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observe that, even if this were granted, it would not touch the question of the Son's Deity; for some have believed his Deity, and denied his eternal sonship. They hold, that Christ is called the Son of God, either in virtue of his miraculous conception, or of his resurrection from the dead, or of the office he has undertaken in the plan of Salvation; and therefore, that although co-equal and co-eternal with the Father as one person in the ever-blessed Trinity, yet he was not eternally the Son of God, except in purpose, but became so afterwards. Most Christians however hold, that in addition to those reasons the second person of the Trinity is in scripture called the Son, and the first the Father, as giving the nearest idea, which our minds are capable of receiving, of the relationship they have borne to one another from eternity. This is what Unitarians consider absurd and impossible. Now however difficult it may be for our minds to conceive the idea of an eternal Son, it cannot be more difficult than to conceive the idea of an eternal Father; for no one can conceive it: the very idea of eternity is beyond the power of any created intellect to grasp. folly then to argue against possibilities in the nature of the Infinite Jehovab, from the weakness of our own finite minds! Waiving however for a time the unfathomable mystery of God's eternity, which I believe no Unitarian denies, a simple illustration will shew that there is no such difficulty as is supposed in the begetter and the begotten being of the same age. Flame begets light; flame is the father, light is the son: yet they come into existence exactly at the same time. Light is begotten simultaneously with the flame that bege ́s it; you cannot produce one an instant before the other.-All earthly illustrations of Divine things must be imperfect; but this may perhaps give some little help in removing a stumbling-block out of the way of weak faith, though it is far from doing away with the necessity of faith. At the best we can only "see through a glass darkly:" but we make the darkness thicker than it really is, if we forget how very imperfect any human words must be when applied to the nature of God. We must not suppose that the first and second persons of the Trinity are Father and Son in the same way that we are; but only that the words are used, as I said before, to give the nearest idea, which our minds are capable of receiving, of the relationship between them. To say that that idea must necessarily be indistinct, is only to say that he is God, and we are men. reject revealed truth on this account is no less impious than irrational.

To

* Observe, that the entire Godhead is called the Father, as being the Creator of all things; and the first person in the Godhead is called the Father in reference to his relationship to the second person.

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Leaving then the main proof of the Deity of the Son to a future lecture, we proceed to that of the third* person in the Trinity-the Holy Spirit. Here we are under some disadvantage, as it is so very difficult to find out what Unitarians do suppose the Spirit to be. If however we prove from Scripture, 1st, That the Spirit is God; and 2ndly, That it is not merely another name given to God, but is a distinct person from either the Father or the Son-it will be all that is required. First, therefore, in proof of his Godhead take the following passages: "The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life." Job xxxiii. 4. "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Luke i. 35. In the next chapter we read, that it was revealed "to Simeon" by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ "; and when Simeon does see him, he says "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word." Again, in Matt. ix. 38, our Lord bids his disciples, Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth labourers into his harvest"; and in Acts xiii. 2, we read that "as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto 1 have called them": therefore "the Holy Ghost" is "the Lord of the harvest." In the 5th ch. of the Acts, Peter rebukes the sin of Ananias, saying, "Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? * Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God" Lastly, in Acts xxviii. 25, St Paul declares that "the Holy Ghost spake by the mouth of Esaias the prophet," and in Acts i. 16, St. Peter declares that the Holy Ghost "spake by the mouth of David;" while in Heb. i. 1, we read that "God at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto our fathers by the prophets," and in 2 Tim. iii. 16, that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." Now Mr. Barker writes, "We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and the Spirit is the gift of God." No doubt he is; but if the writer means to say that because the Spirit is a gift he cannot be a person, I would, remind him that the Son is also a gift; (God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son to be the propitiation for their sins); and I would ask, what sort of a gift it is, which made Job, which is the Lord of the harvest, which spake by the Prophets, and to which Ananias lied!

Against the second Unitarian theory, which admits the Deity, but denies the distinct Personality of the Spirit, and considers it

* The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are called the first, second, and third persons, not to denote any inferiority of rank, but merely for the convenience of distinction,

19.

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to be merely another name applied either to God, or else to some power, operation, or quality belonging to God, the following passages may be brought. "And now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me." Is. xlviii 16. "And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased." Luke iii. 22. Baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Matt. xxviii. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost." 2 Cor. xiii. 14. The most important testimony however, and one which, if there were not another in the Bible, would be amply sufficient with any reasonable man to set the whole question at rest, is given in one of our Lord's last addresses to his disciples, related in the 14th and two following chapters of St. John's gospel." And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. If

I

go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you; and when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he shall show you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine; therefore said 1, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you." Surely, if we "take Christ as our teacher," which is Mr. Barker's definition of a Christian, all argument must be at end with regard to the Spirit's distinct Personality. Every one of the marked words is as emphatic in the original, as in the translation.

