Certain propositions by which the doctrin of the H. Trinity is so explain'd, according to the ancient fathers, as to speak it not contradictory to natural reason together with a defence of them, in answer to the objections of a Socianian writer, in his newly printed Considerations on the explications of the doctrin of the Trinity : occasioned by these propositions among other discourses : in a letter to that author. Twenty-eight propositions by which the doctrine of the Trinity is endeavoured to be explained Fowler, Edward, 1632-1714. 1694 Approx. 47 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 16 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2004-03 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A40072 Wing F1696 ESTC R14585 12595316 ocm 12595316 64042 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. 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Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Nye, Stephen, 1648?-1719. -- Considerations on the explications of the doctrine of the Trinity. Trinity -- Early works to 1800. 2003-07 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-07 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2004-01 Judith Siefring Sampled and proofread 2004-01 Judith Siefring Text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion CERTAIN Propositions , By which the DOCTRIN OF THE H. Trinity Is so Explain'd , according to the Ancient Fathers , as to speak it not Contradictory to Natural Reason . TOGETHER With a Defence of Them , in Answer to the Objections of a Socinian Writer , in His Newly Printed Considerations on the Explications of the Doctrin of the Trinity : Occasioned by these Propositions , among other Discourses . In a Letter to that Author . LONDON , Printed for Brabazon Aylmer at the Three Pidgeons in Cornhil , 1694. CERTAIN Propositions , &c. 1. THE Name of God is used in more Sences than one in Holy Scripture . 2. The most Absolutely Perfect Being , is God in the Highest Sence . 3. Self-Existence is a Perfection , and seems to be the Highest of all Perfections . 4. God the Father alone , is in reference to His Manner of Existence an Absolutely Perfect Being ; because He alone is Self-Existent . 5. He alone , consequently , is Absolutely Perfect , in reference to those Perfections , which do praesuppose Self-Existence . 6. Those Perfections are Absolute Independence , and Being the First Original of all other Beings : In which the Son and the Holy Ghost are comprehended . 7. All Trinitarians do Acknowledge , That these Two Persons are from God the Father . This is affirmed in that Creed which is called the Nicene , and in that which falsely bears the Name of Athanasius : Tho' with this difference , that the Holy Ghost is asserted in them , to be from the Son as well as from the Father . Wherein the Greek Church differs from the Latin. 8. It is therefore a flat Contradiction , to say that the Second and Third Persons are Self-Existent . 9. And therefore it is alike Contradictious , to Affirm them to be Beings Absolutely Perfect in reference to their Manner of Existence ; and to say that they have the Perfections of Absolute Independence , and of being the First Originals of all things . 10. Since the Father alone is a Being of the most Absolute Perfection , He having those Perfections which the other Two Persons are uncapable of having . He alone is God in the Absolutely Highest Sence . 11. And therefore our Blessed Saviour calls Him , The onely True God , Joh. 17.3 . This is Life Eternal to know Thee the onely True God , and Iesus Christ whom Thou hast sent . And it is most Absurd to think , That in these Words , and the following Prayer , He did address Himself to the Three Persons of the Trinity conjunctly , since throughout the Prayer He calls this Onely Truly God his Father ; and calls Himself twice His Son , before these Words . Not to mention the Absurdity of making our Lord to pray to Himself , or of distinguishing Himself from those Three , of which Himself was one . If such a Liberty as this , in interpreting Scripture , be allowable , what Work may be made with Scripture ! 12. Our Lord calls the Father , The Onely True God , because He only is Originally , and of Himself God , and the First Original of all Beings whatsoever . As he calls him the Onely Good , saying , There is none Good but God , because He alone is Originally so , and the Spring of all that Good which is in other Beings . 13. The God head , or God in this Highest Sence , can be but One Numerically . Of which the best Philosophers were satisfied by their Reason ; and therefore the Oneness so frequently affirmed of Him in Scripture is a Numerical Oneness . 14. There seems to be neither Contradiction , nor Absurdity , in supposing the First Original of all things , to be productive of other Beings so Perfect , as to have all Perfections , but that of Self-Existence , and those which are necessarily therein implyed . 15. Supposing any such Beings to have immediately issued forth from that infinite Fullness , and Foecundity of Being , which is in the Deity , each of them must have a Right to the Name of God , in a Sence next to that in which it is appropriated to the Father ; since they have all the Perfections of the Godhead , but those that must of Necessity be peculiar to Him. 16. It is evident from the Holy Scripture , That the Son and Holy Spirit are such Beings , viz. That they have all Divine Perfections but the forementioned : Such as Unlimited Power , Wisdom , Goodness , &c. 17. And they are always spoken of in Scripture , as Distinst Beings or Persons , according to the Proper Signification of this Word , both from the Father and from Each Other . Nor are so many Men or Angels more expresly distinguished as different Persons or Substances , by our Saviour or his Apostles , than the Father , Son and Holy Ghost still are . 