79—/ ^L ^i £3 Q3> «£^ O^^^ OF THE AT PRINCETON, N. J. HHXATIO.V <>I.- SAMUEL AG NEW, OF PHILADELPHIA, PA. ,,„.„.,,, Division | Shrlf* S* Hook, - >££<»>QC— ..„V» 23^ %y iaiKii;m{j;iii;;ijiir.jjiiiiyi;;^uiaiiiHii;iffiir ■?r^:-:?-r»r^-- r--sr~sssrsr?ssjv 31 ' = *( /trr\ (A>///t >' Sfr// : from the Begin- a nin£ iv The PREFACE. ning; by which this one and only true Reli- gion hath been fo altered and deformed, tha it is hardly to be known, and therefore but very little known even in Chriftendom. And therein I (hew, that the whole of this one and only true fanctifying and faving Re- ligion, con flits in perfect Obedience to the divinely revealed, and moll perfect and per- fectly purifying fpiritual Law of perfect Righteouineis ; which confifts in one Precept, indifpenfably obliging all Mankind to mortify, and purify their Spirits from all bodily Lufts, bv which and by which only, they are moved and tempted to all the Wickednefs they com- mit in this World, and which are the only true and real Devils, by whofe unquenchable Flames the impenitently wicked are everlaft- ingly tormented in the next. And in the fin- cere and true Belief of three fundamental and divinely revealed, and demon ftratively true Ar- ticles of Faith, viz. Firjly That there is a God. Secondly, That Men have immaterial and im- mortal Spirits. And Thirdly, that there is a fu- ture State after this Life, which will be a State of either perfect and endiefs Happinefs, or of mod exquifite and everlailing fpiritual Mifery in the next World ; according as Men have provided and laid up the one or the other for themfelves, during their Continuance in this > by perfevering in Obedience or Diiobedience to this perfectly purifying fpiritual Law \ and in the fincere and true Belief or Difbelief of thefs The PRE FACE. % *hefe three fundamental Articles of Faith which contain all the mod powerful Motives and indifpenfable Obligations to Perfeve- rance in perfect Obedience to this mod per- fect: and perfectly purifying and divinely re- vealed fpiritual Law of perfect Righteouf- nefs. And that this original and fundamental Law, and thefe three fundamental Articles of the Faith, are the fundamental Points upon which all the Law and the Prophets, and all that was preached by our blefed Lord and Saviour ye/us Gbrift* and all that was com* mitted to Writing by his Evangel! its and Apoftlcs hang and depend. And that they of themfelves are a mod perfect and com- pleat, and the only perfect and com pleat Rule of Faith and Morals that ever was in the World. And they, taken together, aro an infallible Rule and Standard, and the only infallible Rule and Standard, by which all particular Texts of Scripture relating to Faith and Morals can be truly, and therefore ought always to be interpreted. And an infallible Rule by which we can always and readily di£ cover, whether any particular Texts of Scrip- ture be genuine, (7. e.) whether they were written by Perfons infpired, or affifted by the Holy Spirit of God, or thefpurious Interpola- tions of wicked Men, And they are alfo the only true and infallible Rule and Standard by Wiich we can truly judge of all the parti- a 2 cala: vi The PREFACE. cular diflinguiming religious Do&rines and Precepts of all particular Churches, Sect% and Perfons, whether they be true or falfe, and righteous or wicked ; and to which all fuch particular Doctrines and Precepts ought always to be brought and tried, and judged of, whether they be true or falfe, or righteous or wicked, and conducive to, or deftructive of true and fpiritual Sanctification, Salvation, and true and rational Happinefs both temppral and everlafting, and confequently whether they ought to be embraced or rejected. And as this divinely revealed fundamental, fpiritual and fcriptural Law, and thtfe thiee fundamental Articles of divinely revealed, fpi- ritual, or fcriptural Faith, which contain the powerful Motives, and indifpcnfable Obliga- tions to Perfeverance in perfect Obedience to this Law, contain the whole of the one, and only true fandtifying and laving Religion, wbofe Defence 1 have undertaken ; and all Things necefiky to be known, and fincerely and truly believed and done by all Ranks and Orders pi Mankind, in order to their being perfectly qualified for the Enjoyment and At- tainment of tine and fpiritual Sanctification, Salvation, and eternal Life ; and felf-fufficient, but io indifpenlably neceffary to be perfectly obeyed, and fincerely and truly believed by all Ranks and Orders of Mankind, in all States and Stations, from the higheft to the iowefr, that itkiropoflibleby the Reafon of Things for any The PREFACE. vii any Perfon to obtain any one of thefe great neceffary Ufes and good Ends, without per- fectly obeying the one, and fincerely believ- ing the other; which io powerfully tend to move Mankind to mortify and purify their Spirits from all bodily Lufts, and to love God with all their Hearts, &c. whilll they are in this World, without which no Man can poffibly be truly or ipiritually happy, or other wife than fpiritually miferable in this World, and everiaitingly fo in the next. I therefore thought it my Duty as an Apologiit for this one and only true fandtify- ing and faving, and fpiritual and holy fcrip- tural Religion, and for moving and encoura- ging Mankind to awake and return to it, and embrace it, and perfevere in perfect Obedi- ence to its mofl perfect and perfectly purify- ing fundamental Law, and in the fincere and true Belief of the three fundamental Articles of its Faith ; which together comprehend and contain the whole of this one or only true fandtifying and faving Religion. To fet before them, i/ly The divine Original or Revelation of that Law. And, idly, the felf-evident Per- fection, and perfect Righteoufnefs, and puri- fying Tendency of it. And, $dly9 the in^ difpenfable Necetiity of perfevering in perfect Obedience to it. And tfhly, the divine O- riginal or Revelation of the three fundamen- tal Articles of the fpiritual and fcriptural Paith ; which contain the powerful Mo- a 3 tive* viii The P REFAE. tives and indifpenfable Obligations toPerfeve- rance, in Obedience to this moft perfect and perfectly purifying fpiritual and fcriptural Law. And, $thly, the demonftrative Truth of thefe three fundamental Articles of the fpiritual and holy fcriptural Faith. And 6thly, the indif- penfable Neceffity of perfevering in the fin- cere and true Belief of thefe three Articles of Faith all the Days of our Lives. And, jtbly, that the divinely inftituted inftrudive and Memorial ritual Ordinances, are not Parts of this one and only true fandifying and faving Religion (as they have been taught to be, by all the corrupt and falfe and fuperftiiious and fchifmatical Churches that have ever fince been in the World, who have always abufed and perverted them to fuperftitious Ends or Purpofes) aiiti that they were inftituted for no other End or Purpofe than for inftrud- ing Mankind in the Knowledge of, and for putting them continually in Mind of the in- difpenfabte Neceffity and Self-fufficiency of perfevering in fhe fincere and true Belief of the three fundamental Articles of the divinely revealed and demonftratively true fpiritual and holy fcriptural Faith, and in perfect Obe- dience to the divinely revealed, fundametal fpiritual and fcriptural Law, in order to their San&irication, Salvation, and true and rational Happinefs, both temporal and everlafting. And that although they be necefiary and be- neficial to be publickly obferved, when, and wherever The P R E F A C E. \x wherever they are publickly adminiftered, ac- cording to God's Appointment ; and for the End for which he appointed them to be (b ad- miniftered 5 and by thofe Perfons, and by thofe only whom he hath appointed and au- thorized, exclufively of all others, publickly to adminifter them. Yet they are not to be looked upon as indifpenfably necefTary to be fo obferved ; as the Faith and Law are to be believed and obeyed, in order to Sanclihcation, Salvation and eternal Life. And in my Apology for this one, and on- ly true fandifying and faving, and divinely revealed fpiritual, and holy fcriptural Religion, I have moft clearly and demonftratively proved all the aforementioned Points, which are indifpenfably necefTary to be fincerely and truly believed and obeyed; and therefore to be kept in continual Remembrance by all Mankind, and may with a very little Pains be as eafily remembered by them, as their own Names, or any other Thing that may be incumbent upon them to keep in Re- membrance. So when I was upon the De- monftration of the Being of a God, I judged it necefTary, to fhew from the Revelations and fenfible Reprefentations that he hath been gracioufly pleafed to make of himfelf in his holy Word, in order to enable us to form juft and true, and fpiritually beneficial, although not complete and adequate, Notions, of his Vbiquity or Ommprefencey and of his other a 4, won* x The P R E F A C E. wonderful and amiable, and adorable and in- exhauftible revealed Perfections, and his won- derful Manner of fubiifting or acting in a Plurality of Perlbns or intelligent Agents in the one Jehovah, or divine Effence ; and that this Plurality of divine Perfons, different and diftinguifhable from each other by their dif- ferent States and Forms, and Motions, Ope- rations or Actions, but one and the fame in refpect of the one Effence in which they fub- fifted, which is fo undivided and indivisible, and infeparable, that no one of them could fubfift as an Agent, or move or act effentially divided and feparate from, &nd independent of both the other, were co-eternal, co-effential and co-equal in all their divine Powers, Pro- perties and Perfections attributed to them; fo that none of them was, or is before or after other, nor greater nor lefs, nor fuperior nor inferior to other ; and that, although the particular Actions of each of them are differ- ent from the Actions of each of the other, yet the particular Actions of any one of them may with juft and equal Propriety be afcribed to either of the other, becaufe no one of them could have been performed by any one of them feparately and independently of the other two 5 or if the whole three Perfons had not co-operated, and in different Ways and Manners, in the Production of them: So that any of the Actions of any one of them may with equal Propriety be afcribed to any The PREFACE. xi any other of them, and to the whole three Perfons; and therefore when any Action is afcribed to any one of them, it is not to be afcribed to him, exclufively of the other two. And as each of thefe Perfons, fo diftinguiuhed froin each other, as I have before obferved, are divine Perfons, and may therefore be each of them called God?, yet, when either the Father, Son or Holy Ghoft, are called God, it is not to be underftood, as if any one of them was God, exclufive of the other two; fo that although the Father be God, and the Son be God, and the Holy Ghoft'be God, yet thefe three co-eternal' and co-effential,' and in every Refpecl co-equal Perfons, are in effential Unity together but one God. And all thefe Things 1 have not only fhewn to be demon ft ratively true, but as clearly conceiva- ble Truths as any are in the natural or ma- terial World, by the Revelations and fenfibly perceptible Representations which God hath been moft gracioufly pleafed to make of him. felf, by the material and vifible Heavens, in his holy Word ; by which I have put 'the Truth of the Doftrine of the Trinity of three divine Perfons in effential Unity in the one Jehovah, and all co-eternal, co-effential and co-equal in all divine Powers, Properties and Perfections, out of all Doubt, and thereby put a Stop to all future Controverfy about that Point, among Perfons capable of being con- xii The PREFACE. convinced of their Error by the Power and Force of mod clear and demon ftrative Truth. And I have likewife there (hewn from the holy Scriptures, that the Word Father when it is there underftood of God, is taken in a twofold and different Senfe: Firjly For the whole three Perfons in the divine Trinity, taken together, who is, or are the Father of Our bleffed Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrifty fcnd that thefe three Perfons together with our Lord Jefus Chri/i is the God and Father of all Mankind j and in this Senfe it is taken \vhen we fay our heavenly Father, or our Fa- ther which art in Heaven, (u e.) who haft: been gracioufly pleafed fenfibly to fignify and reprefent thyfelf to us, by thy material and vifible Heavens, as a Plurality of Perfons in effential Unity. And, Secondly^ For one of thofe co-eternal and co-eflential, and in every Refpeft co-equal Perfons in the divine Trini- ty, diftinguifned by the perfonal Names of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that we might be thereby inftrudted and taught, that the three co-eternal and co-eflential Perfons in the divine Trinity, are living and intelli- gent Agents, and not fuch lifelefs and unin- telligent Agents as they are reprefented by, in the material Heavens, in order to render their fubfifting in Plurality in eflential Unity conceivable by us. And thefe two different Acceptationi of the Word Father in the ho- ly Scriptures, ought to be carefully dif- tinguiihedy The PR EE ACE. xli! tinguiflied, for by Men's having confounded them together, and by their not having kept up the Diftindion between them, great and virulent Contentions have been raifed and continued for many Ages m the Chriftian Church, which have greatly contributed to the Corruption of the Faith, and to the Growth of deftruflive and damnable Hcr-- fies. And I have Iikewife (hewn, that the Word Son, when understood of the Son of God in the holy Scriptures, is alfo taken in a two fold and different Senfe: Firji, For one of the divine Perfons in the ever bleffed divine Trinity, perfonally diftinguifhed by the Name of the Son, from the other two Perfons, fo diftinguifhed by the peribnaj Names of the Father and Holy Spirit 5 and who is co-eternal and co-effential, and 'in all Refpecls co-equal with and to the Perfon diftinguifhed by the Name of the Father in the divine Trinity. And, Secondly, For the only begotten Son of God, (/. e.) 0f the whole divine Trinity, who together are but one God, the Father of our Lord Jefus Chrifti and who together with him is the Father of all Mankind, and of all Things vifiblc and invifible; and that the only be- gotten Son Jefus Chrift is not co-etcrnal nor co-effential, nor co-equal in RefpecT: of his Humanity, with any of the Perfons in the divine Trinity, diflinguifhed by the perfonai Names xiv The PREFACE. Names of Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and who neither is, nor ever was one of the Per- sons in the divine Trinity : And whom I have there fhewn to be God together with, but not exclufive of his Father (the whole Trinity) muft intimately and fpiritually, /. e. intel- lectually and morally) and alfo effentially united to him, and dwelling in him with all the Fulnefs of the Godhead, by Means of that holy Spirit of Faith, which was com- municated to him without Meafure or Bounds, by which his Knowledge, Will, Words and Actions became one and the fame y^kh his Father's; and his Father's Know- ledge, Will, Words and Actions became one and the fame with his ; fo that whatever he. laid or did, might with juft and equal propriety be afcribed to his Father ; and whatever his Father faid or did at any Time, Smight be with as juft, ftridt and equal Pro- priety be afcribed to him, they being fpiritually, and alfo effentially one, by Means of the im- menfurable Spirit of Faith, which was com- municated to him by his Father ; and there- fore, he faid with moft Uriel: Juftice and Propriety, that, He that hath Jeen me> hath feen my Father, he and his Father being one. And therefore when he is faid to be equal to God, and to be the eternal and true God, it is to be underftood of the Godhead, which was moft intimately and infeparably united to him, and dwelt in him in all Fulnefs. Thefe Things The PREFACE. xv Things I chofe to (hew, and fet forth from the holy Sariptures, concerning the Man jfejus Chri/l, the only begotten Son of God, in order to put an effe&ual Stop to all future Conteft and Controverfy, concerning the Truth and Reality of his Godhead, as it is moft clearly fet forth in the holy Scriptures, and therefore to be taken in no other Senfe than as it is there fet forth ; and not as fcrip- turally ignorant Men, who have followed their own groundless Imaginations have fet it forth, in their unintelligible Attempts other- wife to explain it. And 1 have likewife there fhewn, that by Men's not having diftinguifhed between the Perfon in th^ divine Trinity, difUnguifhed by the Name of the holy Spirit, who is co- eternal and co-eiTential, and co-equal w7ith the Perfon s diftinguifhed by the Names of the Father and the Son: And the holy Spirit of fanctifying and faving Faith, which ft obtained by the fincere and true Belief of the divinely revealed Word of God, have railed and run into Difputes and Contefb, by which Multitudes have been brought to waver, and many to depart from the Faith, to the everlafting Deftru&ion of their im- mortal Spirits. Thefe Difputes were all originally raifed and fet on Foot by Heretics, who were ra- ther guided by the fake Syftems of Philo- fophy by which they had been prejudiced, than V xvi The PREFACE. than by the holy Scriptures, whofe Do&rines and Precepts they profeffed and pretended to embrace, and which contain and fet forth the only true Principles of natural Philofo- phy or Phyfta > and of fupernatural Philofo- phy or MetaphyficSy and of moral Philofophy or Ethics, that ever appeared in the World, as I have elfewhere fhewn. And they have been continued and carried on by the Arians, and the antient Refiners upon them the Sa- belliam, and the Revivers of their Do&rinc the SocinianSy and the modern Refiners upon Arianijmy the late Dr. Clarke, and his Co- adjutors and Adherents, who not diftinguifh- ing between the Father of our Lord Je/us Cbrifi, and the Perfon diftin^uifhed by the Name of the Father in the divine Trinity ; nor between the Perfon diftinguifhed by the Name of the Son in the Trinity, who is co- eternal, co-eflential, and in ali Refpe&s co-equal to the Perfon diftinguiihed, and called by the Name of the Father in the Trinity , and between the only begotten Son of God, the Man Jefus Chrijl, who is not one of the three Perfbns in that divine Tri- nity -, nor between the Perfon diflinguifhed by the Name of the holy Spirit in the di- vine Trinity, who is co-eternal and co-effen- tial, and in all Refpcdls cc-equal to the Per? fons diflinguifhed, and called by the Names of the Father, and the Son in the Trinity ; and that holy Spirit of fanftifying and laving Faith, which is obtained by the fincere and true The PRE FA C E. xvii true Belief of the divinely revealed Word of God, have all along believed, among other Falftioods, That the true and ortho- dox Church of God, believed and taught* that the only begotten Son of God, the Man Chrijl Jejus, was one of the three Perfons ia the divine Trinity, and that he as Man, was co-eternal and co-effential, and co-equal with the Perfon called the Father in the divine. Trinity, which were Doctrines which thq true and orthodox Church of God never be- lieved nor taught j for to have done fo, would have fhewn, that fhe was not Orthodox, and that fhe taught Doctrines or Articles of Faith, that did not tend to move Mankind to lov* God with all their Hearts, nor to Perfe- verance in perfect Obedience to the only perfect, and perfectly purifying, fpiritual ancj icriptural Law, (For all the divinely re- vealed and fcriptural Articles of Faith, which, the true Church of God hath always taught^ or required Mankind to believe, were always, to be known by their evident Tendency to, move Men powerfully to perfevere in doing thofe two Things, which are not only in- difpenfably neceflary, but all the Things that are in any Meafure neceflary to be done by them, in order to their Sanctification and Sal- vation, and eternal Life ; and that only in* fallible Criterion by which they can be known, and by which we may clearly perceive and judge, whether the Doctrines of the co-eter- fiat xviii The PREFACE. nal and co-effential Trinity in the one "Je- hovah or divine Effence : And of the truly adorable Divinity of J ejus Chr(/ly the only begotten Son of God, as fet forth in the holy Scriptures, and taught by the only catholic Church ; or the Doctrines of the Arians, and of the Refiners upon Arianifm^ concern- ing thefe two Points, be the Truth.) How- ever, under this Miftake of the true fcriptu- ral Doctrine, which hath been always taught by the catholic and truly orthodox Church of God, the Arians and Refiners upon them, have raifed and carried on warm and virulent Difputes againft her, charging her with teach- ing Doctrines which (he never taught. And having overlooked the fenfible Reprefentation, which God was moil gracioufly pleafed to make of himfelf, by the material or vilible' Heaven, in order to render his Ubiquity or Omniprefence, and his Manner of fubfifting and operating in a Plurality of Perfons in the one Jehovah or divine EfTence, clearly conceivable by us, that we might by that Reprefentation perfectly underftand the Re- velations he had made concerning his Plu- rality in Unity, which would' have been otherwife inconceivable and unintelligible by ns. And that we might likewife thereby clear- ly perceive, that theie three perfectly diflindt and different Perfons, cfTentially and infepa- rably united in the one Jehovah or divine Effence, were co-eternal, co-elTential^ and co- equal The PREFACE. xlx equal in all Refpe&s with each other; and yet not three Gods independent of each other, and therefore altogether but one God. And that if they had not been fuch three diffe- rent Perfons in the one Jehovah they could not have been God : And that if the one 7*- hovah, who was all fuffkient for his own Happinefs, and who did not want or ftand in need of all or any of his Creatures, for the Improvement or Continuance of his own Happinefs, had not he gracioufly pleafed to condefcend to become Elohim% (u e.) three Perfons, in order to make this World for the Ufe and Service of Man, and Man ior ever- lafting Happinefs, there never could nor would have been a God^, as is mod evident from the heavenly Reprefentation, that God hath been gracioufly pleafed to make of himfelf, nor weuld nor could any Thing have been created or made. But the aforementioned Misbelievers and therefore Heretics, by overlooking this fen- fible Representation, which the invifible God had been gracioufly pleafed to make of bim- felf ; and being other wife unable to form a juft or true Notion or Conception of him, or of his Manner of fubfifting, and operating, or acting, either in the natural or moral Worlds: According to their different ground- leis Imaginations, ran into different Errors, concerning thefe Points, b The xx The PREFACE, The Brians thereupon fell into the Dis- belief and Denial of a divine Trinity (which I have fhewn to be the Denial of* a God) and of the Divinity of the only begotten Son of God. And by that Means they have endea- voured to fet afide and extirpate out of the Minds of Mankind, one of the mod power- ful Moiives and Encouragements, that were ever given them for loving God with all their Hearts, and for perfevering in Obedience to his perfectly purifying fpiritual Law. And what to make of the holy Spirit, mentioned as a divine Perfon in the holy Scriptures, they did not well know, and therefore have fpokeri of it accordingly. They imagined that aiTert- ing three co-eternal and co-efiential, and in every Refpect co-ordinate and co-equal Per- fons, although dependent upon each other in all their Motions, Operations, or Actions, which is the true fcriplural Doctrine of the ever blefled, and eflentially undivided and in- divifible and infeparable Trinity, to be afifert- ing three independent Gods, which is a Doc- trine they could not digeft or believe, and therefore juftly rejected and detefted it. But had they coniidered the Reprefentation that God had made of himfelf, in order to ren- der his Manner of fubfifting in Plurality, in the Unity of the divine, indivifible, and in- feparable EiTence, was perfectly confident ' with the Unity of the Godhead ; and that there was 3 very wide Difference between aliening The P R E F A C E, xxi aflerting three co-eternal and co-effential, and co-equal Perfons in the one Effence, and therefore equally dependent on each other in all Refpedts, and aflerting three independent Gods. Whereas they who aflerted a Tri- nity of fupreme and fubordinatc Gods, affert a. Trinity of independent Gods, if they allow them all to have free Wills. The Sabellians and Socinians, believing with the Ariansy that there was no Difference between believing and aflerting three co- eternal and co-effential, and in every Refpedt co-equal Perfons equally dependent on each other, and three independent Gods : And that they might (as they imagined) (peak more conformably to, and confidently with the holy Scriptures, from which they alL pretended to argue, afferted that the three Perfons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, fo often mentioned in the holy Scriptures, as Perfons in the divine Trinity, are not three real, but only nominal Perions j (/. e.) only three different Names for the one God, and that J ejus Chrijl was only a mere, but good Man, and who did not exift before his Con- ception in the Womb of the Virgin Mary ; which they make the Beginning of the Gofpel' Difpenfation, and that therefore he is faid co have been in the Beginning. But the late modern Refiners upon Aricnifm and Socinianifm, imagining their Dodtrinc to be more confident with, and conformable b 3 t9 xxii The PREFACE. to the Doctrine of the holy Scriptures, have acknowledged, in Contra-diftinction both to the A'iam and Sociniam, that there are three real Perfons in the divine Trinity; but in Oppofition to the true fcriptural Faith, and the Doctrine of the true catholic Church, they have taught that thefe three divine Peribns in their new invented Trinitv, are not co-eternal, nor co-cflemial, nor co-equal; but that one of them is fupreme and ielf- exiiting, and therefore eternal -, and that the other two (of which jfefus Chrift is one)' are inferior and fubordinate, and derivative Perfons. And thus they have fet up three different, and in iomc Refpedts independent Gods ; and in Confcquence of this new Be- lief, they have fet up two different Kinds of Worfhip, one, and which they call Supreme, whi:h they fay, is only to be paid to the fupreme God : and the other Inferior , wh'ch they fay, is to be paid to the fubordinate and derivative two Gods. By which they have ihewn, that they nekher unaerftood what true divine Woifhip confined in, nor the End for which it was inftituted and required to be paid. For I have in a proper Place in my Apology fhewn, that God did not appoint Worfhip to be paid to him for his own Sake, but altogether for the Sake of Mankind, and for putting and keeping them continually in Mind of the indifpenfable Neccflity of perfevering in the fincerc and true The PREFACE. xxiR true Belief, of the three fundamental Articles of the divine revealed fanctifying, and favin<; fpiritual and fcriptural Faith ; and in perfect Obedience to the purifying fpiritual and fcrip- tural Law, which are the only true divine and fpiritual Worfhip, by which Mankind can be fpiritually benefited ; and that therefore there cannot poffibly be a fuperior and an inferior, or two different Kinds of it, as thefe modern Pvefiners upon Arianifm have confi- dently afferted. All thefe Things I have fhewn at large, in the following Account of the fcriptural Doctrine of the divine Trinity in Unity in the one Jebovah, or divine EiTence j and the real Divinity of Jefus Chrijiy the only be- gotten Son of God, one and the fame with his Father's. That Mankind, by considering the Doctrines of the Arians and Sjcinidns, and of the late Refiners upo:i them, might clearly perceive, that the Belief of any of them, doth not move Men either to love God with all their Hearts, nor to obey his mod perfect and perfectly purifying fpiritual Law, which indifpenfably obliges all Man- kind to mortify and purify their Spirits from all bodily Lufts, which are the two Things that are indifpenfably neceffary to be done by all Mankind, in order to their Sanctification, Salvation, and eternal Life, and all the Things that are neceffary to be done by them, in order to their fore Attainment of thefe great, b 3 wile, xxiv The PREFACE. wife, good and neceflary Ends. And as the fundamental Articles of the fcriptural Faith, which God revealed and gave to Mankind, were given for no other Reafon, but for powerfully moving them to do both thefe Things : And as all the particular Doctrines which are comprehended and contained in thele fundamental Articles, powerfully tend to move Men to perfevere in doing of both thefe Things, wTe may clearly perceive, that the Dodrines of the Arians and Soci- niansy and of the late Refiners upon them, concerning the divine Trinity, and the Divi- nity of ye/us Chrift, and only begotten Son of God, are neither Divinity revealed nor fcriptural Doctrines ; and that the Belief of any of them, is fo far from being beneficial to Mankind, that it is deftru&ive of their Sandlification, and Salvation, and eternal Life, as it tends to lead Mankind away from the Belief of thofe divinely, revealed, and de«- monftratively, and conceivably, true fcrip- tural Doctrines, which tend mod power- fully to move Men to love God with all their Hearts, and to mortify and purify their Spirits from all bodily Lufts, which move them to all the Wickednefs which they commit in this World, and which are the real and very Devils, which evei laftingly torment the impenitently Wicked in the next. Can The PREFACE. xxv Can any Thing more powerfully move Mankind to love God with all their Hearts, and to manifefr. the Truth and Sincerity of their Love by their Perfeverance in Obedience to his mod perfect and perfectly purifying Law, which he by Revelation gave them for no other Reafon but to preferve and refcue them from the Tyranny of their bodily Lufts, by which they are moved to all the Wicked- nefs they commit in this ■ World, and by which they are made inevitably and evcrlaft- ingly miferable in the next, than die fincere and true Belief, that Jehovah, that eternal and everlafting and alUfufficient Being, who (as I have before obferved) neither wanted nor flood in Need of all, or any of his Crea- tures, for the Procurement, Increafe, Im- provement, or Continuance of his own Hap- pinefs, was moved by perfect Good nefs, to condefcend to become Elohimy (/. e.) three ever bleffed Perfons, for no other Reafon but to create and make the World, and all Things therein for the Ufe and Benefit of Men, and all Mankind for true and rational Happinels, both temporal and everlafting ; for it is evident, by the heavenly Reprefen- tation, that he hath been gracioufly pleafed to make of himfelf, that thefe Things could no more have been created and made, had not the one Jehovah condefcended to become Elohim, (z. e.) three co-eternal, co-effential, and in every Refpect co-equal Perfons, mutu- b 4 allj yxvi The PR ET ACE. ally and equally dependent on each other in the one indivifible and inseparable Jehovah or divine EiTence -, than there could have been Motion in the natural or material World, as God was mod: gracioufly pieafed to create it, if the Heavens had continued in their firft created and unformed and motionlefb State ; or if God had not been gracioufly pieafed to command the material Heavens, one in Sub- ftance. and in its firft Srate and Body of mo- tionlefs Darknefe, to become three diftinct and different inanimate Agents, differing from each other in their three different States and Forms of Fire, Light, and Spirit or Dark- nefs in Motion, and in all their Motions and Operations or A&ions, but all one end the fame in refpeel of their Elfcxe or Subitarxe, by which they were enabled to continue them- felves in perpetual Motion, and neceffarily and regularly, and uniformly and mechanical- ly to move all other Syftems in the natural World, by operating or acting mechanically, or by actual Impuife and Contact in and up- on them, and upon all their component or conflituent Atoms or Particles, and fo long as it pleafes God to will that they mould move fo. And as a more powerml Motive and Rea- fen could iiOt weii be given to Mankind for moving thtfh to love God with all their Hearts, and to mortify and purify themfelves from all their bodily Lutts, than that which they have by the fincerc and true Belief of the ' firft The P RE FACE. xxvii firft great Inftance of God's great and fatherly Love manifefted to all Mankind, in his Con- defcenfion to become Elobim for their fake, and for their Salvation and true Happinefs both temporal and evcrlafting, which they have fo great Reafon to believe by the Reve- lations which he hath been gracioufly pleafed to make of himfelf in his holy Word, whoie Truth is rendered fo clearly conceivable by the heavenly Reprcfentation that he hath been gracioufiy pleafed to make of himfelf. So we will now clearly perceive, that Man- kind have not a more powerful Motive or Reafon given them,, for moving them to love God with all their Hearts; and to mortify and purify themfelves from all bodily Lufis, which contain the whole of their Duty in this World, than they have by the fincere and true Belief of the truly fcriptural Doctrine, that Jefus Chrift, was in his Father, and that his Father (i. e,) the whole three Perfons in the divine Trinity, was, or were in him, and that in him dwelleth all the Fulnefs of the Godhead ; and that his Godhead and the Godhead of his Father, were one and the fame, by the holy Spirit of Faith, Truth, and Righteoufnefs, which was communicated to him without Bound or Meafure ; by which his Knowledge, Will, Words, and Actions became one and the fame, with his Fa- ther's, and his Father's with his. So that (as I have before obferved) whatever he fxviii The PREFACE. he faid or did might with equal Juftice and Propriety be afcribed to God his Father, and whatever God his Father faid or did, might with equal Juftice and Propriety, be afcribed to him. Their Godhead being one and the fame, by Means of the eternal Spirit of Faith, Truth, and Righteoufnefs, by which all the the Fulnefs of the Godhead was communica- ted to him, and dwelt in him. Now by Our Belief of his Godhead being one and the fame with his Father's, and by confider- ing how, and by what Means, He, together with his Father, came to be the one and only true God, and Immanuel, or God to us and all Mankind $ we will have not on- ly the moft powerful Motives and Reafons, but the greateft Encouragement given to us for loving God with all our Hearts, and for mortifying and purifying ourfelves from all our bodily Lufts that could poffibly be given to Mankind, which comprehend our whole Duty to be done by us in this World, in order to our Salvation, and perfect and ever- lafling Happinefs in the next. We may by the divinely revealed and fcrip- tural Light clearly conceive, that the Man Jefus Chrift obtained that holy Spirit of Faith, and of all Truth and Righteoufnefs without Meafure, by which he became pure as his Heavenly Father was pure and righ- teous, as he was righteous and perfect, as he was perfed $ and by which he became the I- mage The PREFACE, xxix mage of the invisible God -, equal with God, and to be the one and only true God, toge- ther with his Father, but not exclufive of him 5 by fincerely and truly believing, that Faith moving to perfect Purity, and perfedt Obedience, which God had revealed for the Benefit of all Mankind. According to that Saying of Matth. xxv. vcr. 29. For unto every one that hath> jhall be given* and he fiall have Abundance, By which we may perceive the great Goodnefs of God our Hea- venly Father mod clearly manifefted not only by the Revelation of his purifying Word and Law, rnoft powerfully moving all Man- kind to Purity and perfedt Obedience, in or- der to their perfedt and everlafting Happi- nefs : But alio by his having made known to us, how, and by what Means it was that the Man Chrift Jefus obtained that holy Spirit without Meaiure, by which he became per- fect God, as well as perfedt Man, and one God together with his Father, that we by following his Example, and ufing the fame Means that he did, might become to be like God, and the Image of God as he was; and defer ve to be called God's as they were truly called to whom the Word of God came. John x. ver. 3 5, (/. e.) They who lincerely and truly believed and obeyed the Word when it came to them, and fo far were of the fame Mind, and their Wills, Words, and Actions fo far the lame with Gods, and God's fo xxx The PR E FACE. fo far the fame with their's. By duly con- sidering thefe, we may clearly perceive, that Mankind cannot have any more powerful Motives for loving God with all their Hearts, and confequently for mortifying and purifying themfelves from all their bodily Lufts, than thofe which refult from the fincere and true Belief of the Man Jefus Chriji, being together with his Father, and in mod intimate fpiri- tual Unity with him, the one and only true and fupreme God, and that he became fo, by that holy Spirit of Faith, which he obtained without Meafure ; becaufe by this Belief we will clearly perceive, that if we will embrace a certain Meafure of that holy Spirit of Faith, which Chrijl obtained without Meafure 5 by which we will be mod powerfully moved to mortify and preferve our Spirits pure from all bodily Lufts, and to love God with all our Hearts, &c. that we may alfo according to the Meafure of the holy Spirit of Faith which we embrace, and finccrcly believe and obey, will become fo far like God, and fo far really and truly God's, all our Thoughts, Wills, Words, and Actions, being fo far one and the fame with God's 5 and his Thoughts, Wills, Words, and A&ions, being fo far one and the fame with ours. And that we muft neceffarily be by this Spirit of Faith, like him truly and fpiritually happy both temporally and everlafl- ingly. Having The P RE FJC E. xxxj Having thus (hewn from the Holy Scrip- tures, the divinely revealed Word of God, and not from falfe and groundlefs, and merely imaginary Anti-fcriptural and incomprehenii- ble metaphyseal Principles, but moil clearly and conceivably, that the Man Cbrijl Je- fus is in moft intimate fpiritual Unity, together with, but not exclufive of his Father, one God together with him, and that he came moft clearly and conceivably fo, by that im- menfurable holy Spirit of Faith, which dwelt with all the Fclnefs of the- Godhead in him. And having likewife (hewn how that Man- kind by laying hold of a Meafure of that ho- ly Spirit of Faith, by which they are moft powerfully moved to mortify and purify them- ielvesfrom all bodily Lufts, become like God, and fo far God's in intimate Union with God their heavenly Father. We may now, by what hath been (aid, clearly perceive the indifpenfable Neceffity of rejecting with Abhorrence and Deteftation, the Anti-fcriptural and moft evidently falfe and fpiritually deftru&ive, and therefore dam- nable Doctrines of the Arians and Socinians^ and of the late Refiners upon them, concern- ing thefe two important Articles of the divine Trinity in effential Unity 5 and of the God- head of the Man J ejus Cbrift, the only begotten Son of God -, by which they have endeavoured to divert and turn Mankind away from the Belief of thofe two divinely revealed and xxxii The PREFACE. and demonstrative, and moil clearly conceiva- ble fcriptural Truths, which contain moft powerful Motives and Reafons for loving God with all their Hearts j and for mortifying and purifying thcmfelves from all their bodily Lufts, which are Things indifpenfably necef- fary to be done by all Ranks and Orders of Men, from the higheft to the loweft, whilft they continue here on Earth, in order to their Sanclification in this World ; and Salvation and everlafting Happinefs in the next. Having thus briefly (hewn my Readers what they may expect fet forth more at large in the following Account of the divine Tri- nity in effential Unity, and of the Godhead of the Man Chriji J 'ejus , the only begotten Son of God, which hath lain by me feveral Years, as being a fmall Part of a large Apology which I have been long employed upon, and but lately finished, in Defence of the one and only true, and divinely revealed, fandlifying and faving, fpiritual and fcriptural, and Chriftian Religion, which I intend to publifh as foon as it fhali pleafe God to enable me fa to do; I think it neceffary here to give my Readers the Reafon of my Publication of this Part of the Apology by itfelf, and before the Time defigned for its Publication, and out of the Place wherein it itood in the Apology ; and it is as follows : There fell by Accident, very lately, into my Hands, a Treatife, in- titled an EJJ'ay on Spirit, wherein the Doc- trinj The PREFACE xxxiii trine of the Trinity is confidered. The Au- thor has not thought it proper to fet his Name to it, hut he hath told the World^ that he is a Clergyman of the eftablifhcd Church, and that he has been for fome Years poffeiTed of an ecclefiaftical Preferment ; and it may reafonably be prefumed, that he is ai Clergyman of the eftablifhed Church of Ire- land, from what he fays at the latter End of his Effay, where he fays, that he expels fome of the right reverend Members of the Prote/iant Church of Ireland either to account (for their acknowledging the Infallibility of the Pope in the Cafe of the Confubftantiality of the three Perfons in the divine Trinity) or to exonerate their Confciences, by joining in an humble Remonfirance againfl it. And there he likewife promifes, that if any of them {hall deign to honour that Treatife of his with an Anfwer, that it (hall be fpeedily followed either by a Recantation or a Reply, if it fhall pleafe God to fpare his Life. Upon Perufal of this Eflay, I perceived the Defign of the Author was to revive the Doc- trines of the late Refiners . upon Arianifm, which had not been well confidered nor refuted any more than the Do&rines of the Arians had been. The learned Defenders of the catholic Faith havine over- looked thofe fundamental fcriptural Principles, by which, and by which only, all falie and irreligious Doctrines can be detected and fhewn to be fo; and *xxiv The PREFACE. and having chofen rather to argue either from particular Texts of Scripture, whofe true Senfe and Meaning is liable to be controverted by Perfons who have not known, or at leafl, not confidered the only true and infallible Rule, by which all particular Texts of holy Scripture can be truly, and therefore ought al- ways to be interpreted, to put an End to all Controveriy about their true Senfe and Meaning; or from the Writings of the Fa- thers of the Church, whofe Authority is of no Validity in Cafes of Truth and Falfhood, or Good and Evil. Their Tcftimony, where it is concurrent and unexceptionable, is fuffi- cient to fhew the Antiquity or Novelty of a Doctrine or Practice, but the confentient Authority of all the Fathers is no Proof of the Truth of any Doctrine ^ although modern Controvertilts have ufed their Authority as a Proof and Evidence of tne Truth of Doctrines which have been contefted ; or from meta- phyfical Principles, which are often imaginary and falfe, and lead into inextricable Errror, and unintelligible Jargon. And that he, with Dr. Samuel Clarke^ and his Adherents, denied the Co-Eternity, Co-EfTentiality and Co- Equality of the three Perfons in the divine Trinity, which I, in the following Treatife, had demonftratively proved to be true, from the Revelations, and the heavenly Rcprc- fen cation which God had been gracioufly pleafed to make of himielf, in his divinely revealed The PREFACE. xxxV revealed and holy Word, verified id and by all his Works and Difpenfations to, and Dealings with all Mankind, and his inftruclive and memorial instituted ritual Ordinances; and to be mod clearly conceivable Truths, and to be Truths necelTary to be believed by all Mankind, as they contain mod powerful Motives and Reafons for loving God with all our Hearts, and confequently, for perfevering in Obedience to his mod perfect and perfectly purifying Law ; indifpeniably obliging all Mankind to mortify and purify themfelves from all bodily Lufts, by which they are moved to all the Wickednefs they commit in this Wcrld, and by which, and by which only, the impenitently Wicked are everlaf!:- ingly tormented in the next. And having likewife with thefe late Refi- ners upon Arianifm, declared the divine Trinity to corifift of three Perfons, of whom