Psal 95. 9 10. Your Fathers tempted me forty years long was I grieved with this Generation These words spoken by and of God are interpreted of the Holy Ghost Heb. 3. 7 9 10. As saith the Holy Ghost your Fathers tempted me c. Answ As saith the Holy Ghost that is As saith the Holy Spirit or Inspiration of God by the Mouth of the Prophet David So Estius Piscator Capellus Grotius c. Note that in the Psalmist's words there is an Enallage of the Person frequent in the Hebrew and especially in the Psalms Me for Him and I for He. 10. Psal 97. 7. Worship him all ye Gods or all ye Angels These words though spoken of God are interpreted of Christ Heb. 1. 6. Again when he bringeth the first-begotten into the World he saith And let all the Angels of God worship him Answ In the Greek 't is When he bringeth again the first-begotten into the World that is when he raised Christ from the dead who is his first-begotten from the dead he commandeth let even all the Angels of God worship him 'T is uncertain whether St. Paul had any respect to the Words in the Psalm but if he had he doth not quote the Words of the Psalmist as if they were spoken of Christ but only declareth the Decree of God known to him by the Spirit for subjecting the Angels to Christ in the same words that the Psalmist had used on another occasion because they are words most proper to express that Decree for the Writers of the New Testament generally affect to speak in Scripture Language 11. Psal 102. 25. Of old hast thou laid the Foundation of the Earth c. This seems applied to Christ Heb. 1. 10 11 12 13. And thou Lord in the Beginning hast laid the Foundation of the Earth but to which of the Angels said he at any time Sit on my right Hand Answ Thomas Aquinas hath rightly acknowledged that the Words of both these Texts may be understood of God only not of Christ The Context of the Hebrews hath this sense And thou Lord that is and in another Text of the Psalms 't is said Thou Lord. So Estius Camerarius Grotius hast laid the Foundation of the Earth But to which of the Angels said he i. e. said the Founder of the Earth c. sit on my right Hand as he saith to Christ at Psal 110. 1. For though Psal 110. 1. is literally designed of David yet you Hebrews knowing that David was a Type of Christ do also apply the Words there sit on my right Hand unto the Messias or Christ 12. Psal 110. 1. The Lord said unto my Lord Sit on my right Hand until I make thine Enemies thy Footstool It appears by Matth. 22. 43. that the Jews understood these words of David as spoken of God and Christ and therefore our Saviour puts this Question to them how Christ could be David's Son for they were it should seem commonly taken to be David's Words if he was David's Lord which can no way be answered but by saying he was David's Son according to the Flesh and David's Lord as he was God. Answ Our Saviour's Words are David in Spirit calleth him Lord saying The Lord said unto my Lord Sit on my right Hand that is David in the Spirit of Prophecy foreseeing Christ calls him his Lord. But he calleth him so not because Christ is God for if that were true himself could have made his Enemies his Footstool but because not only the Spirits of David and all Saints but even Angels are in Heaven made subject to Christ and that as the Reward of his most Holy Life and obsequious and acceptable Death 1 Pet. 3. 22. Phil. 2. 8 9. But note that when the Psalmist says the Lord said unto my Lord the Lord said is to be understood he hath in decree said he hath decreed it shall be so So Dr. Patrick in his Paraphrase on this Text. 13. Psal 110. 3. Thy People shall be willing in the day of thy Power in the beauty of Holiness from the womb of the Morning thou hast the Dew of thy Youth Answ This Text as 't is in the English Translation is wholly unintellible Seb. Castalio has as he is wont made a probable and elegant sense from the Hebrew thus Thy People or thy Troops shall be chearful when with sacred Majesty thou goest to Battel thou shalt have innumerable Youth The words are spoken to David 14. Psal 139. 7. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit Answ From thy Spirit is an Hebrew Phrase for From thee Like as when 't is said of Moses Psal 106. 33. They provoked his Spirit the undoubted meaning is They provoked Him. So also Eph. 4. 30. Grieve not the holy Spirit of God is an Hebraism for Grieve not God. 15. Prov. 8. 24. When there were no depths I was brought forth Answ Solomon speaketh here of the Quality or Faculty of Wisdom by which God and Men order their Affairs wisely That he meaneth not as some have fancied the Son or the Spirit of God appears by the Gender he useth For he saith ver 2. She standeth in the top of high Places ver 3. She crieth at the gates and chap. 7. 4. Say unto Wisdom Thou art my Sister 16. Prov. 30. 