18. It is a very presumptuous Conceit , That there can be no way but that of Creation , whereby any thing can be immediately and onely from God , which hath a distinct Existence of its own . Or , That no Beings can have Existence from Him , by way of Necessary Emanation : Of which we have a Clearer Idaea than of Voluntary Creation . It is the Word of the Ancients , both Fathers and Philosophers ; nor can a better be found to express what is intended by it , viz. A more excellent way of existing , than that of Creation . 19. It is no less presumptuous to Affirm , That it is a Contradiction to suppose , That a Being can be from Eternity from God the Father , if 't is possible it may be from Him , in a more Excellent Way than that of Creation . And we have an Illustration of both these Propositions , by something in Nature . For , according to our Vulgar Philosophy , Light doth exist by necessary Emanation from the Sun , and therefore the Sun was not before the Light which proceeds from thence , in Order of Time , tho' it be in Order of Nature before it . And the Distinction between these Two Priorities , is much Elder than Thomas Aquinas , or Peter Lombard , or any School-man of them all , or Christian-man either . 20. And if any thing can be from another thing by way of Necessary Emanation , it is so far from a Contradiction to suppose , that it must only be in order of nature before it ; that 't is most apparently a Contradiction to suppose the contrary . 21. Our 18th . and 19th . Propositions do speak our Explication of the H. Trinity , to be as contrary to Arianism as to Socinianism ; since the Arians assert that there was at least a moment of time , when the Son was not ; and that He is a Creature . 22. Altho' we cannot understand , how it should be no Contradiction to affirm , That the Three Persons are But One Numerical Being , or Substance ; yet hath it not the least shadow of a Contradiction to suppose , That there is an unconceivably close and inseparable Union both in Will and Nature between them . And such a Union may be much more easily conceived between them , than can that Union which is between our Souls and Bodies ; since these are Substances which are of the most unlike and even Contrary Natures . 23. Since we cannot conceive the First Original of All things , to be more than One Numerically ; and that we acknowledg the now mentioned Union between the three Persons , according to the Scriptures , together with the intire dependence of the two latter upon the First Person , The Unity of the Deity is , to all intents and purposes , as fully asserted by us , as it is necessary or reasonable it should be . 24. And no part of this Explication , do we think Repugnant to any Text of Scripture ; but it seems much the Easiest way of Reconciling those Texts , which according to the other Hypotheses are not Reconcilable , but by offering manifest violence to them . 25. The Socinians must needs Confess , that the Honour of the Father , for which they express a very Zealous Concern , is as much as they can desire taken care of by this Explication . Nor can the Honour of the Son and Holy Spirit be more Consulted , than by ascribing to them all Perfections , but what they cannot have , without the most apparent Contradiction , ascribed to them . 26. And we would think it impossible , that any Christian should not be easily perswaded , to think as honourably of his Redeemer and Sanctifier as he can , while he Robs not God the Father for their Sake ; and offers no violence to the Sence and Meaning of Divine Revelations , nor to the Reason of his Mind . 27. There are many things in the notion of One God , which all Hearty Theists will acknowledg necessary to be conceived of Him , that are as much above the Reach and Comprehension of Humane Understandings , as is any Part of this Explication of the H. Trinity . Nay this may be affirmed , even of the Notion of Self Existence ; but yet there cannot be an Atheist so silly as to Question it : Since it is not more Evident , that One and Two do make Three , than that there could never have been any thing , if there were not Something which was always , and never began to be . 