Section III. — In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power and eternity ; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.^ The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding ; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father ;** the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.*"

M 1 John V. 7; Matt. iii. 16, 17; xxviii. 19; 2 Cor. xiii. 14.— 39 John L 14, 18.— «> John XV. 26; Gal. iv. 6.

Having before ^hown that there is but one living and

true God, and that his essential properties embrace all perfections, this Section asserts in addition —

1st. That Father, Son and Holy Ghost are each equally that one God, and that the indivisible divine essence and all divine perfections and prerogatives belong to each in the same sense and degree.

2d. That these titles. Father, Son and Holy Ghost, are not different names of the same person in different relations, but of different persons.

3d. That these three divine persons are distinguished from one another by certain personal properties, and are revealed in a certain order of subsistence and of operation.

These propositions embrace the Christian doctrine of the Trinity (three in unity), which is no part of natural religion, though most clearly revealed in the inspired Scriptures — indistinctly, perhaps, in the Old Testament, but with especial definiteness in the New Testament.

1st. Father, Son and Holy Ghost are each equally the one God, and the indivisible divine essence, and all divine perfections and prerogatives belong to each in the same sense and degree.

Since there is but one God, the infinite and the absolute First Cause, his essence, being spiritual, cannot be divided. If then Father, Son and Holy Ghost are that one God, they must each equally consist of that same essence. And since the attributes of God are the inherent properties of his essence, they are inseparable from that essence ; and it follows that if Father, Son and Holy Ghost consist of the same numerical essence, they must have the same identical attributes in common ;

that is, there is common to them the one intelligence and the one will, etc.

The Scriptures are full of the evidences of this fundamental truth. It has never been questioned whether the Father is God. That the Son is the true God is proved by the following considerations :

(1.) Christ existed before he was born of the Virgin. '(a.) He was with the Father before the world was. John viii. 58 ; xvii. 5. (6.) ^* He came into the world." ^' He came down from heaven." John iii. 31 ; xvi. 28.

■ (2.) All the names and titles of God are (constantly applied to Christ, and to none others except to the Father and the Spirit : as Jehovah, Jer. xxiii. 6 ; mighty God, everlasting Father, Isa. ix. 6 ; God, John i. 1 ; Heb. i. 8 ; God over all, Ilom. ix. 5 ; the true God and everlasting life, 1 John v. 20 ; the Alpha and the Omega, the Almighty, Rev. i. 8.

(3.) All divine attributes are })redicated of him Eternity, John viii. 58 ; xvii. 5 ; Rev. i. 8 ; xxii. 13 immutability, Heb. i. 10, 11; xiii. 8; omnipresence Matt, xviii. 20 ; John iii. 13 ; omniscience. Matt. xi. 27 John ii. 25; Rev. ii. 23; omnipotence, John v. 17 Heb. i. 3.

(4.) The Scriptures attribute all divine works to Christ: Creation, John i. 3-10; Col. i. 16, 17; preservation and providential government, Heb. i. 3; Col. i. 17; Matt, xxviii. 18; the final judgment, John v. 22; Matt. XXV. 31, 32; 2 Cor. v. 10; giving eternal life, John X. 28; sending the Holy Ghost, John xvi. 7; sanctification, Eph. v. 25-27.

(5.) The Scriptures declare that divine worship should

Z'

^^ CONFESSION OF FAITH.

be paid to him : Heb. i. 6 ; Rev. i. 5, 6 ; v. 11, 12 ; 1 Cor. i. 2 ; John v. 23. Men are to be baptized into the name of Jesus, as well as into the name of the Father and the Holy Ghost. The grace of Jesus is invoked in the apostolical benediction.

That the Holy Ghost is the true God is proved in a similar manner.

(1.) He is called God. What the Spirit says Jehovah says. Compare Isa. vi. 8, 9 with Acts xxviii. 25, and Jer. xxxi. 33 with Heb. x. 15, 16. To lie to the Holy Ghost is to lie to God. Acts v. 3, 4.

(2.) Divine perfections are ascribed to him : Omnis.- cience, 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11; omnipresence, Ps. cxxxix. 7; omnipotence, Luke i. 35 ; Rom. viii. 11.

(3.) Divine works are attributed to him : Creation, Job xxvi. 13; Ps. civ. 30; miracles, 1 Cor. xii. 9-11 ; regeneration, John iii. 6 ; Titus iii. 5.

(4.) Divine worship is to be paid to him. His gracious influences are invoked in the apostolical benediction. 2 Cor. xiii. 4. We are baptized into his name. Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is never forgiven. Matt. xii. 31, 32.