4. Who hath ascended up into Heaven who hath established all the Ends of the Earth what is his Name and what is his Son's Name Answ Dr. S. Partick interpreteth this Verse thus Hath any Man ascended into Heaven who among Men hath gathered the Wind or fixed the Earth what is the Man's Name or his Sons 17. Isa 6. 1 8 9. I saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne I heard the Voice of the Lord go tell this People Hear ye indeed but understand not shut their Eyes c. This Appearance of God is ascribed to Christ John 12. 41. These things said Isaias when he saw his Glory the Words Go tell this People c. are ascribed to the Holy Spirit Acts 28. 25 26. Well spake the Holy Ghost by Isaias Go unto this People c. Answ 1. The Words in St. John are to be understood not of Christ but of God for God only is intended in the foregoing Verse as all confess 2. Accordingly the best Greek Bibles read that Text thus These things said Isaias when he saw God's Glory 3. The Texts in the Acts ascribeth the Words in the Prophet to the Holy Spirit because the Vision and all the Words there mentioned were a Scene wrought in the Prophet's Mind not exhibited to his outward senses by the Spirit or Power of God. 18. Isa 7. 14. A Virgin shall conceive and bare a Son and shall call his Name Immanuel 'T is added Matth. 1. 23. which being interpreted is God with us Answ 1. Matthew as all know wrote his Gospel in Hebrew and therefore did not interpret the Hebrew Name no more than the Prophet whose Words he cited had done before him We are not bound
days of the Branch the Nation shall call God their Justifier or their merciful Deliverer from all Adversaries and all Evils 27. Dan. 3. 25. The Form of the Fourth is like the Son of God. Answ In the Hebrew 'tis like a Son of God that is like an Angel for so this Passage is explained at ver 28. Angels are called Sons of God Job 1. 6. Job 38. 7. 28. Micha 5. 2. Thou Bethlehem out of thee shall come unto me that is to be Ruler of Israel whose goings forth have been of old from everlasting or as 't is in the Margin from the days of Eternity Answ In the Hebrew 'tis From ancient days Grotius makes this sense of the Verse whose goings forth or whose Descent Original or Pedigree is of old from ancient times For Christ descendeth of the most ancient and Royal Stock of David of Bethlehem 29. Zech. 2. 8 9. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts after the Glory hath he sent me to the Nations which spoiled you I will shake my Hand upon them and they shall be a Spoil to their Servants and ye shall know that the Lord of Hosts hath sent me Answ These Words as they are in the English Translation are hardly sense Neither are these Words Thus saith the Lord of Hosts the Words of the Lord of Hosts himself but of the second Angel who at ver 3. and 4. spoke to the first Angel and to Zechariah The Verses should have been thus rendred from the Hebrew Thus saith the Lord of Hosts Afterwards shall be Glory i. e. after ye are departed our of Babylon ver 7. ye shall have Peace and Honour for he hath sent me to the Nations which spoiled you i. e. To the Babylonians and their Confederates I will shake my Hand upon them and they shall be a Spoil to their Servants i. e. I will stir up their Subjects to rebel against them and spoil them And ye shall know that the Lord of Hosts hath sent me i. e. hath sent me to punish them and give you Peace and Glory 30. Zech. 3. 2. The Lord Heb. Jehovah said unto Satan The Lord Heb. Jehovah rebuke thee Answ The Lord in the first clause is the Angel of the Lord as appears by ver 1. for there Satan stands before the Angel. And that indeed he was an Angel and not true Jehovah is ascertained by his praying to another Person to rebuke i. e. to chastise Satan When Angels are sent by God and do represent his Person the names Jehovah and God are communicated to them Exod. 3. 2 4 6. The Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a Flame of Fire out of the midst of a Bush and when the Lord Heb. Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see God called to him out of the midst of the Bush Moreover he said I am the God of thy Father Briefly Jehovah is a Name of God but such an one as is sometimes communicated both to Persons and Places Therefore the English have very ill translated Psal 83. 18. Thou whose Name alone is Jehovah art the most High over all the Earth In the Hebrew 'tis Thou whose Name is Jehovah thou alone art the most high over all the Earth 31. Zech. 12. 10. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced The same thing is said of Christ Rev. 1. 17. nay the Words tho spoken of God seem to be applied to Christ John 19. 