28. Left Novelty should be Objected against this Explication , and therefore such should be prejudiced against it , as have a Veneration for Antiquity , we add , that it well agrees with the Account which several of the Nicene Fathers , even Athanasius himself , and others of the Ancients who treat of this Subject , do in divers places of their Works give of the Trinity : As is largely shewed by two very Learned Divines of our Church . And had it not been for the Schoolmen , to whom Christianity is little beholden , as much as some Admire them , we have reason to believe that the World would not have been troubled since the Fall of Arianism , with such Controversies about this Great Point , as it hath been , and Continues to be . This Explication of the B. Trinity perfectly agrees with the Nicene Creed , as it stands in our Liturgy , without offering the least Violence to any one Word in it . Which makes our Lord Jesus Christ to be from God the Father by way of Emanation ; affirming Him to be God of God , very God of very God , and Metaphorically expressing it by Light of Light ; answerably to what the Author to the Hebrews saith of Him , Chap. 1.3 . viz. That he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , The Effulgency of his Glory , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , The Character of his Substance : And so is as much Of one Substance with the Father , as the Beams of the Sun are with the Body of it . And since there have been of late , so many Explications or Accounts Published of this most Adorable Mystery , which have had little better Success than making Sport for the Socinians , I thought it very Seasonable now to Revive That , which I affirm with great Assurance to be the most Ancient one of all ; much Elder than the Council of Nice ; and to have much the fewest difficulties in it , and to be incomparably most agreeable to H. Scripture . A DEFENCE Of the Foregoing Propositions . SIR , THe Author of the Twenty Eight Propositions thanks you for the very Charitable Opinion you have expressed concerning him , in the Entrance into your Reflexions upon them ; and hopes he shall always endeavour to deserve the Character of a Man so Honest , as never to speak otherwise than he thinks ; and so true to his Understanding , as always to make Reason one of his Guides in the Choyce of his Opinions : He professing to believe , that the Use of Reason is so far from being to be Condemned in Matters of Religion , as no where else to be so well employed : And that it is infinitely unworthy of Almighty God , to conceive it possible for Him to Contradict his Internal by his External Revelations . But so he must have done , should such Writings be of His inspiring , as are manifestly contradictory to the plain Dictates of Natural Reason , which the Wise Man faith , Is the Candle of the Lord. And Sir , our Author takes no less Notice of your Candour , in the Character you give , in the Words following , of his Explication of the Doctrin of the H. Trinity in those Propositions . But after your Acknowledgment , That he hath avoided a great many Contradictions , which those of your Party do charge on this Doctrin , as it is held by others ; and that his Explication is a Possible Scheme ; and that it is clear from any Contradictions to Natural Reason ; you Object that , besides some insuperable Difficulties , the Author hath not been able to avoid some Numerical Contradictions . Now , as to the insuperable Difficulties with which you charge his Explication , since you acquit them from being Contradictions to Natural Reason , you mean , I suppose , that it is fraught with several Contradictions to H. Scripture : And I confess such Contradictions to be as insuperable Difficulties to us , as we are Christians , as those to Reason are , as we are Men. If this be your Meaning , the Author may well expect to have it shewn , what Texts of Scripture are contradicted by this Explication ; but if you mean otherwise , my Reply is , That you are not so shallow a Thinker as not to be aware , that there are also insuperable Difficulties in the Notion of One God , both as His Nature is described by all Christians , according to the Account given of Him in H. Scripture ; and as all Theists are compelled by Natural Light to conceive of Him. Nay you will frankly own , that there is not any one thing in the whole Universe , which doth not suggest insuperable Difficulties to an Inquisitive Mind . And whereas , Sir , you Charge our Author with not being able to avoid some Numerical Contradictions , I confess I never before met with this distinction , but I think I understand it by your Description of it . You say that a Numerical Contradiction is an Error committed in the summing up of things . But how is he guilty of such Contradictions ? If you mean that he hath made Contradictory Conclusions ( or such a Conclusion ) to several of his Premisses , I cannot ( though you do ) excuse him from contradicting Natural Reason , any more than from contradicting Himself : And it appears from what follows , that that is your Meaning ; for , after you had given the Sum and Substance of the First Thirteen Propositions , your Reflexion thereon is this : One would think that such a Foundation being laid , the Conclusion must be wholly in savour of the Unitarians . For if the Father is Absolutely Perfect ; if the Son and Spirit are not Absolutely Perfect , how shall we ever prevent this Consequence , therefore onely the Father is God ? What is the Definition of God among all Divines and Philosophers ? Is it not this , A Being Absolutely Perfect ; or , a Being that hath all Perfections ? But if so , than onely the Father having all Perfections , or being Absolutely Perfect , He must be the onely God , to the certain Exclusion of the other Two Persons ; to the Exclusion of the Son and Spirit by Name , because 't is affirmed here of them by Name , that neither of them is absolutely Perfect , or hath all Perfections . But this Author will shew us in his following Propositions , that , for all this , the Son is God , and so also is the Holy Ghost : That is , he will pu● out the Light of the Sun. And , Sir , as you have now Represented our Author , you cannot but be sensible , upon second thoughts , of over great Modestly in your not having Charged him with Natural Contradictions ; nay and of too great Partiality towards him in Acquitting him , as you have done , of such Contradictions . He will instruct us , say you next , in his Premisses , that there is but One Who is God , and in the Progress and Conclusion , or , in the summing up the whole Reckoning , he will make it appear , that there are Three Beings , each of which is ( singly and by Himself ) God : Which is the Numerical Contradiction that I Charged at first on his Hypothesis . And I say , Sir , if you have not too incautilously represented him in these Words , he is as justly to be here Charged with a Natural , as with a Numerical Contradiction ; except you will Affirm , that 't is no Natural Contradiction to say , That the Number One is as many as Three , or the Number Three is no more than One. But , Sir , I must crave leave to say , that you have committed a great Oversight in Representing our Author as you have now done . For his First Proposition is , The Name of God is used in more Sences than one in H. Scripture . The Second , The most Absolutely Perfect Being is God in the Highest Sence . The Third , Self-Existence is a Perfection , &c. The Fourth , God the Father alone is , in reference to His manner of Existence , an Absolutely Perfect Being , because He alone is Self-Existent . And from These , with the Five following Propositions , he infers in the Tenth , That the Father alone is God in the Absolutely Highest Sence : And in the Thirteenth , That the God-head , or God in this Highest Sence , can be but one Numerically . And therefore , Sir , you should not have made our Author say , ( as you do ) that there is but One who is God , without any Restriction , when you now see he saith , that there is but One who is God in the Absolutely Highest Sence : And that God in the Absolutely Highest Sence , can be but One Numerically . And whereas you say , That he will make it appear that there are Three Beings , each of which is singly and by Himself God , you should have said , He will make it appear that there are Three Beings , each of which is God , but not in all the Self-same Respects . And therefore I cannot as yet accuse him , either of any One Natural or Numerical Contradiction ; if this be a Proper Distinction , which I will not dispute . What remaineth of your Reflexions is chiefly a Charge of Tritheism against this Explication of the Trinity . 1. You say , I acknowledge in these Propositions the Genuine Doctrin , and very Language of the Fathers , who wrote shortly after the Council of Nice , till the Times of the School-men . And the Author is assured , that this Explication for Substance , is a great deal Elder than that Council . But he gives you his hearty Thanks for this free Concession of yours , because you have saved him the Pains of proving his Last Proposition : And I will therefore requite you , for him , in imitating your Brevity , as you say , you do his : But methinks you should also acknowledge , that the Authors Explication hath no inconsiderable Advantage on its side , in that you allow it to be of so great Antiquity . If the Socinians will not acknowledge this an Advantagious Circumstance , in all disputable Points , they are certainly the onely Learned Men who have no Regard for Antiquity . 2. You add , But the School-Divines , or the Divines of the Middle Ages , saw , and almost all the Moderns , that are well versed in these Questions , confess it , that this Explication is an inexcusable indefensible Tritheism . And quickly after you say , That the School-Divines , and , generally speaking , the most Learned of the Moderns , with the greatest Reason in the World , abhor making the Three Divine Persons , to be Persons in the Proper Sence of that Word : Which is to say , they are distinct intellectual Beings , and have different Substances in Number , tho' not in species or kind . And you affirm , that the forementioned Divines do with the greatest Reason in the World abhor this , Because they perceive it destroys the True and Real Unity of God ; it taketh away his Proper , and Natural , and Numerical Unity ; and leaveth onely a Certain Political and Oeconomical Unity ; which is indeed onely an imaginary Unity . Hereto I Answer , 1. That a Wise Man will think never the worse of any thing , merely for its having an Ugly Name given it : As you would account it no real Dishonour to the Socinian Hypothesis , should it be called Ditheism , which sounds every whit as ill as Tritheism . And you cannot deny it to be Ditheism in a certain sence , because it asserts Two Gods ; one by Nature , and the other by Office ; and that this God by Office , is to be Honoured by all Men , even as they Honour the Father , ( according to his own Declaration ) though but a Mere Man by Nature . And this grates every whit as much upon my Understanding , as any thing in this Explication can on yours : And is as contradictory to Natural Reason in the Opinion of all Trinitarians , as any of their Explications are in the Opinion of Socinians ; who cannot but acknowledge , that Honouring the Son even as the Father is Honoured , is giving him that Honour which is truly and properly Divine , let them restrain it as much as they can . 