Having thus shown, to borrow Mr. Barker's words some years back, "that the Scriptures uniformly speak of the Father as God, the Son as God, and the Holy Ghost as God," we have only to add, what every one will allow, that they never assert the Deity of any other person, while they positively assert that there is but one God,-and the proof of the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity is complete; as complete, to any one who is willing just to learn "the mind of the Spirit" from his own word, as if the Athanasian creed had been drawn up by

Christ himself. But as Unitarians harp so much upon the doctrine not being taught in single texts, let us direct their attention to one or two, although we must beg leave most strongly to protest against this habit of dictating to God how truth ought to be taught us. If it required a hundred texts to be compared together in order to prove any doctrine, we should be as much bound to believe it, as if it was flatly stated in every one of them.

Turn then to Deut. vi. 4. "Hear O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord." Now in the original there is no word 'is,' and the word 'one' comes at the last by itself: so that the exact, and only allowable, translation is "Jehovah * our God Jehovah one;" or, if the word 'is' be understood, “Jehovah our God Jehovah (is) one. To put Jehovah' after 'one,' by translating it as in our Bible "Jehovah our God is one Jehovah," is doing utter violence to the language, and detroying the whole force of the expression. What then is the meaning of this threefold mention of God's name, followed by the single word 'one?' Jehovah, our God, Jehovah-One.

"If

The next passage is Num. vi 22-27. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, the Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them "* Now although we admit that such passages as this and others like it, would not be in themselves positive and direct proof of the Trinity, yet, having proved it from other clear testimonies of Scripture, we cannot doubt for a moment that a reference to it was intended in them. the three articles of this benediction be attentively considered," says an able writer, "their contents will be found to agree respectively to the three persons taken in the usual order of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost The Father is the author of blessing and preservation. Grace and illumination are from the Son, by whom we have "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ." Peace is the gift of the Spirit, whose name is the Comforter, and whose first and best fruit is the work of Peace." By pronouncing this threefold blessing, which was yet but one blessing, the Priest "put God's name upon" the children of Israel; †

* When the word 'LORD' is printed thus in capitals in our Bible, it is always in the original 'Jehovah.'

Whether true or not, it is very remarkable, that the Jews to this day have a tradition, that when the High Priest pronounced this blessing, he lifted up his hands, and placed his fingers in the form of a Triad or Trinity.

which answers the argument brought against us from the words "There shall be one Lord, and his name one:" for we are here taught that his name is also three. This is just what we contend for-that his name is both three and one; in other words, Tri-une, or a Trinity in Unity.

And now let us ask, If the Jew had the Triune name of God thus "put upon" him in solemn blessing, is it likely that the Christian should be without the honour of having it put upon him? No; rather should we expect it be done with even more distinctness than under the twilight dispensation of Judaism. And is it not so? "Go ye and teach all nations" was the Saviour's last command to his disciples, "baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.* Do Unitarians have the Triune name of God thus "put upon " themselves and their children, either in infancy or later years? Do they in this instance follow "the teaching of Christ," and submit to be baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost?" Or would it be too palpable a recognition of the doctrine of the Trinity? would it be too perplexing a question to answer, when their children in time to come should say unto them, "What mean ye by this ordinance?" If they do not, surely the words which follow should convince them that, if there be no danger in denying the Trinity theoretically, there must be considerable danger in denying it practically; "He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned,"

A stronger proof of the doctrine of the Trinity than the form of Christian baptism can scarcely be conceived. Only think of our being dedicated in this solemn ordinance conjointly to the Creator, to a creature, and to a power, property or influence! Observe too, that it is not "in the names," but "in the name"; three persons, yet one name-God. In confirmation of this we may refer to Acts xix. 1. 6. St Paul asks certain disciples at Ephesus, whether they had received the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost since they believed. To which they reply "We have not so much as heard, whether there be any Holy Ghost." "Unto what then," he asks, were ye baptised? How can you be Christians, without having been instructed in the doctrine of the Trinity? was not the very form of your baptism a confession of it?" This difficulty is removed by their explaining that they had only been baptised unto John's baptism; which required nothing more than a general profession of repentance. But Paul reminds them, that John only represented himself as the forerunner of one who was to come after him, and whom he bid his disciples be

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*Nor must we omit the Apostolic blessing, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all." 2 Cor. xiii. 14,