37. Answ As the Jews in the times of the Prophets did as it were pierce God with their Sins of several kinds so they pierced him again when they put to death the Lord Christ as on the contrary he who received i. e. kindly and respectfully entertained Christ was understood as receiving him that sent him But the Words in the Prophet are not by St. John interpreted of Christ but accommodated to Christ and his Sufferings 23. Mal. 3. 1. I will send my Messenger and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord or Prince whom ye seek shall suddainly come to his Temple This Messenger was John Baptist who prepared the way before Christ Answ See on Isai 40. 3. 33. Baruch 3. 35 37. This is our God afterwards did he shew himself upon the Earth and conversed with Men. Answ 1. 'T is an Apocryphal Book 2. Those that admit the Book reject these Verses as supposititions 3. The original Greek may be thus rendred Afterwards this Book of the Commandments of God and the Law which endureth for ever was seen upon Earth and turned over by Men. Note that the last Verse of Baruch 3d is to be read with the first of Baruch the 4th Besides these particular Answers to the several Texts objected to their Doctrine out of the Old Testament the Socinians say farther to them all in general 1. Whereas so exceptionable a Doctrine as that of the Trinity and its Dependances ought to be proved by clear Texts and demonstrative Arguments on the contrary these Texts are so far from being clear and evident Proofs that a Man must have a more than ordinary Wit and Capacity to apprehend how most of them are at all to the purpose and why or to what end they are alledged by the Trinitarians 2. Though in the Heat of Disputation and Anger Men catch up any Weapon against their Adversaries yet out of these Heats the more learned and judicious Trinitarians confess that the Trinity and the Divinity of Christ and of the Holy Spirit are not indeed taught in the Scriptures of the Old Testament but are a Revelation made to us in the New. So saith Tertullian Adv. Prax. c. 3. Cyprian Serm. 6. St. Jerom Adv. Lucif Thcodoret l. 2. ad Graec. R. Tuitiensis de Divin Offic. l. 11. c. 14. Fr. L. Brugensis on John 1. 49. and on Matth. 28. 19. Card. Bellarmine de Christ l. 2. c. 6. and more plainly de Purg. l. 1. c. 11. Calovius Anticrel S. 420. Alf. Salmero Pros in Evang. 11. q. 3. And infinite more both Catholicks and Reformed 3. If so many had not confessed it yet the thing is evident in it self For if the Trinity were indeed taught in the Old Testament how came the Jewish Church in all Ages to be so wholly ignorant of it that as all confess they had not the least Suspicion that God is more than one Person And if in this they had erred 't is not to be doubted our Saviour would have reproved their Heresy and carefully set them right as he did in the matter of the Resurrection But doth our Lord any where charge them with Heresy for believing that God is only one Person 4. The Socinians confess that to Persons who never read any thing of this great Question some of their Interpretations of the Texts both of the Old and New Testament may seem somewhat harsh and strained But this they say is only because such Persons have been always accustomed to understand the alledged Texts in a contrary sense that is in the sense of the
of Mans Wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of Power that your Faith should not stand in the Wisdom of Men but in the Power of God. Luke 1. 35. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee Blessed Mary and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee Luke 11. 20. I with the Finger of God that is by the Power of God Exod. 8. 19. cast out Devils Mat. 12. 28. I cast out Devils by the Spirit of God. Compare also Luke 24. 49. with Acts 1. 4 5 8. 2. A manifest Distinction is made as between God and Christ so also between God and the Holy Spirit or Power and Inspiration of God so that 't is impossible the Spirit should be God himself Rom. 5. 5. The Love of God is shed abroad in your Hearts by the Ho-Ghost which is given to us 1 Cor. 3. 16. The Grace or Favour of our Lord Jesus Christ the Love of God and the Communion of the Holy Ghost be with you Rom. 8. 27. He the Spirit v. 26. maketh Intercession for the Saints according to the Will of God. They note here that God's Spirit or Inspiration being designed to be a continual Director and Guide to the Faithful it is spoken of in these and some other Texts as a Person by the same Figure of Speech that Charity is described as a Person 1 Cor. 13. 4 5. and Wisdom Prov. 9. 11. and the Law or Commandments of God Psal 119. 24. They note also that in some Texts 't is called the Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit in the same sense that we commonly say the Holy Wisdom Holy Will of God. 3. The Spirit is obtained for us of God by our Prayers therefore it self is not God. Acts 15. 