one is the fupreme, and fdf-exifting and eternal God, called the Father, and the other two diilinguimed by the Names of the Son and Holy Spirit, are derivative and inferior and dependent Gods in the Trinity, who derive all their Powers and Perfections from the fupreme and eternal God ; and fo make three Gods independent of each other, in the Exercife of their Powers, and in Con- fequenceof this abfurd Belief. They have like- wile let up two or three different Kinds of di- vine Worfhip, a fuperior Kind to be paid only c to xxxvi The PREFACE. to the fupreme God, and an inferior Kind which they have appropriated to their in- ferior Gods, which they have fet up. And having together with thetn declared, jfe/us Chrijl the only begotten Son of God, to be the Perfon called the Son, and the fecond Pcrfon in their divine Trinity, and that his Godhead is not one and the fame with his Father's, but a different and inferior God- head. And as 1 have in the following true and truly fcriptural Accounts of the divine Trinity, demonftratively (hewn, the real Exigence of three molt clearly conceivable Perfons in the divine Trinity, and that they are all three co-eternol and co-effential, and in all Refpects co-equal in the one Jehovah, or divine Effence : So I have there no left clearly {hewn, that Jejiis Chrift, the only begotten Son of God, is not one of the Perfons in the divine Trinity ; but a Perfon in whom the whole three divine Perfons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghcfl, dwell in all the Fulnefs of the Godhead, by Means of the immeafuruble holy Spirit of Faith, which was communicated to him by his Father, and which he embraced, and had dwelling in him ; by which his Godhead became one and the fume with his Fathers; and by which he, t< ;r with his Father, in mod: inti- mate and fpiritual Unity, but not exclufive of him, became the one and only true God and lmmanucL And that this Belief of his being The P RE FACE. xxxvii being together in moft intimate fpiritual Unity with the Father, the one and only true God ; and of the Means by which he became ioy is necefTary to be believed by ail Mankind, in order to their Sandtification, and Salvation, and eternal Life, as it contains mod powerful Motives and Encouragements to love God with all cur Hearts, &c. and to mortify and purify ourfelves from all our bodily Lufts, which are the two Things that are indifpenfably necefTary to be done by all Mankind, in order to their Sandtification, Salvation, and eternal Life. And as by what I have (hewn, from the holy Scriptures, in the following Account of the demon ftratively and moft clearly and conceivably true, and fcriptural Doctrine, of the divine Trinity, in effential as well as fpi- ritual Unity in the one Jehovah; and of the conceivably true Divinity of J ejus Chrijix in moft perfect and intimate fpiritual Unity with his Father, the whole three Perfons in the divine Trinity : I have effectually and unanlwerably refuted the falfe and anti- fcrip- tural, and wicked-making Doctrines of the Arians and Socinians ; and of the late mo- dern Refiners upon Arianifm^ which our Author in his Efjay on Spirit^ hath vainly laboured to revive and eftablim, I therefore chofc at this Time, to publifh by itfelf the following fcriptural Account of the holy Tri- nity, and of the true and fupreme Godhead of c 2 J ejus xxxviii The PRE FACE. J 'ejus Chrifiy which is one and the fame with his Father's, who dwelt in him, and Was moft intimately and fpiritually united to him, for convincing the Author of that Eflay, of the deftructive Error he has fallen into, and for converting him from it : And for pfeferving others from being deceived and led to that Error, by the other falfe Doctrines fet forth in it, in order to lead them by one falfe Step after another into it : And for refcuing and delivering fuch inc^nfiderate and fcripturally ignorant Perfons out of it, as may have been led into the Belief of it, by his falfe and anti-fcriptural Doctrines both phy- fical and metaphyfical, by which he hath paved the Way to it. Thefe were my Mo- tives for publishing this fcriptural Account of the holy, and ever bleficd Trinity, &c. at this Time. And before the Publication of my Apology, of which this is a Part, and hope my Reader will look on them to be rea- fonable, and the Publication of it, not to be out of due Seafon. And although I think, that there is no- thing neceffary to be faid, than what 1 have laid, in the following fcriptural Account of the divine Trinity, and for refuting and exploding the falfe and anti-fcriptural, and wicked- making Doftrines of the Ariam and Socinians, and of the late Refiners upon Arianijm% which our Author items to have embraced, and hath zealouily, but vainly la- boured The P RE FACE. xxxix boured to revive and eftablifh. Yet fince he feems to have been milled into this definitive Error, by fome falfe and anti- fcriptural, and imaginary, metaphyfical and phyfical Opinions, which he feems previoufly to have embraced, and to have miitaken for Truths. I (hall therefore take the Liberty to animadvert, and make fome few Obferr vations on fjch of his preliminary Sections, and on fo many of them, as may be fuffi- cient to convince him, of the FallTiood of thefe metaphyfical and phyfical Notions, by which he feems to have been milled into his de (tractive theological Errors. ' But before I proceed, I judge it necefTary previoufly to lay down three Propositions, whofe Truth I have demonflratively proved in the foregoing Parts of my Apology, and which will appear fo evidently true to any Perfon, who will duly weigh and confider them, that I think neither the Author of the EfTay under my prefent Consideration, nor any other truly rational Perfon will either conteft or deny them $ and they are as follow, viz. Firjly That God hath in his mod perfect: Wifdom and Goodnefs, fo wifely ordered the Courfe of this natural or material World, by the Creation and Formation of an in- animate and necefTary Agent, the material and viiible Heavens, or the Air in the three Forms of Fire, Light, and Spirit, or Dark- c 3 nefs xl The PREFACE, nefs in Motion ; which by its being thus formed, is able not only to keep itielf in perpetual, regular, and uniform Motion ; but alfo to operate or a£t, in and upon all other Syftems of Matter, whether inanimate, ve- getable, or animated ; and upon all their conftituent Parts, Particles, or Atoms, fo as neceffarily and mechanically, by actual Con- tact and Impulfe to move them, fo as that they fhould all neceffirily anfwer the Ends for which they were defigned and created, in all States and Circumftances, in which at any Time they might happen to be ; and fo as that there never was at any Time need of any other Power or Powers, to interfere and. di- rect, or move them fo to move and aft, as to anfwer the End for which they were defign- ed and created. Second, That our mod: gracious God, by the Revelation of his mofc perfeft and only per- fectly purifying fpiritnal Law, which indif- penfably obliges all Mankind to mortify, and purify their Spirits from all bodily Lulls, which deceive them into all the Wick they commit in this World, and are the real find only Devils, by which the impenitent ly wicked are everlaftingly tormente d in the next : And by the Revelation which he at the lame Time made of the three damcntal Articles of fpiritnal Eaitb,by which Mankind came to the Knowledge of the \ of a (3od| and of their having immaterial and or* The PREFACE. xli immortal Spirits, which are free Agents-, and of a future State after this Life, which will, by the Reafon of Thing?, be either a Slate of perfect and endlefs Happinefs, or of ever- lafting Mifery in the next World, according as Mankind have provided and prepared them- felves for the one or the other, during their Continuance in this 5 by perfecting in perfect Obedience to the purifying fpiritual Law, and in the fincere and true Belief of thefe three fundamental Articles of fpiritual Faith, which contain the powerful Motives and in- difpen fable Obligations to Perfcverance in Obedience to that Law 5 hath by thefe mod gracious Revelations left nothing undone that wras proper and neceffary to be done for difpoling, and perfectly enabling, and mod powerfully moving the Spirits of Mankind, who are free Agents, to prepare and qualify themfelves for the Enjoyment, and confe- quently for the lure Attainment of Salvation and of perfect and everlafting Happinefs, which was the great, wife, and good End, for which they were all defigned and created. And that they might be ever mindful of this fanctifying and faving Faith and Love; he was like wife mofr gracioufly pleafed to con- ftitute and appoint, in and over his Church, miniftring Angels, (/. e.) faithful Priefts, for putting and keeping Mankind conftantly, and perpetually in Mind of the indifpenfable Ne- ceility, of perfevering in the fincere and true c 4 Belief xfii The PREFACE. Belief of, and m perfect Obedience to that Faith and Law, all the Days of their Lives, in all Ages and Places of the World. So that there never was any NccelTity for any other Agents to interfere, in order to move the Spirits of Mankind, to prepare and qua- lify themfelves for the Enjoyment and At- tainment of the End for which they were created. Ihird) That as God is a mod perfectly good and all-powerful Being, he would leave no- thing that was neceiliry or pofi'ible to be done, for enabling all his Creatures, whether inanimate, vegetable, or animal, or rational, ib to move either neceffarily or voluntarily, and by free Choice ib, as to anfwer the wife and good Ends, for which they were by him defigned and created ; io as he is a mod per- fectly wife, being he doth nothing in vain, and therefore when he hath done every Thing proper and neceiTary for moving all his Crea- tures, whether neceiliry or free Agents, ib as that they mould anfwer the End from which they were all defigned, he leaves them to acr according to the Dircdion ( r tbofe natural or fpirhual Pcv , which he hath given to direct and govern them, and which are fejf-fufficient for direfling them, fo as that they may all anfwer the Ends for whieh they were created, left fpiritual and free Agents, falfely and groundklly imaging jng, that there are other Powers, by wh y be aliided in their A;:ainment of The PREFACE. xliii everlafting Happinefs, than thofe of the di- vinely revealed Faith and Law, might be led to depend and rely upon the Aid and Aflift- ance of fuch imaginary Powers, and overlook and neglect the Direction of the Faith and the Law, by which, and by which only, they can be fanctifled and faved, and obtain eternal Life, the true and only End for which they were created. Thefe three Propofitions being previoufly laid down as neceffary and ufeful for the Detection and Refutation both of the phyfical and metaphyfical Errors of our Author, fet forth in his Effay, I fhall now proceed to animadvert upon fuch of his Sections as are neceffary to be corrected, in order to convince oar Author of their Falmood, and of the Inconfiftency of the Belief of them, with the Belief of the demonftratively true, and divinely revealed Doctrines of the holy Scriptures. Which if he had confidered, he would have been enabled to have feen both his phyfical and metaphyfical Errors, which he hath endeavoured to fupport by particular Texts of Scripture mifinterpreted and mifapplied, as will hereafter appear. The firft of his Sections which I chofe to confider is his Eighth, wherein he fays, That the original Caitfe of the Defcent of a Stone to the Ground, mufi he Come Spirit or other, concomitant with it, and acting upon it. Upon which I obferve, that the holy Scriptures xliv The PREFACE. Scriptures make mention of four different Kinds of Spirit, the one material, and the other three immaterial. The firjly is the Spirit of the material and vifible Heavens, (i.e.) of the Air, or Darknefs in Motion, and is that Spirit which is laid, Gen. i. v r. 2. To have moved upon the Face of the Waters. and which is called, Eph. ii. ver. 2. lie Spirit that now worketh in the Children of jDi/cbedience, by which their bodily Lulls are ftirred up in them, which are called Princes of the Power of the Air. The fecond is the immaterial, or immortal Spirit of Man, which is called a Quickening Spirit ', and the la/l A- damy 1 Cor. xvi. ver. 45. The third is the co-eternal and co-effential divine Spirit, which is one of the Perfons in the divine Trinity, mentioned 1 John v. ver, 7, where it is faid, There he Three that bear Witne/s in Heaven, the Father, the V/ord, and the holy Spirit , and thefe Three are One. And the fourth is the holy Spirit of Faith, which is called the Spirit of Truth, John xiv. ver. 17. If by the Spirit by which a Stone projected, or let fall, is moved towards the Earth, our Author means the material Spirit of the Air of Bea- vens, what he hath faid is in fome Mea- fure true -, for J have (hewn in the follow- ing Account of the divine, Trinity, that all the material Syflems in the natural or material World, are necefiarily and me- chanically moved in all their Motions, whe- ther The PREFACE. xlv ther inteftine or local, by the Light and Spi- rit of the material Air operating or acting in and upon them, and upon all their consti- tuent Parts and Particles by mechanical Con- tact and Impulfe, and are the Caufe of Gravi- ty in all Bodies ; and that the Deicent of a Stone let fell from any Height, if projected by Day, is caufed by the material Air in the Form of Light ; and by the fame Air to the Form of Spirit, or Darknefs in Motion, if projected or let fall by Night ; but if our Author meant that Spirit taken in any other Senfe, is the immediate Caufe of the Fall of the Stone, what he hath faid is falfe, unlefi he afcribes its Fall to God, who is the origi- nal Caufe of all fecond and all intermediate Caufes. And he feems to have lefs Room for betaking himfelf to fuch a Subterfuge, by his faying, it is certain, that the original Caufe of that Motion muft be fome Spirit or other. I mall take no farther Notice of his Ninth Section, than to obferve it to be a Compofition of groundless Imaginations and Contradictions, to afcribe the Reft of Mole- hills and Mountains, (which he calls their Refiftance of Motion) to the Activity of Spirits refiding in chem, which forcibly hold them in their Places, when their own Inabi- lity to move themfelves, fufficicntly accounts for their continuing Motionlefs and at Refr, is falfe, and a groundlefs Imagination. And his xlvi The PREFACE. his faying that Ref /lance, Weight, or Gravity, is occafioned by the Tendency of one Body to- wards another, impelled thereto by the attrac- tive Force of Jo me Spirit, is Inconfiftency and Contradiction • for how can a Body be con- fidently faid to be at traded to itfelf by fome imaginary Spirit redding in it, when he lays it is impelled. The true Caufe of Weight or Gravity I have (hewn in the annexed Treatife, to which I refer our Author, to convince him of his Error. His Tenth Se&ion is a manifefr. Falfliood, wherein he fays, That every Thing capable of moving either itfelf on any Thing el/ey mujl be endowed with an Intellect. For I have demon ft rati vely (hewn, in the annexed Trea- tife, that all material Syftems in the natural or material World are moved in all thofe uniform and regular Motions obfervable in them, by the Light and Spirit of the material or vifible Heavens, which are Agents void ot Intellect or Understanding ; and there I have likewife (hewn, that all the attractive and repelling Powers which have been confidently afferted to be in material Bodies, by fcriptu- rally ignorant Men> are merely imaginary and Non- Entities. By what I have before obferved, and by the three Propofitione, which I laid down be- fore my Animadverfions on the Doctrines fet forth on this Eflay, we may clearly per- ceive the Falihood of his Eleventh Se&ion, wherein The PREFACE. xlvii wherein he aflerts, That this whole World is replete with Spirits, endowed with different Degrees of Intellect l, although not all with Freedom of WilL And that there never was any Need or Occ'afion for fuch Spirits for the Direction and Regulation and good Govern- ment, either or the natural or moral World. As to what he fays in the Twelfth Section, it is fo imperfect as to be unintelligible. If he be undedtood in one Senfe, all that he hath there laid is impious and falfe ; and if in a- nother Senfe, what he hath faid may be al- lowed to be Truth, but by the general Way that he hath chofe to exprefs himfelf, his uncautious Reader will be apt to be led into great Errors in refpect of their Faith, and in- to great Wickednefs in refpeel of their Prac- tice ; for he hath not considered, nor diftin- guiflied (as he ought to have done) between Spiritual and intellectual Pleafure and Happi- nefs ; and bodily and fenfual Pleafure and Happinefs, which are deftruftive of that Plea- fure and Happineis which is fpiritual and in- tellectual, nor between fpiritual and bodily Pain and Mifery j nor between true and fpi- ritual and falfe and natural or bodily Self Love. And therefore when he (ays, that Evil takes its Origin from the Goodnefs of God, in which he fays it will be finally abforbed when Pain will be no more. It it be underftood of moral Evil, or Wickednefs, whofe Origin is the bodily Lulls of Men, which God hath done all that was neceflary and poilible to be done, to ixviii The PREFACE. to move them to mortify and purify them- felves from, becaufe their Pains will be ever- laiting, it is a mod impious and wicked- making Falfhood. And when he fays that Self-Love may be looked upon in Nature, as the Principle of all voluntary Aclion, and the Foundation of all Morality \ If we un- derftand it of falfc and natural, or bodily Self-love, which directs to Gratification of all bodily Lufts, it is a moft manifeft wicked- making Fallhcod, for it is only the Principle of all voluntary wicked Action?, and the Foundation of all Immorality. Whereas true and fpiritual Self-love which proceeds from, and manifefts itfelf in the fincere and true Belief of the divinely revealed Sanctifying and faving fpiritual Faith, which indifpenfably obliges to Perfeverance in perfect Obedience to the divinely revealed and perfectly puri- fying fpiritual Law, is the only principle of all voluntary good Actions, and the only true Foundation of all true beneficial Morality; fo that he ought to be read with great Caution. On what he fays in his Thirteenth Section, I mall only obferve, that what he calls in- ward Reflection, would have been more pro- perly called Understanding, which is the Knowledge of fpiritual Things, which is no other Way to be obtained, than by divine Revelation and Reprefentation, and therefore not by the Spirits reflecting, acts upon it- felf > The PREFACE. xYix felf ; as he afferts in his Fourteenth Section. And it is by that fpiritual Knowledge of fpi- ritual Things, which is called Underffanding, and which is only to be obtained by di- vine Revelation, and not by a Spirit's re- flecting upon its own internal Operations, as our Author has afferted in his Fifteenth Sec- tion, that the Difference between the Know- ledge of a Man, and of a Brute confifts. He makes no other Difference between them, but that of their different Knowledge; where- as I have demonftratively (hewn under the Article, or Word Man, that they effentially differ, and that the Spirit or Soul of Man is immaterial, and therefore a free Agent; and that the Spirit, or Soul of a Brute, which is no other than its feminal Body is, (as the Souls or feminal Bodies of all Mankind are) material, and are acted upon, and moved ne- ceflarily and mechanically in all their Motions and Operations, or Actions, and therefore are not free, but necefiary Agents. What our Author fays in his Sixteenth Section, is neither all flrictly true, nor fpiri- tually beneficial to be known or confidered ; the true Reafon of Mankind's being flrongly inclined to gratify their bodily Defires, and thpfe only from their Infancy, till they are capable of Information in the Knowledge of the divinely revealed and purifying fpiritual Law of God, and of the powerful Motives to obey it, and of Meditation and Reflection upon 1 The P R E F A C E. upon them, and the State of their own na- tural Weaknefs, which are the true and fpi- ritually profitable Reflections, that the Spirit; of Men daily ought to make : Is the Cor- ruption of their Nature, which they derive from our firft Parents. And what he fays of Adam, although ftri&ly true, for he came into the World upright. Yet it is not all the Truth that mould have been faid on fuch an Occafion ; for if God had not given him a moft perfect and perfectly purifying Law, and moft powerful Motives to obey ir3 he would by the Deccitfulnefs of his bodily De- fires have been foon allured from his Inno- cence and Uprightnefs, or from his State of Freedom, to a State of Slavery to Sin, by Luft, And whoever will fincerely and truly believe, and obey that Faith and Law which was revealed to Adam% for the Benefit of all his Pofterity as well as himfelf, will be in as happy a State as Adam would have been in, if he had not fallen from his Faith and Obedience ; although he would be at greater Pains and Trouble to preferve himfelf in that happy State, than Adam would have been if he had not fallen. Such an Account of Adam and of Mankind, would have been more fpiritually beneficial for Mankind to have known, than the Account our Author has thought proper to give of them. I pafs over the Names he hath chofen to give to the different Operations of the Mind, in The PREFACE. ii in his Seventetoth,Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Seiijons, although! do not think fome of them the moil proper. But on his Twentieth Sec- tion, where he fpeaks of the Imperfection of human Nature, with Refpect to Knowledge, I think it neceflacy to obferve, that by Means of the bodily Sanations, and the fpiritual Light of the divinely revealed Word, which God hath been gracioully pleaicd to give Mankind, the v rnav all have lufficient Know- ledge of every Thing neceflaty to be known, believed, or done by them, for perfectly en- abling and powerfully moving them to pro-, vide for their natural, or bodily, and fpiri- tual Well-being, both temporal and everlaft- ing. And when he /peaks there of the more perfect, and more extenfive Knowledge of created fpiritual Beings, iuperior in Know- ledge, or any other Perfections to the Spirits of Men, J muft refer him to the Article or Words, Angels and Devils, in my Apology, where I have demonstratively ihewn, that the Belief of the Exiftence of created Spirits, fuperior to Men, in Knowledge, or other Perfections, is not only an unfcriptural, but an antiicriptural Belief, and altogether in- confident with the Belief of the perfect Wif- dom and Goodnefs of God, and therefore incredible and impoffible to be true, that he may be thereby convinced of his Error. Our Author tells us in his Twenty-fecond and Twenty-third Sections, That the intelli- d gent 3ii The P R E F A C E. gait Spirit that is within 2\lan^ is r . I with Faculties greatly fuperior to ti Powers it exercijetb in the human Under- (landing: ; h if it be not Nonfenfe, it is unintelli rii It ; fct* I have fnewn under the Ar- ticle or Word , that by; ord Under-. Jlanding in the Language of" the holy Scrip-i tures, nothing die is meant than the Know- ledge of fpiritual Thingv which the Spirit of Man acquire?, by the Means of the fpi- tnal Light of divine Revelation ; however, , fome fa ipturally, ignorant, and inconsiderate Perfons, who have palled. upon the World for Philofophers, have made a Faculty of it ; and have afctibed thefe Operation to it, which oncht to have been afcribed to the Surit of Man. And therefore I think our Author hath not ipoken very accurate pj or intelligi- bly, where he feys, that the human Spirit is faid to work moft powerfully, when the haw an Under 'landing ts ajleep. In the fame Place he. tells us, that our intelligent human Spirits, are conftantly working within us, to form I preferve the regular Difpoiiiion of our bodily Or and to digeft our Food and to change it into Blood, &c. But he will find in the annex'd Trcatife, that what he hath here afbribed to the C ion of the :c Spirit of Man, is r the Belief of his falfe Docl lines, of ir rit nd guardian Angels prefixing ever Nations. The Text in our Tranilation, rims thus j the mofl Htgby divided to tie A . their Inheritance , Vbhen he Jeparaled the Sons oj Adam i he jet the Bounds of. the Ptop/r, ac- cording to the Nunwcr of the ( en oj JjraeL For the Lords Portion is his Pi - The P RE FACE. lxi pie, Jacob is the Lot of his Inheritance, (i. ej God from the Time of the Separation of Mankind on the grand Apoftacy at Babely appointed that the Land of Canaan, which he had pre- determined, and afterwards pro- mifed to the Seed of Abraham, by Ifaac and Jacob, and who from him were called the Children' of IJrael, and were therefore to poffefs that Land in After- Ages 5 that it fhould be divided into twelve Portions li- mited by certain Bounds, according to the Number of the twelve Children of Jacob, other wife called I/rael. Among the People who were accordingly diftributed into twelve Tribes defcendtd from, and named after the twelve Sons of Jacob, or IfratL And the Love and peculiar Care of God for the Peo- ple I/rael, was manifefted in his Appoint- ment of the promifed Land which they were to pofll-fs, to be divided into Portions limited by certain Boundaries, according to the Num- ber of their Fathers, who were the Chil- dren of Jacob or I/rael s that there might be no Contefl or Controverfy amonp- them, when all the other Nations, and the Colo- nies that proceeded from thofe difperfed Kingdoms by fuhfequent Migrations, were iuffered to. fcramble and contend with one another for Poffeffions, after their Invafions or Conquefls. The lxx have, (as our Author juftly ob- ferved) rendered what is faid in the Original, accord^ lxii The P REFACE. according to the Nu??iber of the Children of IJraeL By according to the Number oj the Angels of God. The Sons of Jacob or lfrael being the only true Believers in the one and only true God, at that Time upon the Earth. And the only Teachers and Propagators of the one and only true fan&ifying and faving Religion that ever was, or ever will or can be in the World. They for that Reafon might very properly be called Angels of God, or Meffengers lent by him, to keep the one and only true Religion alive in the World. For I have ihewn under the Article or Word Angels, that the Priefts or public Ministers, which God fent and placed in his Church from the Time of the Fall and Reiteration of our firfl Parents, publickly to inftruct Man- kind in the Knowledge of the one and only true Religion, and for putting and keeping them continually iri Mind of the indifpen- fable Neceffity of believing and obeying it, in order to their true and rational Happinefs, both temporal and everlafting, are called An- gels of God, in the Language of the holy Scriptures. So that we have no Ground or Reafon given us in this Text of Scripture, (whether we follow the Original or Transi- tion of the lxx) for believing with our Au- thor, that God created inviiible, intelligent Spirits, to prefidc as guardian Angels over the different Kingdoms of the World, or that any fuch Beings exit! j Beings that would be of - / The PRE FACE. lxiii of no Ufe or Benefit to the World, if they did exift. The material and vifible Heavens under God, being felf-fufficient for the Re- gulation and Direction of all the material Syllems in this natural or material World : And his divinely revealed Word and Law, being felf-fufficient, for the Regulation and Direction of all the Syftems in the fpiritual or moral World, fo as to be all thereby per- fectly enabled to anfwer the Ends for which they were all defigned and created, as I have demonftratively fhewn. And furely there could not be a more irrational Interpretation of this Text, than our Author has given us, which is contradicted by mod: evident Matter of Fact ; for our Author himfelf obferves, the Nations of the World far exceed in Num- ber, the Number of the Sons of Jacob or Ifraely and are far ihort of the Number of Jews that have fince defcended from the twelve Sons of Jacob or IJrael, and are there- fore called the Children of Ijrael, and his choofing to adhere to the Tranflatiori of the hex, doth not give a better Support to his Opinion, than doth the Original. And as to the faying of the Son of Siracb, Ecclef xvii. I; . where it is faid, For in the Divi- fion of the Nations of the whole Earth, God jet a Ruler over every People, but Ijrael the Lord's Portion ; it is as little to his Purpofe, For why he fhould underfbnd thefe Rulers which God fet over every People of invilible guardian Ixiv The PREFACE. guardian Angels, or of any other Beings than the vifible human Rulers 'that were to govern them as civil Societies, I am Hire he can give no other Reafon than his own ill-groui; Imagination j for I have iliewn, that i\ guardian Angels, could be of no Uie or Be- nefit, either to the natural or moral World, if they really exifted. And God created no- thing either in vain, or for any uinvife and wicked End. He tells us, Section Thirty, of a T mentioned, Hebrews ii. ver. 5. where it is faid, for unto the Angels he hath not put in Subjection the World to come of which Jpeak. From whence he fays, it [terns to pear, that it was St. Paul'j Opinion, that this prefent World was put in Subjection to Angels -, and that this Text has had no imall Weight with him in this Affair. For his full Satisfaction about this Text, 1 refer him to what I have faid under the Article or Word Angels; where I have (hewn, that by the Angels here, are meant the High Priefts and Priefts, and Miniilers of the J'.wi/h Church,, who had fallen from the Faith and their Obedience to the fpiritual or moral Law. And therefore did not teach Men the Means of cfcaping everlafting Mitery, nor of obtain- ing endleis Happineis in the next World. And that the Word Angels is taken in this tienfc, in the 7th and 9th Veries of this Chapter, and wherever that Word is men- tioned The PREFACE. Ixv tioned in the fifft Chapter of this Epiftle, except in the 71I1 ver. where I have fhewn it to be underitood of the material and vifible Heayen in the Form ok Rays of Light which become Spirits at the Extremity of the Hea- vens. He likewife tells us, Section the Thirty- ninth, that St. Jude is of this Opinion, ver. 6. where he fays Tjbe Angels that kept not their I Eft at e^ but It ft their own Habitation he hath rejcrved in ever la fling Chains under Darkne/s, unto the Judment of the lafl J) ay. And that St. Peter alio is of this Opinion, 2 Pet. ii. ver. 4. where he fays, If God [par- ed not the Angels that finned^ but call them down to lldly and delivered into Chains of Darknrfs, to be rejerved to ^Judgment. But he will find under the fame Article to which I have referred him, that I have largely and demon ilratively proved, that by the Angels mentioned both by St. Peter and St. J tide y and by thofe mi.iKJoned, Rev. xii. who are laid to have made War in Heaven, are meant faia9 and the black and blood- marked Males that defcended from him, who opened the Womb, and who by their Birth-right were the iirft Prieits and Miuiuers in the Church of God. And that by the Arche or firft Estate from which they fell, is meant fhe.ir fin: p.: viz. that there are a vail Number of unbodied intelligent Beings in the van: Expanfe of Heaven, who act in fuperior and fubordinate Stations, but all under the fupreme God, who is without Be- ginning, in the Government of the World ; and that the Logcs is called by Philo theyr- cond Gody who reprefents him by the Mini- fler of a great King, &c. but thefe Opinions I have demonftratively fliewn to be falfe, and the Belief of them to be deftru&ive of Sancti- ficatibn, Salvation, and eternal Life. And if that was the Opinion of Clemens Akxan* arinusi (as he fays it was) it is no more a Proof of the Truth of that Opinion, than Philo and Plato's being of that Opinion is ; and therefore muft be look'd upon as an Error of that ancient and learned Man. But what he hath faid may be fo underftood, as to be very confiftent with fcriptural and de- C ttionftrative lxviii The PREFACE. monflrative Truth. For although he fpeak? of Angtls, both viiible and invifible, by whom Mankind are inftrucled in the Knowledge of Truth and Virtue. This doth not prove that he believed the Exigence of unbodied intelli- gent Spirits, which affift Mankind in the Procurement of their Happineft. For I have (hewn in the Articles to which I have before referred our Author, that the holy Miniflers which God hath lent and placed in his, C hurch, are called Angels. And I have like wife there {hewn, that God's revealed Word, and the holy Spirit of Faith, which h obtained by the iincere and true Belief of the Word, are alio called Angels, which an- fwer to the invifible Angels of Clemens -, for it is by thefe two kinds of Angels, and by thefe only, that Men can be ailifted in the Work of Sandification and Salvation, and eternal Life. And I have like wife there {hewn, that by the Angel Gabriel, which imports the ftrong and mighty God, who came and inftrudted Daniel concerning his Vifion, about the Kingdom and Kings of PerJIa and Grecia, &c. Dan.vYu. ver. 16. and about the Com- ing and Death of Chrift, and the Deflruclion of yeru/'akm, xix. 21. And who is there called the Man Gabriel, was meant Jejus Chrifti God and Man by his mod: intimate and infeparable fpiritual Union with his Fa- ther : And who is alfo called Michael, which imports The P R E FA C E. Mi imports GoJ, to whom none is like, on ac- count of. the intimate Unity of the Godhead with him in all its Fulnefs. As I have like- wife fhewn in the Article before mentioned* And who is here reprefented both as God and Man, as Man, Dan. x. ver. 5. who ap- peared to Daniel after a wonderful Manner, and told that he was fent to him. And that the Prince of Perjia Avithftood him for a certain Time ; but Michael, the firft of Princes (/'. e.) God, who is over, in, and above all, came to his Afiiftance. And that he would return to fight with the Prince of Perfia, but no one holdeth with him in thefe Things but Michael, his (/. e.) Daniel's Prince, (i. e.) God, who had moft intimately- united himfelf to him the Man Cbrijt J ejus '; and that the Perfon call'd Michael is Jejus Chrift, God and Man, appears from Dan xii. ver. 1. where he fays, that at that Timejhall Jland up Michael the great Prince, who Jlandeth jor the Children of thy People, mean- ing at the End of the World, when Chrifl will come to judge the World. For he fays, at that Time thy People Jl: all be deliver ■- ed, every one that Jhall be found written in the Book, and many of them that fleep in the Du/l of the Earth /hall awake \ fome to ever- lafling Life, and fome to Shame and ever* lafling Contempt, &c. If we will remember and confider the flrid and infeparable Spiritual Union that is c z be-. xU The PREFACE. between Jehovah, or the three E'ohiw, and Jefui Chrift the Arch-Angel of God, and that it is iuch (as I have (hewed in the an- nexed Treadle) that their Godhead is but one, and one and the fame. So that what- ever is affirmed to be laid by one, may with equal Propriety be afci ibed to the other. We will clearly perceive the P^eafon why Chrift the Angel of the Jehovah, is called Jeho- vah and E/ohfw, and God as well as Jeho- vah or the Elohim, who dwdleth in him. As Gen. xvi. ver. 7, 13. the Angel of Je- hovah that fpoke to llagar, is called Jeho- vah. And Gen. xviii. ver. 1. where it is faid, that Jehovah appeared unto Abraham in the Plains of Mamre under the Appearance of three Men, and are called Jehovah, ver. 13, &c. And why the Angel of God, that jpoke to Jaccby Gen. xxx. ver. 1 j. is called the God of Bcihiel^zx. 13. And why the Angel of the Lord appeared unto Mojes in a Flame of Fire out of the Bufh, Exod. iii. ver. 2. i? called Jehovah in the 4th, and the God of Abraham in the 6th Verfe. And why the Angel of God that went before the Camp of Jjraci, Exod. xiv. ver, 19. is call- ed Jehovah, xiii. ver. 21. as to the Angels by which the Law was given or difperied, as mentioned Aels vii. ver.' 53. and Gal iii. ver. 19. and Heb. ii. ver. 2. I have (hewn them under the Article before referred to, to be Guu'a Minifters Mojes and Aaron, and that the The PREFACE. lxxi the Jehovah, who was feeri by Mofes and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, was his Angel Je- Jus Chrijl, who is called the Angel of his Pretence. IJa. Ixiii. ver. 9. The Angel by whom Jehovah vifibly appears ; and there- fore Chrifi the Word told his Difciples, John xiv. ver. 9. faying, He that bath feen me, hath feen the Father. It is by the Light of his Word that he is clearly leen, his Works being his Back Parts, by which he is feen only by Reflection, and therefore as by a Glafs, darkly without the Light of his Word, by which Mojes clearly perceived him by the verbal Proclamation he made of his Glory or Goodnefs manifefted in his Works. And this was the Angel that went before Mojes and the Ifraelites, fo that the holy Scriptures afford no Ground or Authority for faying there are two Jehovahs, any more than they do for faying there are two Gods, which he lays from Hcjea i. ver. 7. But I will have Mercy on the Houje of Judah, and will Jave them by Jehovah their God, and not by the Bow nor the Sword, &c. (/. e.) I will fave them by myfelf, who am the Jehovah, who became Elohim to create and lave them, and whom they have chofen to be their God, and whom all other Nations have not known by that Name, as appears by Pharaoh's Ani wet- to Mojes and Aaron, when they told him that Jehovah the God of Ijracj had com- manded him to let his People go, he anfwtr- e 3 ed lxxii The PREFACE. ed, Exod. v. ver. 2. Who is Jehovah that I Jhould obey his Voice* and let Ifrael go ? 1 know not Jehovah, neither will I let Ifrael go. Nor do the Words in the Prophet Ze- cbary make more for his Purpofe. Zech. x. ver. 12. I will flrengthen them in Jehovah, and they will walk up and down in his Name faith Jehovah. Here God laid, he would ftrengthen them in the Belief of his beir.g Jehovah, the divine Eflence, the Head, Ori- gin and Fountain of al) Being, which was a Name not acknowledged by any other Peo- ple i and by his fo lengthening thern in the Belief of his Name Jehovah, he fays they would walk according to his divinely revealed Word, which I. have elfewheie fhewn at large to be fignified by his Name, as Faith or the Belief or that Word is often fignified by his Kingdom. God doth not in either of thefe Texts fpeak to his People, but of the great and good Things he would at a proper Time do for them ; and therefore he might very properly fpeak of himfelf as of a third Perfon. So that a [icend Jehovah isas'anti-fcriptural, as it is abiurd, ridiculous and impious. The divine Elohim in the one Jehovah, or divine EfTence in moil intimate ipiritual Union with the Man Chri/i Jefus, are together but one Jehovah and one God. The fame Obfervation will ferve to fhew the Folly of his DiftincTion between the Jehovah ij LMs. and the Jehovah oj Zwi, which he The PREFACE. lxxiii he infers from Zrcb.lki. ver. io, rr. Jeho- vah the Sender being infeparably united to, and together with his Arch-Angel Chrifl fent, and therefore together but' one and the fame Jehovah. So that what he faith in his 66th, 6yth, 68tb, and 6gtb Section?, al- though true, is altogether impertinent. As to what he fays in his Seventieth Sec- tion concerning the Angel mentioned, Reve- lations xxii. ver. 9. who refufed Worfhip, declared himfelf to be a Fellow-Servant of St. Johns, and to have been one of the holy and true believing Prophets, and who decla- red that God only is to be worfhiped j and who he fays, being the Angel of God and of J ejus Chrifty ailbmed to himfelf on that Account the Attributes which could be a- fcribed to no other but themfelves. Had he confidered that that Angel at ver. 6. fays, That the Lord God of the holy Prophets ferit his Angel to Jhew unto his Servants the Things that muft Jhortly be done (faying^ behold I come quickly, &c. The fupplying of that Ellipjis being evidently neceflary, in order to jfhew the Connexion of the two Verfes, by which the Reafon of God's fending his An- gel to his Servants, the Prophet's moil clearly appears, and by which the Neceffity of run- ning to a fenfelefs and unintelligible Apojtro- phe, from one Perfon to another, is avoided, and carrying on the Supply of that Defect. And (faying) Behold I come quickly, and my e 4 Reward lxxiv The PREFACE. Reward 'with me \ Sec. At the 1 2th ver. And (iayingj lam Alpha and Omega, &c. ver. i ytf)% and flaying) ljefus have fait mine Angel to tef- tify unto you thefe Things in the Churches, I am ( both) the Root and Offspring of David the bright and Morning Star. I lay, had he confidered thefe Tilings, he would have clearly perceived, that no Angel of God, (Jejus Chrijt excepted, in whom ail the Fulnefs of the Godhead dwelt, and who was one in and with his Father, and his Father one in and together with him) ever affumed to hirnfelf the Attributes of the eternal and moll high God. And there- fore what he faith Section the Seventy-third, {viz.) that the yews had great Foundation in the Scriptures of the Old T'e ft amen /, for their Opinion of a fecond, or fecondary God, is a manifeft Falmood ; for the Doctrine of the holy Scriptures, both of the Old and New Tc/lament is, that there is but one Jehovah9 and one God, who is faid Deut. x. ver. 1 7. to be God of Gods, and Lord of Lords, a great God mighty to be feared, who regard- eth not PerfonSy nor taketh Reward. And the yews were fo far from being encouraged by the Scriptures of the 'Old Te/tament, to be- lieve in a iecond or fecondary God, that they were exprefly commanded to believe that there is but one Jehovah, and therefore but one God. Deut. vi. ver. 4. Hear, O Iirael, the Lord our God is one Lord. And the Doctrine of all the holy Prophets is con- formable The PREFACE. Ixxv format)! e to this demon ftrativcly true Doc- trine, lb folemnly declared and fet forth by Mo/cs. However, our Author hath incon- siderately attempted to wrefl feme Paflages of thofe Scriptures in favour of a demonstra- tively falfe and impious, and wicked making groundlefs Opinion,. Our Author having thus far laboured in vain, toeftabliih the Belief of a vaft number of unbodied intelligent fpiritual Agents, and many of them fuperior in Perfections to the Spirits of Men ; as under Agents to the fupreme eternal and inviiible God, in the Government of this World, and of the Uni- niverle, in order to bring Mankind to the Belief of what he calls a Second or iecondaiy and inferior God, now proceeds to (hew what Grounds the holy Scriptures affords for the Belief of a Third, who is inferior to Lis imaginary fecond God ; and who, he fays, are to be worshipped with inferior Kinds of Worship, and different from the Worihip that is to be paid to the eternal and fupreme God. And this third God, who i; diftinci and different both from the fupreme God, and his fecond God, and inferior to both, he calls the Holy Spirit. But as I have fhewn in the Treatife here- unto annexed, that the holy Scriptures men- tion two holy Spirits, (viz.) one that is co- eternal, co-effential, and in every Refpec"t, co-equal with the Perfons diftinguifhed by the Names of the Father, Son7 or Word, in Ixxvi The PREFACE. in the divine trinity. And the other ^ the holy Spirit of fandtifying and faving Faith-, which cometh by the divinely revealed Word of God, and by the fincerc and true Belief of the Word ; and which is the holy Spirit, by which all the holy Prophets of God, and the Evangelifts, and the Apoilles of Cbrift wereinfpired, and by which all the truly faith- ful and obedient Perfons from the beginning the World, have been truly and fpiritually fanctified and faved, being powerfully moved thereby to mortify and purify their Spirits from all bodily Lufts (which move Mankind to commit all the Evil and Wickednefs thev commit in the World -> and which are the real and only Devils, which everlaftingly torment the impenitently wicked in the next) and to love God with all their Hearts, &c. which are the two Things which are felf-fufficient, but indifpenfably neceffary ; and therefore ail the Things that are neceflary to be done by Mankind, in order to their Sandification and Salvation, and true and rational Happinefs both temporal and ever- lafting, as I have often before obierved. And Mankind carrying this fcriptural DifUn&ion of two holy Spirits along with them in their Minds, will be thereby enabled clearly to per- ceive the Impenitence, Folly, and Fallhood, of all thofe feemingly fcriptural, but really anti-fcriptural Arguments, which have been