alone much less is it in the power of any creature to send Jesus Christ to redeem the world Deut. 18. 15. See Luke 4. 18. Esa 61. 1. Moreover it is never spoken of any Angel or pure creature that the heaven was rent and opened as it is said hereof Mar. 1. 10. this was a symbol of the singular presence of God whereby wee may learn that this Spirit was God's Spirit yea God himself Add that it is somthing that this Spirit whereof you do speak descended on Jesus and remained on him John 1. 33. but where do wee reade that creäted spirits descended on and abode on him It is their office wee know to minister as servants unto him and to worship him Hebr. 1. 6. Lastly the same Spirit that descended on Jesus did also lead him into the wilderness to bee tempted of the Divel Matth. 4. 1. Is it in the power of any creature to lead Jesus Christ up and down especially into solitarie deserts and to this end to bee tempted by the Divel Well if this circumstance fail yet by other circumstances in the text it 's clear enough that S. Austin with good reason did say Go thou Arian to Jordane and there thou shalt see the Trinitie I add if there bee any sense of the Deitie in you consider I pray of your shall I call it extreme blindness or rather abominable impietie which you discover by this your Argument Why so the Prophet David saith that hee could not go any where from the presence of God's Spirit Psal 139. But if you say true suppose wee that you could have taken the wings of the morning and remove as the light of the Sun doth as it were transfuse it self from East to West
and this shape is moved from place to place which clearly overthroweth your Argument Advers Exod. 20. compared with Act. 7. 53. Galat. 3. 19. Hebr. 2. 2. an Angel spoke and yet God is said to speak Ergò the Angel spoke in the Person of God Answ First I answer by concession admit that your exposition touching the speaking of the Law by Angels bee sound by those texts in the New Testament yet there will bee enough remaining in the text to enervate your Argument for did not God com down then was there not a manifestation of Gods glorie and severitie Did not Moses speak with the Lord face to face insomuch that his face did glister and was glorious Did not God himself write the Law in the two Tables and give them to Moses Did not hee see the back parts of God a glimps of his glorie Sith these things cannot bee denied the Argument will remain strong against you albeit the holy Angels were Gods instruments of pronouncing the Law And why should it bee a thing incredible for any man to beleeve that God may visibly manifest his presence either in wrath or mercie for can an Angel appear in a visible form and frame a voice and shall this with any color of reason bee denied to God Almightie Nor is it clearly proved by those cited Scriptures that Angels spoke the words of the Law in the Person of God For first was it ever heard that any Embassador when hee hath audience of a forain Prince deliver's his embassage otherwise then in the third person hee saith not I say so but my Prince saith thus and thus And have not wee an evident testimonie hereof in the holy Prophets which deliver not their message to Gods people in their own names but thus saith the Lord. Yea and the holy Angels themselvs in their visions declare that they are sent Dan. 9. And they likewise by som circumstance or other make it appear that they speak in the Name of the Lord. And S. Paul saith to this purpose pertinently and expresly that when the Law was delivered it was the voice not of a creäted Angel but of Christ that did shake the earth and men on earth Hebr. 12. 26. Besides there is mention made of Angels in the promulgation of the Law the Word was spoken by Angels hee saith not by an Angel how this can bee verified in them sith there were not many speeches not many voices but one distinct audible voice is hard to bee conceived Particularly in the two first places it is not said that the Law was spoken by Angels but ordained by Angels and so it might bee because holy Angels were attendants on the great God and instruments to shake the earth to raise thunder and lightning c. because they were witnesses and approvers of the deliverie thereof in which sense it is said that the Saints shall judg the world not by pronouncing but by approving the sentence of Christ 1 Cor. 6. And for that place in the Hebrews might it not relate to the words of the Law uttered at some other time Or it may bee Gods voice in the deliverie of the Law was uttered and pronounced by the ministerie of Angels and they by an extraordinarie way thundred out the words which God spoke to them to speak to the people as a Scrivener may write and speak the words which are dictated to him by another in the person of that author the principal author as in marriage the persons to bee married speak the very words from the Ministers mouth but I had rather hear the judgment of another then peremptorily in this perplexed case set down mine own opinion ARGUMENT 9. 