2. Whereas you say , that this Explication destroyeth the True and Real Unity of God , and therefore to be abhorred ; I must grant , if it does so , it can not be too much abhorred ; but I would know from whence we are to learn , wherein consists His True and Real Unity . It must either be learned from Scripture or Reason , or both . But as to the H. Scripture , this indeed abundantly declareth the Unity of God , but it no where distinguisheth of Unity , nor saith of what Nature that Unity is which it ascribes to God. Were you never so well satisfied that that Text in St. Iohn's Epistles is genuine — These Three are One ; you would say it proves nothing against the Socinians , because it saith not in what Sence the Father , Son , and Holy Ghost are One. But I am sure our Author never spake a truer Word , than what he saith in his Seventeenth Proposition , concerning the real Distinction of the Three Persons in Scripture . And surely those whose Notions are most agreeable to the Letter , and most proper Sence of Scripture , when there is no apparent necessity of departing from them ( as I think there is the greatest Necessity of keeping thereto in this case ) if they happen to be in an Error , their Error is on the safer side . And since those of your Opinion do so zealously contend for making the H. Scriptures the sole Rule of Faith , and profess that you will take nothing for a Point of Religion but what is found in the Bible , ( wherein you do like Protestants , at least if you will acknowledge that to be there which is there by evident Consequence , as well as in express Words ) ; since , I say , you do so , you of all Men should not be over dogmatical in determining a Point , which the H. Scripture is silent in . And then for Reason , such an Unity as our Author ( after the Fathers ) asserts , is not contradictory , or contrary , to any plain and evident Dictate thereof . This I adventure to Affirm with very great Assurance : And , Sir , your self must needs be of the same Mind , if you were in good earnest ( as I can't think otherwise ) in calling the Explication a possible Scheme , and owning that it is not contradictory in any of its parts to Natural Reason . But , Sir , ( to speak my Mind freely ) I will not , of all Men , go to School to the School Divines to learn what Reason saith on an Argument of this Nature ; and therefore neither to those Modern Divines , who pin their Faith upon their sleeves . If I could satisfie my self to be an Implicit Believer , I would a thousand times rather take the Ancient Fathers ( and , it may be , Philosophers too ) for the Guides of my Reason , than those Gentlemen who spent their time in the Weaving of Fine Cobwebs ; and particularly are so superfine upon the simplicity of the Divine Essence , as to render GOD Almighty ( at least , to such a dull Understanding as mine ) a no less unconceivable than incomprehensible Being ; and to simplifie Him rather into Nothing , than into Simple Vnity . 3. That this Explication leaveth onely a certain Political , or Oeconomical Unity is only said by you ; but the Twenty Second Proposition tells you the contrary , of which more anon . 4. This Explication doth not take away the Numerical Unity of the God-head , or of God in the Absolutely highest Sence , and the First Original of All things : For it expresly affirms the Necessity thereof , Prop. 13th . 5. It maketh the other Two Persons as much one with the First , and with one another , as they are , without the most apparent Contradiction , capable of being . One in so High a Sence , as that we want a Word , by which to express their Unity : And therefore that they are much more than Specifically One , as Three Humane or Angelical Persons are . Were I a Schoolman it should scape me hard , but I would add another distinction of Unity , between Specifical and Numerical , to express this Unity by ; which I am sure would have more of a Fundamentum in re , than many of their Distinctions have . This Explication speaks as great a Unity between them , as is between the Sun and its Splendor , and the Light of both : And a greater than is between the Vine and its Branches ; or than is between the Fountain and the Streams which flow from it : Which are Similitudes of the Ancients . I say , this Explication speaks the Unity of the Divine Persons greater than the Unity of each of these ; because , tho' they are most closely and intimately United , yet are not inseparable . And for the same reason , it speaks a greater Unity between them , than is between our Souls and Bodies ; as appears by the Twenty Second Proposition . And where is he who will pretend to know how many Degrees , or Kinds of Unity are possible , or actually are ? 6. The inseparable Unity in Will and Nature between the Three Persons , which that Proposition affirmeth not to have the least shadow of a Contradiction in it , and therefore is taken into this Explication , doth answer all the ends for which the Unity of the Deity was ever asserted . And therefore the Distinction asserted between the Three Persons , hath not the least Appearance of any one of the pernicious Consequents , which follow upon a Plurality of Gods ; and consequently there is no reason in the World , ( tho' you say there is the greatest ) why it should be abhorred by the School-Divines , or the most Learned among the Moderns ; or by any Mortal , learned or unlearned . For they are outwardly , and in reference to the Creation , perfectly One and the Same God , as concurring in all the same External Actions ; tho' in relation to One Another , there is a real Distinction between them . And it seems very wonderful , that this should be denyed by any one who professeth himself a Trinitarian ; since there is no understanding what a Contradiction means , if a Being that Begets , and that which is begotten thereby , and a Third which proceeds from both , should not be really distinct from each other . 