8. God which knoweth the Hearts bare them witness giving them the Holy Spirit as he did to us Luke 11. 13. How much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him If we say these Texts are to be understood not of the Person of the Holy Ghost but of his Gifts and Graces the Socinians readily confess it but they say also that if the Holy Spirit were at all a Person much more a God his Gifts and Graces would be bestowed by himself and asked of himself not bestówed by and asked of another Person as 't is manifest and by all confessed they are in these Texts They add there is neither Precept nor Example in all Holy Scripture of Prayer made to the Spirit on this or any other occasion which on the Trinitarian Supposition that the Holy Spirit is a Person and God no less than the Father is very surprizing nay utterly unaccountable 4. If the Holy Spirit and our Lord Christ are Gods or God no less than the Father then God is a Trinity of Persons or three Persons but this is contrary to the whole Scripture which speaks of God as but one Person and speaks of him and to him by singular Pronouns such as I Thou Me Him c. Job 13. 7. Will ye speak wickedly for God Will ye accept his Person Heb. 1. 1. God hath in these last times spoken to us by his Son who being the Brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person sat down at the right Hand of the Majesty on high Deut. 6. 4 5. Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine Heart In the Hebrew thus O Israel hearken to Jehovah our God Jehovah is one and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thine Heart The Jews by a most ancient Tradition and Custom are obliged to repeat this Verse every Morning and Evening to keep it in perpetual Memory that Jehovah or God is one only not two or three Isa 45. 5. I am the Lord there is no God but Me. Psal 102. 25. O my God of old hast thou laid the Foundation of the Earth Matth. 4. 10. the Lord thy God him only shalt thou serve No Instance say the Socinians can be given in any Language of three Persons whoever spoke of themselves or were spoken to by the singular Pronouns I Thou Me Him Thee c. Such speaking is contrary to Custom Grammar and Sense which are the Laws of Speech therefore the Holy Scriptures always speaking thus of God either he is only one Person or the Scriptures are one continued ungrammatical Soloecism and Impropriety and that in the capital Article of Faith which no reasonable or good Man can or ever will allow For it no way helps the Trinitarians that God according to some Translations says at Gen. 1. 26. Let Vs make Man. Because nothing is so usual in common Speech as for single Persons to speak of themselves indifferently by singular or plural Pronouns thus 2 Cor. 10. 2. I think to be bold against some who think of Vs saith Paul of himself only as if We walked according to the Flesh Briefly they contend that when God speaks of himself in the plural Number or by plural Pronouns which yet some deny he ever does and if he doth 't is not above once or twice in the whole Scripture he speaks according to the Custom of single Persons especially Princes and great Persons in all Nations and Languages but were Almighty God three Persons they could never speak of themselves or be spoken to by the singular Pronouns I Thou Thee Him Me because 't is contrary not only to Grammar which is always to be observed when there is no Custom to the contrary but to the Custom of all Nations which understand to speak intelligibly and sensibly 5. Had the Son or Holy Ghost been God this would not have been omitted in the Apostles Creed This Creed say they which is of next if not equal Authority to any part of Holy Scripture after having declared that God is the Father Almighty and Maker of Heaven and Earth speaks not a Word of the Godhead of the Son or Holy Ghost It describes the Son by all the characters of a Man and by such only it says he was conceived or begotten by the Holy Ghost on Blessed Mary that accordingly he was born of her that he was crucified died and was buried that he rose on the third day and ascended into Heaven all these are the Descriptions of a Man for God cannot be conceived or be born or die no nor ascend into Heaven for he is always there Not content to take no notice that he is God this Creed distinguishes him very plainly from God that is denies him to be God by adding He sits at the right Hand of God. i. e. He is advanced to be next to God and is under the immediate and particular Protection of God. Concerning the Holy Ghost this Creed says no higher thing than it says of the Church I believe in the Holy Ghost and in the Holy Catholick Church For in the Greek the same Preposition in is before both alike and so also is this Creed
