f

ing without body, parts, or passions, of infinite

exterior agent or Creator to whom the world owed its beginning and form; that agent or Creator we call God.

UNITY OF THE GODHEAD.

That there is but one God, appears from the very nature of God, which is incompatible with a plurality of gods, inasmuch as he is the first cause and the ultimate end of all things, and is also a Being infinitely perfect; whereas if there were more Gods, then one of them might be produced by another, and they might even clash one with another; and further, as one God is sufficient, so, if there were more, neither this nor that would be necessary. But God is a necessary Being. Exodus iii. 14. "God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." Mark xii. 82. “There is one God, and there is none other but he." 1 Cor. viii. 4. "There is none other God but one." Ephesians iv. 5, 6. "One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." Isaiah xliv. 6. “Thus saith the Lord the king of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God." Deut. vi. 4. " Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord." Psalm lxxxi. 10. "Thou art God alone." Exodus xx. 3. "Thou shalt have no other God before me." John xvii. 3. "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God."

d 1 Thess. i. 9. "Ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God." Jeremiah x. 10. "But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting King." Matt. iv. 10. "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

e The Supreme Creator of all things must necessarily have existed from all eternity, since he could not have caused his own existence; and he must continue to exist to all eternity, since a being cannot cease to be, when there is no superior by whom this annihilation, or any alteration in him, can be produced, and when there is nothing in his own essence which

power, wisdom,h and goodness, the Makerk and

is subject to change or decay. We may rely upon the truth and certainty of these conclusions; but, at the same time, we must acknowledge that our capacities can by no means comprehend how a being exists necessarily, independently, and eternally.

Rev. i. 8. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." Psalm xc. 2. "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God." 1 Tim. i. 17. "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever.

To suppose that God is circumscribed by body, consists of material parts, or is liable to passions, would be so utterly inconsistent with our ideas of infinite perfection, with our notion of a Being who is equally present every where, and who is free from every possible defect, that we must, without hesitation, pronounce that God is without body, parts, or passions. John iv. 24. "God is a Spirit," and Luke xxiv. 39. "a spirit hath not flesh or bones." When, therefore, the scriptures speak of the face, eyes, ears, and hands of God, or of his grief, jealousy, anger, and other mental emotions, we are to consider that such language is only accommodated to the understandings of men; and those properties and qualities do, in fact, by no means belong to the Supreme Being.

God having created all things out of nothing, and given to them their various and respective powers, and being able to change, annihilate, and dispose of every thing in the universe, in any manner which he pleases; and no substance, either animate or inanimate, material or immaterial, being capable of resisting or impeding his will-it follows that the power of God is infinite. Luke i. 37. "For with God nothing shall be impossible." Matt. xix. 26. “With God all things are possible.'

h God's infinite wisdom appears from the admirable order

Preserver' of all things both visible and invisible;

and usefulness of things, and from the various effects of divine Providence. Psalm cxlvii. 5. "Great is our Lord and of great power; his understanding is infinite." Psalm civ. 24. "O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all." Rom. xi. 33. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!"

i God's infinite goodness appears from the creation and preservation of all things; but especially, from the redemption of mankind by Christ. Luke xviii. 19. "None is good save one, that is God." Psalm lii. 1. "The goodness of God endureth continually." Exodus xxxiv. 6. "The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth." Psalm cxlv. 9. "The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works." Psalm cxxxvii. 1. "O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever."

Gen.

k That God is the maker of all things, visible and invisible, is asserted, Col. i. 16. "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and for him." i. 1. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Exodus xx. 11." In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is." Acts xiv. 15. "That ye should turn unto the living God,... which made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein."

....

That God is also the preserver of all things, is asserted, Col. i. 17. "And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." Besides, inasmuch as nothing exists necessarily and of itself, except God, it follows that all things must and do depend on him. Neh. ix. 6. "Thou, even thou, art Lord alone, thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their hosts, the earth and all things that are therein, the seas and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all: and the host of heaven worshippeth thee." Psalm xxxvi. 6. "O Lord, thou preservest man and beast."

and in unity of this Godhead there be three Persons,m of one substance, power, and eternity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

THE TRINITY.

m Since it is most certain that there is but one God, and yet that those attributes and divine honours are in Scripture ascribed to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, which belong to no other being but God; it is very justly said, that there is one God, but three Persons.

Matt. xxviii. 16. "Go ye, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Isaiah vi. 8. “I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me." Genesis i. 26. "God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness." John xv. 26. "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." Ephes. ii. 18. “For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father."

Although there are many intimations of a plurality of persons in the Godhead made to us in the Old Testament, yet the doctrine of a Trinity in Unity was not fully revealed till the Christian religion was given. The proofs therefore are derived partly from the Old Testament, fully from the New, and from a comparison of the one with the other.

The doctrine of the Trinity is established generally by the following texts, Matt. xxviii. 19; 2 Cor. xiii. 14; and Rev. i. 4—6; in which the three persons are mentioned each time in a different order, and which affords a strong argument in favour of their equality.

ARTICLE II.

Of the Word or Son of God, which was made very Man.a

THE Son, which is the Word of the Father, begotten

a This article was directed against the Socinians, who consider Christ as a mere man, and deny the doctrine of the atonement. It consists of two parts: 1st, That which declares the union of the divine and human nature in the person of Christ. 2nd, That which declares the doctrine of the atonement. The second Person in the holy Trinity is distinguished by the name of the Son, that is," the Son of God." It is sometimes said that the phrase "Son of God" admits of various significations, and is used metaphorically in Scripture; but this observation cannot affect the argument which may be derived from it concerning our Saviour, as it cannot be denied that the Jews, in his time, affixed to this expression a determinate and particular meaning applicable only to the divine nature; and in this sense we shall find it was claimed by Christ, and understood to be so both by his disciples and by his enemies.

CHRIST AS THE Son of God, and Revealer of his Will, OR THE WORD.

The

b The second Person in the Trinity is that Word, which was declared by St. John, chap. i. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." Heb. i. 1, 2. "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the