attributed to things which are not persons, in a metaphorical sense, are
in the poetical books thereof; or in some particular places, where there
is a peculiar beautiful mode of speaking taken from thence; will it
therefore follow, that these personal characters are used in other parts
of scripture, in which the Holy Ghost does not think fit to express
himself in such an elegancy of style? Now it is certain, that the
personal characters before mentioned are given to the Son and Holy
Ghost, throughout the whole scripture, without designing to use a lofty,
figurative, or uncommon way of speaking, as in the instances before
mentioned.
3. We must not suppose that the Holy Ghost uses any figurative ways of
speaking, so as to cast a veil on plain truths, or to endanger our being
led hereby out of the way, as we should certainly be, if so many hundred
places of scripture, in which these personal characters are applied to
the Son and Spirit, were to be taken in a metaphorical sense, without
any intimation given in the context that they are so to be understood.
And it will be certainly very difficult to find out any place in
scripture, that may serve to direct us in our application of these
characters, _viz._ when they are to be taken in a metaphorical sense,
when applied to the Persons in the Godhead, and when not.
4. Though we find many metaphors in scripture, yet we observe that the
most important truths are laid down in the plainest manner; so that the
injudicious and unlearned reader, who understands nothing of the art of
rhetoric, or criticism, may be instructed thereby; at least they are not
universally wrapt up in such figurative ways of speaking; and it would
be strange, if the account we have of the Personality of the Son and
Holy Ghost, which is a doctrine of the highest importance, and such as
renders them distinct objects of worship, should be expressed in such a
way, as that we should be at the greatest uncertainty whether they are
persons or not.
5. If these personal characters are not metaphorical, when applied to
men or angels, who are subjects capable of having personality attributed
to them, why should they be reckoned metaphorical, when applied to the
Son and Spirit, who, though they are not distinct beings, yet they have
a divine understanding and will, and therefore are not rendered
incapable of having personality ascribed to them, as signified by these
characters.
6. The asserting that personal characters attributed to the Son and
Spirit are always to be understood in a metaphorical sense, would give
equal ground to conclude that they are to be so taken, when applied to
the Father; and accordingly, while we militate against the Personality
of these, we should, at the same time, overthrow his Personality: and
while we deny that there are three Persons in the Godhead, we should, in
effect, suppose that there are no Persons in the Godhead, any otherwise
than as the Godhead, which is common to be Father, Son, and Spirit, is
often described as though it were a Person; and if ever _Personality_ is
used or applied in a metaphorical sense, it must be when the Godhead is
described as though it were a Person.
7. Though some personal characters are occasionally applied, in a
metaphorical sense, to things that are not persons, yet it is not usual
for them to be described as performing personal works, and these not
occasionally hinted at, and joined with other metaphorical ways of
speaking, but a long series of action referred to, and variety of works
performed, which must certainly be taken in a most proper sense. Thus,
when the Son and Spirit are set forth in scripture as performing those
works, which are expressive of their personal glory; the one in what
respects the purchase of redemption; and the other in the application
thereof: and when each of them is described as standing in those
relations to men, which are founded in the performance of these works
for them; certainly this must be taken in a most proper sense; and we
must take heed, lest, while we attempt to prove that the Persons in the
Godhead are to be taken in a figurative sense, we do not give occasion
to any to think that the great benefits, which we receive from them, are
to be understood in the same sense.
We shall now take notice of some other personal properties, whereby the
Son and Spirit are distinguished from one another, and from the Father;
particularly, as they are expressed in one of the answers under our
present consideration; it is proper to the Father to beget the Son, or,
as it is sometimes expressed, to be unbegotten; and to the Son, to be
begotten of the Father; and to the Holy Ghost, to proceed from the
Father and the Son, from all eternity. This is certainly one of the most
difficult heads of divinity that can be insisted on; and some have made
it more so, by their attempting to explain it. I have sometimes thought
that it would be the safest and most eligible way, to pass it over, as a
doctrine less necessary to be understood; but since there are several
scripture-expressions, on which it is founded, which we ought to pay the
greatest deference to, much more than to those explications which are
merely human; and inasmuch as these properties plainly prove the Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, to be distinct Persons, therefore we must humbly
enquire into the meaning of those scriptures, wherein they are
contained; and so to speak something as to what is generally called the
eternal generation of the Son, and the procession of the Holy Ghost; and
I hope, through divine assistance, we shall advance no doctrine that is
either subversive of our faith in the doctrine of the Trinity, which we
are endeavouring to maintain, derogatory to the essential or personal
glory of the Father, Son, and Spirit, or altogether contrary to the
sense, in which many Christians, who are unacquainted with those modes
of speaking, used by the fathers and schoolmen, understand those
scriptures upon which this doctrine is founded.