Church but if they will often read and consider the Socinian sense of them they will soon discern that 't is not only a probable sense but the true and only sense of which these Texts are capable if we would reconcile them to the rest of Scripture and particularly to the many and clear Texts and Demonstrations cited and hinted in the first Letter SIR I am Yours A Third Letter TO A FRIEND Concerning the UNITARIANS Called also SOCINIANS Containing the Texts objected to them out of the Evangelists and Acts and their Answers Matth. 22. 29. Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures Printed in the Year 1687. A Third Letter Concerning the Unitarians called Socinians SIR IN this I give you the Texts of the Evangelists and Acts objected to the Socinian Doctrine concerning God our Lord Christ and the Holy Spirit and the Answers of the Socinians to the Arguments arising from them 1. Matth. 1. 23. They shall call his Name Immanuel which being interpreted is God with us Answ See on Isai 7. 14. 2. Matth. 2. 2. Where is he that is born King of the Jews for we are come to worship him Answ Neither the Hebrew Greek nor Latin Word for worship him import any more than a civil Worship and Honour And it was the manner over all the East and particularly among the Jews to prostrate to Kings 2 Sam. 19. 18. 1 Kings 1. 16 23 31. 2 Sam. 9. 6. 3. Mat. 9. 6. The Son of Man hath Power on Earth to forgive Sins Answ This is plainly spoken of Christ as he was a Man. God gave this Authority to the Lord Christ because he gave to him also to know what was in Mens Hearts namely whether their Repentance and outward Professions were sincere and lasting John 2. 24 25. Rev. 1. 1. 4. Mat. 11. 27. All things are delivered to me of my Father and no Man knoweth the Son but the Father c. Answ 1. If Christ were himself that one true God it could not be said here that another Person gave all things into his Hands 2. The most Orthodox Interpreters do understand all things here to be all things requisite for procuring and effecting the Redemption and Salvation of Men or all things necessary to the executing the Office of the Messias Whereas our Lord adds None knoweth the Son but the Father c. Maldonate and Grotius make the sense to be None but God knows what the Son's Office is or what he is to do and suffer in order to the Salvation of Men as on the other side none but the Son knows the Father's Mind concerning the way and means by which Mankind is to be redeemed and saved 5. Mat. 12. 31. Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven Answ St. Austin and generally all judicious Interpreters by Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost or Spirit understand Mens ascribing with the Scribes and Pharisees in this Chapter the Miracles and Works done apparently by the Spirit or Power of God unto Magick or the Power of the Devil So that the Holy Ghost or Spirit is not in this Text a Person or a God but merely the Power of God. 6. Mat. 18. 20. Where two or three are gathered together in my Name there am I in the midst of them Matth. 28. 20. I am with you always even to the end of the World. Answ Christ is in the midst of and is with his People not by an immediate Presence as God is but by his most powerful Aid and Help which he affordeth partly by his continual and succesful Mediation with God for them all in general Heb. 7. 25. partly by the Angels who are under his Directions and by him engaged in the Defence of the Faithful Heb. 1. 14. 7. Matth. 26. 63. Tell us whether thou be the Christ the Son of God. Like to which Text are Matth. 14. 33. Mat. 16. 16. John 1. 49. Answ It being manifest that Princes are called Sons of God by the Psalmist Psal 82. 6. As also that Psal 2. 7. Thou art my Son is literally meant of David Hence it was that the Jews both then and now call the Messias the Son of God not because as some imagine they think he is God or is generated of the Divine Substance but because they expect he shall be a very great Prince an universal Monarch and therefore the Son of God in a more perfect and higher sense than David or other Princes are 8. Mat. 28. 19. Baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Answ 1. To be baptized in the Name of a Person or Persons is a Rite by which one delivers himself to the Institution Instruction and Obedience of such Person or Persons so that to be baptized in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost is to profess to be led and guided by them or as Grotius expresses this matter 't is to declare we will admit of no other thing as a part of our Religion but what proceeds from these that is nothing but what is commanded by God or the Father and has been delivered by his Son the Lord Christ and confirmed externally by the Miracles and internally with the Witness and Testimony of the Spirit that is of the Power and Inspiration of God. 2. 