9 Argum. of M. Bidle Hee that prayeth unto Christ to com to judgment is not God The holy Spirit doth so Ergo. The Major is granted The Minor is evident from Rev. 22. 17. compared with ver 12. Neither let any man think to elude this proof by saying that the Spirit is here said to pray onely because hee maketh the Bride to pray For when the Scripture would signifie the assistance of the holy Spirit in causing men to speak it is wont to affirm either that the holy Spirit speaketh in them as Matth. 10. 20. or that they speak by the holy Spirit as Rom. 8. 15. Wee have received the Spirit of adoption by whom wee crie Abba Father But there it is expresly said that the Spirit and the Bride say Com not the Spirit in the Bride nor the Bride by the Spirit I add what is pertinent to this head out of his 12th Reason Rom. 8. 27. The Spirit maketh intercession for us with groans unutterable and hee make's intercession for the Saints according to the will of God which prove's the holy Ghost to bee inferior to God inasmuch as hee is said to make intercession unto God with groans which is not so to bee understood as if the holy Spirit was here said to help our infirmities onely by suggesting petitions and groans unto us and making us to pray as is commonly but falsly affirmed for the very words of the context sufficiently refute such a gloss since they say that the Spirit himself not wee by the Spirit as wee have it in ver 15. of the same Chapter maketh intercession for us but to help others infirmities by making intercession for them is not to instill petitions into them but to pour out petitions apart in their behalf as is apparent both from the thing it self since none can intercede for himself all intercession requiring the intervening of a third Person and by the collation of ver 34. of the same Chapter and by the 30. verse of the 15. Chapter and by 2 Corinth 1. 11. Hebr. 7. 25. 1 Tim. 2. 1. Col. 4. 12. Ephes 6. 18. Neither let any man think to baffle off this Argument which is written with a beam of the Sun by saying that this is improperly spoken of the holy Spirit for besides that hee hath no other ground to say so but his own pre-conceived opinion touching the Deitie of the holy Spirit hee ought to know that the Scripture though it speak many things after the manner of men yet doth it no where speak any thing that argueth his inferioritie to and dependance on another But this passage of the Apostle plainly intimateth the holy Spirit to bee inferior to God and dependent on him otherwise what need had hee to intercede with God and that with groans unutterable on the behalf of the Saints ANSWER Answ The Major Proposition is undeniably true for religious invocation is an humble obsequiousness and an enjoyned dutie to bee performed to the great God and doth necessarily suppose in him that praie's first inferioritie of the nature of the partie that praie's to the object of invocation Secondly indigencie or want of that good thing which is praied for either in whole or in degree a defectibilitie or possibilitie not to have the good thing praied for
made not the heavens and the earth they shall perish Or else wee may conceive of God relatively as distinctly to bee apprehended to bee God the Father God the Son God the holy Ghost The former was alwaies necessarily beleeved to salvation but not the later so peremptorily to avouch is to cover the graves of millions with a stone of despair For if the Sun shine's not on the mountains surely the vallies are not lightsom Bellarmine judging the Argument drawn from the word Elohim not sufficient to prove the Trinitie of the Persons amongst other things add's this In l. 2. de Chr. cap. 6. no. 7. that the Septuagints never turned it Dii To this our learned Junius answer's the reason hereof is either because they themselvs knew not the mysterie of the Trinitie or thought it not safe to propound it to them And yet I grant that God never heard any but for his Sons sake nor could ever any man make an acceptable praier to God but by the help and direction of the holy Ghost The former was clearly revealed in the Old Testament The Lord thy God is one Lord Deut. 6. 