And here we shall give a brief account of what we apprehend to be the
commonly received sentiments of divines, who, in their writings, have
strenuously maintained, and judiciously defended, the doctrine of the
Trinity, concerning the eternal generation of the Son, and the
procession of the Holy Ghost; which I shall endeavour to do with the
greatest deference to those who have treated of these subjects, as well
as with the greatest impartiality; and shall take occasion to shew how
far the Arians conclude that we give up the cause to them, and yet how
little reason they have to insult us upon this head.
(1.) As to the eternal generation of the Son, it is generally explained
in this manner; the Father is called, by some, the fountain of the
Godhead, an expression taken from some of the fathers, who defended the
Nicene faith: but others of late, have rather chose to call the Father
the fountain of the Trinity; and he is said to be of himself; or
unbegotten; which they lay down as his distinct Personal character, from
that of the Son.
On the other hand, the Son, as to his Personality, is generally
described as being from the Father, and many chuse to express themselves
about this mystery in these terms; that the Father communicated the
divine essence to the Son, which is the most common mode of speaking,
though others think it safer to say, that he communicated the divine
Personality to him; though I cannot tell which is least exceptionable.
But when I find others calling it the Father’s giving the divine essence
to the Son, their mode of speaking being founded, as they apprehend, on
that scripture, John v. 26. _As the Father hath life in himself so hath
he given to the Son to have life in himself_, I cannot but think it an
unguarded expression, and foreign to the design of the Holy Ghost in
that scripture, as will be hereafter considered. The Arians are ready to
insult us upon such modes of speaking, and suppose that we conclude that
the Son receives his divine perfections, and therefore cannot be God
equal with the Father: but, however, none of them, who use this
expression, suppose that the Son’s Deity is founded on the arbitrary
will of the Father; for they all assert that the divine nature is
communicated necessarily, and from all eternity, as the sun communicates
its rays necessarily, which are of equal duration with it; so that while
they make use of a word, which, according to its most known acceptation,
seems subversive of the truth, they happily, for truth’s sake, explain
away the proper sense thereof; so that all they can be blamed for
herein, by the adversary, is impropriety of expression.
Again, others speak a little more exceptionally, when, explaining the
eternal generation of the Son, they say that the Father produced him:
but this idea they also happily explain away; and therefore say it is
not such a production, where the cause produces the effect, though some
of the fathers, who have been in the Trinitarian scheme, have unwarily
called the Father the cause of the Son; yet our modern divines seldom,
or never, use that expression, or if they speak of an eternal
production, they suppose it vastly differs from the production of all
creatures, or from that sense in which the Arians suppose the Son to be
produced by him; but certainly this expression had better be laid aside,
lest it should be thought that we conclude the Son not equally
necessary, and, from all eternity, co-existent with the Father, which
our divines, how unwarily soever in other respects they may express
themselves, are very far from denying.
(2.) We shall now proceed to consider how some divines express
themselves, concerning the procession of the Holy Ghost, which they
generally do in this manner, as though the divine essence were
communicated by the Father and the Son to the Holy Ghost; and so they
suppose that the Holy Ghost, at least as he is a divine Person, or has
the divine nature communicated to him, cannot be said to be, any more
than the Son, of himself, but from the Father and the Son, from whom he
proceeds, or receives, as some express it, the divine nature, and others
the divine personality.
Others speak of the Spiration of the Holy Ghost, which they suppose to
be the same with his procession; but the world is much at a loss to
understand what they mean by the word _Spiration_: it seems to be a mere
metaphorical expression, as when they call him the breath of the Father
and the Son, and, if so, then it will not prove his proper personality:
but since we are pretty much in the dark about the reason of this mode
of speaking, it would be much better to lay it aside, as many modern
writers have done.
As to the manner of the procession of the Holy Ghost, there was, about
the eighth and ninth centuries, a very warm dispute between the Greek
and Latin church; whether the Spirit proceeded from the Father only, or
from the Father and the Son; and the controversy arose to such a height,
that they charged one another with heresy and schism, when neither side
well understood what they contended about; and if they had agreed to the
healing expedient, afterwards proposed, that they should mutually
acknowledge that the Holy Ghost was from the Father by the Son, the
matter would have been left as much in the dark as it was before.
Some speak of the procession of the Holy Ghost, as though he was
produced by the Father and the Son, as the Son, as was before observed,
is said, in his eternal generation, to have been produced by the Father;
yet they suppose that neither of them were so produced, as that they may
be called effects; and they term it the production of a person in, and
not out of, the divine essence, for that would be to give away the cause
we contend for: but which way soever we take it, it contains such an
impropriety of expression, as can hardly be defended; and it is much
better to explain away the proper and grammatical sense of words, than
to corrupt the truth; however, I would not copy after them in this mode
of speaking.
