than the Son; that is to say, not in nature, indeed, nor any essential perfection, so as it should be in the Father and not in the Son, but in authorship alone that is to say, in origin; forasmuch as the Son is from the Father-not the Father from the Son." And, again, he says, "They all taught that the Divine nature and perfections belong to the Father and the Son-not collaterally or co-ordinately, but subordinately; that is to say, that the Son is indeed the same Divine nature in common with the Father, but communicated by the Father in such sense, that the Father alone hath the Divine nature in himself, but that the Son is from the Father; consequently, that the Father is the fountain, origin, and principle of the divinity which is in the Son." Viewing this as the scriptural interpretation of the doctrine, our Lord Jesus Christ is clearly set up as the everlastingly begotten Son of his eternal Father, in his own proper deity, and not "made nor created" out of any mutable or inferior element or essence. And so the sun in the firmament is the fountain and origin of light and heat, and its natural substance, light and heat, are co-existent and co-essential; hence the figure in the Nicene creed, of the eternal generation of deity and of light—“ God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God."

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Bishop Pearson, another highly esteemed authority of the Church of England, on the Creed, says, We must not so far involve ourselves in the darkness of this mystery as to deny the glory which is due unto the Father." "It is no diminution of the Son to say, he is from the Father, for his very name imports as much; but it were a diminution of the Father to speak so of him. What the Father is he is from none; what the Son is he is from Him."

Dr. John Gill, the immortal ornament of the Baptist denomination of the last century, universally admired for his brilliant piety and erudition, gives the same exposition of the doctrine in his "Body of Divinity." He says, "It is easy to observe, that the distinction of Persons in the Deity depends on the generation of the Son. Take away that which would destroy the relation between the First and Second Person, and the distinction drops." Again, "It is the distinguishing criterion of the Christian religion, and what gives it the preference to all others, and upon which all the important doctrines of it depend, even upon the Sonship of Christ as a Divine Person, and as by generation, even eternal generation:" this is a symbolical expression for the communication of the Divine Essence (Psa. ii. 7; Prov. viii. 22, 23; Isa. liii. 8: Micah v. 2).

The Scripture doctrine concerning the Holy Spirit implies, also, a selfsubsistent hypostasis of the Godhead, whose distinctive Personality is signified by the term Procession-a spiritual, eternal, divine life, proceeding and flowing from the Father and the Son. The mysterious mode of this Divine Procession is inconceivable and inexplicable. Bishop Bull attempts to explain it. Another quotation from his work may be very appropriately introduced, containing, also, as it does, the opinion of Athenagoras, one of the most ancient Christian writers on the subject, in an "apology" on behalf of the early Christians, published about A.D. 177. The above author's comment upon it shows, also, the index of his own mind; and while we cannot object to the phraseology, yet let us not, for a moment, overlook the sensible interrogation of Zophar, implying the negative, insomuch as the nature and perfections of the great Incomprehensible are infinitely beyond the natural wisdom and understanding of

any of his creatures. "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? Deeper than hell; what canst thou know?" (Job xi. 7, 8.) Athenagoras' words are, "We speak of God and the Son, his Word, and the Holy Ghost, being One, indeed, in power-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; in that the Son is the Mind, Word, Wisdom of the Father, and the Spirit an effulgence, as light from fire."

Comment, "He very plainly enough infers, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are One God; from this, that there is one only fountain of Deity, viz., the Father, from whose essence the Son and the Holy Ghost are derived; and that in such wise, as that the Son is the Aoyos (Word or Wisdom) from everlasting, existing and springing out of the very mind of the Father; and the Holy Ghost also flows forth and emanates from God the Father himself (through the Son, that is to say, as we have shown above) as light proceeds from fire. Observe how completely Athenagoras acknowledged the consubstantiality of the Holy Ghost equal with that of the Son."

The above expression, "Fountain of Deity," is not intended to imply headship or priority, but simply to aid the conception of the Divine Paternity, as the Father of his only-begotten Son, from the essential union of whom the Holy Ghost proceeds, for he proceeds from the Son as well as from the Father; and hence appears the union of the Three Persons in one and the same essence.

Augustine's exposition of this doctrine, as described by Neander, is very apposite to the point:-" That, in order to hold fast the doctrine in a consistent manner, the inference must necessarily be drawn, that, as the Son of God was in all respects identical in essence with the Father, and as the Father had communicated all to the Son, so, too, the Holy Spirit proceeds as well from the Son as from the Father. There are not two different Spirits, one belonging to the Father, the other to the Son, but there is one Spirit of both; as he is called in the Holy Scriptures, sometimes the Spirit of the Father, sometimes the Spirit of the Son. How then could it be otherwise than that He, the Spirit of both, proceeds from both?" This doctrine is confirmed by Eph. ii. 18, "For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father."