7. A Plurality of Gods hath generally been so understood , as to imply more than One independent , and ( therefore likewise ) Self-existent Deity , as the common Arguments against a Plurality of Gods do suppose ; but it was never otherwise understood , than so as to import separate Deities . And never were there more zealous Asserters of the Unity of the Deity against the Pagans , than were divers of the Ancients to whom our Author is beholden for the Substance of this Explication . One of these was Lactantius ( to pass by several others of the Three First Centuries ) and I find him thus discoursing in the 29 th . Chap. of his Fourth Book , De Vera Sapientia . Fortasse quaerat aliquis , &c. Some one perhaps will ask , how when we say we worship One God , we can assert Two , viz. God the Father , and God the Son , &c. And to this Question the Father thus Answers , Quum dicimas Deum Patrem , &c. When we say God the Father and God the Son , we don't separate and part them asunder , &c. they have one Mind , one Spirit , one Substance . And , in the next Words , he saith in what sence they are One : Sed ille quasi exuberans Fons , &c. But the Father , is as it were the overflowing Fountain , the Son as a stream flowing from him : He like to the Sun , This like to a Sun-beam . And this is the same Description of their Unity with one another , that the Explication gives . And I think there needs no more to be said in Defence thereof , against the odious Charge of Tritheism to any ingenuous and Free-minded Person . Nor doth there need to be given any farther Answer to what remains in your Paper , that designs to prove this a to be abhorred Tritheistical Explication . But I must Clear it from another great Mistake in the Account you next give of it . You say that the Hypothesis expresly acknowledgeth in each of the Two Persons , not onely whatsoever Properties can make them to be distinct intellectual Beings , and Substances ; but also all the Attributes that are necessary to Essentiate a God , that is , to make Him a Perfect God ; onely it saith the Father hath this peculiar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Priviledge , that He is First in order of Nature . He hath no Essential or Real Perfection more than the other Two Persons ; onely He hath this Honour , that their Original is from Him. And hence you Conclude , that it is not possible to say what are Three GODS , if this be not an Account and Description of Three Gods. But , Sir , doth our Author's Hypothesis give the FATHER no other Priviledge above the Son and H. Spirit , than his being First in Order of Nature , and their Original ? Doth not the Fourth Proposition expresly say that he is Self-Existent too ? And His being their Original , is so far from being the same thing with Self-Existence , that simply in it self considered , it doth not so much as necessarily suppose His Self-Existence . Doth he who faith , that the Sun is the Original of the Illustrious Splendour in the Heavens , and of the Light which pervades the World , in so saying affirm that it is Self-Existent ? And I shall wonder , if Self-Existence be but an Imaginary Perfection , I should rather Conclude it the very greatest of all Real Perfections . How then can you say , That this Hypothesis gives the Father no other Priviledge above the other Persons , but onely that He is First in Order of Nature ? Again , Is not Absolute Independence a Real Perfection , and Being the First Original of all things another ? But doth not the Sixth Proposition considered with the Fifth , ascribe both these too to the Father onely ? And whereas you say farther , That this Hypothesis gives the Second and Third Persons all the Attributes that are necessary to Assentiate a God , What Earnings will you make of this ? since it saith not that those which are ascribed to them ( viz. infinite Goodness , Wisdom and Power , ) are all that are necessary to Essentiate a God in the Absolutely Highest Sence , which the Name of God is ever to be understood in in Holy Scripture . And now you can need no Answer to what you say in the last Words of this Paragraph , viz. The Perfections of the Deity that are Real , are Gods infinite Wisdom , Power , Goodness , Duration , and such like : Therefore the Son and Spirit are Gods in the Highest Sence of that Word , if they have all those aforesaid real and positive Perfections of the Divine Nature ; tho' it be granted at the same time , that they are Originated from the Father . You need , I say , no Answer hereto , since you were now minded , that Self-Existence , Absolute Independence , and Being the First Original of All things , are Perfections peculiar to God the Father ; and that this is part of the Explication . And upon this Account Athanasius , S. Basil , Gregory Nazianzen , and St. Chrysostom , with several of the Latin Fathers , interpret those Words of our B. Saviour , My Father is greater than I , to have been spoken , not of His Humanity , but His Divinity ; as Dr. Cudworth hath shewed in his 599 th . Page of his