2d. These titles. Father, Son and Holy Ghost, are not the names of the same pers n in different relations, but of different persons.

Since there is but one indivisible and inalienable spiritual essence which is common to Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and since they have in common one infinite intelligence, power, will, etc., when we say they are distinct persons we do not mean that one is as separate from the other a^ one human person is from every other. Their mode of subsistence in the one substance must

ever continue to us a profound mystery, as it trans( ends all analogy. All that is revealed to us is, that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost stand so distinguished and related that, Ist^^hey use mutually the personal pronouns I, thoj^ he, when speaking to or about each other. Thus Christ continually addresses the Father, and speaks of the Father and of the Holy Ghost: *' And I will pray the Father and he will give you another Comforter,'' John xiv. 16; "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory I had with thee before the world was," John xvii. 5. Thus Christ speaks of the Holy Ghost : " I will send him ;" " He will testify of me ;" " Whom the Father will send in my name," John xiv. 26, and xv. 26. 2^^^ That they mutually love one another, act upon and through one another, and counsel together. The Father sends the Son, John xvii. 6, and the Father and Son send the Spirit, Ps. civ. 30 ; the Father giveth commandment to the Son, John x. 18 ; the Spirit " speaks not of himself" — "he testifies of" and "glorifies" Christ. John xvi. 13-15. 3d/ That they are eternally mutually related as Father-^nd Son and Spirit. That is, the Father is the Father of the Son, and the Son the Son of the Father, and the Spirit the Spirit of the Fathei and of the Son. 4th,xThat they work together in a^ perfectly harmonious economy of operations upon the creation — the Father creating and sitting supreme in the general administration ; the Son becoming incarnate in human nature, and, as the theanthropos, discharging the functions of mediatorial prophet, priest and king ; the Holy Ghost making his grace omnipresent, and applying it to the souls and bodies of his members: the

r

Father the absolute origin and source of life and law; the Son the Revealer ; the Holy Ghost the Executor.

There are a number of Scripture passages in which all the three persons are set forth as distinct and yet as divine: Matt, xxviii. 19; 2 Cor. xiii. 14; Matt. iii. 13-17; John xv. 26, etc.; 1 John i. 7.

3d. These three divine persons are distinguished from one another by certain personal properties, and are revealed in a certain order of subsistence and of operation.

The '* attributes" of God are the properties of the divine essence, and therefore common to each of the three persons, who are " the same in substance," and therefore " equal i power and glory." The " properties" of each divine person, on the other hand, are those peculiar modes of personal subsistence, and that peculiar order of operation, which distinguishes each from the other, and determines the relation of each to the other. This is chiefly expressed to us by the personal names by which they are revealed. The peculiar personal property of the first Person is expressed by the title Father. As a person he is eternally the Father of his only begotten Son. The peculiar j)ersonal property of the second Person is expressed by the title Son. As a person he is eternally the only begotten Son of the Father, and hence the ex])ress image of his person, and the eternal Word in the beginning with God. The peculiar property of the third {)erson is expressed by the title Spirit. This cannot express his essence, because his essence is also the essence of the Father and the Son. It must express his eternal personal relation to the other divine persons, because he is as a person constantly designated as the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of

the Son. They are all spoken of in Scrij)ture in a constant order ; the Father first, the Son second, the Spirit third. The Father sends and operates through both the Son and Spirit. The Son sends and operates through the Spirit. Never the reverse in either case. The Son is sent by, acts for and reveals the Father. The Spirit is sent by, acts for and reveals both the Father and the Son. The persons are as eternal as the essence, equal in honour, power and glory. Three Persons, they are one God, being identical in essence and divine perfections. " I and my Father are one." John X. 30. " The Father is in me and I in him." John x. 38. " He that hath seen the Son, hath seen the Father." John xiv. 9-11.

The most ancient and universally accepted statement of all the points involved in the doctrine of the Trinity, is to be found in the Creed of the Council of Nice, A. D. 325, as amended by the Council of Constantinople, A. D. 381, and is given in full in the first Chapter of the Introduction to this volume.

Section III. — In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity ; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.^^ The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding ; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father ;^^ the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.^"

•'8 1 John V. 7. Matt. Hi. 16, 17; 1 ^^ John i. 14,18.

xxviii. 19. 2 Cor. xiii. 14. \ *" John xv. 26. Gal. iv. 6.

We are here taught, — First, That in the one Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Second!}/, That these three are distinguished by their personal properties. Thirdlr/, That each of these persons is truly God.