'T is in vain not to say ridiculously pretended that a Person or thing is God because we are baptized unto it or in the Name of it For then Moses and John Baptist also would be Gods 1 Cor. 10. 1 2. Our Fathers were all baptized unto Moses Acts 19. 3. Vnto what then were ye baptized and they said Vnto John's Baptism that is saith the Generality of Interpreters unto John and the Doctrine by him delivered Nor can it be doubted that to be baptized unto a Person or Persons and to be baptized in the Name of such Person or Persons is the same thing For 1. 'T is acknowledged by all that understand the Hebrew and Syriac Idioms 2. 'T is manifest by comparing some Texts of Scripture For what in some of them is called baptizing unto is in others called baptizing in the Name of Rom. 6. 3. As many of you as have been baptized into Jesus Christ or unto Jesus Christ for 't is the same Preposition in the Greek that is used of Moses 1 Cor. 10. 1 2. and of John Baptist Acts 19. 3. have been baptized into or unto his Death Gal. 3. 27. As many of you as have been baptized into Christ in the Greek unto Christ have put on Christ Acts 2. 38. Be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ. Acts 8. 16. They were baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Who does not now see that to be baptized unto and in the Name of Christ or any other Person or thing are used as equivalent terms And accordingly the Fathers particularly Tertullian often say baptized unto the Father Son and Holy Ghost Nothing therefore can be inferred from this Text
of the Lord Josh 24. 27. Are these things Persons Is it not evident that Actions proper to Persons are ascribed to them as well as to the Holy Spirit or Power and Inspiration of God by the Figure called Prosopopeia Briefly We ought to conceive thus of this matter a great Effusion of God's Inspiration and Power being to be given to the Disciples that it might be a continual Director and Guide when the Lord Christ was no more personally with them therefore this Guide is by the aforesaid Figure spoken of in such terms as if it were some Doctor Teacher and Advocate Hence it is said to reprove the World to guide into all Truth to intercede for us namely because it suggesteth Prayer and Affection in Prayer also not to speak of himself but to speak what he shall hear from God to receive of Christ's that is receive of God the Remainder of Christ's Doctrine and teach it to the Apostles For 't is to be noted that our Lord left some things to be taught by this Inspiration of God because the Disciples were not capable to hear and believe them till they had seen the great Miracles of our Lords Resurrection and Afcension into Heaven John 16. 12. I have yet many things to say to you but ye cannot bear them now Howbeit when the Spirit of Truth is come he shall guide you into all Truth The Spirit that guided the Apostles into all Truth was it not the meer Inspiration of God It is for the same Reason and by the same Figure that this Power and Inspiration of God in the Apostles is said to bear Witness John 15. 26. to search Mysteries 1 Cor. 2. 10. 11. to distribute Gifts 1 Cor. 12. 2. to appoint Bishops Acts 20. 28. to glorify Christ John 16. 14. Finally It appeared in the Form of a Dove on Christ and of Cloven Tongues on the Apostles Matth. 3. 16. Acts 2. 3 4. Because God conveyed this Divine Energy to the Lord Christ and to the Apostles in these outward Symbols which were fit Emblems of the Quality of the Gifts then bestowed The Dove signified the mild and peaceable Spirit of Christ and that the Power then conveyed to him should not be for the Damage or Hurt of Mankind The Tongues denoted that the Apostles did then and there receive the Gift or Faculty of speaking with many Tongues But what sense can the Trinitarians make of these things they say the Spirit is a Person and God did God receive and assume the Shape of a Dove that is of a Brute What hinders but that they may believe all the Transformations in the Metamorphosis of Ovid 29. John 16. 15. All things that the Father hath are mine Answ 1. St. Paul hath said as much of every Christian 1 Cor. 3. 21 22. All things are Yours things present things to come all are yours 2. All things in this Text of St. John are all things relating to the Christian Faith Doctrine and Discipline for it follows Therefore said I He the Spirit shall take of mine and shew it to you The meaning of the whole Passage is all things relating to the Doctrine and Discipline of the Christian Church which the Father hath in his Mind and Design are mine that is are known to me and shall for the most part of them be ordered by my self as for the rest which I my self do not discover or order the Spirit shall receive it and shew it to you 30. John 17. 