advanced by our Author, in order to bring Man- The PREFACE. lxxvii Mankind into the Belief of the Exigence of the third inferior God, and of the inferior Worfiiip, which, he lays, is to be paid to it. I (hall therefore take no farther Notice of his thirteen next following Se&ions, (viz.) from his lxxivth to his lxxxvth inclusive, than to obferve where he jiath wreftedand mifrepre- fented Paffages of the holy Scriptures men- tioned in thefe Sections, in order to fupport a very falfe and impious, and wicked-making anti-Jcriptural Doctrine, and (hew how they are to be understood. I have elfewhere (hewn, that by the Gold- en Candleilick, mentioned by the Prophet Zechariah, Chap. iv. ver. i. is meant the true Church of God, as the feven Afiatick Churches are reprefented by the feven Golden Candlefticks, with Chrift the Word in the midft of them, Rev. i. ver, 13, 20. and that by the two Olive-Trees, or Branches, which through Golden Pipes empty the Golden Oil out of themielves, and are called the two anointed Ones* or Sons of Oil, are meant the faithful Minifters of that one and only true Church of God, under the two Difpenfations, viz. the Aaronicaly which was to be abo- liflhed, and the Melchezidecan, which was to fucceed to it, who are to pour out, and lb fet before Mankind. The divinely revealed and fan&ifying Word of God, and the holy or fandtifying Spirit of Faith, which is obtain- ed by the fincere and true Belief of that Word. lxxviii The PREFACE. Word. And they are faid to (land by or before the Lord of the whole Earth, becaufe they minifter continually before him, or in his Pre fence. And I have fhewn before, that Michael and Gabriel, are two different Names for J ejus Chrift, the Arch-Angel of God, in whom the three Elohim dwell in all the Fulneis of the Godhead, and therefore they were not jirft and fccond Gods ditlindt and different from the Father, but one and the fame God in and together with him. And by what I have faid of the Holy Spirit of Faith% we may clearly perceive, that that was the Spirit of Jehovah, mentioned by Nehemiah ix. ver. 63. And by Zecha- riah vii. ver. 12. and that came upon Gideon and Jeptba, &c. mentioned in Judges iii. ver. 10. and vi. ver. 34, and xi. ver. 29. and xiii. ver. 25. and 1 Sam* x. ver. 6. and xvi. ver. 13. And what David prayed might not be taken from him, &c\ And the Spirit that entered into Ezekiel ii. ver. 2. and iii. ver. 24. and into Ifaiah vi. ver. 3. And the Spirit which God gave to the Se- venty Elders, Niimb. xi. ver. 16, — 25. by which they propheiied, &c. But the Angel Gabriel, which appeared to Daniel in the Form of a Man, and which he worshipped becaufe God was in him, and he in God, and one together with God, Dan. viii. ver. 16. and ix. ver. 10. and to Ezekiel ii. ver. 2. and iii. ver. 24. was The P RE FACE. lxxix ¥ejits Chriftt the only begotten Son cf God. As to his faying, Section Eighty-four, that it is but reafonable, That a Degree of Rcve- verence, proportional to the Power that Spi- rits have over us, fhould be paid to them. He thereby (hews, that he knew not what true and spiritual Worfhip is, nor the End for which it is paid ; nor the true End for which outward and bodily Work was" re- quired. And as the eternal and fupreme God is only to be worfhipped, therefore it doth not feem reafonable to pay Worflhip to any other Being, if by Reafon we either mean the Logos, {i. e.) the divinely revealed Word of God, or the neceffary Connection, Courfe, and Confequence, which is called the Reafon of Things. The Angels mentioned Co/off', ii. ver. iS. are fuch invifible Spirits, as our Author has been contending for. Eut St. Paul warns the ColoJJians not to believe thofe who teach the Exiltence of fuch invifible Beings, of which they know nothing ; left by relying on Affiftance from them, they lofe the Re- ward that may be mofl finely expected by thofe who are victorious over their fpiritual Enemies, ufing the fpiritual Arms and Ar- mour, with which God hath fufficiently fur- nifhed them, viz. the Sword of the Spirit, which is the revealed and written Word of God, and the Shield of Faith, Qfc. by which and Ixxx The PREFACE. and by which only their fpiritual Enemies, (/. e.) their bodily Lufts, can be conquered and effectually fubdued. His laying, Section Eighty-feven, That this Dodtrine with Regard to God the Fa- ther, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, (which he calls the Dodtrine of the Jews, but can be underftood only of iuch of them as had fallen into Mifbelief, and did not be- lieve according to the Doctrines of the holy Scriptures) is not only fupported by the Doc- trine of the Old Tefta merit, but reconcUeable to Keafon. But he hath not, nor will any other Perfon be ever able to fupport his Doc- trine by the Scriptures of the Old Tejl anient truly interpreted. And I have in the annexed Treatife {hewn, that by the material and vi- able Heavens, God hath iufHciently provided, that all the particular Syftems in the natural or material World ; and by his divinely revealed Word and Law, he hath fufficiently provided, that all the individual Syftems in the fpiritual World mould fo move and a<£t, as to be able to anfwer, and obtain the Ends for which they were defigned and created, and there- fore it is not reafonable to believe that he created any other fubaltern Agents for the better carrying on the Government either of the natural or moral Worlds, iince they would have been uklefs if they had been cicated. He goes on and tells us, Section Eighty- nine The PREFACE. Ixxxi nine and Ninety, that this imaginary and whimfical Doctrine of his, is alfo recon- cileable with the Scriptures of the New Tejla- ment ; his Proof of this is the i Cor. viii. ver. 5, 6. that the Father is called the one God, and Je/zts Chrifi is only called Lord and not God ; but to this he hath given a full anfwer before, by (hewing Cbrift is in feveral Places called "Jehovah and God, and God manifefted in the Flefh. But to invalidate this his own Argument, he tells us from Exodus xxxiii. ver. 20, 23. and from St. Jobnx. ver. 18. and vi. ver. 46, and from 1 Tim. iv. 15, 16. and 1 John iv. ver. 12. that God is invisible and therefore cannot pofiibly be the fame God, who was manifefted in the Flefh. But St.Paul, alfo tells us that in Chrifi dwelt all the Ful- nefs of the Godhead. And Chrifi hath told us that he was in his Father, and his Father in him, and that he that had feen him, had feen the [otherwife invifible] Father ; fo that if Chrifi is to be believed rather than our Author, it is not only poffible to be true, but it is mod: certainly true, that the invifible God, and God manifefted in the Flefh, are one and the fame God, and all the Powers, Properties, and Perfections of the one, are the Powers and Properties, and Perfections of the other. And hence it is that Blood is afcribed to the fpi ritual God, A5is xx. ver. 28. To feed the Church of Gori, which he hath purchafed with his own Blood, and the Pro- Ixvxii The PREFACE. Properties of God arc afcribed to the only begotten Son of God, the iMan Chri/i Jefus, who faith John xvi. ver. 15. all Things that the Father hath are mine, on Account of their moft intimate and infeparable fpiritual Union. And from hence our Author fays Section xci. it appears that the Apollies made a Diftinftion between the Divinity of God the Father, and of God the Son. .How it ly appear from hence to our Author, blind- ed by Prejudice to ah imaginary fpiritual Hy- pothecs, I cannot fay, but I am fatisfied it will appear to every other Perfon not io blind- ed, that the Apoftles made no fuch Diftinc- tion, and their Doctrine (hews that they believed the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, to be one and the fame Godhead. And the Belief of the Nicene Fathers ma- nifeftcd in their Creed, faying, / believe in me God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Hea- ven and Earth, and of a I Things vifibk and invifibhy &c. is fo far conformable to the Apoftles Doctrine, and therefore true. If by the one God and Father Almighty, they meant the whole three Peripns of the divine Trinity, co-eternal, co-cflential, and co- equal, in the one 'Jehovah, or divine Effence, who together in eliential Unity, are the God and Father of our Lord JefusChri/l. And if by the Maker of Heaven and Earth, and of oil Things viijble and ifivifible, they meant thefe three co-eternal co-cffentialr and co- equal The PREFACE. IxxxiS equal Perfons in effential Unity, together with Jefus Chrijl% in moll intimate and fpi- ritual Union with themfelves, are the Creator and Maker of all other Things that were created and made. As to his faying, Section xcii. That the Jirft felf-cxijlent Caufe of all Things can alone be called God, and that when the Title of God is given in the Scripture to any other Being but the Father ', we are to underjiand it, only as expref/ive of fome God^like Power, com- municated to that Being by God the Father. To this I anfwer, that if we underftand ao cording to the Doctrine of the Scriptures, we will underftand, that the whole three Per- fons in the divine Trinity in effential Unity, together with Jefus Chrifty in fpiritual Uni- ty with them, is or are the firft felf-exiflent Caufe of all Things. And that they did not only communicate fome God-like Power to him, but all their divine Powers and Per- fections ; fo that all the Fulnefs of the God- head dwelt in him, and that he together with them, was the Creator and Maker of all Things, fo that without him co-operating together with them, was not any thing crea- ted or made that was created. As to i Cor. xv. 27, 28. cited by him, it is not perti- nent to the Purpofe for which he produces it : for no Man ever believed that the Father had made himfelf fubject to the Son, but that he had made the Son co-equal with himfelf. i And Ixxxiv The PREFACE. And that when the great Work of McV tion with Mankind by the Man Jefus Cbrijt fhould be finifhed. Then the Son who as Man had been always fubject to his Father, and whofe Will was always one and the lame with his Father's, would even then, as Man continue fuhjecl to him. So that the one God- head which the Man Chrift J^'/us, poffeffed equally with his Father, would be all in all. The great and fatherly Goodnefs and Love of God to all Mankind, in which the God- head confifts, would then be the Object of the Contemplation of all. His faying Section xciv. That the Like- nefs and Image of God in Man, confifts in his Dominion over Fifh of the Sea, and Fowls of the Air, &c. proceeds from Want of due Cqnfideration of the holy Scriptures, by which he would have been informed, that Man's Likenefs and Image of God is a fpiritua) Likened, which coniiils in his being and continuing to be perfectly Good, and univerfally benevolent as he is ; and in order to be and continue lo, it is indifpenfably ne- ceflary that his Spirit iliould be prcferved pure from all bodily Lulls. And therefore the Dominion that he was to have and ex- crcife, was a fpiritual Dosfninipn which he was to exercifc over his bodily Defires fenli- bly represented by harmlefs Animals, and not to fuffcr them to become outragious and in- fatiable Lufts, rejSrefentecl by voracious and deftruc- The PREFACE. lxxxrT deitrudtive Fifli of the Sea, and Fowls of the Air, 'and Beafts of the Earth; but for farther Satisfaction on this Point, I refer him to my Notes and Observations on the three fir ft Chapters of Genefs. The Scriptures of the New Te/lament call the Word9 God, but not a fecond God, as he fays they do, Section xcvi. His Inference (from which St. Peter fays Affis ii. ver. 33. Let all the Houfe of Jfrael know afuredlyy that God hath made the fame jfefus whom ye crucified, both Lord and ChrijL And from St. Paul's applying Hcb. i. ver. 8. to J ejus Chrijl, the Text out of the Pfalms, when it is faid, thy Throne 0 God% is for ever and ever, &c. Therefore Gods even thy Gody hath anointed thee with the Oil cfGladnejs above thy Fellows.) That the Son- could not be equal to the Father from all Eternity: And that the Superiority of God the Father, who anointed God the Son Je- fus Chrijly is prefer ved over God the Son, whom he anointed ; is an Inftance of our Author's not having duly confidered the true fcriptural Doctrine, which the truly Ortho- dox Members of the true Church of God have always believed, concerning the God- head of Jefus Chrifti and which is this. They believed that there is a co-eternal and co- effential Son in the divine Trinity, who is in all Refpe&s co-equal with the Perfon jiiftinguifked by the pcrfonal Name of the f 2 Fath£| lxxxvi The PREFACE. Father in the divine Trinity. But they never believed thai the only begotten Son the Man Chrifi Jefus, to have been equal to his Father from all Eternity. What they believed con- cerning him is, that from the Time his Fa- ther by Creation produced him into Being, and communicated all the Fulncfs of the Godhead to him, for the Redemption and Salvation of all Mankind, by which he be- came one God, together in the moft intimate fpiritual Union with himfelf, as his. divine Powers, Properties, and Perfections might with equal Propriety be afcribed to the one as well as the other, on account of the one Godhead which they equally polTeffed. And therefore when the one fupreme God the Father anointed his only begotten Son the Man Jefus Chrifi, with the Oil of Gladnefs, by the Communication of the holy Spirit of Faith to him without Bounds or Meafure, by which he became God co-equal together with himfelf; he thereby fhewed his Supe- riority over his only begotten Son the Man Chrijl Jefus, but not over the Godhead of his Son Chri/i Je/hs, which was one and the fame with his own. And all thole Texts which he cites in Section xcviii. and xcix. as St. John xx. ver. 17. and Ephcfi i. ver. 20, 24. and St. John xiv. ver. 28, The Father is greater than /, are to be underftood of Chrijl as Man. for his Godhead and the Father's was gne and the fame. h8 The r R E F A C E. Ixxxvii He tells us from St. Job?!, in his Section c. and ci. that all Judgment was committed to the Son, that all Jhould honour the Son, even as they honour the Father ; and that Judgment implies Power and Dominion. And as a Proof of this, he tell us, Section cii. that Sir lfaac Newton has remarked that the Worjhip which is due from Man to Gody is on account of the Dominion he hath over him ; and that the Word God, is a relative Term refering to Subjects \ and that the Word Deity, denotes the Dominion of God over Sub- jeffs. And that, we arrive at the Knowledge of God, by confide ring his Properties and At- tributes, and by enquiring into the wife For- mation of and Conjlitution of all Things , and fearching into their final Caufes -, but he fays we worjhip and adore him on account of his Dominion, fo that the Son is to be worfjoipped on account of all Judgment being committed to him ; for there would be ?io Re a fen for obey- i?2g the Commands of any Being, which hath no Power over them. To which I anfwer, that Sir L Newton was a very good Mathematician, but a very bad Divine, as I have fhewn in the annexed Treatife. And here he hath fhewn great fcriptural Ignorance, in faying, that we wor- fhip and adore God on account of his Do- minion over us ; which is making fervile or flavifh, and fuperftitious Fear and Dread of his Power, which is incontinent with our f 3 filial lxxxviii The PREFACE. filial and truly religious Fear and Love of him, which is indifpenfably neceflary to our true and rational Happinefs, both temporal and evcilafting, the lole Foundation of our Worfhip ; whereas we worfhip God, be- caufe he hath required us fo to do, and not for his own Sake, but altogether for ours j and that we might thereby be moved to perfe- vere in doing thofe Things, by which, and by which only, we can be made truly and rationally happy both temporally and ever- laftingly. For the true fpiritual Worfhip of God confifts in Faith and Obedience; and all outward or bodily Worfhip, fuch as Adora- tion or Prayer, Praife and Thankfgiving, GV. was inftituted and required, for no other Reafon, but for putting and keeping him continually in Mind of the indifpenlable Ne- ceffity of pcrfevering in the true and fpiritual Worfhip, (/'. c.) in the fincere and true Be- lief of God, and of his moft perfect: and fa- therly Goodnefs, and Love for all Mankind, moft clearly manifested by his giving us a moft gracious and moft pefect, and perfectly purifying Law, and for no other Reafon, but to preferve, refcue, and deliver all Man- kind from the Captivity and Tyranny of all their bodily Lufls, and confequently from all Kinds and Degrees of Wickednefs, and from Mifery both temporal and everlafting, that they might be truly and fpiritually happy both temporally and everlaftingly \ fo that the The PREFACE. Ixxxix the Confideration of God's Dominion, and .Dread of his Power over us, is very far from being the Foundation and Mo;ive of our worfhiping and adoring him. That indeed is the Foundation of the Worfhip which the Devils, or moil wicked Men pay him, f r they dread his Power and tremble -y hut the true Foundation of, and Motive to all truly and religious Worlhip, whether bodily or fpiritual is the Confide;*a:ion of God's mod perfect: Goodnefs and fatherly Love to all Mankind; by which we are m oft powerfully moved and encouraged to perfevere in per- fect Obedience to his moll perfect and only perfectly purifying Law, and to love him with all our Hearts, &c. which are the two Things that are indifpenfably neceffary, and all the Things that are necehtiry, they being felf~fuffic;ent to be done by Mankind, in order to their Sanctification and Salvation, and for their fure Attainment of true and rational Happinefs both temporal and ever- lafting : And which call: out fervile or flavifh, and fuperititious Fear and Dread of God, and of his Power and Pnnimments, all fear but that of grieving, difpleafing, and offending fo gracious and merciful a Father, who is grieved, difpleafed and offendej, and angry with us, for 119 other Reafon, but for our doing, and impenitently perfevering in doing thole Things which are moft evidently dci^ tractive of our true and fpiritual Sanctification, f 4 Silva- xc The preface: Salvation, and true Happinefs, both temporal and everlafting. And he hath likewife fhewn no left fcrip- tural Ignorance in faying that God is ftich a relative Tetm as hath Reference to Subjects , and that the Word Deity denotes the Domi- nion of God over Subjects ; for the Word Elohivi, God, from H1?^, to hlefs, implies the bleffed ones, from whom all Bleffings or Benefits, by which Mankind are bleffed or made happy, are derived -, and therefore the Word Deity, denotes fiich a Relation as is between a moil affectionate Father and his Children, by which they are moved to love him with all their Hearts ; and not fuch a Relation, as is between an arbitrary Prince and his Subje&s, which moves Mankind to nothing but the Dread of his Power, and to hate him, and to wifh he was not. Neither do we arrive at the Knowledge of God, by con fide ring (as he fays) his Properties' and Attributes, and by enquiring into the wife Formation and Conjiitution of all "Things y and fe arching into their final Caufes. But by attentively confidering the Revelations which God hath been gracioufly pleafed to make of himfelf, and of his Properties and Attributes, let forth in his revealed Word, which is fully verified in all his Works, his revealed Wildom and Goodnefs, as well as Power, being mod: clearly difplayed in his wile Formation of all Things, fo as that thev mould The PREFACE. xci mould all perfectly anfwer the wife and good Ends for which they were defigned and crea- ted ; for without fuch a divine Revelation (as I have mod: clearly ihewn under the Arti- cle or Word Man) we could never have known that there was fuch an invifible Being, of fuch Perfections ; nor would we ever have enquired after the wile Formation of Things or their final Caufes $ but would have only confidered them as we found them lit, or unfit, for the Gratification of our bodily Sen- fations and Appetites, as Brutes do, and would have accordingly perfued or avoided them, for thofe fenfual Ends, and thofe only. By what hath been here faid, we may clearly perceive, that our Author's Do&rine, that the Son became God, and was honoured or worshipped chiefly becaufe all Judgment was committed to him, by which be came to have Power and Dominion over all Man- kind, is neither fcriptural nor true Dodrine ; for fir/l7 it is evident from the holy Scrip- tures, that the eternal and fupreme God, who dwelt in jfefus Chrift, in all the Fulnefs of the Godhead, will in mod intimate Unity, together with him judge the World, appears from Affs xvii. ver. 31. Becauje he9 God, hath appointed a Day wherein he will judge the World in Right eoufnefs in the Man, fy avfyiy whom he hath ordained. So that when it is faid, St. John v. ver, 22. that the Father judgeth no Man, it is to be under- stood xcii The PREFACE. flood as the Father created nothing without the Son's co-operating in Unity with him ; fo he will judge no Man without the Son's judging together with him. Secondly, That divine Judgment doth not denote nor im- ply divine Power or Dominion over Man- kind, as if the Power of Judgment had been given to the Son to move Mankind to worfliio him out of a Belief of his having an arbitrary Power given him to acquit or condemn whomfoever he would, that they might be moved to worfhip him out of Dread of his Power. But the Cafe is quite otherwife j for he, together with his Father, will iudge the World in Righteouihefs, and Mankind will continue acquitted or condemn- ed, according to their own Works, and not according to his arbitrary. Will and Pleafure, as in Mattb. xvi. ver. 27. Rev. xx. ver. 13. So that no Man ever had any Reaibn to fear ye/us Chrifty on account of the Power given him to judge Mankind, becaufe he will judge the World according to Righteoufnefs. 'Third' ly, Nor was the lait Judgment appointed for acquitting or condemning of the Righteous and the Wicked -> for they acquit or con- demn themfelvcs in this World, as it is faid, St. yohn iii. ver. 18. lie that belicveth on him u 7iot condemned \ but he that bclie^eth not is condemned already. But the final and gene- ral Judgment is appointed lor a full and clear Manifestation .ol the perfect and fatherly Good- • .* The PREFACE. xciii Goodnefs and Love of God to Mankind, and of his moft perfect and impartial Juitice and Equity, and all his Difpenfation to and Deal- ing v/ith them, that the Faithful and Righte- ous might continue ftrongly confirmed in their Love towards him ; and that the unbelieving r*nd impenitently wicked may fee and judge for themfelves, whether the everlafting State of Mifery, their Spirits, are about to enter upon in Conjnnction with their polluted Bo- dies, be not altogether owing to their own bbftinate and impenitent Attachment to the fenfaal Gratification of their predominant bo- dily Lufts, notwithstanding that God had left nothing' undone that was proper and ne- ceflary- to be done for difpofing and perfectly enabling, and moft powerfully moving them to mortify and purify them f jives from thofe Deceivers and everlafting Tormenters. So that our Author has not fpoken according to the Truth of the holy Scriptures, in fay- ing that divine Judgment denotes Dominion, and that Dominion is the Foundation of di- vine Worfhip ; for it is evident from what hath been faid, that the iincere and true Love of God is the Foundation of all Kinds of divine and truly religious Worfhip, and the Power of Judgment, that was given to the Son, was not given to manifeft his Power over Mankind, but that he might thereby manifeft the great Goodnefs and Love of God towards them. I Sclv The PREFACE. I take no Notice of his five next following Sections ; the moft of the Texts of Scripture therein citted being meant of ye/us Chri/l, con- fidered as Man, and of the holy Spirit of Faith. And by the Angel who was fent by ye/us Chrijl to St. yobn> Rev. i. ver. i. men- tioned by our Author, Section a Hundred and Eight, is meant one of thofe human Perfons who had been a Prophet and a Prieft of God, and fo an Angel of God whilft he lived on Earth, and is no where called the holy Spirit ; for when the Angel lays, He that hath Ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit fays to the Churches. By that Spi- rit is meant the holy Spirit of Faith 5 and I have before fhewn, that the Angel Gabriel, who he again mentions in his Hundred and Ninth Section, is one and the fame with Mi- chael the Archangel, who was yefus Cbrijt. As to his faying, that the Spirit ot the Logos was conveyed into the Womb of the Virgin by the holy Spirit of God, he might have faid, that the feminal Body or Soul of yefus Chrijt was alio conveyed into her Womb by the Power or Word of God, there to take hu- man Flefh upon it. And that when it is laid that Cbrift was led up of the Spirit into the Wildernds, we are to underftand, that he was fp led up by God, (/. e.) by the whole three Pcrlons ; for whatever is afcribed to any one of the divine Perfons, mufl necefTarily be understood of the whole three 5 lor 1 havp lhewj> The PREFACE. xc% fhewn in the annexed Treatife, from the fen~ fihle Reprefentation, that God hath been gra- cioufly pleafed to make of himfelf, in orderto enable us to form a juft and true Notion of his Manner of fubfifling in a Plurality of three Perfons in effential Unity in the one Jehovahy or divine Effence, that no one of thefe di- vine Perfons can operate or a6t in any Cafe whatever, unlefs they all co-operate together, and in different Manners in the Production of any Action or Effect produced by them j fo that any Action produced by any one of them, may with equal Propriety be afcribed to any of the other, but not exclufively of either of the other, and mull be neceffarily underftood of the whole three in every Ac- tion together. And as to his faying, that the Logos was under the Conduct of the holy Spirit, during the whole Time of his Continuance here on Earth, it is very true ; but he was under the Conduct of the holy Spirit of Faith, which was communicated to him without Meafure. And as to his faying, Section one Hundred and Thirteen, that it does not appear in ei- ther the Old or New Tejlament, that the Logos had any Power over the holy Spirit, till after his Afcenfion, when all Power was given him in Heaven and Earth, (or Over- believers, and Unbelievers) it was becaufe he could not effectually declare fome Parts of the holy Spirit of Faith to his Difciples, which would xcvi The PR E FACE. •would be neceffary for them to preach to jnvs and Gentiles before his Afcenfion, be- caufe all Things which had been produced by the holy Prophets concerning him, were not accomplished before that Time. But all Things neceffary to be known and believed concerning him, being perfe&ly accomplished in him, upon his Afcenfion to his Father, he then fent forth his Difciples perfectly in- itrufted in the holy Spirit of Faith, to preach it both to yews and Gentiles. And many miraculous Powers were granted to them, to enable them to awaken Mankind to attend to the holy fandifying and faving Spirit of Faith, which they were to preach to them -, and had our Author diftinguifhed between the different Senfes in which the Phrafe holy Spirit is taken in the holy Scriptures, he would have perceived that by the holy Spirit of God, mentioned Ephef. iv. ver. 30. and the Spirit of Grace mentioned Heb.x.ver.zg. was meant God himfelf, (i. e.) the whole three Perfons in the divine Trinity 5 together with Jefus Chrijl in mod intimate Spiritual Unity with them ; which the Apoftle exhorts Mankind not to Grief and do Defphe to$ and that by the Spirit mentioned 1 The//, v, ver. 19. which he prays them not to quench, is meant the holy Spirit of fanftifying and faving Faith, and would not have con- founded the one with the other, to the de- ceiving unwary Readers. The PREFACE. xcvii He fays, Section one Hundred and Four- teen, that he apprehends he has manifestly ihewn in thefe Papers under my prefent Confideration, that there is but one God, (/. e.) one intellectual Agent, And that this one God might create an infinite Series of fpiritual Agents in Subordination one to ano- ther, and Jo me of them by Authority, commu- nicated to them by the fupreme God, to adi as Gody with Regard to inferior Beinvs, co?n- nutted to their Charge ; and that it appears as well from the Scriptures of the Old and New Teftament, as from the Sentiments of the Jews, that this is the Method of Govern- ment which the Almighty hath been p leafed to purjue in the 0 economy of thisUniver/e. Upon which I take the Liberty to obferve that the holy Scriptures mod evidently de- clare, that there is but one fupreme and eteiv, nal God the Creator of Heaven and Earth ; and that all Things created and made, bear Teitimony to the Truth of thefe holy Scrip- tures. But that it doth not appear, either from the Scripture of the Old or New Tefia- theni, or by any Thing our Author hath laid in this Efiay on Spirit, that God either might or did, create an infinite Number of Spirits in Subordination to each other, for the go- verning of this World, under his own fu- preme Direction ; or that this is the Method which the Almighty hath been pleafed tq puriue in the Oeconomy of this Univerfe. What- %Xcviii The PREFACE. Whatever may have been the Sentiments of the mifbelieving jfews doth not concern me to enquire after, they being of no Au- thority or Validity in determining Points of Truth or Falfhood ; but the holy Scriptures teach Doctrines quite different from, and con- trary to thofe let forth and contended for by our Author -y for the holy Scriptures teach that God is a meft perfectly wife and good Being; and therefore he neither does, nor can do any Thing in vain, nor for any other than perfectly wife and good Ends ; and therefore nothing that is inconfiftent with his mod per- fect Wifdom and Goodnefs, by which he di- rects himfelf in all his Actions. So that when we afcribe Actions to God, we are not only to confider his Omnipotence \ but alfo his Wifdom and Goodnefs , left we fhould conclude (as our Author hath done) that God hath done what he was able to do, without confi- dering, that although God be Almighty, yet he is a free Agent, and will not do any Thing inconfiftent with his own moft per- fect Wifdom and Goodnefs, and therefore for no other than wife, good, and neceffary Ends. But it hath been (hewn in the annexed Treatife, that God by the Creation and For- mation of the material and viiible Heavens, hath done every Thing that was neceffary to be done, for enabling every Individual of all the different Syftcms in the natural or material World ; The PREFACE. xc!x World ; and by his divinely revealed Word and Law, and by placing viiible An- gels, his holy Minifters in his Church, he hath done every Thing that was neceflary to be done, for enabling every individual in the fpi- ritual or moral World, to move and aft (oy as to anfwer, and obtain the Ends for which they were all created and defigned. So that as there was no Neceffity, it would have been in vain to have created any infinite, or any finite Number of unbodied intelligent Spirits, for the better Government either of the na- tural or fpiritual World, and which muft have been altogether ufelefs, if fuch had been created : And therefore we ought to infer from the perfect Wifdom and Gcodnefs of God, that he created no fuch Beings, ahho' he be Omnipotent ; and therefore we ought not to wreft the holy Scripture, to incline Men to believe fo impious and wicked-making a Doctrine. And I have likewife fhewn under the Ar- ticle or Word Angels, that God could not poffibly make any Number of fuch unbodied Angels as our Author has fuppofed him to have made, confidently with his perfect Good- nefs and fatherly Love for all Mankind ; and that therefore we ought not to believe fo im- pious a Doctrine which has no Foundation in the holy Scriptures. Indeed our Author has produced many par- ticular Texts of Scripture, to fupport his im- g pious c f The PREFACE. pious and wicked-making Hypothcfis; but as I have followed him, I have fhewn, that none of his particular Texts have been by him truly interpreted, by and according to the one and only true and infallible Rule, by which and by which only, all particular Texts of holy Scripture, relating to Faith and Morals can be truly, and therefore ought always to be interpreted : And therefore none of his Texts have been pertinently produced, and applied, becaufe not truly interpreted. He goes on and fays, Section cxv. that it may not be improper to confider what the Opinion of the Fathers of the chriflian Church was, concerning this Head. And Section cxvi. he fays, that the Fathers for the firft three Centuries after Chrift, were univcrfally a- greed, in the aforementioned Doctrine, (viz.) That God created an infinite Number of un- bodied fpiritual Beings, fome of which he made inferior Gods, for the better Govern- ment of this Univerfe under his own Supre- macy. And he has mentioned feveral of them, without me wing from their Writings that they were of his Opinions, taking it for granted, that they were. I do not <*ive myfelf the Trouble to (hew, whether they were of his Opinions or not ; becaufe their Sentiments are of no Weight in determin- ing, whether the Doctrine of three Perfbns jco-eternal, co-effential, and co-equal in the divine Trinity in effential Unity, according ** The PREFACE. d to the holy Scripture be true or not : Or whether the Godhead of the only begotten Son or" God the Man Cbrijl J ejus, be one and the fame Godhead with that of his Fa- ther, (i. e.) of the whole three Perfons' in the divine Trinity, as it is fet forth in the holy Scriptures be fo or not. Thefe being the two Points, whofe Truth as it is fet forth in the holy Scriptures, that I think my felf con- cerned to fupport or defend; which are two very different and very important Points, and ought to be kept carefully diftinguifhed. However they have been confufed together, in the Gene- rality of the Cornells that have been raifed about them, by theGenerality of the Difputants about them, fince the Time that Arius, ignorant or over-looking, and not confidering the ien- fible Reprefentation that God had been gra- cioufly pleafed to make of himfelf, in "his divinely revealed Word ; and consequently ignorant of the true Senfe and Meaning of many particular Texts of Scripture relating to the divine Trinity in Unity in the one God-, head, is rendered moft clearly conceivable by one of thefe Reprefentations ; and to the one Godhead of the only begotten Son the Man Jefus Chrijty in moft intimate Unity with his Father, firft troubled the Church, by broaching his moft impious and wicked- making Doctrines, denying a divine Trinity in efiential Unity in the one Jehovah or di- vine Effence ; and the one Godhead of Jefus Cbri/t, in the moft intimate Unity with his g 2 Father, cii The P R E F A C E. Father, as fet forth in the holy Scriptures And the Continuance of thefe virulent Con- tends in the Christian Church, have been owing to thofe reputed Orthodox, who have like- wife over-looked the ferifiblc Reprefenta- tions, which God hath been pleafed to make of himfelf-, and therefore have not diftin- guifhed between the co -eternal and co-eflen- tial, and co-equal Son in the divine Tri- nity ; and the only begotten Son, the Man Chrijl Jefus, in whom the whole three Per- fons in the divine Trinity dwelt, and have often confounded the one with the other; and their Contefts about the Doctrine of the Trinity, with their Difputes about the God- head of ye/us Chrift, which are two very different Points, and ought never to be con- fidered together in any Controverfy raifed about either, becaufe great Perplexity and Confufion will be occasioned by fo doing. All the unintelligible and perplexing Jargon and Nonfenfe, that hath been uttered in the Controverfy that hath for many Ages been carried on about the divine Trinity hath been occasioned by inconfiderate Men's con- tending for the Man yefus Chrijl, the only begotten Son of God, his being the Perfon called the Son in the divine Trinity : Whereas according to the Doctrine of the holy Scrip- tures, and the fenfible Reprefentation that God hath made there of himfelf, he is no more a Perfon in the divine Trinity, than any The P R E F A C E. cm any other Man that ever lived in the World. And by that fenfible Reprefentation that God hath made of himfelf, by the material and vifible Heavens, the divine Trinity of three Perfons co-eternal, co-effential, and in all Refpeds co-equal in the Unity of the one Jehovah, or divine Effence, is as clear and conceivable a Truth, as any in the natural or material and vifible World, as hath been fhewn in the annext Treatife. And by re- moving the Man Jefus Cbrift, the only be- gotten Son of God, from among the Perfons of the divine Trinity, we may clearly per- ceive by the Light of the holy Scriptures ; which tells us, that they to whom the Word of God came, are called Gods : (7, e.) They who fincerely believe that Word, and walk according to the Meafure of the holy Spirit of Faith, which they thereby obtain : So far think and fpeak, and a£t as God does ; and He fo far lives and dwells in them, and they in him ; and fo far all their Thoughts, Words, and Actions, may as properly be faid to be his as theirs; and fo his Thoughts, Words, and A£tions> may be faid as properly to be fo far theirs as his ; and fo far they may be faid to be God's, as truly as he is God. And yet their Godhead is not a Godhead dif- ferent from, but fo far one and the fame Godhead with his : By this I fay, we may clearly conceive, how the Godhead of Jcfus Chrifty is one and theYame Godhead with the g 3 Faith civ The PREFACE. Father's, and how together with his Father* (/. e.) the whole divine Trinity dwelling in him, in all that Fulnefs of the Godhead, and operating or acling in all Things in, and to- gether with him ; and he in and together with them : His Will, Words and Actions, being one and the fame with theirs ; fo that all his Thoughts, Words and A&ions, might with as great Propriety be afcribed to his Fa- ther as to him 5 and all his Father's Will, Thoughts, Words, and Actions, might with equal Propriety be afcribed to him, as he fa id, all Things that the Father hath are mine 1 and therefore, he in Refpect of the Godhead that dwelt in him, was equal to his Father, his Father's Godhead and his being one ; and all this by Means of the holy -Spirit of Faith, which he had commu- nicated to him without Meafure. So that by the Light of the holy Scriptures, we may clearly conceive the Godhead of Jefus Chri/f, to be one and the fame with his Father's, and therefore in Refped: of his Godhead, he was equal to his Father. And is not this a moil: comfortable and encouraging 'Doflrine to all Mankind, to imitate our Lord Jcjus Cirri ft, and embrace a Meafure of that holy Spirit of Faith, that we may become thereby holy and righteous, and happy as Gods, as He by having that holy Spirit of Faith without Meafure, became one with, and equal to God his Father, in HolineA and Happinefs, and all The PREFACE. cv all other divine Perfections. And as it will appear to every inconfiderate Perfon, whP attentively reads the holy Scriptures, that God never revealed* any Article of Faith to Man- kind, that did not tend powerfully to mov^ them to mortify and purify themfelves from all bodily Lufts, and to love him with all their Hearts, that they might be like him, holy and righteous, and perfe&ly happy both temporally and everlaftingly : So every fuch Perfon will clearly perceive this to be the true, fcriptural Do&rine concerning the God- head of J ejus Chrijl ; together with the Falfhood and Wickednefs of the Ariany and Sabelliany and Socinian Docflrines, and of the late Refiners upon both, which our Au- thor has laboured to revive and reftore again to the World, which have no Tendency to move Men either to mortify or purify them- felves from their bodilv Lufts, or to love God with all their Hearts ; but to lead them away from the Belief of this true, fcriptural Doc- trine, of the true Godhead of "Jefus Chrijl, by which they are moil powerfully moved to do both. He tells us, Se&ion cxvii. that he will rea- dily give up the Infallibility of the primitive Fathers. And he is right in fo doing, where the'r Do&rines and Precepts are not ftri&ly confident with, and conformable to the di- vinely revealed fundamental Articles of the fcriptural and fpiritual Faith, and the divine-. S 4 ly cvi The PREFACE. ly revealed original and fundamental fpiritual and fcriptural Law, which were given to our fir it Parents; which can be fhewn to be de- mon ft ratively true and perfectly righteous, as well as divinely revealed and indifpenfably neceffary, to be fincerely and truly believed, and perfectly obeyed in order to true and fpi- ritual Sanctification and Salvation, and true and rational Happinefs, both temporal and cverlafling ; they being the only infallible Truths by which Mankind can be rendered infallible in all their religious Doctrines and Precepts. And fo far, and io far only, the Doctrines of the primitive Fathers, are to be looked upon as infallibly true ; and their Precepts to be infallibly righteous, as they are found upon Trial, to be (trictly confiftcnt with, and conformable to thefe divinely re- vealed fundamental Articles of Faith, and this divinely* revealed fundamental, and fpi- ritual and fcriptural Law. By which we may perceive, that the Doctrines and Pre- cepts of the primitive Fathers are not be- lieved and obeyed on their own Authority, or on Account of their having been taught by them ; ' but on Account of their Con- formity to that Faith and Law, which can be demon (tratively fhewn to be true, and per- fectly righteous, and divinely revealed, and indifpentafaly n try to be fincerely ar.d duly believed and obeyed, in order to Sanc- taxation, Salvation, and eternal Li e. And as The PREFACE. cvii as this Faith and Law are felf-fufficient, an indifpenfably necefiary to be believed and obeyed, and all the Things that are necefia- ry to be known, believed, or done by Man- kind, in order to their Attainment of thefe great, good, and neaffary Ends, they are the only Things that ought to be taught, and conftantly and perpetually inculcated by the true and truly ordained Minifters of the true Apoftclical Church of God, by a faith- ful and conftant Adminift ration of thofe di- vinely, inftituted, inftrudive, and memorial ritual Ordinances, which God hath appointed to be publickly adminiftered and attended upon, and obferved for inftruding Mankind in the Knowledge of this Faith and Law ; and for putting and keeping them continually in Mind of both, and of the indifpenfable Neceffity, as well as the Self-fufficiency of perfevering in the fmcere and true Belief of the one, and imperfect Obedience to the other in order to Sandification, Salvation and eter- nal Life. And every true Church of God, that teaches thefe Things, and thefe Things only, may with the greateft TruIi be- faid to be Injallible, in all her Dodrines, and in all her Precppts both moral and ritual. And till fuch Times as the Church of God, is permitted to come to this State of Infalli- bility by a farther Reformation, fo as to be able to fhew that the few Dodrines or Ar- ticles of Faith, which fhV teaches, and re* quires cviii The PREFACE. quires Mankind to believe, and all the Pre" cepts which (lie teaches and enjoins Mankind to obferve and obey, are perfedly conform- able to the fundamental Articles of the di- vinely revealed fpiritual, and fcriptural Faith ; and the divinely revealed fundamental fpiri- tual and fcriptural Law, and confequently felf-fufficient and indifpenfably necefTary to be believed and obeyed, in order to fpiritual San&ification, Salvation, and eternal Life. And that every Part of her liturgical Service, which her Mini/iers are canonically and le- gally enjoined, publickly and conftantly to read to their People, tends to put and keep them in Mind of this divinely revealed Faith and Law ; and therefore proper and neceffary to be publickly read to them, whenever they are aflembled and met together, publickly to worfhip God, both with fpiritual and bodily Worfhip. And that the Homilies or Ser?)ions, which her Minifters are canoni- cally and legally enjoined, conftantly and pub- lickly to read, or preach to their refpe&ive Congregations, contain nothing but the fun- damental Articles of the divinely revealed, fpiritual and fcriptural Faith -, and the divine- ly revealed fundamental fpiritual and fcriptu- ral Law : And demonftrative Proofs of their divine Original or Revelation ; and cf their Perfection, and perfect and evident Truth and Righteonfnels -, and of their Self-fuffi- ciency, and of the indifpenfable