The word person, among men, signifies a distinct individual existence, but the Persons of the Trinity cannot be divided or separated in the divine essence. Even in the (imperfect earthly) simile of a father and son in their natural relations, the existence of one implies the other; it is not possible for a father to exist, as such, without a son; the terms are co-relative, and in their paternal and filial consanguinity and relationship, one nature is common to both. There never was a moment when the eternal Father existed without his eternal Son and Holy Spirit; the whole Three Persons having by nature one common divinity, without beginning or ending, and equally God in the fulness of the divine essence. The names, therefore, Father, Son, and Spirit, represent their several personal relations and equality of nature in the Holy Trinity. The opposite of this has been maintained by some, whose orthodoxy in all other respects is admirable. The divine names, they say, are not those of nature, but of office in the covenant of salvation. The late Dr. Andrews, for instance (Lectures on the Trinity), says, "The names of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are names

not of nature but of office, and the procession of the Holy Ghost, like the Son's eternal generation, is altogether and only official." Now this doctrine, however plausible, inculcating three collateral co-ordinate beings, without personal distinctions, is unscriptural, tending, like Sabellianism, to "confounding the Persons; as Arianism and Tritheism lead to a 66 dividing the substance." The stress of the Father's love to the Church is laid on the gift of his only-begotten Son, the value of which can be appreciated only from the fact that he was verily a Son in his own nature. As to the advocates of the above doctrine accusing us of lowering the personal elements of the divine nature, or of holding lower views of the Son and the Holy Ghost than they do, as well might the same be said of the Nicene Fathers and of the Church of England, whose Articles and Creeds respond most prominently to our own views. The Athanasian Creed has been disparaged and vilified by some, merely on account of its opening and closing condemnatory clauses; whilst, as a doctrinal declaration, or confession of faith in the Holy Trinity, they admit that it is unexceptionable; and perhaps it is scarcely possible for mere human phraseology to exhibit a more complete scriptural summary of the whole doctrine propounded. "The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding." "And in this Trinity none is afore or after other; none is greater or less than another. But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together, and co-equal."

God, in all the infinite fulness of divine life, is sometimes called the Father, in relation to his creatures-to his Church, "Father of spirits," of mankind, and the great First Cause of all things. So the words God, Lord, and other terms representing Deity in the general sense, when they occur without mention or special implication of the divine Paternity, or one or other of the Persons of the Godhead, may be understood by the same rule, or as comprehending the full doctrine of the blessed Trinity. The word Father, however, as understood throughout this essay, in its most general signification, refers to the Person of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Word, and onlybegotten Son.

We could bring to view interminable quotations and arguments in support of his true Deity and distinct Personality, but, as all will allow that the eternal Father is the true God, and of which there will be abounding evidences intermingled, in the multitude of scriptural references introduced, we shall at once proceed to prove, that the same vital truth applies equally to the Son and the Holy Ghost; and that all that can possibly be said or supposed to belong to the Father, in the general sense, as the supreme object of worship, belongs also respectively to the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Our attention will, therefore, be directed to the consideration of the PERSONS Of,

Firstly, The SON OF GOD;

Secondly, The HOLY GHOST ;

Thirdly, The HOLY, BLESSED, ETERNAL, DIVINE TRINITY.

THE SON OF GOD.

ENTERING upon the consideration of the Person of the Eternal Word and Son of God, we are led at once to the cardinal truth, on which, as on a rock of eternal adamant, rests every other doctrine and principle of Christianity; viz., His descent from the glory which He had with the Father from before the foundation of the world (John xvii. 5), and condescending to take our own (human) nature into union with His Divinity, uniting in Himself the divine and the human elements, and unveiling His divinity in a human body, as the God-Man, Mediator, and Redeemer of the world. No truth or fact is more clearly revealed in the Scriptures— "God was manifest in the flesh" (1 Tim. iii., 16). "The word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John i. 14). "(11) Immanuel (y) with (") us (*) God" (Is. vii. 14; Matt. i. 23). All this was such amazing condescension and grace, that human reason cannot comprehend it; that the angels are represented as looking on with admiring wonder (1 Pet. i. 12); and that his apostles, as if at a loss for language to express their thoughts upon it, were constrained to sum them all up by saying, "God is love," and "the love of Christ passeth knowledge.' And we need not wonder when we consider that the minutest objects of the creation, and every atom of dust, are as much under the care of his almighty providence as are the countless myriads of revolving worlds which move in solemn regularity and order amid the celestial firmament. And if there be other worlds inhabited by human beings like ourselves, requiring a Saviour, they may (though unknown to us), be under dispensations of grace and mercy derived from the same redemption. His heavenly mission was revealed immediately after the fall of our first parents: "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." Hence it was that Eve and the many godly matrons, in succeeding generations, as Sarah, Rebecca, Hannah, and others, until the time when he was born of the Virgin Mary, were very solicitous to bear children, if peradventure they might bring forth him in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed.