1. That in the one Godhead there are three persons, is affirmed in opposition to the Anti-trlmtarians, who maintain that God is one in respect of personality as well as of essence. The term Avhich has been chosen to express the doctrine now under consideration is Trinity. This word is not to be found in Scripture, but it is a very appropriate and happy term to express this profound mystery. It is a compound Latin word, signifying three in unity; that is, three distinct persons in one undivided Godhead. The adversaries of this doctrine now call themselves Unitarians, by which they mean to intimate their belief of only one God, and insinuate that those who believe the doctrine of the Trinity must admit more than one God, But we maintain, as strongly as they, that there is only one God, and we think it perfectly consistent with this belief, to acknowledge three persons in the Godhead. This, indeed, is a mystery, but there is nothing in it absurd, . or contradictory to reason. We do not say that three are one

SFJCT. 3.] OF GOD AND OF THE HOLY TRINITY. 3?

in the same sense and in the same respect in which they are three ; that would, no doubt, be a plain contradiction in terms. But we say, they are three in one respect, one in another respect, — three in person, one in essence ; and there is no absurdity in that at all. It surpasses our reason, indeed, fully to understand it ; and so do a thousand things besides, which yet we know are true and real. But, if it be a doctrine clearly revealed in the Sacred Scriptures, we are bound to believe it, however incapable we may be of comprehending it.

Before proceeding to establish the doctrine, we must explain the terms employed. The word Godhead signifies the divine nature. This is a scriptural term. — Rom. i. 20 ; Col. ii. 9. In the Scriptures, and, agreeably to them, in our Confession, Godhead denotes that infinite, eternal, and unchangeable nature, or essence, which is not peculiar to the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Ghost, but common to all the three. The distinction in the Godhead is characterised by the word person. This term, in the common acceptation, denotes " a separate and independent being, whose existence and actions have no necessary connection with the existence and actions of any other being. It has been defined to be a thinking substance, which can act by itself, or an intelligent agent, who is neither a part of, nor sustained by another." But this term, when applied to the Sacred Three, is not to be understood in exactly the same sense as when applied to creatures. The cases are totally dissimilar. " Three human persons have the same specific nature, but three divine persons have the same numerical nature. Anti-trinitarians affirm, that, by holding three divine persons, we necessarily make three Gods, because they most unfairly maintain, in the face of our solemn protestations, that we affix the same idea to the word person which it bears when used in reference to men. But we deny that it has this meaning. We do not teach that there are three distinct essences mysteriously conjoined, — that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit possess, each of them separately from the others, a divine nature and divine perfections. What we believe is this, that there is a distinction in the Godhead, to which there is nothing similar in creatures, who are one in every sense of the terra ; and we employ the word person to express that distinction. It may be objectionable, because, being applied to other beings, it is apt to suggest an idea which is inconsistent with the imity of God ; but this is the unavoidable consequence of the imperfection of human language ; and we endeavour to guard against the abuse by declaring that, in this application, it must be qualified so as

38 CONFESSION or faith. [^chai'. ii.

to exclude a separate existence. When we say that there are three persons in the Godhead, the word person signifies a distinction which we do not pretend to explain, but which does not intrench upon the unity of essence."*

The doctrine of the Trinity is not discoverable by the light of nature, or by unassisted reason. It can only be known by divine revelation, and it is amply confirmed by the Holy Scriptures. There are many passages in the Old Testament which prove a pkiraUty of persons in the Godhead ; such as those passages in which one divine person is introduced as speaking of or to another. To these we can only refer. — Gen. i. 26, iii. 22, xi. 7 ; Ps. xlv. 6, 7, ex. 1 ; Isa. vi. 8. All these texts plainly point out a plurality of persons in the Godhead. But it is evident from Scripture, not only that there is a pluraliti/, but also that there is a Trinity, or only three jjersons in the Godhead. This is plain from Isa. Ixi. 1, where our Divine Redeemer thus speaks : " The Spirit of the Lord God is upon 7ne ; because the Lord hath anointed me," &c. Here one divine person is the speaker ; he speaks of another divine person, whom he styles the Spirit; and of a third divine person, whom he calls the Lord God. The work of creation is ascribed to the agency of three distinct persons, Ps. xxxiii. 6 : " By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." Here three are distinctly pointed out, — the Father ; the Word, or the Son of God ; and the breath of his mouth, which can be no other than the Holy Spirit. But in the New Testament this doctrine is still more explicitly revealed. In the history of our Lord's baptism we have a plain intimation of the mystery of the Trinity. — Matt. iii. I(i, 17. The Father, by an audible voice from heaven, bears testimony to the incarnate Redeemer ; the So7i, in human nature, is baptized by John ; and the Holy Spirit descends upon him in a visible manner. Hence the primitive Christians used to say to any who doubted the truth of this doctrine, " Go to Jordan, and there you will see the Trinity." Plainer still is this truth from the form of words appointed to be used in Christian baptism, — " Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." — Matt, xxviii. 19. To baptize in the name of one, is to baptize by his authority, and dedicate to his service. This is competent only to a divine person. Now, if the Fathei', in whose name we are baptized, be a person, so must the Son, and the Holy Ghost, for we are baptized in their name, as well as in the name of the Father, The apostolical benediction furnishes another