Moreover, some have pretended to determine the difference between the
eternal generation of the Son and the Spirit’s procession; to which they
have, with modesty, premised, that it is not to be explained; but, as
far as they enter into this matter, they suppose that they differ in
this; that in the eternal generation of the Son, the Father communicated
the divine essence, or, at least, personality to him, which is his act
alone, and herewith he communicated a property, or power, to him, to
communicate the same divine essence to the Holy Ghost; whereas, when the
Holy Ghost is said to proceed from the Father and the Son, there is no
power therewith conveyed to him to communicate the divine essence to any
other, as a fourth person in the Godhead. These things may be observed
in the writings of those who treat of this subject; but it is to be
feared, they enter too far into the explication of this unsearchable
mystery; and some will be ready to conclude that they attempt to be wise
above what is written. And,
If I may be allowed to give my sense of the communication of the divine
essence, though it will probably be thought that I do not say enough
concerning it, yet I hope that, in other respects, none will conclude
that I advance any thing subversive of the doctrine of the Trinity, when
I assert that the divine essence is communicated, not by the Father to
the Son and Holy Ghost, as imparting or conveying it to them; but take
the word _communicate_ in another sense, namely, that all the
perfections of the divine nature are communicated, that is, equally
attributed to, or predicated of, the Father, Son, and Spirit; this sense
of the word is what some intend when they say the human nature is
communicated to every individual, upon which account they are
denominated men; and, as the word is used in this sense, sometimes, by
logicians and schoolmen, so it seems to be taken in the same sense, in
Heb. ii. 14. where the Greek words, τα παιδια κεκοινωνηκε σαρκος και
αιματος, which we render, the children were partakers of flesh and
blood, might be rendered, as in the vulgar Latin version,
_Communicaverunt carni & sanguini_, _i. e._ they have the human nature
communicated to, and predicated of, them, or they are truly and properly
men. And it is in this sense that we use the word, when we say that the
different properties of the divine and human nature are communicated to,
that is, predicated of, the Person of Christ, which divines generally
call a communication of properties. In this sense I would be understood,
when I say that the divine perfections are communicated to, or
predicated of, the Father, Son, and Spirit; and this all who maintain
the doctrine of the Trinity will allow of. The other sense of
communication, _viz._ imparting, conveying, or giving the divine
essence, I shall be very ready to fall in with, when the apparent
difficulties, which, to me, seem to lie in the way thereof, some of
which have been already considered, are removed.
As to what concerns the farther explication of this mystery, we may
observe, that the more nice some have been in their speculations about
it, the more they have seemed bewildered: thus, when some have enquired
whether the eternal generation is one single act, or an act continued;
or whether, when it is said, This day have I begotten thee, the meaning
is, that the divine nature was communicated at once, or whether it is
perpetually communicating.[97] And the difficulties that attend their
asserting either the one or the other of them, which they, who enquire
into these matters, take notice of, I shall entirely pass over, as
apprehending that this doctrine receives no advantage by such
disquisitions.
Neither do I think it tends much to our edification to enquire, as some
have done, whether, in the eternal generation, the Father is considered
as acting, and the Son as him on whom the action terminates, as the
subject thereof; which, when they suppose it does, they farther enquire,
whether, in this respect, he is said to be passive, which they are not
willing to assert.
And I cannot but take notice of another nicety of inquiry, _viz._
whether, in the eternal generation, the Son is considered as co-existent
with the Father, or as having the divine essence, and hereby only
deriving his Sonship from him, from all eternity; or whether he derives
both his Sonship and his essence; the former of which is the most
generally received opinion. But I am not desirous to enter into this
enquiry, especially without first determining what we mean by Sonship.
There is indeed one thing that must be enquired into, and that is,
whatever be the explication given of the eternal generation of the Son,
and procession of the Holy Ghost, whether they are each of them
self-existent, or, as some call it, αυτοθεος; and it is generally
determined, that the Son and Holy Ghost have the same self-existent
divine nature: but with respect to their manner of having it, some say
the Son has his divine nature from the Father, and the Holy Ghost from
the Father and Son; or that the Father only is self-existent, as some
speak; or, as most others say, that he is self-subsistent; and that this
is his personal property, as he is distinguished from the Son and Holy
Ghost, whom they conclude not to be self-subsistent, but the one to
subsist from the Father, and the other from the Father and the Son. This
is a generally received opinion; notwithstanding I must confess myself
to be at a loss to account for it: so that the principal thing, in which
I am obliged, till I receive farther conviction, to differ from many
others, is, whether the Son and Spirit have a communicated or derived
Personality: this many assert, but, I think, without sufficient proof;
for I cannot but conclude that the divine Personality, not only of the
Father, but of the Son and Spirit, is as much independent, and
underived, as the divine essence.