4. and in many other places not needful to bee recited but the mysterie of the Trinitie was not clearly revealed but mystically expressed and in great wisdom wee are sure And if wee will beleeve Theodoret and many others l. 2. ad Graecos it was so ordered partly because the people of God then were uncapable to understand that depth and partly to prevent Idolatrie to which sin the Israëlites were very prone for living amongst the Egyptians then with Cananites and other idolatrous people that did surround them and were worshippers of many gods if they had clearly and explicitely heard mention of God the Father of God the Son and God the holy Ghost here is the danger that they would have been Tritheïtes and have beleeved that there were three gods yet was this mysterie shadowed many waies in the Old Testament lest it being seen in the essentiall image of God and evidently preached in the Gospel should seem to Christians a new doctrine or repugnant to the Old Testament Conclus 2 The second Conclusion to bee called a Disciple of Jesus Christ and a Beleever on him I speak of actuall faith doth of necessitie require that hee should beleeve the promised Messiah was com into the world I do not say that it was alwaies necessarie to beleeve that hee was God the second Person of the blessed Trinitie for I take it for granted that in the infancie of the Church not onely ordinarie Christians but his choice Disciples apprehended not that divine truth Nor do I say that it was absolutely necessarie to salvation to beleeve that Christ was incarnated and that hee was crucified for the sins of the world for Cornelius Act. 10. And it might bee the case of many others then and before those daies was in a good condition for beleeving in the promised Messiah albeit then hee pitched not his faith on the Messiah as already com in the flesh and that was wee may well presume for want of sufficient instruction for virtually beleeving on the Messiah whom hee explicitely professed not yet I say that hee which is denominated a Beleever in Christ and a Disciple of the Lord Jesus doth not onely beleeve with his heart but hee doth also profess with his tongue that the Savior of the world was manifested in our flesh Conclus 3 The third Conclusion is Beleevers and Disciples are of two sorts Som there are that are thoroughly instructed in the Articles of faith and others there are which either for want of capacitie time to learn or means of learning and these make their ignorance to bee invincible or else for want of industrie or through their negligence to learn are ignorant of many main heads of our Christian religion which they might have known and whereof they are sinfully ignorant This is a received truth in the world all those who profess the Name of Christ which are distinguished from Jews Mahumetans and Pagans are usually and may in a general way bee called Disciples and Beleevers These Conclusions being thus premised the answer to the Argument will bee a very easie task Advers Hee in whom men have not beleeved is not God Answ I answer this Proposition if it bee restrainedly understood and meant of God taken personally viz. for an explicite belief of the third Person is not generally true as it ought to bee Many there are in the world which were not so far enlightned and yet were Beleevers and Disciples of Christ as is shewed in the third Conclusion But now if the Proposition bee meant thus as it is explained hee that doth not beleeve in him that is God taken absolutely and essentially can bee no Disciple or Beleever I readily grant this to bee a truth hee that doth not beleeve in one God hee is no Disciple nor do I think that any worthy the name of a Christian ever questioned the truth thereof Advers Many say you were Disciples which were so far from beleeving in God the holy Ghost to bee God that they never heard whether there were an holy Ghost or not Act. 19. 2. Answ To this I answer that those Ephesians were Disciples and Beleevers for so the text call's them but they were very children in knowledg at that time they were converts and baptized for so saith the text how ever Baptism is taken and if properly as it is most likely either by John the Baptist or one of his Disciples they were not tam tincti quà m sordidati saith S. Ambrose They then returned home to Ephesus and wanted means at home of further instruction as wee may charitably judg and probably gather because that Paul and Timothy were forbidden to preach the word of God in Asia Acts 16. 6. where Ephesus stood but afterwards as wee may read Acts 19. and 20. Chapters the glorious light did shine forth to idolatrous Ephesus by the long continued disputations and many Sermons of Saint Paul so that in what sense soever the holy Ghost bee taken in the question and answer these Ephesians were very much unlike to those Christians which according to that scomma propheticum Esa 65. 20. were children of an hundred years old And as Espencaeus out of his own knowledg saith of an ancient and noble Gentleman brought up in the Church and so his ignorance was unexcusable that hee did freely confess that hee never had heard whether there was an holy Ghost or not in 1 Tim. 3. cha digr 17. But I will reason with you Either this ignorance of the Ephesians was vincible or invincible either it was sinfull or sinless That there was an holy Spirit of God expresly revealed in the Old Testament and by the name of the Spirit of God yea and manifested by extraordinarie inspirations and raptures not onely by the holy Prophets but also to others which had not a standing calling to that high