* Dick's Lectures on Tlicology, vol. ii., pp. (Jl, Go.

proof of a Trinity : " The gi-ace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all." — 2 Cor. xiii. 14. " This is evidently a prayer, which it would be impiety and idolatry to address to any other but God. Yet three persons are distinctly addressed, and consequently are recognised as possessed of divine perfections ; as knowing our wants, and hearing our requests, and able to do what we ask ; as the fountain of all the blessedness implied in the terms, grace, love, and communion." We have a most explicit testimony to this doctrine, 1 John. V. 7, "There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one." The genuineness of this text has been much disputed; but the truth' of the doctrine does not rest on a single text, as has been already shown.

Nor is the doctrine of the Trinity a mere speculation. On the contrary, to use the language of Dr Dick, " without the knowledge of this doctrine it is impossible to understand the grandest of the works of God — redemption, — in which the three persons act distinct and conspicuous parts. We are called to contemplate the love of the Father, the condescension of the Son, and the gracious operations of the Spirit. Redemption is not the work of a solitary agent, but of three, all concurring in the salvation of our [>erishing race. Hence we owe gratitude to each of the persons of the Godhead distinctly, and are bound to give to each the glory to which he is entitled. We are baptized in their name, and consecrated to their service; and our prayers are addressed not to God absolutely considered, but to the Father, through the Son, and by the assistance of the Holy Ghost. It appears, therefore, that the Christian system of duty is founded upon this doctrine, and that without the belief of it there can be no acceptable religion. So far is it from being useless, that it is the very foundation of pracical piety."

II. The Sacred Three are distinguished from each other by their personal properties. It is the personal property of the Father to beget the Son. — Ps. ii. 7. It is the personal property of the Son to be eternally begotten of the Father. — John. i. 14. It is the personal property of the Holy Ghost to proceed eternally from the Father and the Son. — John xv. 26 ; Gal. iv. 6. These are called personal properties, to distinguish them from the essential perfections of Deity. Essential perfections are common to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but a personal property is something peculiar to each, something which may be affirmed of one, but cannot be affivined of the other two. Paternity is peculiar to the first

40 CONFESSION OF FAITH. \JCH\P. II.

person, filiation to the second, and procession to the third. We pretend not to explain these personal properties ; here, if in anything, it is safest to abide by the language of Scripture.

III. Each of the Sacred Three is truly God. That the Father is God is admitted on all hands ; it is, therefore, unnecessary to prove what no one denies. But the Deity of the Son Avas controverted and denied at an early period of the Christian Church. The Arians, who arose in the beginning of the fourth century, held that the Son had a beginning, and is a creature, though in antiquity and excellency superior to all other creatures. The Socinians, who sprung up towards the close of the sixteenth century, went further than the Arians. They held that the second person had no existence till he was formed in the Avomb of the Virgin, and that he is called the Son of God because God employed him to propagate divine truth by his ministry, and to confirm it by his death, and advanced him, after his resurrection, to the government of the universe. The modern Socinians, who call themselves Unitarians, the disciples of Dr Priestley, have gone still further in degrading the Son of God. They maintain that Christ is a mere man, that he was the human offspring of Joseph and JVIary, that he is no proper object of religious worship, but only the most excellent of human characters,— the most eminent of all the prophets of God. They go along with the old Socinians in maintaining that Jesus had no existence prior to his birth, but they disclaim the notion of Socinus, that, since his resurrection, he has been advanced to the government of the universe ; and contend that, as he diflf'ered in no respect from other men in his mode of coming into the world, so he can have no dominion or superiority over men in the world of spirits. In opposition to adversaries, earlier and later, our Confession asserts that the Son is God, of one substance, power, and eternity, with the Father. This might be evinced by a great variety of arguments, which we can only indicate in a very summary manner.

