A

BRIEF AND DISPASSIONATE VIEW

OF THE

DIFFICULTIES

ATTENDING THE

TRINITARIAN, ARIAN, AND SOCINIAN SYSTEMS.

BY

JOSIAH TUCKER, D. D.

DEAN OF GLOUCESTER.

A

BRIEF AND DISPASSIONATE VIEW,

&c. &c.

THE proofs from various passages of scripture, in favour of a Trinity of persons, in the undivided essence of the Godhead, are so many and various, so copious and express, that it is hardly possible to conceive, there would have been any doubt about their meaning, had the doctrine which they declare been as easy to be understood, as they are explicit in declaring it to be the matter of fact.*

But after we have gathered from various passages, and by comparing Scriptures with Scriptures, that in fact there is a trinity of co-equal persons in one undivided essence ;-we cannot proceed a step farther without embarking in endless difficulties and perplexities. We cannot, for instance, conceive, much less define, what is the cause of personal identity,— or what is essence: And therefore we cannot, by any powers of reason hitherto discovered, pretend to say, whether such a trinity of co-equal personalities

See Archbishop Wake's Catechism, Sections IX. and XV. printed at the end of this tract.

or personal identities, can co-exist in one undivided essence, or not. [Indeed Mr. Locke once attempted to assign the cause or substratum of personal identity; but failed most egregiously, by mistaking the effect for the cause. See Bishop Butler's Dissertation on Personal Identity, at the end of his Analogy. Selfconsciousness, the cause assigned by Mr. Locke, may be allowed to be a good proof of personal identity; but it cannot possibly be the cause of it; inasmuch as it is itself only the effect, or operation of some other cause, hitherto undiscovered. In short, I must exist, before I can be conscious of my existence. And therefore self-consciousness can be nothing more than the effect of some hidden cause. As to the giving any definition of essence, Mr. Locke would not attempt it; but declared himself unequal to such a task.] Moreover, if these co-equal persons in the Trinity should be characterised (as they actually are) under the denomination of a Father,—of a Son,-and of a Spiritual Agent distinct from both; these characteristics increase our difficulties, instead of removing them. For when we come to reason analogically on each of these heads; that is, when we come to descant on the relations and properties of a Father,and of a Son,*-and of a third Person distinct from both; we find, either that our usual rules of reasoning are all inadequate to this purpose, and cannot assist us; or else, that there cannot be that co-equality and co-eternity of persons in the undivided essence

The incarnation of the eternal Son of God adds to the number of these difficulties: But there is no need of considering this single difficulty in any separate view, or independently of the others.

of the Godhead, which the above-mentioned texts of scripture naturally, and at first sight, lead us to believe.

THE TRINITARIAN SYSTEM.

A BELIEVER in the Trinity will chuse to adopt the former of these alternatives, viz.-That our usual rules of reasoning in other cases are inadequate in this,not only as the most pious and humble, but as the most rational and defensible opinion. Nay, he will affirm further, that this is no more than what ought to be expected in the course of things; because our rules of reasoning, drawn from the natures, properties, and distinctions of finite creatures, must fail, and become unserviceable, to a great degree, when we come to apply them towards explaining the existence, powers, and distinctions inherent in, or belonging to, the infinite and incomprehensible Source of all things; and to confirm this observation by undeniable facts, he will naturally observe, that though we have as clear proofs, both from reason and scripture, as we can have of any thing, that the Deity is an independent and self-existent Being, that he is also eternal, omniscient, and omnipresent,-yet when we come to make use of any human helps towards explaining the exact meaning, or ascertaining the precise ideas of these things, we encounter with difficulties almost innumerable; and are so far from making any real progress in knowledge, that it is well if we escape from falling into gross absurdities. Therefore, seeing that all the