Neceflity of The PREFACE. cxi of fincerely and truly believing the one and obeying the other, in order to Sandification, Salvation, and eternal Life • together with the demonftrative Proofs of the divine Ori- ginal and Inftitution of the inftrudive and memorial ritual Ordinances, and of the true and only End for which they were inftituted, and of their Propriety for anfwering that for which they were appointed, when duly attended upon and obferved, when admi- n'ftered by thofe Perfons, and thofe only, whom God hath appointed and authorized publickly to adminifter them, according to God's Appointment after the mod edifying or inftrudtive Manner 5 and of their own divine Miffion. Therefore I fay, till fuch Times as the Church of God difperfed over the different Nations upon the Earth be permitted by the Civil Powers of the World, to affemble within their refpedive Jurifdidions, and authorita- tively to compile fuch a Syftem of Homilies or Sermons, and canonically and legally oblige all her Minifters to read or preach thefe Dif- courfes, and thefe only to their refpedive Congregations publickly affembled to worfhip God, and to make fuch Reforms in her Ar- ticles, and Liturgies, as may be judged proper and neceffary to be made, by which and by which only, fhe can be rendered infallibly true, and perfectly righteous, in Refped of all her Dodrines, and Precepts, both moral and ritual. There can be but very little well-grounded Hope, of reviving and reftoring the ex The PREFACE. the one and only true, and divinely revealed, fanctifying, and faving fpiritual and fcriptural, and truly chriflian Religion to the World again ; and together with it true Piety and Charity, and Righteoufnefs, and every other Kind of moral Virtue: And putting an effen- tial Stop and an End, to all Kinds of He- reiies and Schifms, by whofe Means Super- perftion or falfe Religion, and Enthufiafm, and all Kinds of Wickednefs, open and avow- ed, and hopocntical and clandeffine, have been .introduced, and have long continued, and greatly abounded, among all Ranks and Orders of Mankind, in all States and Stations from the higheft to the loweft. In his cxix. and in the following xiii. Sec- tions, our Author has needlefly laboured to ihew what were the unintelligible Notions of the Egyptians, and Pythagoreans, and Pla- ionijls% of the divine Trinity, and the diffe- rent Opinions of Clemens Alexandri?ius, and of St. Cyril of Alexandria, concerning Plato's Doctrine of the Trinity. On theft Sections i have not made any Obfervations, becaufe I think the producing the Opinions of thefe, or any other antient Phllofcphers, to be no Way pertinent to the Point in Controverfy 5 for whether they be true or falfe, they are of no Weight or Ufe in determining, whe- ther the Doctrine of the divine Trinity in Unity, be true or not : For Truth and Falfe- hood are not to be determined by any hu- man The PREFACE. cxi man Authority, and the only two Points to be confidered concerning the Doctrine -, are Fir/1, Whether it be true or not ; and Second- lyt Whether the believing it to be true, be more beneficial to Mankind, than either the Doctrine of the Arians or Sociniamy who deny a Trinity of the three real divine Perfons in the Unity of the one Godhead, and of the late Refiners upon them, who teach that there are three Perfons. in the divine Trinity, but deny their Co-eternity, Co-eflentiality and Co-equality, and hold that the Perfons dif- tingu iflied by the Name of the Father in that Trinity only, is eternal and underived, fupreme and independent. And that the other two distinguished by the Names of the Son and Holy Spirit (for they hold that je/hs Chriji the only begotten Son of God is one of the Perfons in the divine Trinity, and fo have blended the Conteft about the Divinity of je/us Chriji, with that of the Trinity) are derivative and dependent, and inferior, but diftinct Gods, as fo three diftinct and different Gods, which Doctrine our Author hath efpoufed, and hath endeavoured with them to lead Mankind into the Belief that there are two or three Kinds of divine Worfhip ; one, which they call fupreme, and which, they fay, is only to be paid to the perfonal Father, who (as they fay) is exclufively of the other two, the fupreme God. And the other two Kinds of Worfhip they call inferior Worfhip, cxii The PREFACE. Worfhip, and fay that they are to be paid to the different and inferior Gods. Our Author goes on and tells us, Se&ion cxxiii. That the Do&rine of the three Ey- po/iafes was neither the Do&rine of St. Atha- nafniSy nor any of the Nicene Fathers ; and his Reafon for faying fo is, that both the one and the others infifted that there was but one U/ia, and the Words Hypo/iajis and Ufia are but different Words for one and the fame Thing, viz. Effence or Subftance. I think nothing more need be faid in Refuta- tion, or for {hewing the Falfhood of this Pofition, than that both St. Athanafius, and the Nicene Fathers held; that there were three Perfons in the divine Trinity -, for it will be /hewn by and by, why thefe Perfons were called Hypoftafes, rather than ZJJias. And although it be true that both Athanafius^ and the other Nicene Fathers, held U/ia and Hypoftafis to fignify one and the fame Thing ; yet his Inferences from thence are not Truths. Firft, He infers from thence, that faying the three Perfons in the divine Trinity, are one U/ia, and three Hypo/laps -, is faying that one Subftance is three Subftances at the fame Time, which he fays, is a Contradiction in Terms. Secondly, He together with Voffhis infer from thence, that the Creed, commonly called the Creed of St. Athanajiu^ is not his. And, "Thirdly, The PREFACE. cxiii Thirdly, That the Creed commonly called St. Athanajius's Creed, contradicts the Nicene Creed. The one aflerting, that there are three Hyphthefes in the divine Trinity, and the other, that the Son is the fame individual Hypoftafis with the Father. In Anfwer to the firft of thefe Inferences, and to fhew it is a Falfhood, I mull obferve that if it had been faid in the Creed, that there was but one indivifible and infeparable Subftance Ufa or Hypoftafis in the divine Tri- nity ; and that there' were three fpecifically different, divided, and feparated, and fo in- dependent Subftances in the Trinity, at one and the fame Time, that the Creed would have fet forth a moft evident Contradiction in Terms. But by the fenfible Reprefcntation, which God hath been gracioufly pleafed to make of himfelf, by the material and vifiblc Heavens, in order to enable Mankind to form a juft and true, and ufeful Notion of his Man- ner of fubfifting, in a Plurality of three fub- ftantial intelligent Agents, all of one and the fame indivifible and infeparable Subftance, in the one Jehovah, or divine Effence, but differing from each other in their States, Forms, Motions, and Manners of operating or acting, fo as that they might be properly called three different fubftantial, intelligent Agents or Perfons, fo perfectly diftinguifhed from each other, that no one ©f them can be faid to be either of the other ; and yet fo cxiv The PREFACE. fo co-operating together, although in different Ways and Manners, and fo dependent upon each other in all their different Operations; that no one of them could poffibly move, operate, or act, if they did not all co-operate together in the one indivifible and infepara- ble Subftance 5 fo that they may all as pro- perly be called one Subftance as three, and and three as one. And as all God's Reve- lations concerning his Manner of fubfifting in Plurality in Unity are conformable to this fenfibly perceptible Reprefentation he hath been pleafed to make of himfelf. There- fore to fay, that one Subftance is three different Subftances in different Refpects, or that three different Subftances are one and the fame individual Subftance in different Refpects, are (o far from being Contradictions in Terms, or in the Things fignified by the Terms that they are moft clearly conceivable Truths, by Means of that Reprefentation that God hath been pleafed to make of himfelf, and which I have fo clearly fhewn in the annext Trea- tife. And if our Author had happened to have recollected and confidered this Repre- fentation which God hath been pleafed to make of his Manner of fubfifting in Plura- lity in Unity. I believe he would have been a little more cautions and prudent, and would not readily have denounced that to be a Con- tradiction, which is a moft clear and conceiv- able Truth. More- The PREFACE. cxv Moreover the Author of the Creed com- monly afcribed to St. Athana/ius (iince U/ia and Hypojiafn iignify one and the fame Thing) might have had very good Reaibn for choofing to ufe the Word Hypo/ia/is, where he has ufed it, in fpeaking of the divine Perfons, rather than the Word U/ia. This latter being applicable to all Kinds of Subftance, and to Jehovah, before he became Elobim, and chofe to fubfift perianal ly : Therefore he might have rather chofe it, to iignify perfonal Sub- fiance by, in order to diftinguiih between Effence or Subftance in general, and the per- fonal Subftance ; for if he had ufed U,. '., where be^has jafed Hypo/lajis, Hypoflcyis, for the Sake of Diftindtion between the general and perfonal Subftance, would have been more proper to have been put in the Place of JJfia. Either one or the other, overthrow both the Arian and Sabellian Hypothefes ; for by either the Co-eternity and Cohfubftantialiry and Co- equality of the Perfons arc maintained again ft the Artans, and there being three real and fubflantial Perfons, and not three Nam for one and the fame Thing is afferted in Con- tradiction to Sabellians. Secondly, we may clearly perceive by what hath been laid, that the Creed, that goes under the Name of St. Atbanajius, may be his, notwithstanding all that our Author irom . Vofjhs hath laid to the contrary ; and that this Doftrine, of the three Hypo/iajes truly h an- CXvi The PREFACE. I ierfiood, and as 1 have now explained it, bv the heavenly Reprefentation, is not only the true icriptural Doctrine concerning the divine Trinity in Unity, but alio was the Doctrine of the Nicene Fathers, who held three Pcrfons in the divine Trinity ; for it is not inconiiftcnt, but perfectly confident with the ccmfubftantial Doctrine, or with the Be- lief that the three Perfons different from each other in Refped: of their States, Forms, Mo- tions and Actions, arc one and the lame in- dividual and infeparabie Subftance as hath been {hewn by the heavenly Rcprefenta- tion. And, Thirdly, we may likewife moft clearly per- ceive by what hath been faid before, that the Creed commonly called the Creed of St. Athanafiu^ is fo far from contrajd idling the Nicene Creed, (as our Author by not confi* dering the fehfible Reprefentation which God hath been pleafed to make of himielf in his holy Word, nor the Doctrine of the holy Scriptures conformable thereunto, hath in* considerately aflertedi that it is perfectly con- fident with it; for the three Hypofla/es in the Athdnalian Creed, explained by and accord- ing to that heavenly Reprefentation, h been (hewn to be p iy confiftent with the Confubftantiality red and fet forth in the A My D in the . I Treatife concern- hi? the divine Tri Perfons in effential ° ' T T * Unity. The P RE FACE. cxvli Unity, and the Godhead of J-fus Chrift the only begotten Son of God, whofe Godhead I have there fhewn to be one and the fame with his Father's ; was to mew the Truth of both thofe Doctrines and the Conceiv- ablenefs of them, as they are reprefented and fet forth in the holy Sc» iptures -, and the great and spiritual Benefits and Encouragements to the Love of God, and to Holinefs, and per- fect Obedience to the Law of perfect Purity and Righteou fnefs, thofe two Things that are indifpenfably neceiiary in order to Sanctifica- tion, Salvation, and true and rational Happi- nefs both temporal and everlafting, that are to be obtained by the fincefe and true Be- lief of thefe two Doctrines. And therefore, I had no Intention to concern myfelf with what the Fathers of the chriftian Church, and Councils had laid, concerning either of thefe Points, becaufe neither their Authority, nor any other human Authority, ever was, or ever can be of any Weight in determin- ing, whether any Points of Doctrine are true or falfe. However, learned but inconfiderate Men, have too often; and too long urged their Authority as of Weight m fuch Cafes j for which Reafon I made ufe of no other Arguments, than thofe which the holy Scrip- tures afford, whofe Truth is fupported by the Reafon of Things, and which are the only Arguments that are pertinent and proper, in all Caies where the Truth or Falfhood of a h z Doctrine. cxviii The PREFACE. Doctrine, which hath an Influence upon moral Practice, is the Point in Debate. But as our Author has denied the Truth of thefe true and truly fcriptural, and fpiritually be- neficial Doctrines, and has zealoufly but vain- ly laboured tp explode and extirpate the Be- lief of them out of the Minds of Mankind, and hath brought in fome of the Nicene Fathers, as contradicting others with Refpect to thefe two Doctrines of the Trinity^ and the Godhead of J ejus drift. And as I have in the annext Treatife fully proved the Truth of both thofe fcriptural Doctrines, and the Beneficialnefs of fincerely and truly believing them 5 fo I thought it not amifs to fay fo much in few Words in this Preface, (which our Author has been the Occafion of my troubling the World with) as I think iufficient to convince him, that the Orthodox Nicene Fathers have not contradicted one ano- ther in any Thing they have faid concerning any of thefe Doctrines. i have before obferved, that both the Doctrine of the divine Trinity, and that of the Godhead of Jefus Chrift, have been great- ly perplexed, by Perfons, who without fcrip- tural Authority, have afferted J (1 s Chrill to be one of the Perlbns in the divine Trinity, and have blended thefe very dii rent Doctrines together in their* Con tefts about them, by which they rendered both incom- prchenfibk and unintelligible. Whereas the Author The PR E FACE. cxlx Author of the Athanafian Creed, hath been very careful to fet thele forth as very diffe- rent Doctrines, that ought not to be jumbled and treated of together ; and he hath fet forth the Doctrine of the divine Trinity, in perfect Conformity to the Reprefentation and the Revelations made concerning it in the holy Scriptures, more fully and clearly, than it is in any of the other antient Creeds, which have been continued in the Chriftian Church. He tells us, That the one God ts to be wor- foipped in Trinity y and the Trinity in Unity y (i. e ) the three fubtlantial Agents, which con-- ftitute the divine Trinity, io differ from each other, in refpect of their State, Forms, Mo- tions and Actions, that one can not be called the other ; and therefore mull neceffarily be called, as they really in thefe Refpe&s are, three different fubftantial intelligent Agents or Perfons, and yet in refpect of their Effence or Subftance they muft be called, as they really are, but one individual and infeparable Sub- ftance, and io con/ubflantial ; and this is ren- dered moffc clearly conceivable by the fenfible Reprefentation that God hath been gracioufly pleafed to make of himfelf by the material and vifible Heavens, as I have (hewn in the an- nexed Treatife. And therefore he truly fays, the Perfons are not to confounded, as they have bern by the Sabcllians ; nor the Subftance to be divided, as it hath, by thofc who ha\e h 3 con- cxx The PRE FA C E. contended for jfefus Cbrifl's being one cf the Perfons in the divine Trinity. And when he fays there is one Tlypoflafis or Sub/lance, or Per Jon of the Father, and ano- ther of the Son, and another of the holy Ghojl. We may clearly perceive by his Say- ing, that the Subftance is not to be divided, that he did not mean by another Hypo(iafisl Subftance or Per/bny a Perfon of a fpccirically different Subftance from, but of one and the fame individual Subftance with the Father, but another different from him, not in refped of Subftance, but of its State, Form, Mo- tion, and Adion, as is rendered clearly con- ceivable by the Heavens by Representation ; and therefore they are, as he lays, all co-eter- nal, co-effential, and in all Refpeds, co-equal ; and as none of the three can move or act un- lefs all the three move and acT: together, ahbo' they be three, and that each of them may be ft r icily or properly called God, yet as no one of them can be called God exclufive of the other two, yet as he fays there are not three Gods, nor three Locds. And he fays the Son is of the Father a- lone, not made nor created, but I en. V/e are not to understand this of the Man yejiis Clrift , who is in another Senfe called the only begotten Son or God, but of the eo-cternal and co*e^fentia'l Perfon, diftinguiftv* ed by the Name of the Son in the divine Trinity, for he doth not (peak oi theft two ins The PREFACE. cxxi Sons together s and bv the Reorefentation we may clearly conceive how the Son, in Refpect of his EfTence or Subftancc, may be faid to be begotten or generated by the Fa- ther ; for although the Light in the material Heavens fhone forth as foon as the Fire was kindled in their Center, yet it was generated by, and ifiued from the Fire, and therefore might properly be called the Son, and be faid to be generated or begotten by that Fire. And as the Perfon called the Father in the divine Trinity is fenfibly reprefented by the Fire in the material and vifible Heavens; and as the Perfon called the Son in the divine Trinity is reprefented by the Light in the material Heavens, we may thereby clearly conceive, how the fecond Perfon in the divine Trinity, although co-eternal with his Father in refpecl of his Kiience or Subftance, may (trictlv and properly be called his Son, and be f iid to be generated or begotten of him, however- paradoxical it may appear when reprefented by Words, which do no< always fully and clearly exprefs cur Conceptions. And having more fully and explicitly and conceivably explained and fet forth the Doc- tnine of the divine Trinity in Unity, as it is reprefented and fct forth in theholyScripturcs, than it is in any of the other antient Creeds; and as a diftind Doctrine by itielf, and ne- ceffary to be believed, in order to Salvation and eternal Life : He then proceeds- to (hew h 4 the cxxii 1 he P R E F A C E. the Godhead of Jc/usCbrift to be one and the lame with hi- Father's, (/'. e.) with the Godhead of the divine Trinity, who dwelt in him in all the Fulnefs of the Godhead, as another diftinct Doctrine neceflary to be be- lieved by Mankind, in order to Salvation and eternal Life. But it mull be acknowledged that he hath not been fo explicit, and lull and clea.r upon this Point as he hath been upon that of the divine Trinity in Unity, al- though he hath laid what isfufficicnt to con- vince Mankind, ' that his Belief of this c Point was conformable to the Doctrine of * the holy Scriptures, and that he believed c that the Godhead of the Man *Jefui Cbrift c was oneai.d the fame with thai of God c Father {i.e.) of the whole Divine Trinity c who dwell in him.' And as Jejus Cbnjl was perfect God and, perfect Man, and that it it neceflary to believe he was both, is with de- claring his Incarnation by wjjich he became perfect Man, by which his human Soul, or fcminal Body, together with his human Spi- rit which were created before the Wor] and together with God his Father, who had HOtonlyclI ntially but fpimually united him- him, and came one in all Re- js with him, took human Flefh upon , jnthcWomboJ the bleiTed Virgin Ma- ry his i id. The PREFACE. cxxiii And accordingly he fays, he was God of the Sub/lance of his Father begotten before the World: And Man of the Su/tatjce oj bis Mother born in the World, By which we here underftand according to the holy Scrip- tures, that God not only by uniting the di- vine Subftance to the Soul or feminal Body, and Spirit oijefus Chrift, whom he had created and produced into Being before the Creation of the World, or any other Creature, (for God exifls, or is in and through, and over all his Creatures, elTentially or fubftantially) but by dwelling in him, by the holy Spirit of Faith, which he communicated to him without Meafure, he became God. All God's 'Will, his Thoughts, Words, and Actions, and all his other divine Perfections, thereby having become his : And therefore, he is {aid to be God of the Subftance of his Father, begotten before the Worlds, on Account of the divine Subilauce, together with all theFulnefs of the Godhead, and all the divine Perfections communicated to him, with that divine Sub- ftance and dwelling in him. Which appears plainly to be the Meaning and Belief of the Author of this Creed, by his calling him perfect: God, and equal to.the Father, as touching his Godhead ; although inferior to him, as touch- ing his Manhood j and although both God and Man, not two, but one Chriji ; and one r.ot by Converfion of the Godhead into Flefh, Lut by taking the Manhood into God, not only cxxiv The PREFACE. only by Cbri/l's being in him, and he being in Chriji fubilantially {for fo all Mankind, and all other Creatures are in him, and he in them) but by this dwelling in Chrift, and Chrift in them, by the Unity and Commu- nity of one and the fame holy Spirit, by which their Wills, Thoughts, Words, and A&ions all became one and the fame, as I have before obferved. And he hath very juftly and ufefully de- clared, that the Faith concerning both thefe Doctrines, which he hath fet forth according to the holy Scriptures, is neceiTary to be be- lieved in order to Salvation and eternal Life. For that Faith moil evidently contains mod powerful Motives to move Mankind to love God with all their Flearts, and to mortify and purify themfelves from all bodily Lulls, which are two Things which are indifpenfa- bly necefiary to be done, in order to the Attainment of ihofe great, good, and necef- fary Ends. And by the Denial of the true fcriptural Faith, concerning thefe two Doc- trines, and by teaching any other Belief con- cerning them, Men are deprived of thole powerful Motives, by which they would be powerfully moved to do thofe Things which are fclf-fufficiei* and indifpeniably neceffarily to be done, in order to the Attainment of Salvation and eternal Life. And therefore, I fay, that what he declared is Truth, and highly nccefliiry, and always reasonable to be The PREFACE. cxxv be declared in the Church of God, that he that doth not keep the catholic Faith whole and undented, will pcrilh everlaftingly. And that the catholic Faith, concerning the divine Trinity in Unity ; and concerning the God- head of Jefiis Cnrift) being as he from the holy Scriptures hath declared them to be : Therefore, every one that will be faved, muft think of the Trinitv, and of the Godhead of Jejus Chrijt, as he from the holy Scriptures hath declared them to be, other wife he cannot be faved. And it is farther obfervable, that as the Author of the Athanafian Creed, hath been very full and particular in his Explication of the Doctrines of the divine Trinity in Unity, but more concife in his Explication of the Divinity, or Godhead of Jejus Cbrift, in the Creed fet forth by him. So on the other hand the Fathers of the Nicene Council, in the Creed fet forth by them, have fet forth concifely the Doctrine of the divine Trinity, but have more at large fet forth the Divinity of Jejus Cbriji, than Athanafius hath done. But that the Doctrines of both the Creeds, concerning both thefe Points are perfectly confident with the Doctrine of the holy Scriptures concerning them, and that there- fore the Doctrines of thefe two Creeds, are perfectly confident with each other ; for it hath been (hewn before, that the three Hy- pojiajes mentioned in the Athanafian Creed, are cxxvi The PREFACE. are perfectly confident with the Confubftan- tiality mentioned in the Nicene. And that therefore, they do not contradict each other as our Author has inconfiderately affdrted. And as to his charging it as an Error in the Church of Rome, to believe the Word Hy- poftafis, to fignify a fubftantial, intelligent Agent or Perfon, if (lie was guilty of no- thing but this which he calls an Error, I ihould look on her to be both a pure, and uncorrupted, and infallible Church, in Re- peel: of her Faith. But as (he teaches, that Jcfus Cbriff, perfect God and perfect Man, is one of the Perfons in the divine Trinity, it is very evident that (he hath not a right and true Notion of the three PeiTons in the Tri- nity ; and that therefore the Faith winch ihe teaches, with Refpedt both to that Article, and to that of the true Godhead of Jtfus Chrift is erronious, as her Faith in many other Points is -, and confequently, many of her Precepts both moral and ritual muft neceffarily be, as I have fhewn them to be unrighteous, and deftructive of true and Spi- ritual Sanctificatibn, and confequently of Sal- vation and eternal Life. As to his faying, Section exxxviii. That alt lough the Relation between two co-eternal and coe-qual Beings might hear feme Analogy to the Denomination of Brothers, yet it Jeems abfolutely inconfi/tent with that of Father and Son. 1 refer him lor better Information in this The PREFACE, cxxvii this Cafe, to the fenfible Reprefentation that God hath been pleafed to make of himfclf by the material and vifible Heavens, in his divinely revealed and holy Word, in order to enable Mankind to form a juft and true No.tion, of his Manner of fubfifting in a Plurality of three Perfons, whom he hath been pleafed to diftinguifti by the Names of Father, Son% and holy Spirit, (at which our Author feems offended, and charges his fo doing with Impropriety or Inconfiitency) in the one eternal Jehovah, or divine Effence : And to what I have faid in the annext Treatife concerning it, and the divine Perfons fenfibly fignified and repreiented by it j where he will find Co- eternity and Co-equality, to be fo far from being abjolutely inconfiftent with, that they are perfectly confident with the Denominations of Father and Son in the divine Trinity, as I have likewife before ob- ierved, and briefly but clearly fhewn. More- over, had he duly confidered the holy Scrip- tures, he would have perceived that all Mankind who have ever exifted in the World under the different Denominations of Fathers and Sons, as well as oi Brothers, were cotem- porary and co-equal ; and that therefore there was no Inconfiitency in afcribing Co-eternity and Co-equality to both the Perfons diftin- guifhed by the Names of the Father and the Son in the divine Trinity ; for every human Son, may truly be faid to have been always co* cxxviii The PREPUCE. cotemporary with, and co-equal to his Father in Rdpecl of his Exigence. In his Section exxxviii. he has miftaken the only begotten Son of God, the Man Je/us Chrift, for the Perfon diftinguifhed by the Name of Son in the divine Trinity, and fo confounded the one with the other, which ought to be always diflinguiihed from each other. The Son in the divine Trinity, can be demonftratively (hewn to be confubftantial, and therefore co-eternal and co-equal in all Refpecls with the Perfon called the Father in the divine Trinity. Whereas no true Member of the one and only true catholic Church of God, ever afferted, that the only begotten Son of God, the Man Chrifi 'J ejus was co-effential and co-eternal and co-equal in all P.efpe&s with his Father, [u e.) the whole divine Trinity, but only in Reipecl of his Godhead, which was one and the fame with his Father's, which dwelt in him in all its Fulnefs, being equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead ; and inferior to the Father, as touching his Manhood : So that the only begotten Son the Man J ejus Chrifi% wras not God ircm all Eternity, nor before his human Nature was produced into Being before the World's, but from the Time that God mod intimately united him to himfelf, and made him one God together with him- felf; he then became in Reiptct of his God- head, co-eternal, co-cfiential, and in that Refpcdl The PREFACE. ctxix Refpect co-equal with his Father, and in that Refpect together with his Father, he might moil ftrictly and properly be called the eternal God. In his Section exxxix. he tells us, that the Reafon which led the Compilers of the Nicene Creed into the Determination of the Confab - flantiality of the Father and the Son, was the Arian Doctrine, of the Sons being begotten of the Father before all Times and Ages, and therefore fub filled only through the Father s Will: But that he was not eternal, (i. e.) co- eternal with the Father, nor did he come into Exifience along with the Father. This is very true Doctrine with Refpect to the Manhood of Jefus Chrijl, and therefore very Ipecious ; but this was all they acknow- ledged, or profefled to believe concerning him, for they denied his Godhead, which the holy Scriptures have fo fully and plainly fet forth, which they have induflrioufly, but vainly laboured to wreft, fo as to favour their impious and wicked- making Belief, where they found they could not obliterate or ex- punge their Teftimony. The Nicene Fathers,- in order to refute this impious and wicked Doctrine, compiled and fet forth their Creed, wherein they ac- cording to the Doctrine of the holy Scriptures, declare him to be of the Sub/lance of the Father, and confubftantially with the Father, in Refpect of his Godhead, who did not only ofiK The P REFAC E. only fubftantially exift in him, as he does in, through, and over all Mankind, and all Crea- tures y but dwelt and operated, or ac~bd in him, by being molt intimately united to him, fo as to become one God together with him, by Means of the holy Spirit of Faith com- municated to him without Meafure, as I have before obferved. And by which his Co-eternity and Co-equality in Refpect of his Godhead, would confequently moll: fully and clearly appear. But our Author was fo far from labouring to fhew and iupport the fcriptural Truth fet forth in this Creed, that he has laboured with as great Zeal to ex- plode and deftroy the Belief of it, as he had before (hewn, to difcredit the true fcriptural •Faith, let forth in the Creed afcribed to St. Atbanafeus. And as thefe Nice?:e Fathers had annext fome Anathemas to their Creed, by which fuch as did not hold the true fcriptural Faith concerning Jefus, were declared ana- thematized, (/. e.) feparated from the Com- munion of the holy catholick Church. He fays in his Section cxliii. that it does not feem eafy to explain what is meant by their firit Anathema, curled [or feparated be they from the Communion of the catholic Church] who fay, there was a Time when the Son was notr and that he did not exift before he was begotten. But what he makes fo great a Difficulty to explain, will be very eajy to The PREFACE. exxxi to fuch Perfons as by the Son here, under- fland the Godhead which was moft intimate- ly united to him, which being one and the fame with his Father's, exifted really and actually, and not potentially from all Eter- nity ; as for the Doctrine of the eternal Generation of the Son, either in Refpect of his Godhead or Manhood, I look upon it to have been introduced by Perfons who neither under flood the true fcriptural Doctrine of either the divine Trinity, or of the Godhead of Jefits ChriJ}, the only begotten Son of God; and who have therefore confounded the one with the other : for although the co- effential Son, who was in all Refpects co- equal with his Father, was co-eternal with him : And although the Godhead of the only begotten J ejus Chrift% who was, and is one and the fame with his Fathers, was from all Eternity in Refpect of its effential or fubflantial Exigence; yet neither the Ge- neration of the one nor the other, can be laid or conceived to be from all Eternity. As to his laying to this Efieff, that there are fome who fay, that there are fome Things which Mankind are obliged to believe in order to their Salvation and eternal Life> which they cannot comprehend nor under- fland. 1 think this holds as Ariel ly true of of thofe wiio teach, that there are three Gods, viz, one iupreme and two inferior, and two or three different Kinds of divi q i Worfhi cxxxii The PREFACE. Worfhip, as it does of the Church of Rome, which teaches the incompreheniible and un- intelligible Doctrine of Tranfubftantiation, the one being as incomprehenfible as the other. And I am fure, it is as difficult to comprehend and underftand three diftinct and different created, and dependent infe- rior Gods, which mud be independent at the fame Time, if they have free Wills (and if they have not they muft be Machines, and no Gods) and the Confiitency of God's crea- ting two fuch inferior dependent and inde- pendent Gods, and of his inftituting the dif- ferent Kinds of divine Worfhip, with his pei feci Wifdom and Goodnefs, and how the Belief of three fuch Gods, and of three different Kinds of Worfhip can contribute to the Attainment of Salvation and eternal Life ; as it is to comprehend and underfland, anv of the abfurd and unintelligible Doctrines with which the Church of Rome, or any other fupcrftltious and fchifmatical Churches teach. And I have fully and clearly (hewn in my Apology, that God never required, and that no true Church of God ever enjoined her Members to believe any Doctrines that they could not clearly comprehend and un- ftand ; and that the fincere and true Belief or them hly ncceiLry for the At* ; t:on and Salvation, and true nal Happioefs both temporal ar.d cv And I have before in this Pre- The PREFACE, cxxxiii Preface, but more fully in theannextTreati/e (hewn, that the true fcriptural Do(ftrines of the divine Trinity in fubftantial Unity, and of the one Godhead of J ejus Chrift, together with his Father's, are not only mod clearly conceivable and intelligible Truths, but alfo Truths that are highly neceffary to be be- lieved by Mankind, in order to their Sanc- tification and Salvation, and eternal Life. So that the Defenders of thefe true, and truly fcriptural Doctrines, have not taken upon them to explain Things incomprehensible, and above the Reach of human Underftand- ftandings, as he in Section cliu liys they have ; nor have roared loud againft thofe who have attempted to fcrittimze the Things which be- hng to Heaven. Although they have labour- ed to awaken thofe into a Senfe of their Error and Wickednefs, who have been in- dubious in wrefting, and perverting the Senfe of the holy Scriptures, in order to lead Man- kind from the Belief of thofe Doctrines, which are fo neceffary to be believed by them, in order to their Salvation and eternal Life. He fays Section cxlix. That if the confub- ftantial Doctrine be true, and that the Son is the fame undivided Subftance with the Fa- ther ; if the Son entered into the Womb of the Virgin Mary and became incarnate, it will neceffarily follow, that the Father enter- ed the Womb of the Virgin, and became i 2 in- cxxxiv The PREFACE. incarnate there, his Confequence is very juft and very true \ for the divine Subftance is at all Times omniprefent, and in and through, and over all Things, in all Places, and there- fore in the Body of Chrijl in the Womb of the Virgin Mary, and as the Body of Chnjl became incarnate there ; fo God the Father who was fubflantially in the Body and Spirit ot ChrijU and moft intimately united to them, was at the fame Time together with them in the Womb of the Virgin 'Mary, and became incarnate there. I cannot fee the Reafon why our Author produced this Ar- gument, in order to overthrow the confub- itantial Dcclrine, and deftroy the Credit of the Nicene Creed, which manifeftly fhews the Truth of both s had he argued to Pur- pole, he fhould have (hewed if he could, that God who is omniprefent at all Times, was at a certain Time not in the Womb of the Virgin Mary, and that he did not there together with his only begotten Son Jcfus Chrijl take human Flefh upon him. Flavins; got into this Way of reafoning without Consideration, he goes and lays, Sedion cl. That if God and Mail be one Chi id, and ij Chrift fuffired for the Sins of Mankind, it neccjjanly follows that Chrift Juffered in bis Godhead, as well as his Hu- nity9 fince otherwise it would have been the Man Jcfus, and not Jems the Meffiah, that J'uffered jor the Sins uf Men. Had our Au- thor The PREFACE. cxxxv hor duly confidered the holy Scriptures, and the true End for which Cbrift fuffered, and what it is that Men are taught to call to Mind by the Confideratipn of his Sufferings, that they may be fpiritually beneficed and fancYified and faved thereby. And that his Suffering and Death were not vie rious; as hath been impioufly and wickedly taught by inconfiderate, and fcripturally ignorant Teachers, as I have mod: clearly (hewn in my Apology for the one and only true and chriftian Religion, he would have moft clearly per- ceived that the Confideration of Cbrift* s Suf- fering in his human Body, without the Suf- fering either of his own human immaterial, and therefore impaffible Spirit, and without the Suffering of the fpiritual and therefore impaffible God that dwelt in him, and be- came God together with him, fully anfwers the great Ends for which he fuffered, and moft powerfully moves Mankind to love God with all their Hearts, &c. and to mor- tify, and purify themfelves from all bodily Lulls, which are all the Things that are neceffary to be done > but they are indif- penfably neceflary to be done, by all Man- kind, in order to Sandification and Salvation and eternal Life, and they moil: powerfully to move Men to do both theie Things, which was the great End for which Cbrift fuffered and died in his human Body. And had he likewife confidered that God is fub- i 3 ftantialU cxxxvi The PREFACE. ftantially omniprefent, and therefore at all Times, in all Places and Things, and there- fore in every Malefactor that is executed, fubflantially but impaffible, becaufe a fpiri- tual Being, and therefore could not fuffer in Cbrifi, when his Body fufiered the Pains of Death upon the Crofs: And that for the fame Reafon the Spirit of Chriji did not fuffer when his Body fu It. red, unlefs it was ly meditating on the Lulls and Wickednefs of Mankind, by which they would be made everlaftingly miferable, without fincere and true Repentance , which was a Godlike Kind of fuffering, which no human Power had Authority to inflict. And had he likewife confidered, the common Forms of human Language, and how they are to be under- stood; as when we fiy fuch a Man fuffered (although we knew that he had an imma- terial and an immortal Spirit, as well as a material and mortal Body) I believe no con- fiderate Perfon would believe, that we meant the Man's immaterial and immortal Spirit fufiered Death, when we laid, the Man ib fuffered; and therefore, I think iiour Author had been a little more con fkk rate, he would not have produced fuch weak Arguments in Favour of fo bad a Caule, it any better could have been foand. Aid therefore his laying, SeClion eli. that the ConfubiiamialiUs Will hardly deny his P;cmik>, but will not .'W his Coniequcnces, whieh he fjys, are as The PREFACE. cxxxvu as demonftrably true as ai.y Propofitiou in Mathematics is true ; for I have ckarly fhevvn, that his Premifes are falfe, and iuch as no confederate Perfon would have ventured to have advanced or to have reafoned from -y and therefore his Concluiions deduced from them cannot be as true as mathematical Pro- portions, which are deduced from Premifes mod evidemly true. In his four next following Sections, he fays, Papifts, in order to perfuade Men out of their Senfes, and to prevail with them to beiive the abfurd Doctrine of Tranfubftantia- tiony fpeak much of the Incomprehenhble- nefs of God, and of his Attributes, and of the Infufficiency of our Abilities to rench or comprehend them -> and that therefore we ought to believe what the Scripture has faid concerning them, whether we comprehend or underftand it or not ; and as it is laid in the holy Scripture by Cbrijt, This ts my Btrfy, and this is my Bloody we ought to believe this My fiery* although we cannot comprehend how it can be true, and that when the Protef* tants argue again ft Tranjiibfiantiation^ they never fail to object the equal Incredibility of a confubftantial Trinity. What he hath laid to this Effect concerning Papifts is very true ; but I (hall not here concern myfelf about the Doctrine of Tranfubftantiation, having in the firft Volume of my Apology put an End to all future Conteft or Controverfy about i 4 that cxxxviii The F R E F J C E. that DoSrine, having there fpukcn largely concerning all religious Myfterics ; and having clearly (hewn, that God never ftt forth any Doclrine in his holy Word neceflaiy to be believed by Mankind, that he hath not en- abled them ttioft clearly to comprehend and undcjrftand, and to perceive, the Belief* of it to be neceflaiy for moving them to do the Things which are indifpcnfibly neceffary to be done for the Attainment of Salification, Salvation, and eternal Life. And that the Belief of the abfurd and incomprehenflble, and moft manifestly falfc Doclrine of Tran- fubftantiation, is fo far from being conducive: to Sanclification and Salvation, and e tern a J Life, that it is inconfiilent with, and dc- ftruftive of the Belief of that Faith, which is indifpenfably neceffary to be fincerely and truly believed, in order to the Attainment of thofe great, neceffary, and happy Ends. This I chofe there to (hew plainly and fully, becaufe it is an Argument which is of itfclf fufficient to move Mankind to disbelieve and deteft that moil falfc and wicked, and ever- laftingly milerable- making Doctrine. Eutas our Author in bus hundred and fifty- fixth Sedtion hath faid, that tbis Method of reafont b the Papifts ufe) is as ftrong% iv fb regard to Con v, as Tranlub- ft ant tat ton j and that the I . upon the one Doclrine, to be as incredible as the other, a^ our Author feems to do. I refe both The PREFACE, cxxxix both to the annext Treatife, In order to con- vince themfelves of the wide Difference that there is between thefe two Doctrines, in rc- fpect to Credibility -, for I have there fhewn them, that the confubftantial Doctrine of the divine Trinity, is not only a moft clear and conceivable Truth, but that the fincere and true Belief of it, is highly neceffary for the Attainment of Sa notification and Salva- tion, and eternal Life. But no Man ever was, or ever will be able to (hew that the Doctrine of Tranfubfranciation is true ; or that the Belief of ic is neceffary for the Attain- ment of either of thefe great, good, and ne- ceffary Ends ; fo that our Author was not very confederate, when he imagined the Rea- foning of Papifts againft Conlubftantiation, to be as ftrong as the Reafoning of Prote- ftants againft Tranfubftantiation. In his hundred and fifty-feventh Section he acknowledges, that both the Doctrine of the Trinity, and of the Eucharift, are revealed in St. Matthew's Gofpel. But then he fays, that the holy Scriptures are as filent about the Con- fubftantiality of the one, as about the Tran- fubftantiation of the other. To which I an- fwer, that he may be convinced of his Error, by perufing the annexed Treatife, where he will find, that by the fenfible Representation that God hath been pleafed to make of himfelf, and to which the Words Jehovah Elobim, wherever they occur in the holy Scriptures, do cxl The PRE FA C E. do always refer; that the holy Scriptures are fo far from being filent, about the ConfubiUn- tiality of the three Perfons in the divine Trini- ty, that nothing is more frequently, nor more clearly fet forth therein, and that there are few Chapters from the Beginning to the End of them, where that Doctrine is not fet forth. As for the Doctrine of Tranfubftantiation, which he puts upon an equal Foot of Credi- bility, which I leave to the Doctors of the Church of Rome, to fhew whether the Scrip- tures be filent about it or not ; having fully fhewn elfewhere, that it is not only an un- fcriptural, but an anti-fcriptural Doctrine. In the fame foregoing Section, he tells, that both DoEtrines came originally from the fame Oracle, the Papal Chair. That the Doc- trine of Tranfubftantiation was forged in the Church of Rome, when (lie fell from her primitive Purity, and became corrupted both in her Doctrine*., and in her Precepts both moral and ritual, I readily grant our Author ; but hewiiiiiiid that I have fhewn, the Con- fiibftantiality of the three Perfons in the divine Trinity to have been divinely revealed, and to have been feniibly reprcfented to Man- kind, and believed by all fincere and true Members of the true Church of God from the Beginning or the World , and therefore before there ever was a Gentile Pontiff or Chritlian Pope in Being ; to that our Au- thor's Zeal lor promoting the Caufe he had em- The PREFACE. cxli cmbarqued in, hurried him far away from the Truth concerning