Thus we have considered how some have embarrassed this doctrine, by
being too nice in their enquiries about it: we shall proceed to consider
how others have done prejudice to it, by pretending to explain it; and
when they make use of similitudes to that purpose, have rather
prejudiced the enemies of this doctrine against it, than given any
conviction to them. I shall only mention what I have found in some of
their writings, whom, in other respects, I cannot but exceedingly value,
as having deserved well of the church of God, in defending this truth
with good success, yet, when they take this method to explain this
doctrine, to say the best of it, they have done but little service to
the cause which they have maintained: thus we find them expressing
themselves to this purpose; as the soul of man sometimes reflects on
itself, and considers its own nature, powers, and faculties, or when it
is conversant about itself, as its object, this produces an idea, which
contains the moral image of itself, and is like as when he sees his face
in a glass, and beholds the image of himself; this, say they,
illustrates the eternal generation of the Son, as God beholding himself,
or his divine perfections, begets an image of himself, or has an eternal
idea of his own perfections in his mind, which is called his internal
word, as opposed to the word spoken, which is external; by this they
express the generation of the Son, for which reason he is called, in
Heb. i. 3. _The brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image
of his person_, as the wax expresses the character or mark of the seal
that is impressed on it.
Again, they farther add, that there is a mutual love between the Father
and the Son, which brings forth a third Person, or subsistence in the
Godhead, to wit, the Holy Ghost; so that as there is in the divine
essence an infinite understanding reflecting on itself, whereby it
begets, a Son, as was before observed, and an infinite will, which leads
him to reflect on himself, with love and delight, as the chief good,
whereby he brings forth a third Person in the Godhead, to wit, the Holy
Ghost, accordingly they describe this divine Person as being the result
of the mutual joy and delight that there is between the Father and the
Son: these explications many are at a loss to understand; and we humbly
conceive it would be much better to let them alone, and confess this
doctrine to be an inexplicable mystery, or else some other way may be
found out, which is less liable to these exceptions, while we explain
those scriptures, which speak of the generation of the Son, and the
procession of the Holy Ghost.
The scriptures generally brought in defence of this doctrine are such as
these.
1. To prove the eternal generation of the Son, there are several
scriptures referred to, particularly that in which the Father is
represented as speaking to him, in Psal. ii. 7. _Thou art my Son; this
day have I begotten thee_; that is, say they, I have, in my eternal,
unsuccessive duration, communicated, or imparted, the divine essence,
or, at least, personality, to thee.
Another scripture brought to this purpose is that in Prov. viii. 22, 23,
25. _The Lord possessed me_, speaking of his eternal Word, or Son, _in
the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from
everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was; before the
mountains were settled; before the hills was I brought forth._ Where
they suppose that God’s possessing him, which is certainly to be taken
in a different sense from his being the possessor of all creatures, is
to be understood of his being God’s proper Son by nature; and his being
said to be brought forth, they suppose, proves his eternal generation.
Another scripture brought to the same purpose is that in Micah v. 2.
speaking of the Son, it is said, _His goings forth have been of old,
from everlasting_; by which they attempt to prove his being begotten in
the divine essence: but how that can be called his going forth, I do not
well understand.
Moreover, that scripture before mentioned, in Heb. i. 3. _Who being the
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person._ And
another parallel scripture, in Col. i. 15. _Who is the image of the
invisible God, the first-born of every creature_; where, by first-born,
they understand, that he was begotten before all worlds: the divine
essence, or, at least, personality, being communicated to him from
eternity.
Another scripture, which we before referred to, brought to prove this
doctrine, is John v. 26. _As the Father hath life in himself, so he hath
given to the Son to have life in himself_; that is, say some, as the
Father hath all divine perfections in himself originally, so the Son
hath these perfections, by communication from him; which they suppose
not to be an arbitrary, but a necessary, donation.
Again, this is farther proved, from John i. 17. where he is said to be
_the only begotten Son of the Father_. And ver. 18. _The only begotten
Son, who is in the bosom of the Father._ From the former of which
scriptures they prove the eternal generation of the Son; and from the
latter, his being begotten in the divine essence, which distinguishes it
from all finite productions, which are out of himself.
Moreover, there are many other scriptures that speak of our Saviour as
the Son of God; and particularly in Matth. xvi. 16. he is called, _The
Son of the living God_; and in Rom. viii. 32. _his own Son_, ἱδιος υιος,
which some render, _his proper Son_, that is, not only his Son, who has
the same divine nature with himself, but as implying also the manner of
its communication; and in Mat. iii. 17. he is called his _beloved Son_.