To exemplify and make known his future advent in the world, various divine revelations, prophesies, and promises were given, and rites, types shadowy and ceremonial offerings, were required of all true worshippers. And the Spirit of God was poured out and instructed them as now. As the time drew near for his coming, the ancient prophesies and promises of God became clearer and brighter, and his expected advent was the desire of all nations." So that faith in the coming Redeemer was not altogether confined to the disciples of the circumcision, as seen in the person of Melchizedec, who was probably a king and a priest in Canaan. That his religion was the same as that of Abraham, and that he was a priest of Jehovah is clear, for he is called, "the priest of the Most High God" (Gen. xiv. 18-20). So Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, was a worshipper, and probably a priest also of Jehovah (Exod. xviii. 10-12). Some ideas of the power and glory of the kingdom of Christ, and of his coming to judgment on the great day of the resurrection, were acquired by Balaam, a heathen (Numb. xxiii. 10; xxiv. 17); and an enemy to Israel. But his wonderful prophecies, which have been so remarkably fulfilled, were uttered by him contrary to the desire of his own deceitful

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and wicked heart, and are to be regarded as the mere gift or acquirement, and not the saving grace and fruit of the Spirit; and his convictions and transient impressions produced no good effect, for he died fighting with open arms against his people (Josh. xiii. 22). Ruth, the Moabitess, was a true believer, and forsook the idolatrous land of her forefathers out of love to Jehovah, the God of Israel (Ruth i. 16, 17). And from her by Boaz or Booz, her husband, Christ sprung by lineal descent (Matt. i. 5). Job, who is supposed to have lived prior to the age of Moses, a magistrate in a Gentile country (Job i. 3; xxix. 11—17), and probably his three friends also, were worshippers of Jehovah, and believed in Christ as the Redeemer and Judge of the world, whom he should hereafter behold with his own eyes (Job xix. 25, 26). The Queen of Sheba coming from a distant country (supposed to be the south part of Arabia-Felix) to witness the wisdom of Solomon, "blessed the Lord his God" (2 Chron. ix. 8). And Naaman, the Syrian general, when cured of his leprosy, resolved never more to offer any sacrifice, but unto the Lord (2 Kings v. 17, 18). We know from history, as well as the Scriptures, that there was a current report throughout the inquiring nations of the east, of the expected advent of some transcendently great and good person, to benefit mankind, originating probably through Daniel's prophecy of the seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety years, at the end of which Messiah was to come, bringing us to the very year of his crucifixion, when the final cessation of the typical sacrifices should take place (Dan. ix. 24-27).* The sacrifices of Abel, Noah, and all the patriarchs; and the entire ritual and national covenant and compact of the Jews, were but a preparation and introduction to that one grand consummation. This was the theme and song of all the true prophets, sacred poets, and historians. And the narratives and histories of all the godly heroes of the Old Testament, are in the main, to be interpreted as types and illustrations of the work of Christ. The Book of Psalms partake of the same character throughout; his life, death, resurrection, and ascension; and the safety, salvation, and glorification of his Church, are all depicted in the sacred melodies which were sung or chaunted, vocally and instrumentally, in solemn choral grandeur in the temple. The bands of singers were to "prophesy with harps, with psalteries and with cymbals." And the utter confusion and desolation of all his enemies, were pourtrayed in language strikingly predicative of the righteous judgments of the Lord concerning them.

Although the outward forms of religion have changed, yet the same faith in Christ and the Holy Trinity, has been virtually observed before and since his coming, according to Eph. ii. 18, "Through him (Jesus) we both (Jew and Gentile) have access by one Spirit unto the Father." Thus was Christ the light and life, sum and substance, of the religion of the ancient Church of the Jews.

We propose to consider, next, that he was in an especial sense their LORD OF JEHOVAH, and their guardian Angel and Deliverer, bringing them out of Egypt into Canaan, &c.; and shall consider the following remark

* Daniel speaks here of a decree for rebuilding Jerusalem, which is reckoned from the seventh year of Artaxerxes, when Ezra returned with a body of the Jews from captivity under that king's commission, to re-establish their civil and religious polity. From that time to the death of Christ, it was just four hundred and ninety years, calculated, in prophetic language, a day for a year, being seventy weeks of years, which makes the number twice repeated or implied by Daniel in the same context.