this Point. In his hundred and fifty-eighth Section he fays, He thinks it incumbent on thofe P rot eft ant Biftcps, who hold the Doctrine of a confub- ftantial Trinity, to inform us why the Infal- libility of the Pope mujt be acknowledged in one of thefe Inftances, and not in the other. Since no Protectant Bifhop that 1 hc.ve heard of, hath thought it incumbent upon him to anfwer his Book, which every one of them might think unworthy of an Anfwer, and to carry its own Refutation along with it, its Conclusions being all deduced fiom an- tffcriptural, and therefore falfe metapufcal Conjectures, and other ill-confidered and falic Premifes -> and therefore have not eiven him the Information he required and expect- ed from them, that he may not think his Book unanfwerable, becaufe, it has not been anfwered by a Proteftant Bifhop, who (I hope) all believe a divine confubftantial Tri- nity in eiTcntial Unity. And that he may not longer want the Information he ieemsearneftly to defire, and hoping that he will not look upon t as an Indignity offered to him to receive his Information from a Perfon that is not 01 the Epifcopal Order, I, who am no dignified Clergyman, nor diftinguifhed from thole he calls the Bulk of the Clergy, have humbly prefumed, as I thought it my Duty as a Cler- gyman and Miniiier of the mofl truly and bell, cxlii The PREFACE. beft, though not perfectly reformed Epifo pal Church in the Kingdom of Ireland, to inform him, that I do not believe the Pope, either in the midft of his Cardinals, nor at the Head of what they call a General Coun- cil, nor a General Council with or without the Pope at the Head of it, to be infallible either in his, or their Doctrine or Precepts, any long- er than they govern and direct ihemftlves by the holy Spirit of Faith which God revealed to our firft Parens* and directs Mankind to perfect Obedience to the divinely revealed, and moft perfect, and perfectly purifying fpiritual Law. And that every particular Perfon in the World, who directs and governs himfelf wholly by this Faith and Law, is infallible, and as infallible as any Pope and General Council ever was, when they directed and governed themfelves by this Faith and Law, by which, and by which only, they can be made infallible $ and therefore I do not be lieve the papal Doctrine of Tranfubftantia- tion. But I believe the Doctrine of the Confubftantiality of the three Perfons in the divine Trinity in eflential Unity in the one jfebovah or divine EiTence ; but not becaufe the Pope believes it, but becaufe it is a Doctrine that is perfectly conformable to the divinely revealed Faith delivered to our hrit Parents, and powerfully moves Mankind to perfect Obedience to the moft perfect and perfectly purifying divinely revealed fpi- ritual The PREFACE. cxliij ritual and fcriptural Law of perfect Righte- oufhefs j and becaufe I can clearly perceive and mew by the fenfible Rcprefentation that God has been gracioufly pleaild to make of himfelf, and of his Manner of fubfiftin2; in Plurality in fubflantial Unity in the one Je- hovah or divine Effence. That the confub- ftantial Doctrine is a mod clearly conceivable Truth 5 and as I hope that I have hereby fully and fatisfactorily informed our Author con- cerning the Point he feemed defirous to be informed about ; fo I hope all the Proteftant Bimops in thefe Kingdoms will approve of the Information, and look upon it as conformable to the Doctrine of the holy Scriptures. And" I take the Liberty of farther informing our Author, that all truly and fcripturaliy learned Proteitant Bifhops, may with very jufl and good Reafon fay to him and his AfTociates in in Belief, who deny the Truth of the con- fubftantial Doctrine of the divine Trinity in Unity j Te are blind, ye are blind, becaufe they (hut their Eyes, and will not fee by the fpiritual Light of the divinely revealed Word that fenfible Repiefentauon that God hath been gracioufly pleafed to make of himfelf by which they would be enabled mod clearly to conceive the Truth of that confubftantial Doctrine. And I defire his Leave to wait on him a little farther, that I may likewife inform him that the pious Compilers of our Liturgy, who made cxliv The PREFACE. made this metaphyfical Doctrine of the Con- fubftantiality of the three Perfons In the di- vine Trinity, a Part of the Publick Service in the Church, did not expect that any Dif- putes fhould be raifed about it ; any more than they expected that Difputes would be raifed about the no lefs metaphyfical Doc- trines of the Exiftence of God, or the Im- mortality of the Spirits of Men, or any other metaphyfical Doctrine of our holy Religion, (for all true fanctifying, faving, and divinely revealed Religion is fpiritual, and therefore metaphyfical) which they have directed to beconftantly preached in all the true Churches of God, that Mankind might be thereby put and kept continually in Mind of the true fpiritual or metaphyfical Faith, which indif- penfably obliges to Perfeverance in perfect Obedience to the divinely revealed, and per- fectly purifying fpiritual, or metaphyfical Law of perfect Righteoufnefs. And that they made this fpiritual, or metaphyfical Doctrine of the Confubftantiality of the three Perfons in the divine Trinity a Part of the Publick Service of the eftablifhed Church, out of a very pious and truly religious Defign, that Mankind might by the fincere and true Be- lief of it, be powerfully moved to love God with all their Hearts, &c. and manifefr. the Truth and Sincerity of their Love, by perfe- vering in perfect Obedience to his moll: per- fect and purifying Law of perfect Righteouf- neis, The PREFACE. cxlv nefs, which lie gave us for no other Reafon but to preferve, refcue, and deliver us from the Captivity and Tyranny of all our bodily Lufts, and confcquently from all Kinds and Degrees of Wickednefs and Mifery, both temporal and everlafting. And the Difputes that have been railed about this metaphyfical confubftantial Doctrine ; and all the Difputes that have been ever raifed about the meta- phyfical, or fpiritual Doctrines of the Ex- igence of God, and the Immortality of the Spirits of Men ; and about a future State of everlafting Happinefs or Mifery, have been raifed by fcripturally ignorant Perfons inclined to hearken to, believe, and obey the Dictates of their refpective predominant bodily Lufts, and the groundlefs and fantaftical Imagina- tions which they fuggeft to themfelves, that they may be at Liberty to gratify them, wkhout any confeientious Controulment or Reftraint by difcrediting thofe Doctrines which indifpeniably oblige to Mortification, and fpiritual Purification. I hope I have hereby fully informed our Author about all thofe Particulars he feemed fo deiirous to be inform 'd of, but whether to his Satisfaction, I cant fay. Whether he ought to be iatisfied with the true Information I have given him, I refer him to the Judgment of all unprejudiced and impartial Perfons $ and of thofe Proteftant Biihops from whom he expected his Information. In CKlvi The PREFACE. In his Hundred and Fifty-ninth and laft Se&ion, he fays, he Jl:all ex peel Jome of the Right Reverend Members of the P rot eft ant Church of Ireland, either to account for this, or to exonerate their Con faiences, by joining in an humble Remonftrance againft it. Pro- bably they may be of Opinion, that I have fully and clearly accounted for all he expected them to account for, and that there is no Need of any other Remonftrance for exone- rating their Confciences, than a Remonftrance of their Disapprobation and Deteftation of this Attempt, to extirpate the Belief of a divinely revealed, and mofr. clearly and con- ceivably true Article of Faith, and highly neceffary to be believed, in order to the At- tainment of Sanctiftcation and Salvation and eternal Life out of the Minds of Mankind, and to fubftitute in the Stead of it, the moft impious and wicked-making Doctrines of three different Sorts of Cods, and of three different Sorts of divine Worfhip. He promifes in the fame Section, That if any of them foall deign to honour his Treatije with an Anfwer, that if it pleajcs God to f pare his Life-, that it ft: a II be /peed/1)' follow- ed either by a Recantation or a Reply. But as this Promife is only made to an Anfwer from fome of the Right Reverend Members of the Proteftant Church, he may think himfelf diiengaged from either recanting or replying to an Anfwer that came from a Perion The T > R E F A C E. cxhu Perfon in a very low Station in the Prote- flan t Church (with which he is fatisfied and contented, however he may have been op- preiTed)and may look upon it as a Difnonour to draw up his Artillery againfr. a Fort almoft demolimed with Age and Infirmities* But Truth is Truth, and Falfhocd FalLhood, whatever Hands they come from. And it what I have publiftied in anfwer to his Trea- dle be not thought fufficientto move our Au- thor to recant his Errors, I am pprehenfivs it will be fuffieient to with-hold him from venturing to attempt a Reply. This Preface having ! woin to a Size much •longer than I defigned it, will not admit of my animadverting fufficientiy upon his E* piftle Dedicatory, and therefore I leave it to others to make their Obfervations upon fuch PaiTages of it as the hafty and adventurous Author feems not to have well confidered. Such as his Saying, Page the, 5th, Thai any Attempt towards avoiding Diverjity of [religious] Opinions, is ujelefs and impracti- cable. For if nothing was prefcribed and taught by the Minifters of the Church of God, for Mankind to believe and obey, but the divine revealed Word and Law, and fuch Doctrines and Commandments, as couia be tnoft clearly (hewn to be perfectly conforma- ble to them, Perfons who hearken to, and Relieve them, could not be otherwife th .n flll of one Belief and Opinion in all Matters k of cxlviii The PREFACE. of Religion both doctrinal and practical ; for that Faith which is demonftratively true, and can be moft clearly fhewn to be fo, and that Law which can be mod clearly fhewn to be perfectly Righteous, contain the whole of all true fanctifying and faving Re- ligion ; and they can be fhewn to be feif- fufficient, and indifpenfably neceffary to be fincerely and truly believed, and perfectly obeyed, in order to the Attainment of Sanc- tification and true Piety, and perfect Righ- teoufnefs, and of Salvation, and of true and rational Happinefs, both temporal and ever- lafting. Therefore if thefe, and only thefe few molt plain and clearly comprehenfible Truths were confrantly inculcated to Man- kind, they would be moved by the Confide- ration of their true Interefr, to hearken to, and believe them ; and if they did, they muft neceffarily by this mod ufeful and practicable (although unpractifed) Method be all of one Mind, as well as one Profeffion, with Refpect to their religious Opinions, and there could not poflibly be any Diverfity o£ Religions among Mankind. And Such as faying, Page the 2oih, That God did not form human Nature fo, as to necefjitate all Mankind to be of one Mind (with Refpeft to Religion) but having made Mankind to b& free yjge?its, he left them in the Hand of their •> Council, to chu/e their own Opinions , {with Refpett to Religion) for thc?nfehest which The PREFACE. cxlix Which is not Truth ; for although God made all Mankind fpiritually free Agents ; he did not leave them to chufe for themfelves their religious Opinions ; for as foon as he created them, he gave them a mod perfect, and perfectly purifying fpiritual Law, and mofl: powerful Motives to perfevere in per- fect: Obedience to it $ by which they were given to underftand, that if they would chufe to believe any other religious Doctrines or O- pinions than thofe he then revealed to them, they would neceiTarily, and by the Reafon of Things, become wicked and miferable both temporally and everlaftingly. And Such as his faying, Page the 1 8th, That the e/lablified Religion of every Country, is what conftitutes Orthodoxy ; And Page the 2 jth, That a Mans being of a wrong Opinion^ is not what properly con/lit utes him an He- retic -, but his being of a different Opinion from the Majority. New and ftrange Doc- trine ; for from the Beginning, the divinely revealed and demonftratively true fundamen- tal Articles of the fpiritual Faith, and the divinely revealed fundamental, and perfectly purifying fpiritual Law of perfect Righteouf- nefs, which God by Revelation gave to our firft Parents, have conftituted Orthodoxy, and have been the infallible Rule and Stan- dard by which all religious Doctrines, and Precepts ought to have been tried and judged of, whether they were Orthodox, or not ; k 2 ani cl The P RE-FACE. and whether they whoi>elicved and obeyed them were wife, and in a right and happy-' making Way of thinking or not. And he, and he only, hath been always truly deno- minated an Heretic, who rejected the Belief of thefe, or any of thefe divinely revealed fundamental Articles of the fpiritual Faith ; and confequently his Obedience to the di- vinely revealed and fundamental purifying fpiritual Law : And who believes particular Doctrines, and obeys particular Precepts which are inconfiftent with, and deftru&ive of, the Belief of the fundamental -Articles of the divinely revealed fpiritual Faith, and of Obe- dience to the divinely revealed fundamental purifying fpiritual Law of perfect Righteouf- nefs. And, Such as his faying, Page 26th, that Mens [religious] Opinions are . purely fpeculative. And Page 29th, that- Mens bearing Ill-will to others, who differ jrom. them in their [religious'] Opinions, can be attributed to nothing but to a vitio;/s Pride in our Na- ture. For there never was a truly religious Doclxine or Opinion taken up, and religioufly embraced and contended for, for any other Reafon than as the Belief of a Truth power- fully moving Mankind to Virtue, and Obe- dience to the moral Law, which is .necelTary to be obeyed in order to Sandlification and Kighteotifriefe. and Salvation, and eternal Life. Neither was there ever a iiiperftitioua or The PREFACE. cli or falfely religious Opinion taken up and perfevered in by any Man merely for the Sake of barely contemplating upon it, bat for encouraging himfelf in the fenfual Gra- tification of his predominant bodily Lufts, by which he is made malevolent, and ill difpoied towards all thofe who differ in their religious Opinions from him, but more virulently and inveterately againft thofe whofe Opinions are truly religious, becaufe by them the Falfehood and wicked and deftruclive Tendency of all fuperftitious Opinions are detected and laid open ; fo that no religious Opinion, whether true or falfe is purely fpeculative, they being all taken up for the Regulation of Practice whether good or evil. And a truly religious Man may diflike and be difpleafed with a Perfon who differs in Opinion from him, becaufe he knows he will be made wicked and everlaftingly miferable by it, and be moved by it to be very injurious to others. But although he may dillike and be difpleafed .and offended with another for thus differing in Opinion from him, he will never bear Ill- will towards him, or do him any Kind of Injury, but will be always difpofed to do him all the good Offices in his Power, and to refcue him from his Error, that he may be as virtuous and as happy as himfelf both temporally and everlaftingly ; fo that if he be angry he finneth not, his Anger is that of a fmcere Friend, and not of an Enemy. It is k 3 only dii The PREFACE. only the fuperflitious and falfly Religious that hate and are evilly difpofed towards the Per-; Jons and Profperity of thofe who differ from them in their irreligious Opinions; becauie they will not keep them in Continuance by being wicked, and in the Ways that they themfelves have chofen to be fo. I leave our Author's other not well con- fidered Sayings, difperfed through his Dedi- cation to be re-confidered by himfelf, or animadverted upon by others, who may have more Leifure. But as he feems earneftly defirous of a farther Reformation of our Ar- ticles and Liturgy, and very zealous for having the Athanafian Creed (and I think the Nicene too) expunged out of the public Service of the Church, and for having every Thing removed out of the Way that may give Offence to well-meaning Perfons ; I mufl therefore defire his Leave to make two or three Obfervations upon his earneft Defires, which may be of fome Ufe both to him and ethers to confider. And, Fir/ly That as I have before fhewn the Doctrines of the two aiore-mentioned Creeds to be conformable to the divinely revealed Faith fet forth in the holy Scriptures, and to tend powerfully to move Mankind to per- fevere in perfect Obedience to the holy- making divinely revealed and perfectly puri- fying ipiritual and fcriptural Law, I believe the Right Reverend Body qi the Bifhops, The PREFACE. cliii and the reverend Reprefentatives of the Body of the Clergy, when permitted fynodically to affemble, in order to revife and make fuch Alterations either in the Articles of our Re- ligion, or our public Liturgy, or our eccle- fiailical Canons, will expect better Reafons than our Author has hitherto offered, before they will enter upon the Consideration whe- ther thefe Creeds fhould be removed out of our public Church Service or not. Secondly, That whenever they are permit- ted to enter upon the Work of Reformation of fuch Things, as may upon moil: mature Deliberation be judged neceffary. I fay, with moft humble Submiflion to their better Judgment, that I think the Coniideration of what will be agreeable or difagreeable, to the unconftant Humours or Opinions of the People, however well they may mean, ought to have no Weight in their Deliberations upon fuch an important Affair ; and that the great and fundamental Coniideration, by which they ought to govern themfelves upon fuch Occaiions, is that of the true and fpiri- tual Benefit of Mankind, both temporal and everlafting. Thirdly, That as the divinely revealed fun- damental Articles of the demonftratively true fpiritual and fcriptural Faith, which God revealed to our firft Parents ; and the felt, evidently righteous and moil perfect, and only perfectly purifying fpiritual and fcriptu- k 4 ra! cliv The PRE FA C E. ral fundamental Law, which he at the fame T m£ by Revelation made known to them, hend and contain all Things necefTary to . •. known, believed, and done by all Man- kind, in order to their SancYification and Salvation, and true and rational Happinefs both temporal and everlafting; and eonfe- quently comprehend and contain all the true ianvtifying and faving divinely revealed fpi- ritual and fcriptural and truly chriftian Re- ligion that ever was, or ever will, or can be in the World : It neceflarily follows, that thefe fundamental divinely revealed Articles of Faith, and this divinely revealed funda- mental fpiritual and fcriptural Law, are the Things, and the only Things that ought to be conftantly inculcated in the Church of God, by his holy Minifters to Mankind. fourthly ', That if therefore the Bifhops and Clergy of thefe Kingdoms were permitted iynodicaliy to affembL, arid licenfed by the civil Power, to tmke inch Alterations in the cftabliftcd Methods of publickly in'ftn (Sing the People in the Knowledge of the true Religion from the Defk and Pulpit. It they fhould chufe to begin with compiling a Set of Homilies, Difcourfes or Sermons, which all the Clergy might be canonicaily and le- gally obliged publickly to read or preach to their refpectave Congregations initeau or their own private Compofuions, and letting forth the following Particulars only. Firjfl The PREFACE. civ Fir ft, From the holy Scriptures, the di- vinely revealed fundamental Articles of the Spiritual and fcriptural Faith ; and the divine- ly revealed fundamental fpiritual and fcriptural Law, in few Words ; and fo as that they might be clearly comprehended, and eafily and readily and continually "remembered by all that heard them, by the Help of the infiructive and memorial ritual Ordinances appointed to be daily adminiftred for that Purpofe. And, Secondly, The demon fixative Proofs of their divine Original or Revelation, and confe- quentiy of their divine Authority : And of their Perfection, and of their clear and evi- dent Truth, and purifying Power and perfect Righteoufnefs. And, Thirdly, The Self-fufficiency and indiC- penfable Neceffity of perfevering in the fin- cere and true Belief of the one, and in perfect Obedience to the other, in order to the Attainment of true and fpiritual Sanc- tification, and Salvation, and true and ra- tional Happinefs, both temporal and everlaft- ing. And, Fourthly, Setting forth likewife, the divine Original of all the inftructive and memorial ri- tual Ordinances, and the true and only End for which they were appointed to be pub- lickly adminiftered, and attended upon and obferved : And their great Propriety tor an- swering the End for which they were origi- nally clvi The PREFACE. nally inftituted by God ; and the general Necefiity and fpiritual Profitablenefs of at- tending to them, and participating of them, when and where they are publickly admi- niftred, according to God's Appointment af- ter die moil edifying or inftruitive Manner, by thofe Perfcns and by thofe only, whom God hath feparated and appointed and au- thorized exclufively of all others, publickly to adminifter them, that they might not be abufed and perverted to fuperftitious and wicked-making Ends and Purpofes. By fuch a Set of Homilies, Difcourfes or Sermons, conftantly read or preached in all Congregations of the Church of God, Man- kind would be fpeedily brought to a perfect Knowledge, and it is highly probable to the fincere and true Belief of, and perfeft Obe- dience to, the one and only true fan&ifying and faving Religion, that ever was, or ever will or can be in the World, and thereby to the Knowledge of every Thing necefTary to be known, believed, or done by them, in order (not to outward and hypocritical Sanclification, but) to their true and fpiritual Sandlihcation, and Salvation and eternal Life, as I have (hewn more largely, in my Apology for the one and only true and divinely revealed and chriftian Religion. And by this Means the eftablifhed epifcopal Church of God might juftly fet up tor Infallibility, becaufe (lie could then demonftratively ihew that all her Doc- The PREFACE. clvij Doctrines, and moral Precepts, which {he taught her Communicants to believe and obey, were infallibly revealed by God, and infallibly true and perfectly righteous, and infallibly neceffary to be fincerely and truly believed, and perfectly obeyed by all Man- kind, in order to their true and fpiritual Sanctification and Salvation, and eternal Life, And this firft Step being taken towards a mere perfect Reformation of our Church and Religion, by a moft perfect Reformation of all Difcourfes uttered from the Pulpit. The moft and right reverend Fathers of our Church, fynodically aflembled together with their reverend Brethren, the Reprefentatives of the inferior Clergy, knowing that the Articles of our Religion, were originally com- piled for the Inftruction of Mankind, in the Knowledge of the true Religion, that they might be unanimous in their Sentiments about it ; and that Mankind can never be brought to be unanimous, nor kept in Una- nimity with Refpect to Religion, otherwife than by plain and demonftrative and fpiritu- ally beneficial fpiritual Truths, plainly fet before them. And knowing likewife, that all the divinely inftituted inftructive and me- morial ritual Ordinances, not only of preach- ing, but of public Prayer and Praife, and Thankfgiving, and of the two Sacraments or holy Ordinances of Baptifm, and of the Sup- per of our Lord, and of Confirmation, were di- jlvjii The P R E FA C E. divinely inftituted for no other Reafon or End, but for inftruding Mankind in the Knowledge, and for patting and keeping them continually in Mind of the :Faith and Law, by which, and by which on)y} they can be fandiiied and faved ; and of the indif- pen fable Neceflity of perfevering in the fin- cere ; nd true Belief of the one, and in perfed Obedience to the other, in order to true and fpiritual Sandification, Salvation, and eternal Life, as I have mod clearly. (hewn in my Apology for the one and only true and di- vinely revealed fadifying and laving, fpiritual and fcriptural, and truly chriftian Religion. They would hereby clearly perceive, that the next Step moft. proper and necefTary to be taken, in order to fuch a perfed Reformation which would be uncapable of ever admitting of any future Improvement or Amendment, in order to rentier our Church's Method of Inftindion in the Knowledge of the one, and only true fandifying and diving* Religion, more edifying or inftrudive, would be to confider, whether the Articles of our Rett* gion, as they now ftand, although they be true, be fuch as perfcdlv anfwer the End for which they were originally compiled } and whether that. End might not he more fully and perfcdly anfwerccl by leffening their ■N amber. And likewife by conlidcring, whe- tl :r the Liturgy of our Church (although as ii now ftands, it aniwers the End for which it The PREFACE. clix it was compofed) might not however admit of fuch Alteration, as it might thereby per- fectly anfwer the End, for which all the di- vinely inftituted Inftru&ions and memorial Ordinances, were appointed to be publickly adminiftered and obferved. And if upon moft mature Deliberation, it would evidently appear, that making certain Alterations in our Articles, that every Perfon who atten- tively read and confidered them, would clear- ly perceive the fundamental Articles of the divinely revealed fandtifying and faving, fpi- ritual and fcriptural Faith, and the divinely revealed fpiritual and fcriptural Law, which conftitute and comprehend the whole of the one, and only true, and divinely revealed fandlifying and faving, fpiritual and fcriptural end chriftian Religion ; and the indifpenfable Neceffity of perfevering in the fincere and true Belief of the one, and in periedt Obe- dience to the other. And if it fhould like- wife evidently appear, that by making certain Alterations in our publick Liturgies, that all Perfons who attended to it, would necefTa- Tily be put in Mind of the fundamental Ar- ticles' of the divinely revealed fpiritual and fcriptural Faith, and of the divinely revealed fpiritual and fcriptural Law ; and of the indif- penfable Neceffity of perfevering in the fin- cere and true Belief of the one, and in per- fect Obedience to the other, in order to the Attainment of true and fpiritual Sandtification, Salva- clx The PREFACE. Salvation, and eternal Life, which is thd true and only End for which all the divinely inftituted Ordinances were appointed to be publickly adminiftred and obferved, and con- iequently of all public liturgic Offices. The Fathers of the Church fynodically affembled> together with the Reprefentatives of the infe- rior Clergy, moved by the holy Spirit of the divinely revealed Word, would, without Scru- ple or Hefitation, proceed to fuch Alterations as they fhould perceive to be neceffary, for rendering the publick Worfhip of the Church fa perfect, as to be incapable of any farther Improvement or Amendment to the End of the World. And by fuch Alterations, the eftablifhed Epifcopal Church, would become as infallible in Refpedt of her ritual Ordi- nances, as in Refpedt of her Doctrines and moral Precepts, and in every Refpedl as infal- lible as any Church that ever was, or can be in the World : For then her Members would be perfectly enabled to fhew to all Gain- layers, that all the divinely inftituted ritual Ordinances, which fhe enjoins her truly and apoftolically ordained Minifters, publicly to adminifler, and all her Members to attend, and obfeive, and participate of, to be iuch in themfelves as are moil proper for anfwer- ing the Ends for which all the divinely in- ftituted inftru&ive and memorial ritual Or- dinances, were appointed to be publickly ad- miniftered and oblerved $ and that the edi- fying The PREFACE. ell fying and inftrudtive Manner in which all her truly ordained Minifters, publickly ad- minifter them, is the beft Manner of admi- nistering them, in order to their anfwering the true and only End for which they were inftituted by God. And as fbme of the fcifmatical Churches in Chriftendom, fuperftitioufly enjoin Or- dinances to be publickly adminiftred and ob- ferved, which God hath not appointed ; and as others of them, as fuperftitioufly abftain from the Obfervance of fome of thofe Ordi- nances which are moft evidently of divine Inftitution, and on account of Scruples about Circumftances indifferent of themfelves, and enjoined for no other Reafon, but for the Prefervation of Uniformity, Decency, and good Order in the Publick Worfhip of God ; and wThich having been left by God to the Governors and Minifters of his Church to determine and enjoin according to their Dis- cretion. And as all the fchifmatical Churches that have ever been in the World, have ever made the Obfervance of ritual Ordinances a Part, and the Generality of them, the prin- cipal Part of their Religion, by which they have been brought to overlook and negledfc the fincere and true Belief of, and Obedience to the divinely revealed fpiritual F ath and Law, by which, and by which only, Man- kind can be fan fli fled and faved. And by which all the divinely inftituted Ordinances have ckii The PREFACE. have been abufed and perverted to fuperfti- tious, and very wicked Purpofes. The true Church of God, when perfectly reformed, would be able to (hew all corrupt, falfe, and fchifmatical Churches their Errors, in all thefe Refpects, without much Trouble or Controveriy. And as no one well-mean- ing Perfon, whether in or out of her Com- munion, could find real Faults in any Re-> fpect, with a Church thus perfectly reformed in all Refpe6ts ; therefore no Regard ought to be had to the liking or difliking of in- confiderate and Luft-blinded, and evil- minded Perfons by thefe concerned in Mat- ters of religious Reformation, by which our Author, arid all truly confiderate Perfons may plainly perceive, that the only Confide* ration that ought to have Weight with Per- fons lawfully authorized to let about the Work of religious Reformation,, is what may be mod proper, and therefore neceflary to be *ftahli{hed for the fpiritual Benefit of Man- kind, both temperal and everlafiing. For my own Part, I think the reformed and eftablifhed apoftolic, or epifcopal Church in thefe Kingdoms, to be the beft conftituted vifible Church in the World that I know of j and I am fure, becaufe I can demonstratively (hew, that whoever will fin- cerelv and truly believe her Doctrines, and ©bey' her Precepts, and attentively obferve her Ordinances, will neceffarily, and by the Rcafon The PREFACE. clxiii Reafon of Things, be truly and fpiritually fanctified in this World, and consequently faved and made everlaft ingly happy in the next. And therefore every Member of her Communion have great Reafon daily to thank God for her being fo far truly reformed. But I cannot with Truth fay fo, of any other vifible Church, reformed or unreformed that I know upon Earth 5 nor any one of them thai I could fincerely communicate with, for the following Reafons : Becaufe all their diftinguiming Doctrines by which they ftand diftinguiihed from each other ; and from the one and only true holy Catholick, vifible and invifible Church of God upon Earth, are falfe and fuperftitious, and the Belief of them inconfiftent with, and deftrudtive of the divine revealed, fmctifying and laving fpiritual and feriptural Faith which directs us to love God with all our Hearts, and to perfevere in per- fect Obedience to the purifying Law of per- fect Charity and Righteoufnefi. And becaufe all the diftinguiihing moral, or rather immoral Precepts by which they ftand diftinguimed from the holy Catholick Church, are the fame, and tend to make Mankind male- volent and uncharitable, and either openly or hypocritically wicked ; and are therefore in- confident with, and deftructive of perfect Obedience to the divinely revealed Law of perfeS Purity, Piety, Charity and Righte- 1 oufnefo clxiv The PREFACE. oufnefs, and confequcmly of Sandification, Salvation, and eternal Life. Bat 1 am likewise of Opinion, that al- though our holy Church is fo far truly re > formed, that all iincere and true Members of her Communion, may attain to true and fpiritual San&ification, and will thereby ob- tain Salvation and eternal Life. Yet that ilie is ftill capable of, and Hands in Need of farther Reformation (not in thefe Points which our Author, and thofe without, who beat evil Will to her, would have reformed) in order to her becoming a truly and perfectly infallible Church, in refpedt of all her Doc- trines, and of all her Precepts both moral and ritual } that all thofe who would constantly attend her Communion, might, by fo doing, neceffarily become perfectly inftrudted in the Knowledge of the divinely revealed fancti- fying and faying fpiritual and fcriptural Faith and Law ; by which, and by which only, Mankind can be fan&ified and faved, and of the indifpenlable Neceffity of perfevering in the fincere and true Belief of the one, and in perfect Obedience to the other, in order to the Attainment of San&ification and Salva- tion, and of true and rational Happinefs both temporal and everlafting. And that they might like wife be thereby put and kept continually in Mind of thefe Things which are lo indifpenfably to be kept in continual Remembrance by all Mankind, in order to their The PREFACE. clxv their Attainment of thofe great, neceflary, and happy Ends; that the one and only true fan&ifying and faving Religion, may by thefe Means be, revived and reftored to the World again, in its original Purity and Perfection, in order to the Revival and Restoration of true and fpiritual, and not hypocritical Purity, Pie- ty, Charity and Righteoufnefs, and of every other moral Virtue, which have been all up- on the decline for fome Ages, fo far as to be but very little considered, regarded, or prac- tised by the Generality of any Rank, or Or- der of Mankind in any State or Kingdom in Christendom, any more than they are in any other of the Nations upon the Earth. And by this Means the Generality of Man- kind have been brought to 2:ive themfelves up to be wholly governed by the Dictates of their respective predominant bodily Lufts \ and the World hath been filled and over- run with Fraud and Violence, and all Kinds and Degrees both of open avowed, and of clandeftine and hypocritical Wickednefs, Pride, Luxury, and all Kinds of Senfuali:y and Avarice on the one Hand ; being fed and fup- ported by Fraud and Injuflice, and Oppref- iion, and MiSery, both private and publick, on the other. Evils that are deftruclive of all moral and focial Virtues 5 and of the true temporal Pioiperity and Happineft of all Communities in this World, and of the ever- laiting Happinefs of Mankind in the next. And clxvi The PREFACE. And however, other wife inconfiderate and and mort- lighted Politicians, and temporary Expedient-Mongers may think, thefe tem- porally and everlafting deflruclive Evils, are no other Way to be removed, but by the Revival and Reftoration of the one and only true and Chriflian Religion in its primi- tive Purity and Perfection to the World again, which flrikes at, and extirpates all thofe bit- ter Pvoots, the bodily Lulls of Mankind, from which all Branches of Wicked nefs fhoot forth, that corrupt and injure Man- kind ; and therefore it evidently appears to be the indifpenfable Duty of all Ranks and Or- ders of Mankind in all States and Stations from the higher! to the lowcfl, as it is their true and fpiritual Intereft both temporal and ever- lafting ; to awake and become Partakers of the fir ft Re fur reft ion from the Graves of their Lulls, in which they have too long flept ; and to give their A Alliance as far as they are able, (and every Perfon has foroe Degree and Meafure of Ability) to the Revival and Re- ftoration of the one and only true fanclifying and laving, fpiritual and fcriptural, and divinely revealed Chriilian Religion, in its original Pu- my and Perfe&jon to the World again, by the only true Means by which, by the Grace 61 God, it can be revived and rcflored, and which, by God's Affiftance, will, in a fliort Time, be plainly and fully let before them. And The PREFACE. clxvii And I fincerely wifli our Author had em- ployed the Time in fetting forth before Man- kind the one and only true fanctifying and fa- ving fpiritual and fcriptural and divinely re- vealed Chriftian Religion, and the indifpen- fable Neceffity of fincerely and truly be- lieving and perfectly obeying it, in order to San deification and Salvation and eternal Life, and in (hewing likewife the beft, or only true and infallible Method to be taken, and conftantly ufed for putting and keeping Men continually in Mind of it, and of the indif- penfable Neceffity of perfevering in the fin- cere and true Belief of it, and in perfect Obedience to it ; that he hath fpent in la- bouring to prevail with Mankind to believe and rely upon the Anti-fcriptural Belief and Affiftance of imaginary Beings in the Work of their Sanctification and Salvation ; and to difcourage and difiuade them from the Belief of that truly fcriptural Doctrine which is fet forth in the Athanafian and Nicene Creeds, and which is fo beneficial to be be- lieved, in order to move Mankind to love God with all their Hearts, &c. and to mortify and purify themfelves from all their bodily Lufts ; and by fo doing perfevere in perfect Obedience to the moft perfect and purifying ipiritual and fcriptural Law, which are the two Things which are felf-fufiicient and indif- penfably neceflary to be done by Mankind, in order to their Sanctification and Salvation and eternal "cUviii The PREFACE. eternal Life, and I hope he will be awakened by what I have fet before him in this Preface, and in the annexed Treatife, and be brought to a more folid and rational, and religious Way of Thinking, and delivered from his phyjical and metaphyseal Errors, by which he feems to have been led into fo many deftru&ive anti-fcriptural Errors in Theology. TO t rj O F T H E DIVINE TRINITY, And DIVINITY of JESUS C H R 1ST. BEFORE I proceed to (hew the Truth of this divinely revealed and holy fcriptural Doclrine, I think it necefla- ry to recall to the Remembrance of my Readers, fome of thofe Truths which I have before mentioned under the Article or Word Man. As, Firft, That Man confifts of a material and mortal Body, and of an immaterial and im- mortal Spirit. 