5. Glorify me with thine own self with the Glory I had with thee before the World was Answ 1. St. Austin and many other learned and Orthodox Interpreters not only grant but contend that the meaning here is Let me now actually receive that Glory with thy self which I had with thee in thy Decree and Design before the World was This Interpretation is confirmed by this that the Sufferings of Christ were to precede his actual Glory 1 Pet. 1. 11. Searching what and what manner of time the Spirit did signify when it testified before-hand the Sufferings of Christ and the Glory that should follow 2. As 't is here said The Glory that I had with thee before the World was so 't is said 2 Cor. 5. 1. We have a Building of God an House not made with Hands Where we have is we have it in God's Decree and Intention or it is prepared for us 2 Tim. 1. 9. Grace was given us in Christ before the World was Where again was given to us is was given in God's Decree and Intention Therefore so also we may understand that Christ had Glory before the World was 31. John 17. 10. All mine are thine and thine are mine Answ It appears by the foregoing verse and by what follows that Christ speaks of such as were or should be his Disciples His meaning is all that are my Disciples are of thy giving to me and still remain thine and all that are true Servants and Lovers of God readily become mine that is Disciples to me 32. John 17. 24. For thou lovedst me from the Foundation of the World. Answ None can deny that God loved all the Elect from the Foundation of the World. To God all things are present not only what is past but what is to come is present to the Divine Mind and Knowledg 33. John 20. 28. Thomas answered and said unto him my Lord and my God Or O my Lord and O my God! For 't is an Attic Vocative Answ 1. Nestorius Patriarch of Constantinople was of Opinion that these Words were not designed to Christ but to God. For though the Evangelist saith Thomas answered and said unto him i. e. to Christ O my Lord and O my God. Yet the Exclamation might be addressed to God as it's Object tho it was also an Answer to our Saviour or in Answer to our Saviour and to what he had said at ver 27. Or if the Words were addressed to our Saviour also it may be admitted as true what others say here Namely 2. When Thomas had felt the Prints of the Spear and Nails in our Saviour's Side and Hands and was thereby fully satisfied that he was indeed risen again he breaks forth into this Exclamation the first part of which he directed to Christ the other to God. O my Lord are Words of Congratulation to our Saviour And O my God! Words of Admiration and Praise to God. 34. Acts 5. 3 4. Why hath Satan filled thine Heart to lie to the Holy Ghost Thou hast not lied unto Men but unto God. Answ Some of the most celebrated Interpreters among the Trinitarians have owned that this Text ought to be thus understood Why hast thou lied to the Holy Ghost i. e. to us Apostles who have thou knowest the Holy Spirit or Inspiration of God in us Thou hast not lied unto Men but unto God i. e. thou hast not hereby lied to Men only or chiefly but to God who is in us by his Spirit and Inspiration This
Interpretation is confirmed by 1 Thess 4. 8. He therefore that despiseth despiseth not Man but God who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit Here 't is manifest that those who despised the Apostles are said to despise God because God was in them by his Spirit What hinders then but that for the same reason those that lied to the Apostles should be said and understood to lie to God 35. Acts 7. 59. They stoned Stephen calling upon God and saying Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Answ 1. The Word God is not in the Original Greek in no Greek Bible 2. Admitting this Word God to be here rightly understood yet the Greek when rendred Grammatically maketh this sense calling upon God and saying O Lord of Jesus receive my Spirit 3. Admitting the English Translation the meaning here is only this Stephen called upon God and he also said Lord Jesus receive my Spirit because at the same time he saw Jesus in Prophetick Vision standing at the Right Hand of God. He began to have this Vision while he stood before the Council ver 56. and it continued with him to the Moment of his Expiration for his Consolation and Support as is granted by many learned Interpreters of the Orthodox party 36. Acts 9. 14 21. To bind all that call upon thy Name The Words are spoken to the Lord Christ as is made undeniable by ver 17. Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this Nome Christ's Name in Jerusalem Answ 1. The Socinians generally not only grant but earnestly contend that Christ is to be worshipped and prayed to because God hath they say by his â—â—â—â—biting Word or Power given to the Lord Christ a Faculty of knowing all things and an Ability to relieve all our Wants The Polonian Vnitarians were so zealous in this matter that they excommunicated and deposed from their Ministry such of their own Party as denied that Christ might be prayed to and worship't with Divine Worship This had bad Effects therefore the Vnitarians of Transylvania were more moderate they admitted to the Ministers and Professors-Places those that rejected the Invocation and Adoration of Christ but obliged them under their Hands not to speak against worshipping or praying to the Lord Christ in their Sermons or Lectures 2. Those Vnitarians that reject the Invocation of Christ say 1. That the most learned of the Ancients were of their Opinion It appears by St. Austin T. 6. L. 1. de Haeres Num. 43. and by Photias Cod. 117. that Origen denied that the Son was to be adored or prayed to He is saith Origin not the Author but Procurer of the good things bestowed on us 2. Our Lord Christ when he was consulted about the Object and matter of Prayers directed his Disciples to God Luke 11. 1 2. When ye pray say Our Father which art in Heaven 3. It seems clear enough that he forbad the Disciples to pray to himself ordering them at the same time to pray to God in his Name or for his Sake John 16. 23. In that Day i. e. after I am risen have seen you again and being ascended into Heaven have procured for you the Comforter whose Consolations none can take from you So all Interpretters of note ye shall ask me nothing whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name he will give it you 4. To make Christ himself the Object of Prayer is to destroy his Mediatory Office. For if he doth hear our Prayers and can and doth by a Power constantly resident in him relieve our Wants to what purpose is he our Mediator with God. They that make it a Duty to pray to Christ will find it hard to give a good account of those Words Heb. 7. 25. He Christ is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him i. e. that pray to God in his Name or for his sake seeing he ever liveth to make Intercession for them What can be more evident than that here Christ's saving us from the Evils we either fear or labour under is ascribed not to his own inherent Power but to his Intercession with the Almighty It is farther to be observed that these Gentlemen say that Christ's Mediation and Intercession for us is not to be understood of a verbal or personal Mediation proceeding from a particular Knowledg of our Wants and Prayers but he mediates by his Merits that is by the perfect Obedience and most acceptable Services that he has performed to God. As to the objected Texts To bind all that call upon thy Name And again Is not this he that destroyed them that called on this Name in Jerusalem They answer that the Original Greek may be translated several ways 1. Thus to bind all that are called by thy Name And Is not this he that destroyed them who are called by this Name in Jerusalem that is All that from Christ are called Christians And this seems to be the genuine sense of these Texts 2. Thus To bind all that name thy Name And Is not this he that destroyed them who name this Name in Jerusalem that is that profess the Name of Christ that speak of Christ as their Master and Teacher Agreably to this St. Paul saith 2 Tim. 2. 9. Let all that name the Name of Christ depart from Iniquity 3. Thus as 't is in our English Bibles to bind all that call upon thy Name And Is not this he that destroyed them that called on this Name in Jerusalem For though the first Christians did not pray to the Lord Christ yet they called upon his Name in Prayer they used his Name in their Prayers to God praying for all things in his Name which is a calling upon his Name in the most proper and grammatical sense of these Words and is indeed the only sense of which they are capable when they are used of a Man as Christ was So they 37. Acts 15. 28. It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us Answ that is to God's Inspiration in us and therefore to us also See on John 16. 8 13 14. 38. Acts 20. 28. Feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own Blood. Answ 1. It appears by the Syriac the Armenian and the most ancient Greek Bibles that the true reading of this Text is Feed the Church of Christ which he hath purchased with his own Blood. 2. Admitting the reading in the vulgar Editions of the Greek yet some great Masters of that Tongue have rendred the Greek Words thus Feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own Son's Blood. 3. Admitting the Translation in our English Bibles some learned Men particularly Erasmus have noted that the Blood of Christ is here called the Blood of God because it was the Blood which God gave for the Redemption of the World. So John 1. 36. Behold the Lamb of God that is the Lamb of Sacrifice which God giveth for the Sins of the World. For God so loved the