Intellectual System of the Universe . Nor certainly did our Lord ever say so little a thing , as that the Infinite MAIESTY of Heaven and Earth is greater than any Mortal Man. And having this Occasion to Mention Dr. Cudworth , the Honour I have for the Memory of that Excellent Person , constraineth me to say , That the Account he gives of the Fathers Judgment of the Trinity , is not Represented as it ought to have been , in the former Socinian Treatise of Considerations on the Explications thereof . And I so word that most Learned Performance of the Doctor , because he was therein an Historian , rather than an Explicator . Your next Paragraph begins with this Question , A Father begets Two Sons that have all the Properties of the Humane Nature , in as great Perfection as their Father ; shall we deny that they are Men in the Highest Sence of that Word , because they are Originated from their Father ? And this , say you , is the very Case before us . But , Sir , this is not ( with your Leave ) the very Case before us : 'T is nothing like it , because 't is the Perfection of no Man , to be Self-Existent ; nor are a Humane Fathers Sons immediately dependent on him for the Continuation of their Being , as the Two Persons are upon God the Father , as Light is upon the Sun , and as Streams on the Fountain . But if a Humane Father could be supposed to be Self-Existent , and that his Sons had the now mentioned kind of Dependence upon him , the Consequence must be , that their Nature is short of the Perfection of their Fathers Nature , notwithstanding the many Properties they agree in ; and therefore that they are not Men in so high a Sence , as he is a Man ; seeing the Humane Nature would be supposed capable of Perfections which they have not , but their Father hath . What follows of this Paragraph , is only applying the Point in Controversie to this Case ; but I have said enough to shew that there is not the least Affinity between these Two Cases . The Substance of what you farther Object against this Explication , is a Remark upon the Twenty Second Proposition : And you say , In these few Words consist the strength and Hopes of this Explication . The unconceivably Close Union in Will and Nature between the Three Gods , makes them to be One God. I see , Sir , you as odiously word it as you can , but you would have lost nothing by it , had you kept to our Author's Words , and said Three Persons ; or , if you had pleased , Three distinct Proper Persons , instead of Three Gods. Well , Sir , the unconceivably Close Union in Will and Nature between the Divine Persons is that ( as you say ) in which the strength and hopes of this Explication do consist . But you Object , That this is as much as to say , that they are One God by that very thing , which most incontestably declares them to be Three Gods. And this you make out by this Question , what is the Union of Will and Nature between distinct intellectual Beings , and different Substances ; is it any other but this , in plain English , that they always will the same things , and their Natures and Substances are united in the same Properties , Attributes , or Perfections ? That is to say , as you proceed , these Three intellectual Substances or Beings , are each of them Almighty , Omniscient , most Good , and the rest ; Why this is the very thing that makes them to be Three Gods. Next , you give us a Proof of this , but you might have saved your self that labour ; for 't is readily granted , if this be all the Union that is between them . But in Answer to your Question , it must never be granted you that the inseparably Close Union between the Three Divine Persons , both in Will and Nature , is no more than their Union in the same Will and Properties ; for it is also their immediate Union in their Substances , ( their Spiritual Substances ) as the Union between our Souls and Bodies is in their Substances . And if they were acknowledged to be separate Substances , and United onely as you say , you would have made our Author ashamed of his Explication . But if , Sir , you think you may do it however , by saying that the Substance and Properties of the Divine Nature are the self-same thing ; I will now content my self to say onely this , then you might have used the Word Substances , as well as Properties and Attributes ; and then it would have appeared at first sight , that there is no force in your Objection . But your self doth also expresly here distinguish them , in saying , that their Substances are united in the same Properties , Attributes or Perfections . If you ask me what Account can be given to the satisfaction of any Rational Person , of such an Union between the Substances of the Three Persons , I will Reply that when you give me an intelligible Account of the Union betwixt our Souls and Bodies , I do promise to give you a no less intelligible Account of the Union betwixt the Substances of the Three Divine Persons . Nay ( as the Twenty Second Proposition tells you ) the Union between our Souls and Bodies is more unaccountable to Reason , than is this Union ; because that is an Union between Substances of Perfectly unlike , and even contrary Natures . In reciting that Proposition , you say Contradictory instead of Contrary ; but I suppose this was the fault , not of your Pen , but of the Press . But if you will say , that the Substances of our Souls and Bodies are onely united in their Properties ; I say