6Vr<5«t//y,Thathisnatural,ormaterialandmor- tal Body is capable of no other Kind of Know- ledge than that of the fenfibly perceptible Pro- perties of natural or material Things; and that therefore the natural or bodily Knowledge of B Man, 2 Of the DiVinf Trinity. Man, extends no farther than the Knowledge of fuch Brutes as have the fame Number of bodily Organs of Senfation that Man hath ; and that this Knowledge is fufficient both for Men and Brutes, for ftirring up in them all thofe Appetites, or Defires and Aver/ions, which are neceffary for moving them to pro- vide and procure thofe Things which are ne- ceffary for their bodily Suftenance, and the Prolongation of the animal Life, and for the Continuance of their Species. "Thirdly^ That this natural or bodily Know- ledge which Men have in common with Brutes, is communicated to them by the Means or Mediation of their bodily Organs of Senfation, which have pleafing, or pain- ful and difpleafing Motions excited in them, by their Contaft with their Obje&s; or by the material Air reflected from Objedts at a Diftance to thefe Organs of Senfation, and ftirring up fuch pleafing or difpleafing Moti- ons in them, which being communicated to the Seat of Imagination, there excite pleafing or difpleafing Ideas concerning the fenfibly perceptible material Objedts, and confequent- ly thofe Motions which are called Defires or Averfions for them ; and confequently thofe mufcular and local Motions, which are pro- per for the Procurement or Avoidances of the Objedts, according as they occasioned agree- able and pleafing, or difogreeable and dii- picafing Senfations in the Body. Fourthly Of the Divine TrinIT^ 3 Fourthly, The immaterial and immortal Spirit of Man is capable not only of the Knowledge of material or immaterial Things, which the Body, or natural or outward Man is capable of knowing; but alfd of the Know- ledge of immaterial, or fupernatural or fpiri- tual Things, States and Actions, which the Bodies of Men and Brutes are uncapable of knowing, becaufe they can only be fpiritually difcerned, (i. e.) by fpiritual Beings, and by the fpiritual Light of God's revealed Word. Fifthly, That the Knowledge which the Spirit of Man hath of natural or material Things, is communicated to it by the Pveports which the bodily Senfes and Appetites make to it concerning them ; and although it be ca- pable of enlarging and leffening, and of com- bining or compounding together, and of fe- parating the Ideas .of natural or material Things, yet it is uncapable and unable of forming an Idea of any natural or material Thing, that was never made known to it by the Reports of the bodily Senfations. Sixthly, That the Knowledge which the Spirit of Man hath of immaterial, or fuper< natural or fpiritual Things, States or x^clions, is communicated to it, and could be no o- ther Way communicated to it, than by the fpiritual Light of God's revealed Word, and by fenfible Reprefentations of them. Seventhly, That by the Light of God's re- vealed Word only, and without Reprefenta- B 2 tions 4 Of the Divine Trinity. tions of them by fome fenfible Signs or Sym- bols, the Spirit of Man could not have been able to have formed any juft or true Notion of any fpiritual Things, by the bare Revela- tion of their Name and of their Exiftence to it 5 and therefore it could have no ufeful or be- neficial Knowledge of any of them, unlefs they were alfo reprefented to it by Things of which it had juft and true Ideas. No Man could poffibly form a juft and true Notion e- ven of any natural Thing by being told the Name of it, and that fuch a Thing exifted, which had never fallen under his own fenfible Obfervation, unlefs it was alfo defcribed, and reprefented to him by Things of which he had lud juft and true Ideas. Should a Tra- veller tell another Perfon that had never feen nor heard a Parrot defcribed or reprefented to him, by that Revelation of its bare Name to him, if his Informer, the Revealer of that Name to him, was a Perfon upon whole Ve- racity he thought he might rely, he might be thereby induced to believe, that there was fomething in the World that was called by that Name 5 but by that Revelation, he could not form any juft or true Notion of it, nor could he thereby know, or fay^ whether it was a Piece of houfhold Furniture, or a Vegetable, or a Kind of Fifh, or any other particular Thing whatever; but if to the Re- velation of the Name, his Informer had added a juft and true Dcfgription of it, and re- Of the Divine Trinity. £ reprefented it by a Bird with a Beak and Feathers, and Claws, or like other Birds which he had leeri and had Ideas of, he would by that Means been able to have formed a jaft and true, although not a complete and ad- equate Notion of it. The Cafe is the fame with refpedt to fpiritual and fenfibly imper- ceptible Things, of whofe Exigence Man could never have had any Knowledge with- out a divine Revelation; and if God had on- ly revealed their Names to Men, and had not a! lb reprefented them to them by fuch fenfible Things as they had obferved, and had juft and true Ideas of, the bare Reve- lation of their Names to them would have been of no Ufe or Benefit to them, for they would not have been thereby enabled to have formed any juft, or true or ufeful No- tions of them ; and the Notions they would have attempted to have formed of them, would have been very different, and none of them true and fpiritualiy beneficial: But as it is fpiritualiy beneficial to Mankind, to have true Knowledge, and therefore true Notions of fpiritual Things, therefore God was moft gracioufly pleafed, not only to reveal himfclf and other fpiritual Things to them, but alio to reprefent them to them by n : Aural aud fenfibly perceptible Things, of which they h d, or might Mve jufli and true, and ufeful Ideas, that they might be thereby enabled to form juft and true, and B 3 ufeful, 6 Of the Divine Trinity.' ufeful, although not perfect and adequate Notions of them, fo that if their Notions and Knowledge of them were not compleat and perfect concerning them, yet they would be fufficient, and all that is neceffary for them to know concerning them in this World; in order to move them mod powerfully to be- lieve and do thole Things, by which they would be made truly and fpiritually happy in this World, and perfectly and everlaftingly fo in the next. Thefe few Things are neceffary to be known and kept in Remembrance, being previoufly fet fprth; I judge it neceffary in the next Place to confider, that our moil gracious God in order to enable Mankind to form a juft, and although not a compleat and adequate, yet a mod ufeful and fpiritually beneficial Notion of himfelf, hath been not only pleafed to reveal, but alfo fenfibly to fignify-and repre- fent himfelf to them, by fenfible Signs and Reprefentations, of which they have, or may have, juft and true Ideas, as far as it concerns them to have fuch Ideas of them. And the fenfible Reprefentations which he was moft gracioufly pleafed to make cf himfelf for the Spiritual Inftrudlion and Benefit of Mankind, were two, (viz.) the material and vifible J-Ieavens ; and a vifible and earthly Father of Children. For no one of thefe Reprefenta- tions without the other would have been fuffi- cient to have enabled Mankind to have form- Of the Divine Trinity*. ed a juft and true, and fpiritually beneficial Notion of him ; but by taking both thefe feniible Representations into our Coniidera- tion, we are by them perfectly enabled to form a juft and true Notion of him, by which we are not only moft powerfully mov- ed to admire and fear him, but to adore and love him, and to perfevere in perfect Obedi- ence to his moft gracious and moft perfect and perfectly purifying fpiritual Law, by which we are made truly and fpiritually happy, both temporally and everlaftingiy. By the Reprefentation which he wasgraci- oufly pleafed to make of himielf by the ma- terial and vifible Heavens, we are enabled to form a juft and true, and ufeful, though not an adequate Notion of his Ubiquity or Omni- prefence, and of his being in and through and over all, and confeqaently of his Omnifcience, and Omnipotence and All-fufficiency : and of his wonderful Manner of fubfifting and operating or acting in a Plurality, in the one undivided and indivifible Jetuvah or divine Effence, both in the natural or material, and fpiritual or moral Worlds. And how although three Ferjom perfectly diftindt and diftinguifh- able, and different from each other in their Forms and States, and in all their Motions, Operations or Actions, in the one Jehovah or divine Effence, are yet but one God j and how no one of them can will, or aft indepen- B 4 dently 8 Of the Divine Trinity.1 dently of the other two, or unlefs they all will, and co-operate together, though in different Manners for the Production of every divine Effect, and hovv. for that Reafon, every Action of a^y one of them may with equal P' r priety be alcribed to any of the other Perfons, or to them altogether, and how every one of them are co-eternal in Rcfpect of their EiTence, and none of them prior or pofterior to any of the other, and how all are co equal to each other, in Refpect of their Powers and Perfections, and Acts or Operations, fo that no one of them is greater or lefs than another, and al- though every one of them be a oivine Perfon and therefore God, yet no one of them; is God exclufive of the other two-, and therefore, al- though three divine Perfons, aiid confequently three Gods, but not three Gods independent and exclufive of each other, nor any of them God exclufive of the other two, but altogether one God co-eternal, co-effential, and co-equal, in all divine Powers and Perfections. Thefs divinely revealed fpirkual and Scriptural Truths are all rendered med clearly conceivable, or Comprehenfible and intelligible, by '.hefenfible Reprefentation that he hath been molt graci- ouily pleated to make of himfelf by the ma- terial and vifible Heavens, by which we be- come the Object of the Wonder and Admira- tion, and of fupeiftitions or fervile Fear of ail Mankind. By Of the Divine Trinity^ 9 By the Re pre fen tat ion which God was mod gracioufly pleafed to make of himfelf by a perfonal and earthly Father, (fometim . called the Son, and fometimes the holy Spirit, ac- cording to the different Forms and States in which the divine Effence fubfifts, as one a I the fame vifible Heavens, is called Fire and Light, and Spirit, or Darknefs in Motion, according as it fubfifts in the different and diftindt Forms of Light, Fire, or Spirit;) we are not to form our Notions of the Manner of the Plurality of Perfons fubfiiling in the Unity of the divine Effence, for God was moffc gracioufly pleafed to make it for another Reafon, {viz.) for enabling Mankind to form a Notion of his being a living and intelligent, and perfectly wife and free, and perfectly be- nevolent Being, of moft perfecc and fatherly Goodnefs and Love to all Mankind, who did not only create this World and all Tilings therein vilible and invifible, for himfelf, b it for the Ufe and Benefit of all Mankind, whom he predeftinated and created for true and fpirituai Happinefs, both temporal and ever- lafting. That we migjit be powerfully moved hereby to love him with all our Hearts, with all our Minds, with all our Souls, and with all our Strength ; with fqch Love as cafteth out all fervile or fuperiutious Fear or Dread of him, his Power ~ ing. Thefe Things being previoufly obferved, there remains bat two Things more neceffary to be previoufly fhewn, in order to fliew the undeniable and clearly conceivable Truth of the icriptural Doctrine, of the ever bleffed divine Trinity, in the one undivided and in- divihble Jehovah, or divine Effence, (riz.) Jirfty that the fpiritual and invifible living God hath-been gracioufly pleafed fenfibly to iignify or reprefent himfelf, and in his holy Word to be called by, and by the Names of the material and vifible Heavens, and alfo by the perfonal Representations of a Father, Son, or Word, and holy Spirit, in order to enable Mankind to form a juil and true and fpiritu- ally profitable^ although not adequate Notions of him, and of his wonderful Manner of fub- fifting in Plurality, in the one undivided and indivilible Jehovah, or divine Effence, and of his admirable and amiable and adorable, and divinely revealed fpiritual Properties, or Per- fections. And fccondly, to {hew the fenfiblc Proper- ties of thofe f:nfible Representations, (as they are fet forth in the holy Scriptures) by which he hath been gracioufly pleafed to fignify and reprefent himfelf, and his ipiritual Perfec- tions to us. E^ rauie it is neceflary that we {hould have right and true, although not ade- quate Ideas of thofe Representations and of their Of the Divine Trinity 17 their Properties, by which and by which on- ly, we are enabled to form Notions of fpiri- tual Things and of their Properties andPerfec* tions : For if our Ideas of thofe fenfible Re- prefentations, and of their Properties be wrong or falfe, the Notions of fpiritual Things which we form by them, will necefTarily be wrong and falfe alfo, and fo far from being ipiritually beneficial, that they will be hurtful to us. That the invifible and living God is repre- fentcd, and therefore, often called in the holy Scriptures, by and by the Name of the ma- terial and vifible Heavens, is very evident from many Texts, of which I (hall oniy produce a few, as being fufficient to prove the Truth of the Point under Confideration. 2 Chron. xxxii. 20. It is faid, that Heze- kiah the King^ and the Prophet Ifaiah, prayed and cried to Heaven^ (i. e.) to God; for it is faid, 2 Ki?igs xix. 1 5. That Hezekiah pray- ed btfore the Lord, and faid > 0 Lord God of Ifrael, &c. And Pf xx. 6. it is faid, now know J, that the Lord will hear him from his holy Heavens -, thereby diftinguiihing be- tween the lifelefs and fenfelefs, material and vifible Heavens, by which he hath been pleated to condefcend to reprefent himfelf to Mankind, and the fpirituU Heavens, the Elohim in the one Jehovah or divine Effence, fpiritually figoificd by the material and vifible Heavens. Math. xvi. \\ The Pharifees de~ C fired lS Of the Divine Trinity. fired him that he would /hew a Sign from Heaven, (i. e.) from God. And St. Luke xv. 1 8. I have finned again fl Heaven and tefore thee, (i. e.) againft God. And St. Math. xxi. 25. The Bapti/m of John, whence was it? from Heaven, (i. c. from God) or of Men ? (i. e.) was it a divine or human Inftitution ? And 1 John v. 7. There be three that bear Witnefs in Heaven, (i.e.) in God, viz. the Elohim diftinguifhed by the penfonal Names of Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, in the one undivided and indiviiible Jehovah or divine Eflence. And St. Math. iii. 2. Re- pent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, in St. Mark i. 25. it is, For the Kingdom of God is at Hand. So that God and Heaven in many Places of the holy Scripture, are fynonymous Terms. I fhall add but one. Text more out of the many that might be produced in Proof of this Point, viz. Dan. i. 26. where that Prophet tells Nebuchadnezzar that his Kingdom jhould be Jure to him, after he fjould have known (or acknowledged) that the Heavens do ride, (i. e.) that the mod high and living God ruleth in the Kingdoms of Men, and difpofeth of them to whomio- ever he will, and over the material and vifible Heavens, and is their King, as Nebuchad- nezzar called him, when his Reafon was reflored to him. And as the living and invifible God was gracioufly pleafed fenfibly to fignify and re- prefent Of the Divine Trinity. t$ prefent himfelf, and condefcehd to be called by, and by the Name of the vifible Heat vens in his holy Word ; fo he hath been pleafed to fignify and reprefant Limfblf, and to be called in his holy Word, by, and ths Names of Fire9 Light, and Spirit ", or Dark* nefs in Motion, v.' d) are the th.ee Forms and States in which the material and vifible Heavens have fub filled in their one Subftance, fince the Time of their firft Formation by the fpiritual and invifible Heavens, the Elohim in the one Jehovah, or divine Effence. By vifible Fire. Exod. xiii. n, The Lord went before them by Day in a Pillar of a Clou a \ and by Night in a Pillar of Fire, And Deut. iv. 24, The Lord thy God is a confuming Fire, a Fire that purities from all defiling Lufts, as material and vifible Fire purifies pure Metals from all Impurities and Drofs which are mixed with them. And Deut. v. 22, The/e Words the Lord fpoke, out of the Mid /I of the Fire, of the Cloud, and of thick Dark?ie/s\ And Ezek. viii. 2, God appeared to that Prophet in the Appearance of Fire, and JBrightnefs or Light. Arjd Zech. ii. 5, God faid, he would be a Wall of Fire, (1, e ) of Love, to reformed Jerufalcm. C 2 And 20 Of the Divine Trinitv. And Exod. iii. 2, The Angel of the Lord appeared to Mofes in a Flame of Fire j and this Angel, or Appearance of God, is called God in the fourth Verfe, where it is faid, that Godcalled to himoutof the Midftof the Bufh: It was by the Flame, or bright Light that iffued forth from the Fire, that Mofes faw the Bu{h flaming; and the bright Beams of Light which iffue forth from the Orb of Fire in the Sun, are called the Angels of God, Pf. civ. 4, where it is faid, He maketh his Angels Spirit s, and bis Minijlers a flamifig Fire 5 (i. e.) the Rays of Light which are fent out from the Orb of Fire, are called his Angels, which, at the Circumference of the Heavens, becoming cool, are condenfed into the groffer Fluid of Darknefs, which is called Spirit, and which moving downwards to the Orb of Fire, to minifter to it, and become Fuel for it, it is faid, he maketh his Spirits, ft, e.J the groffer Fluid of Darknefs, a flaming Fire. And the Fire, Light, and Darknefs, which are the conftituent Forms of the material and vifible Heavens, by which God hath been pleafed ienfibly to fignify and reprefcnt him- felf to Mankind, being confubftantial, or the fame in Subitance, as well as cotemporary, and in all Refpe&s coequal to each other, therefore the Rays of the heavenly Light, which are called Angels, are called the Hea- vens, but not exclufive of the Fire and Dark- nefs, which are alio the Heavens, but not ex- Of the Divine Trinity. ax clufive of the Light. By this Reprefentation> we may perceive that what is called the An- gels of God here, was God : And accordingly it is faid in the fecond Verfe, that the Angel of the Lord appeared to Mofes in a Flame of Fire ; and in the fourth Verfe, that God called to him out of the Midft of the Bufh on Fire, fo that the Angel of the Lord and God were one, according to the Reprefenta- tion which God had been pleafed to make of himfelf, and by whofe Name, he therefore permitted himfelf to be called. By Light. St. John tells us, ijohn i. 5, that, God is Light. And St. Paul tells us, 1 Tim. vi. 16, that, Chriji who dwelt in God, and God in him^ dwelleth in Light, (i. e.) in God. And the Pfalmift, Pj\ xxvii. 1, calls the Lord his Light and his Salvation. And Pf. xxxvi. 9, with the Lord is the Fountain of Light , and that in his Light, we Jhall fee Light. And Ifa. lx. 1, The Glory of the LoM is laid to arife upon his Church; and Verfe 20, that, he will be her everlafting Light. And Luke ii. 32, Chriji \ in whom God dwelt, is therefore laid to be a Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of the Peo- ple Ifrael. And for the fame Reafon he is faid, John . 9, to be the true Light, that lightah every C 3 Man 2 2 Of the Divine Trinity. Man that cotfietb into the World, fo as to en- able them to difcern fpiritual Things. By Darknefs. This is rrianifeft from thefe Texts before cited, where, God \i kid to b-we appeared in, and n tfu\ M ?,T fctf the Fire and tl k Darknefs: As Exod. xiii. II, aVid ./>//*. v. 2z, and alfo from Exod. xx. 2 1 , where it is faid that, Mofes drew near unto the thick Darknefs whsre God was, (i. e.J to the thick- Darknefs, by which God had vifibly represented himfelf; for God is omniprefen^ but invifble by any other Means, than by that vifible Rcprefentation he hath been pleafed to make of himfelf. And Deidt. iv. n, JM they drew near unto the Mountain , which burned with Fire unto the Heart of Heaven, with Darknefs^ Clouds -, and thick Do knejs : By which God had been pleafed v\m y to rc-p*efent himfelf. And accordingly ii is laid Dent. v. 22, that, *The Lord Jpc ? unto the AJJemblyy out of the Midji f the Fire} of the Cloud, and of the thick Darknef: Apd Verfe 23, thaj, They heard the Voice out of the Midfl of the Darknefs: And Verfr ?a, the People faiJ, that God had fhev n ihem his Glory and Greatnefs, and thai n j had heard his Voice out of the W oi th Fire and Dark- nefs, by which ^ ; J be*n pleafed vifibly to reprcfcnt himk' .nd Verfe 26, that they had Of the Divine Trinity. 23 had heard the Voice of the living God out of the Ufelefs Reprefentation that he had been pleafed to make of himfelf, by which they were (truck with Fear* . Thus we may clearly perceive by the Light of God^s revealed Word, verified by the Rea- fon of Things, that our mod gracious God hatlr-becn pleafed fenfibly to fignify and re - prefent himfelf, and therefore to permit him- ielf to be called, not only by, arid by the Names of the material and vifible Heavens, which will be (hewn to be a Plurality of ne- ceiTary Agents, different and diftinc~t from each- other in their Forms and States, and in aft their Motions, Operatious, or AcTions, in one and the fame -Subftance, and yet all co- operating' together, for the Production of all their Effeb ; but alfo by, and by the Names of Fire,. Light, and Spirit, or Darknefs in Motion, which are the three different Forms and States in which the confubftantial Hea- vens have always fubfiftcd fince the Time of their firft Formation by the Elohim, or three Peribns in the one Jehovah, or divine Eflence, the fpiritual Heavens, in order to enable Man- kind to form right and true Nations of the Omniprefence and Manner of the fubfifting and operating, or afting of the three fpiritual and invilible, living, intelligent and free A- gents, in the one Jehovah, or divine Effence, both in the natural and fpiritual, or moral World. C 4 I 24 Of the Divine Trtnitv. I therefore proceed to fhew from the fame holy Scriptures, that God was likewife moft gracioufly pleafed to make alfo a perfonal Re- prefentation of himfelf, and to permit him- felf to be called by the perfonal Names of a Father, and of a Son, and alfo of a Holy Spirit; and this perfonal Reprefentation he did not make of himfelf, to enable Mankind thereby to fo- en Noti< >ns either of his Omni- prefence or of his llibfifting in Plurality, in the one undivided anfl indivifible jfebovah, or divine Effence, he having enabled them fo to do, by the Reprefentation that he made of himfelf by the material and vifible Heavens, but this perfonal Reprefentation he made of himfelf, in order to enable Mankind there- by to form a juft, right, and true, altho* not an adequate Notion of his Godhead, (L e.J of his moft perfect and fatherly Good- nefs, and Love to all Mankind, and of all his fpiritual, intellectual, and moral Perfec- tions, that we might not only admire him, which might not only excite, or ftir up in us fervil :, or fuperftious Fear and Dread of his Power and Punifhments, but love him with all our Hearts, which cafteth out all fervile, cr fuperftitioub Fear and Dread of him, his Power or Punifhments; all Fear, but that ot grieving, difpleafing, and of- fending (as J have before obferved) fo gra- cious and merciful, and affectionate a Pa- rent, who is grieved upon our Account, and dif- Of the Divine Trinity. 25 difpleafed and offended, and angry with us for no other Reafon, but for doing and im- penitently perfevering in doing thofe Things which are mod evidently deftructive of our fpiritual Sanclification, and of our true and fpiritual Happinefs, both temporal and ever- lafting. As I have but now obferved, that the perfonal Reprefentation which God hath been, nioft gracioufly pleafed to make of hiittfelf in his holy Word, was not intended to e.iabie Mankind to form their Notions either, of his Omniprefence, or of his Manner of fubfifting in a Plurality of intelligent Agents, co-eternal, co-effential, and in all Refpe&s co-equal, in the one Jehovah, or divine Effence ; (for he had fufficiently enabled them to form their Notion of his Plurality in co-effential Unity, by the fenfibly perceptible Reprefentacion that he had made of himfelf by the material and vifible Heavens, fubfifting in the three mod clearly diftinguifhable and different Forms and States of Fire, and Light, and Spirit, or Dark- nefs in Motion, all moving and operating or acting differently 5 and yet all co-operating conjointly together, in all Effects produced by them, in the one Subftance of the material Heavens : And which were therefore, all co- temporary and confubftantial, and in all Re- fpecls co-equal to each other, by which every Perfon might clearly perceive, and underftand, that every Motion and Action of any of thcfe- vifible 26 Of the Divine Trinity; vifible heavenly necefiary Agents, might with great Propriety be afcribed to any other of them, and therefore to all the three co- operating together.) So that when I (hall have fhewn the Original, and the different Forms, States and Properties of the material and vifi- ble Heavens, both in their original and creat- ed and unformed State ; and alfo in their formed and prefcnt State, a Trinity of Agents in one EfTence or Subflance, will not appear to be an incomprehenfible, but a moft clearly conceivable and intelligible Truth. And if we will apply the perfonal Names of Father, Son or Word, and holy Spirit, by which God hath been moil: gracioufly pleafed to call himfelf, who is the fpiritual and invifi- ble Heavens, in order to diftinguifh the fpiri- tual Thing fignified, from the fenfible Sign by which he hath been gracioufly plealed to fignify and reprefent it, we will thereby be enabled as clearly to conceive, the three Per- fons, or living inte:>5gent and free Agents, the TLlohim in the one undivided and indivifible Jehovah , or divine EfTence, or in the one fpiri- tual and inviiible Heavens, as we are to per- ceive, the three lifelefs and neceffary Agents, different in their Forms, States, Motions and Operations, in the one material or vifible Heavens, all moving and operating different- ly, and yet all neteflariiy co-operating to- gether, for the Production of every particular EffecT:. So that the perfonally diftinguifhing Names Of the Divine Trinity. 27 Names of Father, Son, and holy Spirit, were given to the Elohim, or to the three living and intelligent' Agents, in the one invifible and indivisible J>ehovah, or divine Effence, repre- fented and called alfo, by and by the Names of the material and vifible Heavens, to enable us to diftinguifh between the material and vifible, and lifelefs Signs and Reprefentations, and the fpiritual and inviiible and intelligent and free Agents, fenfibly fignified and repre- fented, and rendered conceivable by them. And therefore it is to be obferved, that when-' ever any of the perfonal Names of Father, Son, or Word, or holy Spirit, are underitood of God in any Text of holy Scripture, as faying or doing any thing, the divine Perfon there men- tioned, is never to be underftood Angularly, or fo as if that fingle Perfon faid or did any thinp- independently and exclulively of the other two 5 but of him co-operating in moft inti- mate Conjunction and Unity with him. Thus wherever the Word Father occurs in the holy Scriptures, and is to be underftood of God, or our heavenly Father ; although it denotes a different Perfon in the divine Effence diftinguifhed by that Name, acting in a diffe- rent Manner from the other two Perfons in the divine Effence, yet he is not to be fo un- derftood as if he adedfingly and independent- ly and exclufively of the other two, but in Conjunction and together with them, and fo - as that whatever he is faid to do, may with equal <&8 Of the Divine Trinity. equal Propriety be faid to be done by either of the other two, without whole joint Concur- rence in Operation, in different Forms and Manners, nothing could have been done by them. The fame holds equally true of the Perfons diitinguifhed by the N^mes of the Son and the fah Spirit, in the one undivided and indivifi- ble Jehovah, or divine Effence, neither of them being to be fo underftood, as if either of them fpoke or adted feparately 01 independent- ly and exclufively of, but always in Conjunc- tion and Co-operation with the other two, as in the Texts which I (hall hereafter men- tion, wherein the Father, Son, and holy Ghoft, are mentioned as fpeaking and adting as it were feparately and independently ; but are to be underftood as fpeaking and acting in Conjunction with the other two, as will be made appear by the fenfible Reprefentation which God hath been gracioufly pleafed to make of himfelf, by the material and vifible Heavens. We may likewife clearly perceive' by the Light of the holy Scriptures, interpreted con- formably to the Reprefen tations which God 1 th been gracioufly pleafed therein to make of himfelf, by which we mud form car Notions of the fcriptural Trinity ; and by what I have before obfervecl from the holy Scriptures concerning fhls Doc- trine. That the Words Father Son, and holy Ghoft, in the one Jehovah, or divine Eflencc, Of the Divine Trinity. 29 Effence, are taken in a two -fold Senfe in the holy Scriptures. Firjl, For three real diftindt and different Perfons diftinguifhed from each other by thofe three different perfonai Names, in the on2 Jehovah, or divine EiTence, as they have been fcnfibly reprefented, and fo rendered conceiv- able by the material Heavens. And it is by this fenfible and heavenly Reprefenta- tion that God hath been pleafed to make of himfelf, that we are enabled to conceive the Truth that St. John hath told us, 1 John v. 7. where he faith, There be three that bear Wit- nefs in Heaven, (i. e. in God) The Father, the Word, (or Son) and the holy Ghofi ; and thefe three are one. As the Fire, Light and Spirit, or Darknefs in Motion, (by which the fpiri- tual and invifible Heavens are fignified and re- prefented) are three different and diftinguifh- able Agents, but all of one and the fame Sub- ftmce, in the material and vifible Heavens, fo the Father, Son, and holy Ghoft, fignified and reprefented by them, are three diftinct and different intelligent Agents or Perfons, but all of one and the fame Effence, in the one Jehovah, the divine fpiritual and invifible Heavens. Secondly, For three real and different Per- fons, but not Angularly taken as if they acted independently of each other, but fo as that each of them acts conjointly and together, with the other two, fo that when any one of them 30 Of tie. Divine Trinitv. them is faid to act, it is to be underftood of the whole divine Trinity, acting in different Forms and Manners for the Production of e- very Effect, or of that Perfon's acting in Con- junction and Co-operation with the other two, as they have been reprefented co-exifting and co-operating by the material and vifible Hea- vens, as will be (hewn in the Texts hereafter mentioned. And we will likewife molt clearly perceive, by the Light of the holy Scriptures, that al- though the Man, Cbri/i Je/us, the only be- gotten Son of God, was truly and perfectly God as well as Man, by having the whole divine Trinity with all the Fulnefs of the Godhead dwelling in him, and by his fpeak- ing and acting fo in them, and they in him, that whatever he faid or did, might with e- qual Propriety be faid, to be laid and done by them, and whatever they faid or did, might with equal Propriety be faid, to have been faid or done by him % yet that he was not one of the Perfons in the co- eternal, co- cflential, and in every Refpect co-equal di- vine Trinity; neither was he God, nor //;/- manuely by the co-eternal and co-eflential Son's being intimately united to, and dwell- ing in him, and co-operating in and together With him in all Things, but by the whole divine Trinity, the three divine Perfons, Fa- ther, Son, and Holy Ghoft, dwelling with all the Fulneis of the Gudliead in him, and co» Of the Divine Trinity. 31 co-operating with him in all Things, and he with them. However many pious and learn- ed Fathers of the Chriftian Church, and fuch as have confidered and regarded their Doc- trines more than thofe of the Holy Bible, by their having not fufficiently confidered and regarded the fcriptural Diftindion between the co-eternal, and co-effential, and co-equal di- vine Son, and the only begotten Son of the whole Elohitn, fometimes called by the Name of the Father, but to be underftood of the whole three divine Perfons, co-operating in Unity; and by their having taught, that the co-eternal and co-effential, and in every Re- fpect co-equal Son, and he only, was united and made one with the only begotten Son of God, inftead of teaching and fhewing from the holy Scriptures, verified by the heavenly Reprefentation that God hath been pleafed to make of himfelf, in order to enable us to form a jufr, right, and true Notion of his Manner of fubilftins; in Pluralitv, in the one "Jehovah or divine Effence, have fo perplexed the Doctrine of the divine Trinity in effentiai Unity, and alfo of the Godhead of Jtfui Cbrift, as to render both incomprehensible and unintelligible, and incredible and denia- ble ; whereas both are mod clearly conceive- able and intelligible, as they are fet forth in the holy Scriptures, from which, and from which only, thofe Doctrines ought to be de- duced, as will be (hewn hereafter. And 32 Of the Divine Trinitt. And by the fame fpiritual and fcriptural Lignt, we will be likewife enabled clearly to perceive, that by the holy Spirit, that Spirit, bv which, and by which only, Men can be fructified and faved, and which is fo often mentioned in the holy Scriptures, we are not to underftand always that co- eternal and co- effential, and every Way co-equal Perfon in the divine Effence, diftinguifhed by that per- fonal Name 5 but that by the holy Ghoft or Spirit, is moit frequently to be underftood in the holy Scriptures, of that holy fandifying and faviug Spirit of Faith \ which was reftored to the Knowledge of Mankind, by the Re- velation that was made to our firft Parents, by Jehovah Elohitn, the whole three divine Per- sons in effential Unity, in the one Jehovah, concerning their fending, and the coming and Death of J ejus Chri/l, the only begotten Son or God Theie few Things being previoufly obferv-. cd, I proceed to give a few Inftances out of many that might be given, to ihew, that wherever any one of the divine Perfons are faid to do any Thing, it is never to be un- ftood of that Perion fingly taken, but of that Pcribn in Conjunction and Co-operation with the other two, (1. e.) of the whole divine Trinity. Jlndjiift) of the Divine Father. I John v. 7, it is faid that, There be three * that Of the Divine Trinitv." 33 that bear Witnefs in Heaven, (i. e. in God,) the Father, the V/ord, and the holy Ghojl. Here no one of thefe Perfons are faid to act or do any Thing, but only toexift together in the one Jehovah, or divine E Hence, and fo to conftitute the divine fpiritual and inVifi- ble Elohim, repreiented and rendered con- ceivable by the material Heavens ; therefore we are hereby to- underftand, that there are three diftindl and different Perfons, in the one Jehovah, as there are three diftindr and dif- ferent fenfelefs and unintelligent Agents in the material and vifible Heavens, and that as the three in the vifible Heavens, are one in Refpect of their Subilance ; fo the three in the fpiritual and invisible Heavens are one, in Refpect of their Effence. And that as no one of the Agents in the material and vifible Heavens can move or a£fc, uniefs the other two move and act, and co-operate with it in different Forms and Manners, and fo as that its Motions and Actions may with equal Propriety be afcribed to either of the other two, fo no one of the Perfons or intelligent Agents in the fupreme divine fpiritual and invisible Heavens, can move or act, uniefs the other two move and act, and co-operate in dillinct and different Forms and Manners with it, and fo as that its Motions and Actions, may with equal Propriety be afcribed to either of the other two. This is the true Scripture Doctrine of the ever bleffed divine co-eternal, co-eilential and D in 34 Of the Divine Trinitv. in every RefpecT: co-cqnal Trinity, perfonally diftinguifhed in the one undivided and indi- viiible yehovah, or divine Eflence, as it hath been feniibly reprc Tented and rendered moft clearly conceivable by the material Heavens, by which God in his holy Word hath been mod gracioufly pleafed feniibly to fignify and reprefent himfelf. And it is by the Reprc- fentations that God hath been gracioufly pleaf- ed to make of himfelf in his holy Word, and by thofe only, that we are to form our Notions or Conceptions of the divine fpiritual and in- divifible and fcriptural Trinity 5 and it is ac- cording to thefe Notions obtained by divine Revelation and Reprefentation, that we are to fpeak not only of the Omniprefence of God, and of his Manner of fubfifting in a Plurality of Perfons in effential and infeparable Unity, but of, all his revealed Properties or Perfec- tions; otherwife, we will fpeak improperly and impertinently, and falfely and wickedly, concerning him. And it hath been altogether owing to their having overlooked the fcriptural Representa- tions, that God hath been gracioufly pleafed to make of himfelf, (as I have before oblerved) and confequtntly to their having taken up falfeand groundlefs Notions of him, or No- tions grounded upon falfe Philofophy, which they had inconfiderately imbibed, that many learned Doctors of the Chrhtian Church have taught fo confufedly and unintelligibly and in* Of the Divine Trinity; 35 incredibly concerning the Dodrine of the ever blefled Trinity, in the Unity of the one JtbG~ *vahy that many by their Means have been brought to doubt of the Truth of it, and Mul- o titudes openly to deny it. And as this Doc- trine is mod clearly fet forth in the holy Scrip- tures, from the one End of them to the other; by its being rendered incredible and deniable, by thefe inconsiderate Per ions, who have wrote fb unintelligibly about it, in labouring to explain it 5 (for they did not teach it from, and according to the holy Scriptures, but brought, and wrefied and misapplied the holy Scriptures to favour their falfe and groundlefs Notions concerning it.) Many have been brought to doubt of the Truth and divine Original of the holy Scriptures, and Multitudes to deny both, and all divine Revelation, and confequently all divine revealed Religion, and to fubiiitute natural Religion in the Place of it; to the great Decay of all true fpiritual Purity, Piety, Charity and Righteoufncfs, and of every other moral Virtue, among all Ranks and Orders of Mankind, in all States and Stations, from the highefl to the lovveft, in the Chri- ftian World. And this I chofe to take Notice of in this Place, for this farther Reafon, becaufe the late Refiners upon the Arian and Soci?iia?i Doftrines, in order to fupport their Denial of the co-eternal, co-erTential, and in every Re- jfpeft, co-equal Trinity of divine Perlons in D 2 the 36 Of the Divine Trinity.' the one Jehovah, or divine Effence, have afferted that this Text is not genuine, but an Interpolation, that it hath been foifted into this Epiftle of St. John, becaufe it is wanting in fome, and is not to be found in all the Manufcripts of the New Teftament, (which is the Cafe of feveral other Texts of Scripture, of whofe Genuinenefs there never was, nor ever can be any Doubt, although they are not to be found in all the remaining Manufcripts of the New. Tefbment that are extant.) That they may fee by what I have before obferved, and by what I am now about to obferve, that there is nothing afferted in this Text of St. John, that hath not been over and over affert- ed in other Texts, both in the Old and New Teftament, and to whofe Truth, the material and vifible Heavens bear Teftimony, aid therefore cannot be called in Queftion fo long as they endure or continue. A few out of many Texts of Scripture that might be produced, that the Word Father is to be underdood of the Elohim, or divine Tri- nity, fpeakingand co-operating in Unity. It is faid Gen. iii. 22. And the Lord God, Je- hovah, Elohim, J aid, behold the Man is - come as one of uss to know Good and Evil, &C. The Word Father is not exprefsly mention- ed here, but becaufe the anti-fcriptural Uni- tarians who admit but of one Perfon in the di- vine Effence, and allow that he is often called the Father in the holy Scriptures, and always to Of the Divine Trinity1.' 37 to be underftood as a fingle Perfon. I there- fore chofe to mention this Text, to fhew, that as God had been pleafed to reprefent himfelf as a Plurality of Agents, of one and the fame undivided Subftance in the material and vifible Heavens ; fo he hath been gracioufly pleafed to fpcak of himfelf here, conformably to that Reprefentation, as a Plurality of Perfons in the one Jehovah 1 or divine Eflence ; and that therefore the Word Father wherever it occurs in the holy Scripture, and is to be underftood of God our heavenly Father, faying or doing any Thing, it is always to be underftood of a Plurality of the whole Trinity, co -operating together in Unity, in the one undivided and indivifible divine Eflence. As Pf lxviii. 5. God is a Father of the Fatherlefs. St. Math. xi. 28. / thank thee 0 Father ', Lord of Heave 12 and Earth. St. Mark xiii. 32. But of that Day and Hour knoweth no Man, 720, not the Angels that are in Heaven \ neither the Son : but the Father. St. John xiv. 28. My Father is greater than 1. 1 Cor, viii. 6. But to us there is but one God the Father, of whom are all Things, and we to or for i#s him, and one Lord Jefus Chrift, by or becaufe of whom are all Things y and we by or becaufe of him, D 3 S:. 3S Of the Divine Trinitv\ St. John iii. 35. The Father hveth the Soiiy and hath given him all Things. And v. 20. The Father hveth the Son, and fl:eweth him all Things. And 22. The Father judgetb no Man. And 26. As the Father hath Life in himjelf fo hath he given to the Son to have Life in himjelf I Acts i. 4. Wait for the Fromife of the Father. Ephcf. iv. 6. One God and Father of all who is above all, and through all, and in you ell Colof. i. 19. For it flea fed him (the Father) that in himflmild all Fulnefs dwell. Chap, ii, 9. Tloe Fulnejs of the Godhead. 1 Pet. i. 3. Bleffed be the God and Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift. The foregoing are a few of the many Texts that might be produced, wherein the perfonal Word Father is not to be underftcod of the firfl Perfon in the divine Trinity, nor Angular- ly, but of the whole Trinity of Perfons in the one Jehovah, or divine Effence. And fo it is underftood, St. Math. vl. 9. where it is faid, Our Father which art in Heaven^ or our heavenly Father, by wrhich we are put in Mind of both the fenfible Signs and Representations, by which God hath been moil; gra'cioufly pleafed to fignify and repre- sent himfelf, that we might thereby preferve juft and right, and true and fpiritually bene^ filial Notions of him, and of hi$ wonderful and Of the Divine Trinity^ 39 2nd amiable, and adorable Properties and Per- fections, and be thereby moved to love him, and perfevere in Obedience to his moft per- fect, and only perfect and perfectly purifying Law. And St. Math. xxviii. 19. where it is faid, -Go teach (or make Diiciples of) all Nat ions i baptizing them into or for the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Ghofl. That Mankind being fpiritually purified by the Word, denoted by typical Baptifm by pure Water, might believe in the Father, (i.e.) in the divine Trinity* in Unity, in the one yehovahy or divine Effence 5 and in the only begotten Son the Man Chrijl yefus, by whom the Love of our heavenly Father, and the infatuating and inraging Power of all the bodily Lufls, were fo clearly mariifefted ; and in whom the Father (/. e.) the whole divine Trinity chofed to dwell, to reconcile the World to themfelves, who together are but one God; and in that divinely revealed Spirit of Faith, which was reftored to the World by the Revelation of yfus Chrijl the only begot- ten Son of God, by which and by which only, Mankind can be fanctified and laved. I proceed to produce a few of the many Texts that might be produced out of the holy Scripture, to (hew, that although it be faid, 1 yohn v. 7. That there be three that bear Wit- ?2 as many of the re- puted Orthodox have taught 5 neither is it to be underftood of the only begotten Son of Man Chrift J ejus, to whom the one Perfon whom they call the fupreme God, and the Father, who alone is to be worfhiped with what they call fupreme Worfhip, hath communicated fuch divine Powers and Perfections, that he may be called God in an inferior Senfe, and may be wormiped, with what they call in- ferior Worihip. But it is to be underftood of the only begotten Son of God, the Man Chrift jfefus, who was produced into Being before all Worlds, and afterwards conceived by the holy Ghoft in the Womb of the Virgin Mary, and became incarnate or took Flefh upon him, together with the Elobim, the whole Trinity of divine Perfons, who took him into moll intimate Unity with themfelves, and dwelt in him with all the Fulneis of the jGodhead, and he in them, and co-operated with him in all Things, and he with them, fo that what- ever he faid or did could not be faid to have been faid or done, exclufively of them, but by him together with them, and whatever is faid ta have been faid or done by them, could not be 4* Of the Divine Trinity. be faid, to have been faid or done by them, cxclufively of him, but by them together with him, and by him in them, and co-operating with them in all Things, and therefore he faid, John xvi. 15. All Things that the Father bath, are mine. And chap. xvii. 10. All mine are thine, and thine are mine. And chap. xiv. 24. I he Word which you hear is not minc^ but the Father s which fent me. And Ter. 10. The Words that I /peak unto you, I [peak not of niyfelf, but the Father that dwel- leth in me, he doth the Works, (i. e.) I do not fpeak the Words myfelf only, but the Father, (t. et) the whole Elohim that dwelleth in me, and co-operateth in and with me in all Things I fay or do ; together with me fpeaketh the Words which you hear me fpeak. And that they might know and believe that the Father, (i. e.) the Elohim dwelleth in him, he faith, ver. 9. He that hath feen me hath feen the Father. And to fhew his moft inti- mate Unity with the Father, (/'. e.) the Elohim he faith, chap. x. 30. 1 and my Father are one, ttn And being thus moft intimately uni- ted to and made one with God, when he t<;ok upon him the Form or Appearance of a rvant, but appeared in the Form of God, by all his Words and Anions, He did not. (as the Apoflle tells us, Philip ii. 6.) think it Robbery to be equal with God. If he had thought it Robbery, and declared hi toft If not to be equal to God, Mankind would have had Of the Divine Trinity. 43 had a lefs Opinion of the perfect Goodnefs of God, but by ChriJFs declaring and fhewing himfelf to be one with God, and God with him, they might clearly perceive that God was in and with Chrift, reconciling the World to himfelf, and by his great and fatherly Love thus manifefted to them, they would have the mofl: powerful Motive and Reafon given them for loving him with all their Heart, and for manifefting the Truth and Sincerity of it, by their Pcrfeverance in perfedl Obedience to his moil: perfect and purifying Law, by which they would be fanditied and faved, and mads truly and fpiritually happy, both temporally and everlaftingly, which were the Ends for which God created and defigned all Mankind without Exception. This is the true fcriptural Dodtrine, concern- ing the Son or Word of God, and that he is to beunderflood of the only begotten Son of God the Man Chrifi Jejiis with the Elohim, or whole divine Trinity of Perfons, mofl inti- mately united to and dwelling in him, and he in them, and co-operating with him in all Things, and he with them, whenever he is faid in the holy Scriptures to fay or do any Thing. And that he is to be fo underftood in the following Texts, which are a few of the many that might be cited to the fame Purpofe. lfaiah ix. 6. For unto us a Child is bom, unto us a Son is given, and the Government (hall 44 Of the Divine Trinity; JJ:all be upon his Shoulder : And his Naine Jhall be called Wonderful, Counfellor, the mighty God, the ever lading Father ', the Prince of Peace. St. John i. i, &c. In the Begi?ining Arche was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, the fame was in the Beginning with God: All Things were made by (or becaufe of &<*) him ; and without him was not any Thing tnade that was made, and the Word was made Flejh% and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his Glory, the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full if Grace and Truth. And i John i. I, &c. That which was from the Beginning, &c# which we have heard, which ws have feen with our Eyes, which we have looked upon, and our Ha?ids have handled of the Word of Life -, (for the Life was mani~ fefied) and we have fen it, and bear Witnefs, and pew unto you that eternal Life that was with the Father, That you aljo may have Fellcwfip with us, and truly our Feliowfnp is with the Father, and with his Son Jefus Chrift. Hcb. i. i, &c. God hath in thefe la ft Days fpoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath ap- pointed Heir of all Things, by (or becaufe of) whom a/Jo he made the World, upholding all Things by the Word of his Power. And Jat dr^n on the right Hand of Majefiy on high. An4 Of the Divine Trinity.' 