1. Divine names are applied to him. He is expressly called Ood, — John i. 1 ; Rom. ix. 5 ; he is called the mighty God, — Isa. ix. 6 ; the true God, — 1 John v. 20 ; the great God, — Tit. ii. 13. The Lord, or Jehovah, the incommunicable name of God, is frequently applied to the Son, — Isa. vi. 1, applied to Christ, — John xii. 41 ; Isa. xl, 3, applied to Christ, — John i. 93 ; Numb. xxi. 6. 7, applied to Christ, — 1 Cor. x. 9.

2. Divine attributes are ascribed to the Son no less than to the Father. Eternity is ascribed to him, — ;Mic. v. 2 ; Rev.

i. 8; omniscience, — John ii. 24, xxi. 17; omnipresence, — Matt, xxviii. 20; omnipotence, — Rev. i. 8; Phil. iii. 21; immutability, — Ps. cii. 25-27, compared with Heb. i. 10-12, and xiii. 8.

3. Divine works are ascribed to him. The production of all things out of nothing, — John i. 3 ; the preservation and government of all things,— Col, i. 17 ; Heb. i. 3 ; John v. 17,27 ; the purchasing of eternal redemption, — Heb. ix. 12 ; the forgiveness of sins, — Mark ii. 5 ; the raising of the dead at the last day, — John v. 28, 29 ; the judging of the world. — Rom. xiv. 10.

4. We are commanded to give the same dimne worship to the Son that is due to the Father. The established law of worship is, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." But divine worship is expressly commanded to be rendered to the Son. — John v. 23. Angels, the highest of created beings, are enjoined to worship him, — Heb. i. 6 ; and we have numerous instances of divine worship being given to him. — Acts vii. 59 ; 2 Cor. xii, 8 ; 2 Thess. ii. 16.

5. As an additional proof that the Son, no less than the Father, is the supreme God, it may be observed, that he is expressly affirmed to be equal with the Father. He claimed equality with God, and for so doing was accused of blasphemy by the Jews ; yet he never charged them with misconstruing his words, but appealed to his works in proof of his claim. — John v. 18, x. 30, 38. He thought it no robbery to be equal with God, — Phil. ii. 6 ; and his eternal Father acknowledges him to be his felloAV and equal — Zech. xiii. 7.

We may here observe, that when Christ saith that " his Father is greater than he" (John xiv. 28), he does not mean that he is greater with respect to his nature, but with respect to his office as Mediator ; in which respect Christ sustains the character of the Father's servant, and acts in virtue of a commission from him. — Isa. xiii. 1. But as the second person in the undivided Trinity, he is in all respects equal to his Divine Father.

The divinity of the Holy Spirit is also denied by Socinians ; but it may be evinced by the same arguments which prove the Deity of the Son.

1. Divine names are ascribed to the Spirit equally with the Father and the Son. He is called God. In Acts V. 3, Ananias is said to "lie unto the Holy Ghost;" and in ver. 4 he is said to " lie unto God." True Christians are said to be temples of God, inasmuch as " the Spirit of God dwelleth in them." — 1 Cor. iii. 16. The name Jeho42 CONFESSION OF FAITH. |^CIIAP. III.

vah is also given to him Isa. vi. 8, 9, compared with Acts

xxviii. 25.

2. Divine attributes are ascribed to the Spirit. Eternity is ascribed to him, — Gen. i. 1,2 ; omnipresence, — Ps. cxxxix. 7 ; omniscience, — 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11. In fine, the apostle attributes to the Spii'it the most sovereign icilL and omnipotent piower. — 1 Cor. xii. 11.

3. Divine works are ascribed to the Spirit. Creation is ascribed to him, in reference to the world in general, and to man in particular. — Gen. i. 2 ; Job xxxiii. 4. The preservation of all things is as much the work of the Spirit as of the Father and the Son. — Ps. civ. 30. The apphcation of redemption is peculiarly ascribed to the Spirit. — Tit. iii. 5 ; 1 Cor. vi. 11.

4. Divine worship is ascribed to him. Prayer, one of the most solemn parts of worship, is addressed to him. — Rev. i. 4, 5. By the seven spirits, in this passage, are not intended any created spirits, but the third jierson of the Godhead, who is so called on account of the variety and perfection of his gifts and graces. Baptism is administered in the name of the Holy Ghost, as well as in the name of the Father and the Son ; and the apostolical benediction is pronounced in his name 2 Cor. xiii. 14.

The same glory, then, is due to the undivided Three, — to the Sou no less than to the Father, and to the Holy Spirit equally with the Father and the Son.