they are not at all united in these , because their Properties are of as different and contrary a Nature , as their Substances . But if they could be united in these , yet the Union of their Substances must be more than their being united in their Properties , except my Soul is as much united with your Body as with mine own ; for the Essential Properties of all Souls and Bodies are the same . And now , Sir , I hope you are sensible , that you might have spared your Last Paragraph , viz. How is it possible that this Author should overlook such an Obvious Reasoning , or not be Satisfied with it ? And say I , How is it possible that so Acute a Person as your Writings speak you to be , should be guilty of so plain a Flaw in that Reasoning , and take it to be so Obvious ? I shall give you no farther trouble , than while I desire you to take notice , That I have not troubled you with more words than needs must ; and much less with Finesses , to use your Own Word ; nor with any Subtle Distinctions , as much Enamoured , as you perceive I am , with the School-men ; nor with any thing you may be tempted to call Scholastical Cant , or Metaphysical Gibberish ; nor so much as with the Father's great word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . But my Answer is as plain as a Pyke staff , yet as full as plain , to all the Reflections you have made upon the Explication . But whether it be to the purpose too , I must leave it to the Judgment of the fair and impartial Reader . But I can sincerely avow , That I have said nothing to any of your Objections , merely because for my Credits sake , ( seeing I undertook to Reply to them ) I must say Something : Nor hath a Line come from me which is not agreeable to the sense of my Mind ; nor which I think not to be pertinent . As I also solemnly Profess , that since such Perfections and Operations , as are unquestionably Proper to the Deity , are attributed in H. Scripture to the Son and H. Spirit ; and that I cannot be Satisfied by the extremely laboured Glosses and Criticisms of the Socinians , to depart from the most Obvious and Natural Sence of the Multitude of Texts wherein they are so ; as doubting whether many Texts are to be found , which might not have more than one sence put upon them , by the same Labour and Art : And since Divine Honour is most Expresly declared to be due to the Son , Iohn 5.23 . and He hath the Honour of such a Doxology , Apocal. 1.6 . as according to the Original , as well as our Translation , I remember not an Higher given to God the Father in all the New-Testament . And since too the Son and Spirit are all along most plainly described , as distinct Persons both from the Father , and from One Another , even as plainly as Words can do it ; and yet all this while the Unity of the Deity is fully Asserted ; I can not , for my life , Reconcile these things but by this Ancient Explication of the Trinity , which your self ingenuously acknowledges to be a Possible Scheme ; and Hereby , I thank GOD , I can do it to my great Satisfaction . That God Almighty would give us a Right Understanding in all the Points of our Christian Faith , and particularly in the Great and Weighty One , wherein you Differ from the Generality of Christians in all Ages ; and that we may be sincere and unbyassed , and also Humble , in our Searches after Truth ; not leaning over confidently to our own Understandings , since those that most improve them are most sensible of their being infinitely too shallow to comprehend Truths of this Nature especially , is the Humble and most Hearty Prayer of , SIR ; Notwithstanding our being ( as I suppose ) perfect Strangers , and our wide Difference in Opinion , Your Sincere Friend to Serve You in all Christian Offices , &c. Some Books Printed for B. Aylmer . FOrty Two Sermons and Discourses upon several Occasions , most at Court ; in Four Volumes , 8 vo . The Rule of Faith : Or , An Answer to the Treatise of Mr. I. Sergeant , &c. 8 vo . Six Sermons concerning the Divinity and Incarnation of our Blessed Saviour ; Of the Sacrifice and Satisfaction of Christ ; and of the Unity of the Divine Nature , and the B. Trinity , &c. against the Socinians , 8 vo . Six Sermons , ( newly Printed ) one concerning Resolution and Stedfastness in Religion ; One of Family Religion ; Three of Education of Children ; and One of the Advantages of an Early Piety , 8 vo . A Perswasive to frequent Communion in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper , 8 vo . alone stitch't , price 3 d. or in 12 o bound , price 6 d. A Discourse against Transubstantiation , 8 vo . alone price 3 d. stitch't . All Published by his Grace Iohn Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury . The Exact Effigies of His Grace Iohn Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury ; on a Large Sheet of Paper Curiously Engraven by R. White , price 12 d. The Great Wickedness , and Mischievous Effects of Slandering : A Sermon Preach'd at St. Giles Cripplegate , on Psalm 101.5 . A Sermon Preached before the Lord Mayor of London , and Court of Aldermen , in Easter-Week , 1688. on Luk. 16.9 . A Sermon Preached at the Meeting of the Sons of the Clergy , in St. Mary-le-Bow Church , the 6th . of Dec. 1692. on Iohn 13.34 . These Three by Edward Lord Bishop of Gloucester . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A40072-e100 Dr. Cudworth , and Dr. Bull. Notes for div A40072-e1540 Octob. 19th . 1694.