45 And Coloffians i. 13, 15, 16, 17, and 19, His dear Sou, who is the Image of the invifi- lle God, the Firjl-born of every Creature, for by (or becaufe of) him all Things were creat- ed, that are in Heaven, and that are in Earth, vifible and invifible. All Thi??gs were created by (or becaufe of) hi?n9 and for him y and he is before all Things, and by him all Things con/ifl. For it plea fed the Father that in him f/jouJd all Fidnefs dwellt the Ful- nefs cf the Godhead, ii. 9. In thefe few Texts which I have mention- ed, out of the many that might be produced, the Word or Son of God is to be underftood of the only begotten Son of God, the Man Chrijl J ejus, not alone, and exclufively of the Deity, but conjunctively and together with the Elohi?n, the three different and diflinguifh- ed Perfons in the divine Trinity, in the one undivided and indivisible Jehovah, or divine EfTence, rendered conceivable by the three different and diftinguifhed indivilible and in- feparable Agents, in the material and vifible Heavens, always co-operating in and with him in all Things, that he thought, faid, or did. And when it is faid, John xiv, 2 8 . The Father is greater than I. And St! Mark xiii. 32. B ut of the Day and Flour knoweth no Many 720, not the Angels which are in Heaven, nei- ther the Son, but the Father. We are to un- derHand 46 Of the Divine Trinity. deriland, that J ejus Chrifl fpake of himfelf in both thefe Texts, in Refpect of his Hu- manity only, that Mankind might know and believe, that he was perfect Man as well as perfect God. It may be obferved, that I have rendered the Particle .e- prefentation that he was alio gtfatfiatfiJjr pleafed to make of himfelf, mii^ook the material and viflbls Sign, for the fpiritual and invifibW E 4 Being 56 Of the Divine Trinity. Being, fignihed and represented by it; and worfhipped and adored the lifelefs and ienfe- lefs Creature, the vifible Heavens, which they let up for the fupreme God, inftead of the living, intelligent, and beneficent Creator of Heaven and Earth, and of all Things there- in, vifible and mvifible. They for fome Ages, believed a Trinity, or three Agents efTential, or fubftantialiy one, in their God, but a Tri- nity of lenielcfs and unintelligent Agents. Whereas on the other Hand, the Generality of the Doctors of the Chriftian Church, by only taking into their Confideration the per- fonal Reprefentation which God hath been pleafed to make of himfelf, and by their having over-looked and dropt the Repre- fentation which God was alfo gracioufly pleafed to make of himfelf, by the material and vilible Heavens, although they profefTed to believe the Doctrine ot the ever bleffed Trinitv, in the Unity of the one Jehovah, or divine Efllnce, which is fo clearly and lo often fet forth in the holy Scriptures, yet when they came to explain it, they perplexed it, and fpqke and wrote fo incomprehenfibly and unintelligibly about it, that they ren- dered it incr< diblc, and the Generality of thofe who go tad r the Chriftian Denomination, believing that to be the Scripture Doctrine of the Trini y, which was io generally taught by Chriftij n 'T < . Jicrc of all Denominations, without cc.if:dciing the clearly conceivable and Of the Divine Trinity. $j and intelligible Do&rine fct iorth in the holy Scriptures, concerning the divine Trinity of Pertons, in the one "Jehovah^ or divine Ef- fence, rendered fo clearly and perfectly com- prehenfible, hy the Reprefentation which God was moft gracioufly pleafed to make of him- felf, by the material and vilible Heavens, which bear Teilimony to the Truth of the holy Scriptures, concerning the divine Tri- nity in Unity; they have by that Means been brought to difbelicve and deny the Truth and divine Authority of the holy Scriptures, and all divine Revelation, and the ISLceiTuy of fuch a Revelation, and consequently all re- vealed Religion, and to rely upon the Self- Sufficiency of what they call natural Reli-, gion, which is no other than what their bodily Senfes; and their refpeclive predomi- nant bodily Lufts fugged: and dictate to them, to the great Decay of all true and fpiritual Purity, Piety, Charity and Righteoufneisvand of every other moral Virtue, to the Extirpa- tion both of private and focial Honefty, whe- ther ceconomical or political, out of the Minds of the Generality of all Ranks and Orders of Mankind, in all States and Stations from the Higheft to the Loweft, to the Dem ucli- on and Overthrow of all true and temporal, and worldly Happinefs, and of true fpnitual Happinefs, both temporal and everlafting. And as it was neceflary for clearing up and rendering conceivable the Truth or the fcrip- tjS Of the Divine Trinity. fcriptural Do&rine of the ever blefled and divine Trinity in Unity, in the one Jehovah^ or divine Effence, previoufly to fhew, that God in his holy Word, had not only been gracioufly pleafed fenfibly to fignify and re- prefent himfelf, by the material and vifible Heavens, in the three different and diftinguifh- able Forms and States of Fire, Light, and Spirit, or Darknefs in Motion, all moving and operating, or a&ing different Ways, and after different Manners in one and the fame Subftance, and all co-operating together for the Production of every Effeft that is afcribed to any one of them ; but alfo by a perfonal Reprefentation which he was likewife graci- oufly pleafed to make of himfelf, by which he is diftinguifhed by the perfonal Names of Father, Son, and holy Spirit, by which they are (hewn to be living or intelligent Agents; and diftinguifhed from the lifelefs and fenfe- kfs Agents, by which they are feniibly fignifi- ed and reprefented. I have therefore (hewn from the holy Scriptures, Seventhly, That God hath been gracioufly pleafed therein to reprefent himfelf by, and to permit himfelf to be called by the Name of the material and vifible Heavens in genera!, and alfo by the particular Names of Fire, Light, and Spirit, or Darknefs in Motion, which are the different and diftinguifhable Forms and States, in which they have fubfifted ever fince the Time of their firft Formation, by Of the Divine Trinity. 59 by the Eichhn, or fpiritual Heaven^, fubfifting in different Forms in the one Jehovah, or di- vine Eflence. And Eighthly, That he hath been gracioufly pleafed therein likewife, to make a perfonal Reprefentatibn cf himfelf, not to enable us thereby to form a Notion of his being a Plu- rality in Unity, in the one divine Effence j but a Notion of his Godhead, and .hat the Plu- rality in the Godhead which is rendered con-* ceivable by the three lifelefs and fenfelefs Agents, in the one Subftance of the material and vilible Heavens, are Perfons or living and intelligent and free Agents, of perfect Wiidom and Goodnefs, and of all other amiable and adorable, revealed and conceivable, and un re- peated, and therefore, in this Life unconceiva- ble divine Powers and Perfections, in the one Jehovaby or divine Effence, all co-operating together, for the Sanctification, Salvation, and true Happinefs of all Mankind, that they might be moved by the Confideration of this Notion of him, to love him with all their Hearts, GrV. and to manifeft the Truth and Sincerity of their Love, by Perfeverance in perfect Obedience to his moil perfect and purifying Law, that by both thefe they might become perfectly qualified for the Enjoyment and fure Attainment of true Happinefs, both temporal and everlafting. And that as this perfonal Reprefentation, that God hath been gracioufly pleafed to make of himielf in his holy 6© Of the Divine Trinity. holy Word , was not intended for the enabling Mankind to form a Notion of his Plurality in Unity, therefore, whenever any of the three Perfons, Father, Son, or holy Ghoft, are mentioned in the holy Scriptures, as faying or doing any Thing, it is not to be underftood of that Perfon Angularly taken, as if he fpoke or acted fingly of himfelf, and exclufively and independently of the other two; but of the Perfon fpeaking or acting in Conjunction and Co-operation with the other two, as they are represented by the Agents exifting in the ma- terial and viiible Heavens, all and always co- operating together, for the Production of every Effect, afcribed to any one of them. And this I have lhewn moft clearly, concern- ing the Perfon of the Father, and of the holy Spirit, where either of them are faid to have laid or done any Thing in the holy Scriptures. As alfo that where ever any Thing is faid in the holy Scriptures to have been faid or done by the Son, it is not to be underftood of the only begotten Son of God, the Man Cbriji jfelus alone and Angularly taken, as the A inns and Socinians teach. Nor of the only begotten Son of God, the Man Chrijl Jejus% to whom the Father (whom they hold to be one Perfon, and that Perfon to be the only true and fupreme and living God, to whom what they call fupreme Worfhip, is only to be paid) hath communicated fuch divine Pro- perties, Powers and Perfections, that he may on Of the Divine Trinity 61 on their Account be properly called God, but of an inferior Nature, to whom what they call inferior Worfliip, may very juftly be paid * as the modern Refiners upon Arianifm and Socinianifm teach. Nor of the only begotten Son, the Man Chriji Jejus, in whom the co- eternal and co-effential, and in every Refpedt, co-equal Perfon, diftinguifhed by the Name of the Son, in the ever bleffed and divine Trinity, in the one Jehovah, or divine Effence, chofe to dwell, and to take into mod intimate Unity with him, and fo as to become one with himfelf, co-exifting in him, and co- operating with him in all Things, and therefore God together with him, and co-eternal and co-effential, and in every Refpeft, co-equal with the Perfons called the Father and the holy Spirit in the divine Trinity, as the reputed Orthodox have for many Ages inconfideratelv at leaft taught. But of the only begotten Son, the Man Chriji Jefus, in whom the Elohim, the whole Trinity of divine Perfons in the one undivided and indivifible Jehovah, or divine Effence, chofe to dwell with all the Fulnefs of the Godhead, and to take into mod intimate Unity with themfelves, fo that every Thing faid to be faid and done by them, might with equal Propriety be faid to be faid and done by him, co-exifting and co-operating in, and with them in all Things ; and fo that every Thing faid and done by him, might with equal Propriety, be faid to be faid and done 6z Of the Divine Trinity*, done by them, co-operating in, and with him in all Things (aid and done by him. This is the true fcriptural Doctrine both of the divine Trinity, in the U: ity of the one undivided and indivifible Jikovah^ or divine Effencej and of the Divinity of the Man Je/us Chriji, the only begotten Son of God; as will, by an4 by, be made clearly to appear, together with the ipiritual Benefits that will neccfTarily at- tend the fincere and true Belief of both thefe fcriptural Doctrines : Which Men cannot pof- fibly obtain, who reject and continue in Un- belief of them, or in Mifbelief or falie Belief, concerning them. But as it is neceffary to have a right, juft and true Idea of the material and vifible Heavens, by which and by which only, we are enabled to form a right, juft and true Notion of the Manner of the Elohims fubfift- ing and operating or acting in the one Jehovah% or divine Effence, (for if we have not a right, juft and true Idea of the fenfibly perceptible Thing, by which we form our Notion of any ipiritual or fenfibly imperceptible Thing, our Notion of it will ncceffarily be wrong and falfc, andfo will our Belief concerning it And as our Practice of Good and Evil in molt Cafes depends upon our Belief, if our Belief be faife, our Practice will very often be wicked and hurt- ful.) Therefore, that we might have a right, juft: and true Idea of the material and vilible Heavens, and that we may thereby be en- abled Of the Divine Trinity. 63 abled to form a right, juft and true Notion of the Elohim, or divine Trinity, fubfifting in the one Jehovah of divine Eflence. I havQ chofen to (hew previoufly from the holy Scriptures, what hath been there fet forth, concerning the divine Original of the material and vifiblc Heavens, and of the Form and State in which they were created, and of their prefent States and Forms of Fire, Light, and Spirit, or Darknefs in Motion, in which they have fubfifted ever fince the Time of their Formation, by the Elohim, or Trinity of Perfons in the one Jehovah, or divine EC- fence: And of the different Motions, and Manners of operating or a&ing, and co-operat- ing together in theie three different Forms and States, in one and the fame Subftance. And of the different Properties and Powers of the material Heavens, fubfifting in each of thefe three different Forms and States, by which we will obtain a right and true, al- though not an adequate Idea of them 5 and know fo much concerning them, as is necef- fary for us to know, in order to our doing every Thing proper and necefiary to be done by us, in order to our true Happinefs, both natural and fpiritual, and temporal and ever- lafting. And by our having a true Idea of them, and knowing fo much as God hath been pleated to inform us, by the Writings of his holy Prophets concerning them, we 'will be thereby enabled to form a right, juft and true 64 Of the Divine Trinity*. true Notion of the Manner of God's fubfifting in a Plurality, or Trinity of intelligent Agents", in the one jfebovah, or divine EfTcnce, as it b fet forth and reprefented in the holy Scrip- tures: Bat not as it hath been taught by Perions who have overlooked and difregarded the fcriptural Reprefentation, which God was pl.afed to make of it by the material and vifible Heavens, and who were therefore, unable to render their Doctrine comprehenfible or intelligble, concerning it ; and who to keep themfelves in Countenance, and to lead fimple and inconfiderate Perfons into their Error, have impertinently and wickedly produced feveral Texts of holy Scripture, as if they bore Teftimonv to the Truth of their falfe and vain Imaginations 3 whereas, they only bear Tefti- mony to the Trufh of that Doclrine, as it hath been rendered moil: clearly comprehenfi- ble and intelligble, by the fen fible Reprefenta- tion which God hath been pleafed to make of it by the material and vifible Heavens, by which he hath enabled us, by what he hath faid concerning them in his holy Word, to form a clear and true, although not a com- pleat and adequate Idea of. And by the by, we will, by carefully attending to the Reve- lations, which God by his holy Prophets hath given to Mankind, concerning the material and vifible Heavens, his inflrumental Cau/e of all inanimate and vegetable, and animal Mo- tions, atfd of all Kinds and Degrees ol Motion ia Of the Divine Trinity 65 in the natural or muerial Worlds have a truer, and more clearly conceivable, and ufeful Syftem of Principles of natural Phi lo/ophy, by which the Caules of all the Phenomena in Nature, that are neceffary for us to know, in order to both our natural and fpiritual Well- being, than hath been delivered to the World, in any of the Syftems of Philoibphers, either antient or modern, from the Beginning of the World to this Day. Although it hath been induftrioufly afferted, by Perfons who have laboured to divert Mankind from the dilligent and attentive Reading of the holy Scriptures, and to attach them to the Study of the Writings of human Philoibphers ; that the holy Scriptures were not defigned to in- ftrudl: Mankind in the Knowledge of Philo- fophy, and yet they contain (as will be fhewn hereafter) a more compleat and ufeful Syftem of Phv/ics, or natural Philofophy j and of Ethics, or moral Philofophy ; and of Meta- ph^cs7 or fupernatural Philofophy ; than ever appeared in any other Writings in the World* And great and good Reafon there was for fetting forth thele Things in the holy Scrip- tures, from whence they are to draw all their Knowledge of the one and only true lan&ify- ing and faving Religion, for fuch as Men's Philofophy is, fuch will be their Religion ; if the firftbe true, the latter will be fo too, and if the one be falfe, the other will neceflarily be falfe alfo, F 66 Of the Divine Trinity. I therefore now proceed to (hew from the holy Scriptures, which God hath been moft gracioufly pleafed to reveal and make known to Mankind by his holy Prophets, concerning the material and vifible Heavens, by which he hath been pleafed fenfibly to fignify and reprefent himfelf, and render himk-lf con* ceivable, with Refpect to his Ubiquity or Omniprefence, and Manner of fubfiiting and operating or acting in Plurality, in the one undivided and indivifible Jehovah, or divine EfTence. And concerning their divine Origi- nal; and concerning the original Form and State in which they were created 5 and con- cerning the three different Forms and States, in which they were afterwards made to fubfift, and in which they have fubfifted and operated or acted ever fince the Time of their Forma- tion. And of their different Manners of operating or acting, and all co-operating to- gether, in the Production of all their different Acts or Effects, in their three different Forms and States, in one and the fame EfTence or Subftance. And of the different Properties, Powers and Perfections, of the material and vifible Heavens, fubfifting; in their three different Forms and States oi Fire, Light, and Spirit, or Darknefs in Motion, in their one Subftance, that we may be thereby enabled to form a juft, right and true, and ufeful, al- though not an adequate Idea of them. For as it is by them and by them only, that we arc Of the Divine Trinity. 67 are enabled to form a Notion or Conception of the Omniprefence of God the Elohim, and of his Manner of fubfifting, operating or adling, and co-operating in the one Jehovah% or divine Eflence ; if we have not a right and true Idea of the material and vifible Heavens, our Notions or Conceptions of the Elohim thereby reprefented, will be wrong and falfe, and ulelefs or unprofitable, and hurtful, as hath been before obferved. We are informed by Mofes, a Prophet of God, Gent i. 1. That the Elohim in the Re* fiith, (i.e.) That the whole divine Trinity in Unity, in the one undivided and indivifible Jehovah, or divine Eflence, created the Hea- vens and the Earth. By which we may obferve that the Work of Creation is here afcribed to the Elohim, or the whole divine Trinity co-operating in Unity, in the one divine ElTence, for the Pro- duction of that ftupendous Work or EfTedt; as hath been obferved in my Notes and Obfer- vations upon this Verfe. And in Conformity to that which, Mofcs hath here declared, all the holy Prophets (moved by the fame divine Spirit) have fpoke, who have made Mention of the Works of God, and of the wonderful Operations of his Hands, although all Of them have not afferted the Works to the whole Elohim, fome of them having afcribed them to the co-eternal, co-eflential and co equal Word or Son 3 and others of them to the co- 1 F 2 eternal, 68 Of the Divine, Trinity. eternal, and co-effential, and in every Refpeft, co-equal divine and holy Spirit, in the one Jehovah, or divine Effence. And thus it is faid, Pf. xxxiii. 6. By the Word oj the Lord (Jehovah) were the Hea- vens made ; and all the Hofl of them by the Spirit of his Month. And Pf lxKxix. n. The Heavens are thine \ the Earth a/Jo is thine : As for the World (b^D the Mixture) and the tulnefs thereof, thou hafl founded them. And Pf. cxlvi. 6. it is faid, That Jehovah Elohim made the Hea- vens and the Earthy the Sea, and all that is therein. But Job xxvi. 13. it is faid, By his Spirit he hath gamifhed (beautified or expanded) the Heavens. Ifaiah xliv. 24. Thus faith Jehovah thy Redeemer, he that formed thee, from the Womb, 1 am the Lord that maketh all Things. That flretcheth forth the Heavens alone, that f pre ad- ith abroad the Earth, by (or from) myfelf And Zech. xii. 1. That he flretcheth forth the Heavens, and layeth the Foundations of the Earth, and for met h the Spirit of Man within him. But John i. 3. it is faid, That all Things were made by the Word that was in the Archey and that was with God, and that was God, and that without him was not any Thing made that was made. And Of the Divine Trinity. 69 And ABsxw. 15. it is faid, That the living God made Heaven and Earth, the Sea, and all Things that are therein. But Heb% xi. 3. it is faid, That by Faith we underfand, that the Worlds were framed by the Word of Gody Jo that Things which are Jan., were not made of Things that do appear \ And to the lame Purpofe 2 Pet. iii. 5, fpoke. And Heb. i. 2. it is faid, His Son whom he hath appointed Heir oj all Things, by (and becaufe of) whom alfo he made the World. Upholding all Things by the Word of his Power. And 1 Cor. viii. 6. But to us, there is but one God the Father, cf whom [fi ») arc all Things, and we in (or to or for hc a-Jlov) himx and one Lord Jefus Chrift, by (or becaufe of) whom are all Things, and we by or becaufe of him. And Colof. I. 16. For by him ( Jefus Chrift) were all Things created that are in Heaven^ and that are in Earth, vifible and inviftble, &c. all Things were created by (and becaufe of) him, and for (or to) him, and he is be- fore all Things, and by him all Things con- Thefe are a few of the many Texts that might be produced, to fliew that God was the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, And although they have not all afcribed the Works of Creation arid Formation, &c. of all F 3 , Things jo Of the Divine Trinity? Things to the whole Trinity ; fome of thern having afcribed them to the co- eternal, co- effential and co-equal Word or Son ; and others of them having afcribed them to the co- eternal, co-eflential, and in every Refpedt, co- equal divine and holy Spirit, in the one Jeho- vah, or divine Effence. Therefore wherever any of the Works of God are in any Texts of holy Scripture, afcribed to the invifible Agent, diftinguifhed by the perfonal Name of the Father, or to the Word or Son ; or to the holy Ghoft only, it is never to be under- stood of that Perfon fingly and exclufively of the other two, but conjunctively, and of that Perfon co-operating in a different Form, State and Manner, together with the other two, neceiTarih co-operating together with him in different Foims, States and Manners, for the Production of every Work or Effect faid to be wrought or produced by them, or by anyone cfthem, as it is rendered moft clearly con- ceivable, by the Reprefentation which God hath been moft gracioufly pleafed to make of himfelf, and of his Manner of fubfifting and operating or acting, in the one Jehovah) or divine Effence, both in the natural and moral or fpiritual World. And therefore all the Works of God may with equal Propriety be afcribed (as they are in the holy Scriptures) either to the whole Elohim, neceffarily co- operating together lor the Production of every A£X or Effect, done or produced by them; or Of the Divine Trinity^ 71 or to one of them, not taken or underftoo^ exclufively of, but in Conjunction, and necef- iarily co-operating with the other two, for although God Elohim doth or do nothing neceffarily, yet whenever they (moved by mod perfect Goodnefs and Wifdom) chufe ' to do any Act, they all neceffarily co- operate in different Forms, States, and Manners, for the Production of it, as we will mod clearly conceive, by the Reprefentation he hath been pleafed to make of himfclf, and of his Man- ner of fubiifting and acting by the natural and vifible Heavens. And we may likewife obferve, that in fome of the aforecited Texts, that the Crea- tion and Formation of the Heavens, and of the Earth, and of all Things therein, vifible and inviiible, are afcribed to the only begotten Son of God, the Man Chriji Jefus, in whom the whole Elohim, the divine Trinity, chofc to dwell with all the Fulnefsof the Godhead, and to take into mod intimate Unity, and to make one together wi:h themfelves : but al- though this be mofl: clearly afferted in different Places of the holy Scriptures, it is not to be uriderftood of the only begotten Son of God, the Man Chriji J ejus, exclufively of the Elohim who dwelt in him, and he in them, and who took him into mod intimate Union, and made him one together with the,mfelvesf as will be fhewn where I (peak of the Divini- ty of y ejus Chrift y but ot him in moil imi? F 4 mate. && Of the DrviNE Trinity^ mate Conjunction with the Elohim, who co- operated with him in all Things, and he in and with them. So that whdtever he faid or did, mieht with equal Propriety, be faid to be faid or done by the E/ohim, who dwelt in him, and co-operated in, and with him in all Things, and whatever Things are faid to have been laid or done by God the Elohim from before the Creation of the World, may with equal Propriety, be faid to hive been faid ©r done by him, who exifted in the Elohim , and co-operated in and with the Elobim, in all Things, faid and done by them from before the Creation of the World, for }ie was before all Things, and produced into Being before all Creatures, and being in God and mod intimately united to him before the World was, therefore had Glory with the Father, (the whole E/ohim, or divine Trinity) before the World was. Having thus from the holy Scriptures (hewn, the divine fpiritual and invilible Author and efficient Caufe of the material and vifible Jrleavens, to be Jehovah E/ohim ; or three co- eternal, co-effential, and in every Refpecl, co-equal intelligent Agents, diiHnguimed by the pcrfonal Name of Father, Son, and holy Ghoft, fubfifting and operating in three dif- ferent Forms and States, and Manners of acting, and all necefTarily co-operating to- gether, in the one Jehovah, or divine Eflence, for the Production of all Effe&s, produced by them 3 Of the Divine Trinity.. 73 them; and in Conjunction with the only bcr gotten Son,the Man Chriftjejusjn whom, they, the ElohiW) chofe to dwell, and to take into moft intimate Union, and to make one toge- ther with themfelves. I proceed to fhew from the fame holy Scriptures, the original State and form in which the material Heavens were created, or produced into Being; and alfo the three dif- ferent Forms and States of Fire, Light, and Spirit, or Darknefs in Motion, into which they were afterwards formed, and in which they have fubfifted, ever fince the Time of their firft Formation, by the aforementioned living and intelligent, and perfectly wife and gracious, and omnipotent Creator of them. And Mofes% who hath informed us, that the Elohim in the Refl:ithy the Head, Ori- gin, or Fountain of all created Beings, created the Heavens and the Earth, and that Dark- nefs was upon the Faces of the Deep, /. e. of the terraqueous Shell of the Earth, which he therefore calls fometimes by the Name of Earth, and fometimes by the Name of Wa- ter, which were the two great conftituent Parts of that terraqueous Shell, which con- tained in them the ieminal Atoms or Particles of all natural Things, whether inanimate, ve- getable, or animal, that have fince appeared in or upon the Earth; but the Earth and Water in that State in which they were cre- ated, were fo blended together, before their Se- 74 Of the Divine Trinity.' Separation by Formation, that neither of them could be ufeful or beneficial to Man- kind, for whofe Ufe and Benefit they were created. By this Account of Mo/es, we may clearly perceive, that the material Heavens in their original uncreated or unformed State, were a Body of Darknefs without Motion, which enveloped and lay upon the outer and inner Surfaces of the hollow Shell of the terraque- ous Globe. And the Prophet Ezekiel, whom God was moftgraciouflypleafed to raife up among his Peo pie, then in Captivity to the Babylonians fa Peo- ple who believed in, and wor (hipped the ma- terial and vifible Heavens as the fupreme and living God; to awaken and warn them to pre- serve themfelves uncorrupted by the Idolatry and falfe and everlaftingly deftru&ive Religi- on of their Conquerors. And that his Pro- phet might be perfe&ly enabled to fhew his People the Falfhood of the Religion bf the People by whom they were enflaved, he was moft gracioufly pleafed, in a Vifion, to dis- play the material and vifible Heavens before him, fo as that he might thereby clearly per- ceive their Author or Creator, and their ori- ginal State, and the States and Forms they were afterwards put into, and their Strufture^ and their different Properties, Powers and Per- fections, and Motions, and inftrumental Ac- tions or Operations; that he might be thereby con- Of the Divine Trinity. 75 convinced, that they were Co far from being the fupreme, living and true, and eternal God, that they were only a ftupid and fenie- lefs, and lifelefs Creature, which the fupreme, living and eternal God had created, and made his Inftrument, to communicate Motion to, and continue it in all Syftems of Matter, fo as to enable them to anfwer the Ends for which he created and defigned them, and prove ufeful and beneficial to Mankind. Therefore Ezekieh Account of the material and vifible Heavens is a mod: excellent Com- ment upon Mofes's fhort Account of them, and deferves the Atteiui >n of all thofe who are defirous of Information concerning the material and vifible Heavens, by which God hath been moft gracioufly pleafed lenfibly to fignify and reprefent himfelf to Mankind, that they might be thereby enabled to form a juft and true, although not an adequate, but ufe- ful Notion of fome of his wonderful Proper- ties and Perfections, fuch as his eflential Uni- ty and Ubiquity, or Omniprefence, and his Manner of fubfifting and operating in a Plu- rality in Unity, in the natural or material, and fpiritual or moral World. And the Prophet Ezekiel tells us, i. r. That the Heavens were opened^ (inn£)3 or difplayed as it were in a Picture) and that he Jaw Fijions of God; (i. e.J the Reprefentation of the vifible Heavens which God difplayed before him, and of the invifible Heavens, the Elohim 76 Of the Divi*ne Trinity. Elohim in the Man Chrijl Jefus, at the fame Time fenfibly fignified and reprefented to him. And ver. 4. he fays, He looked, and be- hold, a terrible, or tempeftuous Whirlwind came from the invifible, pD^n (i. e.J from the invifible God, which in our and other Tranflations is rendered the North. A great Cloud, which is what Mofes calls Darknefs which was upon the Faces of the Chaos, or unformed terraqueous hollow Globe. I fhall go on with Mo/ess Account, and then return to Ezekiel, and to the other in- fpired Writers of holy Scripture, as the befl Commentators upon him, in order to explain his Senfe and Meaning in his Account of the material and vifible Heavens, by which my Readers will perceive, that I have advanced nothing which 1 had not fcriptural Authority for ; and that I have faid nothing concerning the virible Heavens, but what God the Cre- ator and Former, and Suftainer of them, hath been pleafed, by the Pens of his holy Prophets, to inform Mankind concerning them. And Mofes tells us, Gen i. 2. that the Spi» rit of God moved upon the Faces of the Wa- ters. And 3. that, God Juid, let there be Light ; and there was Light. And 4. that, God Jaw the Light, that it was good, and God divided between the Light, and between the Darknefs, J*fl between, which our Tranflators having Of the Divine Trinity. 77 having not duly confidered, have not well and truly, and intelligibly rendered, And God called the Light , Day, and the Dark* nefs, he called Night. I do not ftay now to (hew, what is meant by God's faying, that the Light was good, becaufe in my Notes and Obfervations on that Text, I have (hewn, that by God's com- manding the aetherial Fluid of Light to fhine forth, all thofe Motions which were necef- fary to be raifed in all the different Syftems of the natural or material World, whether inanimate, vegetable, or animal, in order to their anfwering the Ends for which they were defigned and created, were necefTarily raifed and mechanically continued in and upon them ; and particularly, that thofe ex- panfive and compreffive Forces of the different Fluids of Light and Darknefs, which together with the Fire in the Center, were neceffary for acting upon the Faces of the hollow Shell of the unformed terraqueous Globe, fo as to prefs the Water out of it, fo as that both the Earth and Water might become bene- ficial to Mankind, were necefTarily and me- chanically ftirred up, by the Obedience of Nature or Matter, to the omnipotent Com> mand. But as Mojes hath told us, that the Hea- vens in their original and unformed State, were a motionlefs Body of Darknefs, which Ezekiel calls a great Cloud, and which af- terward? j$ Of the Divine Trinity. iervrards partly affumed the State and Form of Light, by Means of the violent Motion which God commanded to arife in the Cen- ter of it. And accordingly, God by the Mouth of the Prophet IJ'aiab xlv. 7. faith, / jorm the Light, and create Darkne/s ; allud- ing to the Heavens in their formed and un- formed State. And 2 Cor iv. 6. God who commanded the Light to foine out cf Darkne/s, bath jhined in our Hearts, Sec. By which we fee, that ihe Heavens in the State in which they were created by the invifible God, were an opaque Body without Motion -, and that Darknefs was created, and exifted before Light, and that therefore Darknefs is not a Non- En- tity, or mere Privation, or Want of Light, as a late celebrated and reputed Philoiopher (who fet up for underftanding the material and vifible Heavens better than God who created and formed them) hath afferted it to be, but material Subftance in a certain State, and under a certain Form 5 and that Light is the very fame Subftance in another State and Form ; and celeftial Fire the fame Subftance in another State and Form. We will per- ceive by returning to Ezekiel, that he cleared up the concife Account of Mojes, who had only told us, that the Spirit or God moved upon '.he Faces of the Abyfs, and that God commanded the Light, and it appeared. Whereas Ezekiel to whom the Structure, the States, and Forms of the Heavens were laid open Of the Divine Trinity; "79 open tells us, i. 4. that in the great Cloud which came from him that is invifible, he beheld a Fire, nnpbnD catching hold of and preying upon itfelfy and Brightnefs or Light every Way round about it ; and mt of the Midjl thereof out of the Midfi of the Fire, which was in the Midft of the Cloud, or Body of Darknefs, yVD as it were a Fountain bftWnn of the fineft Matter, uttering itfelf, or iffuing forth from t^n fine Atoms, and bbD to iffuc forth. By this we may clearly perceive, that God by his Word, caufed Fire to arife in the great Cloud or Body of Darknefs which he had created, and which enveloped the femi- nal Atoms of all natural Things ; and yet by that Fire, fo raifed, with Light iffuing from it every Way, that Cloud or Body of Dark- nefs, which was before motionlefs, was put ^at/t4/t^a and Man- ners of operating or acling in their different States and Forms -y and by what he hath thus faid, we may clearly perceive that the Fire which God commanded to arife in the Center of the great Cloud or Body of Daiknefs, the material Heavens which lay motio.:lefs on the Faces of the Abyfs, or hollow terraqueous Globe, occafioned that perpetual Motion which was then railed in them, and hath ever fince continued in them, in the three diftincl Forms of Fire, Light, and Of the Divine Trinity. 8i and Spirit, or Darkneft J.i Motion, in which they have- ever iince appeared, and that by the perpetual Motion thus communicated to them, all the Morions of all natural or ma- terial Things, whether inanimate, or vege- table, or animal, that have ever fince ap- peared, have been cccafioned or caufed. And we may likewifc clearly perceive, that the ccleftial Fire in the Center of the Heavens, is f^d by the Heavens themfclves, continually, and necefTarily, and violently, milling into it in the Form of Darknefs, and is kept alive, and continually burning as terireftrfal or cu- linary Fire is, by the cool Air continually aiming into it, and which would immedi- ately become extinct, if the cool ambient Air was withheld from it: Andthatthecelefii.il Fire is not fed and preferved continually burning, by the Incidence of Comets or Comet's Tails now and then dropping into it, as fome of the Admirers of, and Builders- upon, the mathematical Principles of the late celebrated Philolbpher (rather than upon the Revelations of God, who carry their own Evidence for their Truth along with them) have imagined, ana r-idiculouily afferted. And. as Mo/es hath informed us, Gen, i. c. That God divided between the Light and between the Darkneis, and the Prophet Eze- kiel hath rendered this ufcful Doclrine of Mo/es, moil clearly conceivable, by the Re- presentation that was made to him of that G material 8a Of the Divine Trinity. material and vifible \ leavens by God in his Vifion. For having firft fpoken of the liv- ing Creatures, which he faith came out of the Midft of the Fire (which I fhall here- after fhew to be the bodily Denres and Lufts of Men, which are excited or raifed up in them by the material Heavens or Air, and are therefore called by St. Paul, Ephef* ii. 2 . The Princes of the Power of the Air, that Spirit which powerfully worketb in the Children oj Dif obedience.) He tells us, i. 15. That as he beheld the living Creatures \ behold one Wheel upon the Earth, by, in or with the living Creatures, with its jour Faces. He calls it one Wheel lingular, or in the following Verfe, he calls it Wheels plural. Saying, ver. 16. 'The Afpefl or Appear- #nce7 and the Work oj them, was as the Appearance oj Tarfhifh, a precious Stone, or fomething lucid and transparent : And that their Lihenefs was one, and that their Appearance and their Work, was as it were a Wheel in the Middle of a Wheel. And that when they went (or moved) they went on their four Sides, (i. e. they moved every Way ftraight forward from the Center to the Circumference of the Heavens, and from the Circumference to the Center) and re- turned not when they wenty in either of thefe contrary Directions, in the different States and Forms of Light and Darknefs, in which t})ey moved. And that as for their Rings 8 or Of the Divine Trinity. $3 or Arches, they were of a terrible or tremens do us Height b, and were full of Eyes every Way round about (/. e.) of Stars. — By this Reprefentation of the natural or material and vilible Heavens, by a Wheel Angular, by which the Unity and Identity of their Mat- ter or Subftance is denoted ; and by Wheels plural, to denote the Diversity of their States and forms 5 and by a Wheel in the Middle of a Wheel, to render their mixt Structure con- ceivable. We may clearly conceive the Senfe and Meaning of Afo/es's Words, when he faith, That God divided between the Light. and between the Darknefs, The Luminary or Orb, in which the Fire in the Center of the material Univerfe rc- fides, and from whence the Rays of Light ifliie, and into which the Fluxes of Darknefs enter, is the Nave of the Wheel or Wheels by which the Heavens were reprefented to Ezekiel. And the Rays of Light which iffue forth from that Orb or Nave of Fire in the Cen- ter, and extend to the Circumference of the Heavens, penetrating between the Fluxes or Rays of Darknefs, and fpreading itfelf, in every Moment of its Progrefs, as it moves out of a narrower into a larger Space ; and penetrates, and pervades, and expands, and moves all natural Things interjacent becween the Center and the Circumference, and be- comes flower in its Motion out of a nar- G 2 rower 84 Of the Divine Trinity. rower into a larger Space, in every Moment of its Progrefs, and confequently cooler, and therefore hath leafl Velocity, and Heat, and Force, at the Circumference of the Hea- . vens, as thefe are all greateft at its ifluing fcrth from the Fire in the Center. Thefe Rays of Light iiluing forth from the Nave, and penetrating and dividing between the Rays of Darknefs, moving in a contrary Di- rection all the Way from the Center to the Circumference of the Heavens, are the Radii or Spokes of one of thefe celeftial Wheels, which is juflly and truly faid to be in the Middle of a Wheel, as its Radii, in the J?orm of Light, divide between, and move between the Radii of the other Wheel, which moves in a counter or contrary Direction in the State and Form of Darknefs. And the Light cooling, and coagulating, or granulating, and thereby becoming a grof- fer and more opaque Fluid at the Circum- ference, and descending or returning in that State and Form from the Circumference to the Nave or Orb of Fire in the Center of the Heavens, increafing in its Heat and Ve- locity, and comprefiing and combining Force in every Moment of its Regrcis, by its mov- ing out of a larger into a narrower Sp:-ce, in the Form of a Sword, Tongue or Wedge, by all which it is reprefented, and combining and comprefiing all natural or material Syf- teius interjacent between the Circumference and Of the Divine Trinity. 85 and the Center, with a Force every where equal to the expanding Force of the finer Fluid of Light. Thefe Fluxes or Rays of Darknefs, whole Heat, Power, and Motion, are leaft at the Circumference, and greatefl at their Entrance into the Nave or Orb of Fire in the Center of the Heavens, dividing between the Radii of Light, in the State and Form of Darknefs, all the Way from the Circumference to the Center of the Hea- vens, are the Radii or Spokes of the other of thofe celefHal Wheels, which is iuftly, and moft truly, laid to be in the Middle of a Wheel 5 as its Radii, in the State and Form of Darknefs, divide and move be- tween the Radii of the other Wheel, which moves in a contrary Direction, in the State and Form of Light. By this Reprefentation of the material and vifible Heaven by a Wheel and Wheels, or by a Wheel in the Middle of a Wheel, we may clearly con- ceive the Senfe and Meaning of the Words of MofeSy where he faith, That God divided between the Light and between the Dark- nefs, and underftand the Structure, and the different Mo-ions of the material and vifible Heavens, fri their three different States and Forms of Fire, Light and Spirit,- or Dark- nefs in Motion; and how, and with what Fcwel, the celeftial Fire in the Orb of the Sun is continually fed, and hath been enabled to lend forth wonderful Quantities of Light, G 3 without 86 Of the Divine Trikity. without any Wafte or Diminution of itfelf, ever fince the Time of the firfl Formation of the Heavens by the alUpowerful Word of God ; and alfo how, and by what Means, they have continued in perpetual Motion, and in the three diftincl and different Forms of Fire, Light, and Darknefs, by which proper and neceffary Motion hath been com- municated to all Syftems of Matter of all Kinds, in the natural or material World ever fince that Time, by which they have been enabled to anfwer all the great, wife, and good Ends for which they were all de- figned and created, by the eternal and living, and perfectly wife, Creator and Former of i/ them : And that Darknefs is not a Non-en- tity or mere Privation of Light, as a late celebrated Philofopher hath magifterially af- ferted, but is as much Matter or material Subftance, as either of the finer Fluids of Fire or Light are, and one and the fame Subftance with them, in a different State and Form. And at the 7th Verfe, the fame Prophet, in a very few Words, reprefents the mate- rial invifible Heavens, in their different Forms and States of Light and Darknefs, by the Blood Veffels in an animal Body. Sayings That the Feet of the living Creatures, were flraight Feet, or a flraight Foot, and that the hollow Branch or Branchings of their Feet, were as, or like, the hollow Branchings 4 Of the Divine Trinity. 87 Of a Caff's Foot, and that their Afpecl, or Appearance, was /park ling with the for id Appearance of polijhed Brafs. I have be- fore obferved, and fhall hereafter fhew, that by the living Creatures here mentioned, ar& /& gj? meant the bodily Defires and Lufts. And that as thefc are mechanically excited and ftirred up, and continued in the Body of Men, by the material Heavens or Air ope- rating in and upon the Bodies of Men, in their different Forms ot Light and Darknefs -y therefore the Heavens, or Air, in thefe dif- ferent Forms, by which the bodily Defires are raifed and continued in them, are called the Wings and the Feet of the living Crea- tures, and are faid to be ftraight Feet, and that the hollow Branches of their Feet, are like the hollow Branches in the Foot of a Calf, [i. e.) like the hollow cylindrical Tubes in the Foot of a Calf, or any other Animal, which carry the finer Blood from the Heart, firft in one large Tube, branching itfelf into many fmaller, directly every Way to the Ex- tremities of the Body, and bring back the Blood in a grofler Fluid, the finer and other alimentary and ufeful, as well as excremen- titious, Juices, being ftrained off from it in its Progtcfs, firft in fmaller Pipes, which be- come fewer, and empty themfeives into larger, in eveiy Stage of their Regreis, till at laft they become one, by which the venal Bleed is returned again to the Hearty from whence G 4 is 88 Of the Divine Trinity. it had iflued in a finer Fluid : And thefe 'Fluids of Light and Darknefs, which are called the Feet of the living Creatures, are faid to fparkle, or look florid, like Bra/s in a State of Fufion 77p, to (hew their Denfity and Solidity in their fluid State, being repre- sented in another Place, as v: ill be hereafter {hewn by a molten Speculum, or Giafs on the fame Account. And the Pfalmift bears Teflimonv to the Truth of this Reprefentation of the material and vifible Heavens, here made by the Pro- phet Ezckiely both with refpedl to their cir- culating Morion from the Center to the Cir- cumference, and from the Circumference to the Center of the Heavens again ; and of their iiTuing forth in the Form of Light, which becometh Spirit or Darknefs at the Circumference of the Heavens, and that that Spirit becomes Fire at its Return to the Center. It is faid Pf. xix. 4. *fhat in than (the Heavens) he lath Jet a Tabernacle for the Light , gfQgF, ver. 5. which \sfas aBrirfegrt coming cut of his Chamber (hiding Piac. rcjoiccih as a fironglvlan, to run a Race • (or wonted Courfe) and his going jortl\ is from the one End of H (\. t.)frdm its Cen- ter i ana his Circuit unto the- Ends t hereof \ (i. e.) liifl rrom the Center to the Cii*lu in- ference, in the Form or Light ; and from thence to the Center in the Form of Dark- nefs, Of the Divine Trinity. 89 nefs, And there is nothing hid from the Heat thereof. And Pf. civ. 4. That he maketh his An- gels Spirits, and his Minifters a flaming Fire. It is here faid of God, who has been pleafed to reprefent himfelf by the material and vifible Heavens, that whatever is inffru- mentally done by them, is done by him ; and the Atoms of the fine Fluid of Light, which are' fen t forth by the Fire in the Cen- ter of the Heavens, are faid to be fent forth by God : And they are lint forth as his An- gels or MeifeugerSj to declare and do his Will. And hence it is faid, Gen. xxxii. 2. That when Jacob departed from Labany and went on his Way, that the Angels of God met him, (i. e.) the Rays of Light fhone upon him, which he called the Angels of God, and the Hofr, of God ; and the Wormippers of the Heaven, are laid to worfhip the Hofl of Heaven or of God. And as the Atoms of Light, at the Extremities of the Heavens, become Spirits, or aflfume the Form of the groffer Fluid of Darknefs, as- hath been be- fore fiie\yn, therefore it is laid, that, lie maketh his Angels Spirits. And as theft Spirits, or goiter Particles of Darknefs, re- turn to the Center and minifter as Fewel to the Fire, and caufe it to flame when they forcibly ruih into ir, therefore it is faid, That he ;/;. Lis Mimjiers a Flame of Fire. Thefe 90 Of the Divine Trinitv. Thefe Points being (hewn which carry their own Evidence for their Truth along with iheni; I (hall now proceed to fome other Particulars which are mentioned in the holy Scriptures, concerning the material and vifible Heavens in Order, to our more perfect Knowledge of them. And as thefe few Particulars concern- ing the Properties of the different Fluids of the Light and Darknefs, which I chufe to mention, will be taken from the Book of fob, it may be expected that I mould pre- vioufly take Notice of the Antiquity and Au- thority of that Book, which a late hafty and inconiiderate and enterprizing Writer, (in order to eftablifh a moft falfe, wicked, and deftructive Doctrine, whofe Truth he will never be able to prove) hath endeavoured to impair, by vainly attempting to prove it to be a dramatical Performance, compiled by fome Hebrew Play- Wright, after the Return of the Jews from the Babylonifi Captivity, for the Entertainment and Confolation of tha.t People, upon God's withdrawing (as he hath incoaiiderately afferted) his extraordinary Pro- vidence from them. But the important Point 1 am now upon, will not admit of my mak- ing io long a Digreilion here. And I may have Occaiion to ihew hereafter, that the Book of Job, was not only extant in the Days of David, but known to him, and to the Ijraelites, and referred to by him : But that it was written in the Interval between the Of the Divine Trinity. gz the happening of the Miracle, of the ftand- ins; and continuing of the Light of the Sun and Moon upon Gibeon, and the Valley of Ajalon > and of the compiling of the Me- moirs or Hiftory of the Wars and other Tranfactions of Jojbua. For that very Mi- racle, is referred to in the Book of Job; and the Compiler of the Hiftory oijcfhua, takes notice, that that Miracle is mentioned in the Book of Job ; which Truth, when (hewn, will fufficiently vindicate the Antiquity of that Book, and fhew it not to be fo old as the Writings of Mofes, nor of fo late a Date as the Return of the Jews from the Babylc- nifli Captivity. And the mention that is made of Job> together with Noah and Da- niel\ two indifputably real Perfons, Ezek. xiv. 14. And of his Patience, St. James v. 11. I think fufficient to vindicate the Au- thority of the Book, and to fhew that Job wras a real, and not a fi&itious, Perfon, and , his Hiftory, a real and true Hiftory, and not , a Fable, notwithstanding all the weightlefs Arguments, and verbofe Reafoning, that the Author of that divine Legation of Mofes hath ufed to invalidate thefe moft clear and evi- dent Teftimonies. *• But although my prefent Bufinefs will not permit me to enter upon thofe Points here, I judge it proper previoufly, and be- fore I produce any of thofe Particulars out of that Book, which God hath been pleafed to cz Of the Divine Trinity. to make known to Mankind concerning the material and vifible Heaven?, briefly to ob- ferve, that it appears by the Reafoning be- tween Job and his Friends, that they, his Friends, were Worfhippers of the Heavens in the State and Form or Fire 5 and afcribed to them, all thofe Properties, Powers and Perfections, which, with Truth, could only be afcribed to the eternal, true, and only wile and living andinvifible God. And that they did not believe a future State of per feci: and endlefs Happinefs or Mifery after this Life ; but believed that Man's Happinefs, altogether confided in bodily Health, and worldly Wealth and Profperity, and in the fenfual Enjoyment of thofe natural and bodily world- ly Bleffings which their vifible God bellowed upon them ; and that it was their Duty as well as their Intereft, to indulge thernfclves in the fenfual Enjoyment of them, and Folly to abftain from fo doing, in hope of Hjppi- nefs in a future State ; and that it was on account of Job's believing in an invisible God, and in a future State, and hypocritically ab- flaining from the Enjoyment of the Bletiings that God hath beftowed upon him, that their true and vifible God had afflicted him in the Manner he had done. And this being the Cafe, it was highly neceffary, and proper, and feafonable, and perfectly confident with the moil perfect Wifdom, and fatherly Good- nefs, of the invifible and only true and liv- ing Of the Divine Trinity. 93 ing God who had made fuch a Trial of the Faith and Obedience of his Servant Joby whom he knew to be fo perfect and up- right, that he would not be moved to depart from either, by any Temptations or Trials that could by any Means be made upon him, and who fuffered him to be thus grievoufly afflicted with Poverty and inexpreffible bodily Pain and Torture ; for convincing and con- verting of thofe wicked Per ions who had ac- cufed him, and who, although they believed that there was an invifible God, yet believed that there was no truly and fpiritually religious Perfon in the World, and that all Men were Hypocrites, and only profeiTed outwardly to ferve and love, and blels or fpeak well of God, lb long as they enjoyed Health and Profpsrity in the World, and that if the moft eminent Profeflbr of Piety, was made to undergo the fevere Trials of Poverty and bodilv Affliction, he would be found an Hypocrite, and would curfe or fpeak evil of God. And alfo for the Conviction and Ccnverfion of Job's Friends, and of all iuch as might in any after Age fall or be led into their damnable Errors, who be- lieved only in a viiible God, and that there was no State either of Happinefs or Mifery after this Life ; and that therefore Man's Bufinefs in this World was to indulge all his bodily Ap- petites in it. For there wife and good'finds and for refcuing and delivering all fuch Per- fons3 out of fuch wicked-making and deft rue- tive 94 Of the Divine Trinity. tive and damnable Errors ; and for confirming and efiablifhing his Servant Job in his Faith and Obedience, in which he had fo eminently and immoveably perfevered through theCourfe of his mot fevere Trials, as it was perfectly confiftent with the mod: perfedt Wifdom and Goodnefs of God, and neceffary and feafonable fo to do, therefore God was gracioufly plea fed to fpeak of the material and vifible Heavens, to Job> in the Prefence of his Friend, who believed and worfliiped them in the Form of Fire, and as the fupreme and only God ; m fuch a Manner as that they might be clearly convinced and fatisfied, that they were only a lifelefs and fenfelefs Creature of his, which he had created and made to be his Inftrument in the Performances of many Things, neceffary to be done for the Ufe and Benefit of Man- kind. And I (hall begin with the Account which God hath been pleafed to give here of the Heavens, in the Form of Light, here called Behemoth. The Generality of Criticks and Commen- tators, as well as the Tranilators of the Book of Job, have made an Animal of the Behe- moth, becaufe the Word HOHD, Behemah, is a general Name of a clean and ufeful Ani- mal in the holy Scriptures, whofe Plural is Behemoth. But Behemoth mentioned in the Book of Job is fingular. And had the Criticks, GiV. confidered the Neceffity that there was foe Of the Divine Trinity, 95 forgiving Job and his Friends, a juftand true Notion of the material and vifible Heavens upon this Occafion, and how ulelefs and ipi- ritually unprofitable it would have been to them to have defcribed the Parts and Pro- perties of an Elephant to them, at this or any other Time : And that the compounded Word TVOTI2, Behemoth, imports one of the mod: remarkable Properties of the material and vifible Heavens, in the State and Form of the Fluid of Light ; and that the Defcription here given of the Behemoth, Job xl. 15, &c. cannot poffibly be applied with any Colour of Reafon, to the Elephant or any other Animal, and that it is perfectly applicable to the Fluid of Light, and can be made to agree with no ^ other Creature, had thefe Things been pre- vioufly confidered as they ought, Mankind would have been more profitably inftrudted, and would not have been amufed with a De< fcription, which appears impertinent and un- intelligible, when applied to an* Elephant. Whether the Word Behemoth be com- pounded of nro, which fignifies Void or ©mptinefs, and DID, to die, to kill, and de- ftroy, as fome think; or from the Particle 2, which fignifies in, and nJDH which fignifies JsJoife and tumultuous Motion, as others think. It perfectly agrees with the aetherial Fluid of Light, which penetrates and pervades all other Matter, and fills all the Inter ft ices or Space, between the component Atoms of all other Syftems 96 Of the Divine Trinity. Syftems of Matter, and (o deftroys all Void or Vacuity. The whole Syftem of Nature being a Plenum or Fulnefs, conftituted of fome Parts that are more fixed, and of others that are more or lefs fluid, without any cf the lead void or empty Space among them, as the holy Scriptures ipeak, Pf. lxxxix. 11. The Heavens are. thine ', the Earth alfo is thine : the JVcrldblD, and the Fulnefs thereof -, thou haft founded them, (i. e.) thou haft founded that Mixture of which the natural or material World is compofed and conftituted, which is a Plenum 1 which admits of no Void or Va- cuity in it. And it is by the Fulnefs of the Syftem of the natural World, that all Me- chanifm and Motion is preferved in it, for all Mechanifm is by Impulfe and actual Contact: of impelling and impelled Matter, and it is by fuch impulfe and Contact that all natural Bodies are moved and continued in Motion. And as a Watch or Clock would ftand TVloiionlcis if a Wheel was taken out of it, fo all Things i,i Nature would be Motionlefs, if there was one Particle of Matter lefs thsa there is in the Syftem of the natural or material World j in fuch juft Weight, Number and Meafurc were all Things provided by Crea- tion by God, for the Formation of the World, that it might perfectly anfwer the great End for which it was defigned as Wifdom, ;j. 20. and Job xxxvtii. 4. and IJdiah xl. 12. So Of the Divine Trinity-. 97 So that they, who to fervc an ilNgrounded Hypothecs, have imagined and afTerted, a Vacuum in Nature to be neceffary, in order to the Commencement and Continuance of na- tural Bodies in Motion, have not well con- sidered that all Motion is continued by me- chanical Impulfe, And that a Variety of finer and groffer Fluids anfwers all the Ends, which they inconfiderately imagine would be anfwered by a Vacuum ; whoever obferves a Veffel under Sail, may likewife obferve the Water to rife up before her, and to fall lower behind her. Whereas, if there was a Void in the Water, it would not rife before her, but recede into the diffeminated Void, but as there is no fuch, it muff necefTarily^ rife to- wards the finer Fluid of Air, which would give way to it, as the finer Fluid of Air would necefTarily fill the Space behind, which would otherwife have been void by the falling away of the Water. And they who have likewife imagined and magifterially afTerted, that if a Body was pro- jected in Vacito^ it would continue moving in that Void, have only afTerted in other Words, that a Body may or can move, and be continued in Motion by nothing, or that, that Effect, Continuance in Motion, may bs produced without any Caufe. And they who have likewife imagined and afTerted, that a Receiver is lefs full when the groffer Fluid of mixt Air is pumpt out of it, H and 98 Of the Divine Trinity. and that it is fuller when mixt Air is forced into it than it was before, have not well con- fidered, that the pure sEthcrial Light, which penetrates and pervades all Matter, fills the Receiver as the groiTer mixt Air is exhauftcd ; and that the finer cr purer Air is forced out of it by the groiler or mixt Air that is forced into it : For by a finer Fluid, we are not to underftand a Fluid that is rarer, and that hath more void Spaces between its component Par- ticles, but a Fluid that is conftituted of lefs, and therefore finer Particles, without any Va- cuity between them 5 and by a grofTer Fluid, not a Fluid that hath lefs Vacuity between its component Particles, but a Fluid that is con- ftkuted of larger or groffer Particles, without any Vacuity between them, and to which a finer Fluid will give Place, when forced a- gainft it. And if we look upon Behemoth compound- ed, as I have before obferved, of the Particle 2 and HDn, it may be as properly underflood of the Fluid cf aetherial Light j becaufe it was by the Efflux of that Light, that all Things in the natural World were put into Motion. I proceed to the Defcription which God himfe f hath been pleafcd to give of the Be- hemoth to Job, in the Prefence of his three milbelieving Friends ; by which we will clear- ly perceive, that every Part of it is applicable to the Fluid of ^therial Light -y and that it is ap- Of the Divine Trinity^ 99 applicable to no Animal in the World,. tha* we have any Account of, and that therefore? it is not applicable to the Elephant, to which Critics and Commentators have, inconfiderate- ly at lead, applied it. In the thirty-eight and thirty-ninth Chap- ters of the Book of Job, God expoftulates with, and queftions with him in the Pre- fence of his Friends, concerning his Know- ledge of the Creator, Former and Founder of the Earth and the material World ; and of the Flood that overflowed it, and was again forced down and confined within the Shell of the Earth, by his Inftrument, the material Air, in the expanding and compreffing Forms of Light and Darknefs j and concerning him, who caufed the Light to ftand and continue upon a certain Part of the Earth, till the wicked Worshippers of the Light, the Amo- rites, were deftroyed: and concerning the Ways wherein the Light and Darknefs abide and move, and their Limits or Extremities; and which Way it was divided and fpread of old, or in the Beginning, en the Earth, &c. and whether he knew the Laws or Ordinances of the Heavens, or could command them to a& and thunder, and lighten and rain upon the Earth; and who it is that giveth Wifdom and Understanding to Men ; and who it is that provideth for the wild Beaits and Fowls of the Air, when they a x' umo pod 3 and who hath appointed the fix*. H 2 * Tu ^ ioo Of the Divine Trinitv. Times and Seafons, for the Animals to brine forth their Young; and who hath provided proper Nourishment and Habitations for all the different Kinds of them, and hath im- planted their different Inftindls, whereby fuch of them as are neglecTed and foriaken by their Dams, are enabled to fupport themfelves : That Job, his Friends, and all Mankind, by duly confidering all thefe Things, by which the wonderful Wifdom, and Goodnefs, and Power of God, fo clearly manifefted in his Works in the material and inanimate, and a- nimal World, might be taught Humility, and reftrained from arraigning and finding fault with any of his Judgments or Difpenfations, and learn not to blame him, in order to juf- tify themfelves. And having told Job in the Prefence of his mifbelieving Friends, who worshipped the Heavens in the Form of Fire, by which all their bodily Lufts, by which they are made vain and arrogant, are exert- ed, that, if he, by his own Power, could fub- d;v his own bodily Lufts, and thofe of Man- kind (which are only to be fubducd and conquered by the Faith and Law which he had revealed and given to them) he would then acknowledge, that he was able to fave himfelf from fpiritual Mifery, both temporal and everlafting ; but if he was unable to do the one, he might clearly perceive, by the Reaion of Things, that he was unable to do the other. And Of the Divine Trinity. ioi And having thus in Articled Job and his Friends, Worfhippers of the Fleuvens, and all Mankind, hy the Qiieftions he put to him ; he then proceeds to give him an Ac- count of the material and vifible Heavens in the different States and Forms of Light and Darknefs, which from their different Pow- ers and Properties, he calls by the Names of Behemoth and Leviathan. And firft he fpeaks of Behemoth, Job xl. 15. faying, Beheld now Behemoth, which I made with theey he eateth or cenjumeth the Grafs like an Ox, (by its fcorching or burn- ing Heat.) Lo, his Strength is in his Loins ; and his Force in the Navel of his Belly ; (i. e.) its greater!: Vigor or Strength, HO, is at its go- ing forth, or Utterance of itfelf, (from H^H to utter or fpeak) and its greateft Struggle or Conflict, \)&9 is at its going forth from Ti^, the Belly, or Orb of Fire in the Center. It moveth or fhooteth forth its Tail like a Ce- dar ; its Rays expanding themfelves every Way between the Radii of Darknefs, from the Center to the Circumference of the Hea- vens. The Si?jews of his Stones are wrapt to^ gether : This would have been better and more literally rendered, The Beams or Rays (reprefented by Nerves) of its Subftance in tremulous Motion (in their PafTage through the oppofing Fluid of Darknefs) are branched out every Way and complicated (with that dark and grolTer Fluid.) H 3 This 102 Of the Divine Trinity. This Account fo far, is no Way applicable to an Elephant or any other Animal, but per- fectly applicable to the aedierial Fluid of Light iituing forth from the Orb of Fire in the Center, as the Spokes from the Nave of a Wheel, as Ezekiels to whom the Structure of the Heavens was difplayed, hath reprefent- ed them. His Bones are as flrong as Pieces of Brafs.% his Bones are like Bars of Iron. In the Ori- ginal, it is, his braztn Pipes or Currents are flrong ; their ftrong Alcent is as Rods of Iron. To fhew the mighty Strength of the Pipes of the Fluid of Light, and of the Fluid contained in them, we have before obferved, that in Ezekiel, the Fluids of the Heavens, and the VefTels that contain them, were re- prefented by the Blood and Blood Veffels of an Animal ; and here, to fhew the great Strength of thefe celeflial Tubes, and of the Fluids which circulate in them (for the reihe- tial Fluid of Light moves in Tubes or the Fluid of Darknefs, which encompafs it, and keep it in on all Sides ; and the Fluid of Darknefs moves in Tubes of Light, which encompafs, and keep it in on all bides.) And to {hew the Strength both of thefe celeflial Tubes, ai d of the Fluids which move in them, they are here reprefented by Pipes of Brafs and Rod:: or Lou ; and on the fame Account, the whole Fxpanfe or Firmament is repre- fented xxxvii. 1 8. by a Speculum in a State of Of the Divine Trinity. 103 of Fufion, Haft thou with him fpread out the Sk\\ which is ftrong as a molten hooking-Glafs ; by which both its Strength, and Denlity and Fluidity are denoted. It is the chief of the Ways of God ; he that made it, can make his Sword approach it. It is called the chief of the Ways, (i. e.) of the Works of God -, for when God had created the feminal Matter of all Things, the firft Thing that he formed was the Light; and as its Rays or Beams are clofely kept in on every Side by the Fluid of Darknefs, which flow- ing out of a larger into a narrower Space in the Form of a Sword, Wedge or Tongue, by which it is reprefented, xli. 1. Therefore it is faid, that God will make his Sword ap- proach it, and confine it on ail Sides. When the high ones bring Food or Fewel for it, then all the Beajls of the Field rejoice or play ; (u e J when the Atoms of the Fluid of Light, at tlie Circumference of the Heavens, where they arfc at their greateft Height, and there becoming cool, and coagulating or gra- nulating into grofTer Particles of .Darknefs, and deicendii.g in that State and Form to feed the Fire in the Center, upon which the Light rufheth forth, then all the bodily Defires (re- prefenced by Mo/es, by Fowls of the Air and Fifli of the Sea, and Beails of the Field, and Chei uoims ^ and by Eze/:iel, who reprelents them by four Animals, which came forth out of the Midft of the Fire) are enlivened and re- H 4 joke. J04 Of the Divine Trinitt. joice. And this may be alfo literally under- stood of the Beads of the Field, which are cherifhed and made joyful by the aetherial Light. And that the aetherial Light becomes cooler at the Circumference of the Heavens, and there becomes groffer Particle;;, and de- fcends in that Form to feed the Fire in the Centre, is exprefsly fet forth by God, Job xxxviii. 37, &c. where it is faid, who can number the fine Ato?ns of the JEthcr or Light ; or who can flop the Fluxes of the Heavens, moving downwards towards the Centre ; in the State and Form of Darkncfs; when the Duff or fine Atoms of the Fluid of Light are formed into groffer Particles, and the Mo/ecu fa?, or Mud congeal or cohere together, lpllD'H"). Then he proceeds to give an Account of fome of the other Properties and Operations of the Fluid of Light, as of its breaking and dividing into Atoms the groffer alimentary Particles of Earth and Water, and forcing them up by its expanding Heat and Preffure, into the fmall capillary Tubes of Vegetables, in order to their Nourifhment and Growth ; and of its raifing or forcing up Vapours and Exhalations from the Earth and Water 5 and of its penetrating and pervading all the mod: complicated, and clofely combined Syftems of Matter. Saying, It lieth,or operatetb or en- gendereth SDtJJ, under heath thefoady Trees, in its lurking or hiding Place9 (i. e. in their hollow Tubes, which arc reprefented by Reeds) Of the Divine Trinity. 105 Reeds) and in the Mud, under the Roots of Trees and Vegetables. And the Particles of the Torrent of Darknefs, br\) >my cover and jplit, or divide it, and Jo confine it on every Side, by which they keep each other in per- petual Motion, by their expanding and com- prefling Forces, which are every where equal to each other, and mutually ferve each other, and (land engaged for each other. Behold it drinketh up a River, and leifurely or without Hajle, by prefling upon it and forcing it up into its own finer Fluid, and fa taking PofTeiiion of it in the Form of Vapour, to be forced down again in Dew and Rain, by the groffer Fluid of Darknefs. It co?jfi- dently hopes, that it can draw or force up Jordan to its Mouthy in Vapours. // taketh it up with its Eyes : Its fine Particles in violent Motion, pierce or penetrate into the mofi in- tricate and hidden Things ; reprcfented by Nets and Snares, according to the Pfalmift, Pf. xix. 6. whofiith, That its going forth is from the End of the Heavens, and its Circuit unto the End of it, and there is nothing hid from the Heat thereof Thus our moft gracious God was pleafed to reprefent the material and vifible Heavens, in the Form of Light, which he called Behe- moth, for the Reafon before given, to Job, and his mifbelieving Friends, who worfhiped the Heavens in the Form of Fire. and to love him with all our Hearts, and all our Minds, and all our Souls, and with all our Strength, who by his revealed Word hath been gracioufly pleafed to enable us, moft clearly to perceive the next and im- mediate Caufes of all thofe Phaenomena, or vifi- ble Effects in the natural or material World, which are necefTary and beneficial for us to know, in order to our Confirmation and Eftablifbment in the fincere and true Belief of his Omnipotence, and moft perfect and father- ly Goodnefs. And who in order to cheque and reftrain the Pride and Arrogance of Man- kind, hath been gracioufly pleafed, to leave unrevealed, the Manner of the Heavens ope- rating %f V iio Of the Divine Trinity. rating in and upon fome particular Syftems of Matter, fuch as the Magnet y by which, won- derful and furprizing Phenomena, or vifiblc EffeftSj are produced; and which for want of divine Revelation concerning thefe Things, Mankind have vainly laboured to account for; that they might be moved highly to value and efleem divine Revelation, by which they have been enabled to affign the true immediate inftrumental Caufes of fo many ufeful Pheno- mena in Nature, which they would other- , wife have been unable to have truly accounted for. God having been gracioufly pleafed to have given us fuch Knowledge of the material and vifible Heavens, in the State and Form of Light, (which he from one of its great Pro- perties of defboying all Void in the material World, was pleafed to call Behemoth) as was neceflary for us to have. Then proceeded to give us an Account of the Powers and Proper- ties and Operation of the Heavens, in the dif- ferent Forms of Spirit or Darknefs in Motion. And which he hath called Leviathan y from its Formation out of the Atoms of the Fluid of Light, which becoming cold at the Cir- cumrerence of the Heavens, congeal and co- here together in grofll r Particles of Darknefs ; which as I have obferved before, from Job xxxviii. 37, 38. are called the Defluxions of the Heavens, when the Atoms of Light called fine Of the Divine Trinity. hi fine Duft, arc combined ftrongly together, and (b ftrenthened, and the Mud coheres to- gether. For the Word mb, fignifies to cohere ftrongly together; and it was on this Account that Leah called her third Son Levi, faying Gen. xxix. 34. now my Hufband will be moft intimately united to me, becaufe I have borne him three Sons, therefore fhe called his Name Levi, and from the ftrong mutual Co- hefion of the Atoms of Light together, by which the grafter Particles of Darknefs are formed at the Circumference of the Heavens, therefore God called that groffer Fluid of Darknefs Leviathan. And of this Fluid of Darknefs, and of its Powers and Properties God fpeaks to Job, in the Prefcnce of his mifbelieving Friends in the following Manner, Job xli. 1, &c. Can ft thou draw out or lengthen Leviathan, (the Fluid of Darknefs) with an Hook or its Tongue (fo called from the tapering Form in which it moves downwards) with a Cord that thou lettefl down. Canli thou by any Means put the Steam or Vapour, raijed from the Earth or Water JDJtt, into its Subflance in Motion, (fo as to caufe it to mix with its moft clofely cohering Particles) or canjl pierce its Jaw> (fo called from its tapering Form) within its firong Fortification, ni!7, (of the Light which encompafleth it about.) The \H Of the Divine Trinity. The Meaning of thefe two foregoing Ver- ges is, that the Fluid of Darknefs cannot be cither expanded or comprelTed, or ftoped or quickened in its Motion, nor its clofely com- bined Particles be diffolved fo as to admit any Thing, even the fineft Vapour to be mixed with the Atoms which compofe its Particles (which nothing but the Fire can diffolve or feparate) by any Force or Instruments, that Man can uleor employ. - And becaufe Mention is made of its Tongue and its Jaw, for no other Reafon but to de- note the tapering Form in which the Fluid of Darknefs defcends, as it moves out of a lar- ger into a narrower Space, in every Moment of its Defcent, from the Circumference to the Orb of Fire in the Centre of the Heavens : And its component Particles are called its Flefh, as we may obferve hereafter, there- fore, inconfiderate Tranilator9, Criticks and Commentators, have made it a Whale or Fifli, of an enormous and extraordinary Size ; whereas, neither the Etymology of the Word Leviathan, nor the Difcription here given of it are applicable to a Whale, or any other Kind of Fifh known to Mankind. And to have defcribed a large Fifh to Job and hi* Friends, in the State and Circumftances in which they then were, would have been of no Spiritual Benefit to either : And therefore it is inconfiftent with the Belief of the perfect Wifdom and Goodnefs of God, to believe that Of the Divine Trinity. 113 that he entertained them with a Defcripticn of fuch a Creature. Whereas, both the Ety- mology of the Word, and every Part of the Defcription of the Leviathan are applicable to the Heavens, in the State and Form of Dark- nefs, as I go on with the Account here given of it. And it was highly neceflary that Job and his Friends mould have a juft and true Notion of the material and vifible Heavens, that the one might be confirmed in his Belief of the cnlv true and in vifible God, which he had itedfaftly profeffed, and the other con- verted from their Error and Mifb-Iief, that the vifible Heavens were the only true and living God. Therefore God proceedeth with his Ac- count of the Leviathan, and mews it to be an unintelligent and fenfelefs Creature, uncapa- ble of faying or doing Good to Mankind, either as a Friend or a Servant, faying, ver. 3. Will it fhew manifold Acls of Mercy and Companion to thee, or will it make repeated tender Supplications to thee, (as 1, a moil in- dulgent and affectionate Father, have done, to move thee to . turn from thy Wickednefs, that thou mighted live and come to the Knowledge of the Truth, and be faved.) Will it give a pure and purifying Covenant or Law unto tLeey (as I have done) will thou take it as a Servant to /erve thee always^ wilt thou play cr divert tbyfelf with it, as I with U4 Of the Divine Trinity. with a 'Thing that circulates or moves round, ID*; w/A thou gather and hind it together to make Rays of Light, reprelented by the fine Fibres of Flax or Hemp, n^i ; with its Com- panions, to whom it is united or joined (i. e. the fine Atoms of Fire in the Centre, which the Darknefs rallies into) feed upon or d vour it> iTD ; as represented by Ezekiel, who faith, he faw the ecleftial FLe feeding upon and de- vouring itfelf, becaufe the Fluid of Darknefs, which is the fame in Subftance with the Fire> rufhed into it, and was devoured or ground to Atoms by it. And will they diflribute it as Prey among the bufy ones, (i. e. will the Fire, when it hath devoured the Fluid of Darknefs by grinding it into Atoms, fend it forth in a Fluid of Light, which is occupied and bufied in penetrating and pervading, fill- ing and expanding all Syflems of Matter be- tween the Centre and Circumference of the Heavens, and fo its Atoms are reprelented by bufy Negotiators Qr Merchants fent forth. Ver. 7. Can ft thou perfectly form its Ene- my or xintagonifl into a Covering, to. contain it on every Side -, or a Covering like a Fifh Net for its Head, (that is, can ft thou make the JLight which is its Antagonift, Vtty, which ever); where, with its expanding Force, con- tends againft its compreihng Force in Pipes which cover it, and keep it in on every Side, from rum out of its ap] burfe or car.il thou make a fhady Covering like aFifh Net for the Darknefs to rufti in, and the Light to Of the Divine Trinity. 115 to iffue forth from the Orb of Fire, as I have done. Ver. 8 Lay thine Hand upon ity ?-emember the Battle^ do no more-, i. e. remember, that all thy bodily Lufts are raifed up in thee, by the ma- terial Heavens mechanically operating in and upon thy Body, and are therefore called the fiinces of the Power of the Air, which is called the Spirit that worketh in the Chil- dren of Difobedience, Ephef. ii. 2. And that every Man hath a Warfare appointed for him to carry on againft thefe fpiritual . Ene- mies, their bodily Lufts, excited in them by this Spirit of Darknefs, the material and vifi- ble Heavens, job. vii. i. Therefore remem- ber thefe Things, and exercife and employ thy fpiritual Power, thy Faith, in which thy fpiritual Strength confifts, in controuling or keeping under this Spirit of Darknefs, or thy bodily Lufts, enlivened and awakened by it, for thefe Things thou art by the Armour of the true and divinely revealed Faith, per- fectly enabled to do, and thou art able to do nothing more againft this Spirit of Dark- nefs, and therefore don't pretend to do it, for all thy other Labours will be in vain and fruitlefs, and unprofitable. Having thus far given an Account of the Form in which this Fluid of Darknefs moves and fubfifts, and having (hewn that it is not in Alan's Power to alter it, or to quicken or ftop its Motion, and that it is an unintelli- I 2 gent u6 Of the Divine Trinity. gent and neceffary inftrumental Agent of Cod, which can neither ierve Man as a Friend, nor as a Servant, and that Man can- not poflibly make any Ufe of it. And hav- ing likewife fhewn fome of the Ends for which it was defigned, as that of feeding the Fire in the Orb of the Sun or Center, and affording Matter to be ground down to Atoms, and lent fonh in the finer astherial Fluid of Light ; and having likewife {hewn, that the Orb in which the Fire at the Cen- ter, which he calls the Head of the Levi a- than, is contained, is in the Form of Net- work, for the Fluxes of Darknefs to rufti in, and the finer Fluid of atherial Light to iffue forth out of it : And having likewife (hewn what fpiritdal Power he hath over it, to re- flrain it from liirring up his bodily Lufts in him, which are reprefented by living Crea- tures, which he is always to war again ft, and that, he hath no other Power over it. He p.oceeds to difcourage him from putting Truft or Confidence in it, which all Men do who reject the Light of his revealed Word, and act according to the Dictates of their bodilv Lufts, which they call the Light and Law of Nature, and natural Reafon. Saying, Ver. 9 Behc Heps or Expectation that is repo/ed in it, is falje and lying Here. Will not one be deje&ed with Ear at the Prcjpefi of it? which is no other than ipiritual Mi- fcry, Of the Divine Trinity. 117 fery, both temporal and everlafKng, which neceffarily attends the Gratification of thofe bodily Lufls, which are ftirrcd up by this Spirit of Darknefs, in the mifbelieving Chil- dren of Di (obedience. Who then can (land againjl me? the Creator and Former of it, and of all Things which Mankind enjoy or poffefs under the whole Heavens, which fome have fet up for their God. And that Job and his milbelieving Friends, might more perfectly underftand the Struc- ture and Strength of this Fluid of Darknefs, the Leviathan, which is one of the confti- tuent Parts of the Heavens mentioned in the foregoing Verfe. He fays, Ver. 1 2 . Iwillnot leave unmentioned, itsflrong continued Lines or Bars, H2, and its flrong Conflicts IH1"!, and the gratuitous Bounty pn of its dark Sub/lance, and its tapering or Sword* like Form. For as it received its Be- ing from the Fire, by the Mediation of the finer Fluid of Light, fo it returns in a taper- ing Form to feed and continue the Fire, and enables it to fend forth the finer Fluid of Light. And fhewing of thefe, he (hews the perpetual Mction of the Heavens, circulating in the three different Forms of Fire, Light, and Darknefs, all of one Subftance, and their mutual Dependance upon each other, in all the Operations and Productions of their Ef- fects. Therefore he faith, I 1 Vcr. ii8 Of the Divine Trinity.' Ver. 13 . Who hath dif covered or opened, the Faces of its Ckathing ? ( that is, of the Fluid of Light by which it is inclofed and covered on every Side.) And who hath entered into its double Curb ? (i, c.) into the Fluid of Light, which curbs and confines it within its Channels, as it curbs and confines the Fluid of Light, and fo reftrain each other, and therefore it is called a double Curb or Bridle : And alfo, and for the fame Reafon, the Light which confines it, is called its folding Door?, as well as its Covering and Curb. Ver. 1 4. Who hath opened the folding Dcors of it (for it to pafs through) its 'Ieeth (i. e. the Atoms of Fire, which tear and grind it to Pieces in its Circuits) are terrible. Ver. 1 5. The (welling of its Currents or Pipes, (occafioned by the finer Atoms of Light which compofe them, and is therefore re- prelenied by a Shield plued with Scales, jLut in or cowprefjedby a ftrono bindiqg Seal, and adhere fo clcjely one to another ', that no Air can intervene between them, to (hew that there is no Vacuum ciiikminated in the Fluid of Daikneis, any more than there is in the finer Fluid of Light, which was represented, xxxvii. 18. by a molten Spe- culum. Ver. 17. They are joined to each other, and cohere Jo clofely tcgctl\r, tlct they cannot be fparated* Ver. 18. Of the Divine Trinity. 119 Ver. 18. Bv its rafting into tic Fire tS^fcDJJ from 0 V to fly or enter into, and #tf Fne, Flame or Light fcincth forth, And its Alpet~i or Appearance^ is as the flying forth t\ty of the Light ; from its Mouth (i. e. the Orb of Fire from whence it iffues) Streams of Fire like burning Tapers proceed, and Sparks of Fire break forth. From its raging Flame, Yin Steam and Vapour go forth, as front a Caldron that is blown under •> and fo made to rage or boil. By this we are informed, that the Fire in the Center of the Heavens, is fed bv the Fluid of D.trkneis, which, when melted down, iffieth forth in the liner Fluid cf Light, which again congealeth into grofler Particles of Darknefs. Ver. 2 1 . Its feminal Body or Subftance, jyjD3, mak'jth Coals to barn, and flame goeth out of its Month. This holdeth true in terreflrial Fire, which would not bum if the dark and cool Air did not rum into it. Then he proceeds to (hew where its great- eft Strength and Conflict i% and lakh, ver. 22. They are always in its Neck, (/. e.) at its Entrance into the Orb of Fire, where it is confined within a narrow Space, and where the Strength of the Fluid of Light illuing forth is alio greatefi; fo that the Suength of both, and their Conflict wich each other, moving in counter and contrary I 4 Di- y 120 Of the Divine Trinitv. Directions, is greateft in this narrow Space, which is called its Neck, at its Entrance into the Orb of Fire, which is called its Head, as well as the Head of the Fluid of Light, their expanding and compreffing Forces be- ing every where equal, and weakeft in that large Space, the Circumference, as they are flrongeft in the narroweft Space, the Center of the Heavens. Then he faith, (as it is rendered in our Tranilation) 'That Affii£iion is turned into Joy before it, (i. e. the Particles of Darknefs which have been tortured, and as it were afflicted in the Orb of Fire, rum forth and expand themielves as it were with Joy, in the Form of the finer Fluid of Light, before, or in the Prefence of it.) And having thus fhewed how the Fluid of Darknefs, by being broken into Atoms, becomes the Fluid of Light, and how that Fluid of Light affumes again the Form of Darknefs at the Circumference of the Hea- vens, and defcends in that Form. He proceeds and faith, That the Flakes of its Flrjh (/. e. the Particles of its Subitance dt Ice n ding in its groffer Form; cohere dnd grow jo clofety combined together, that they cannot be moved ajundcr, or out of their Courfe. And, Ver. 24. That its Heart ^{i. e. the Atoms of „ \yfrich it is Comtoofed) are Jlrottg and firm as 4 Of the Divine Trinity. 121 a Stone, or a nether Milftonc, Hvhich fplits and grinds to Atoms all Kinds of Grains.) And that, when it raifeth itftlf up (in this fine Form of Light) the high and ftrong cnes which j or m the vaulted Arch of the Hea- vens cohere or gather together (into Moleculae or Motes, or Grains, and defcending in that Form) and by being broken into Atoms in the Fire, they purify them /elves (and fo become the purer Fluid of Light;) which was proper and necefiary to be faid, for convincing £//- phaz, who worfhipped the Heavens in the Form of Fire, and believed it to be the fu- preme aud living God ; and had accordingly faid, xv. 15. He hath no Hope in his Saints, (i. e. in the Atoms of the Fluid of Light, which he had feparated and fent forth, and which he called his Angels, iv. 1 8. as he call- ed the Darknefs, which miniftreth Fuel to feed it, his Servants; and of the whole Hea- vens in thofe Forms that they were not pure in his Sight, and therefore needed perpetual Purification.) Then he proceeded to (hew the Vanity of the Labours of all fuch as might at any Time, pretend to attempt by bodily Force or carnal Weapons, to contend againft its Power, or to flop its Gourfe, or alter its Powers or Proper- ties, which are not to be refifted by any Force that Man can bring againft it: Saying, Ver. 26. &c. The Sword of him that ap- proacheth it, will not Jland Jirmy nor the Speart 122 Of the Divine Trinity. Spear, nor any Thing that is thrown at it, nor any Armour \ or armed Per/on. It ef- teemeth Iron as Straw, and Brafs as rotten Wood. The Arrows will not make it flee-, Sling- Stones are turned into Stubble by it, and all Things projeBed and thrown at it. It derides the brandiping of the Spear , farp pointed Pot/herds are under it : It jpreadeth fjjarp pointed Things upon the Mire; (i. e.) the fharp pointed penetrating Atoms of the Fluid of Fire, reprefented by Fragments of earthen Veffels baked in a Kiln, are under it, by which it is diflblved into Atoms, which iffuing forth, fpreadeth itfelf in the Form of pointed and penetrating Light upon the moift Earth.) It maketh the deep Waters rage, or ferment, or boil like a Caldron, (all Fer- ments or intefrine Morions in Fluids being occasioned by the Spirit of the Air blended with their component Particles) and layeth it again /moctb like an Ointment (or a Fluid, which fcems to be without Motion.) It maketh a Path to fkme after it, (by the Dews that it forceth down in the Night) fo that one would think the ten aqueous Globe was hoary. By which we may perceive, that Dew and Rain are not drawn down to the Earth by any attractive Power in it, but by the Impulies of the groffer Fluid of Daik- nefs mixt with the Fluid of Light, as they arc railed up in the Form of Vapour, by the penetrating and expanding Fluid of Light ; and Of the Divine Trinity. 123 and that all Bodies projected from the Earth in any Direction, are forced down to it again by the continued Irnpulits of both thefe Flu- ids mechanically a&ing upon them. And on this Account, the denle Firmament H>% which is compofed of thefe two Fluid, of Light and Darknefs, are called the po.. derat- ing Powers of the Firmament ^D, the Pow- ers by which they caufe all Things to pon- derate or weigh downwards, in Proportion to their Quantities of Matter upon which thefe Fluids a£t, which balance each other, their expanding and compreffing Powers being e- very where equal between tbe Center and Circumference of the Heavens. Ver. 33. He fays, There is nothing upon the Earth that can be compared or likened to ity being Jo made that its Particles cannot be broken or feparated, (All other Things, whe- ther inanimate, vegetable, or animal, can be broken, and their conftituent Particles fepa- rated by human Force, but the Particles of the Fluid of Darknefs cannot be broken or feparated by any other Force, than that of the Fluid of Fire.) Ver. 34. He in the laft Place iliews, what Kind of Perfons they are that it hath Power over, and faith, It Jhews itfelf to the High and Haughty, and is the King that ruleth over all the Children of Pride ; (wno rife up and rebel againfl the true and living God, and difbelieve and difobey his holy Word 124 Of the Divine Trinity. Word and Law; and give themfelves up to believe and obey the Dictates of their bodily Lufts, which are raifed up in them by this Spirit of Darknefs, and which as I have be- fore obferved, St. Paul, Epbef. ii. 2. calls the Princes of the Power of the Air, which Air he calls the Spirit that worketh, with Ener- gy and mechanical Force in the Children of Difobedience, which is aifo afferted by the Prophet Ezekiel i. 20. where he tells us, that the Spirit of the living Creatures was in the Wheels.) Now whoever will confider, how neceflary it was for Job to be inftrucled in the true Nature of, and Powers, and instrumental Properties of the material and vifible Hea- vens, the lifelefs and ferfelefs Creature, that his Friends would have had him to have be- lieved to be the only true and living God, and for convincing and converting his Friends. from that moft deftrudfcive and damnable Er- ror, and all fetch, as might in after Ages hap- pen to fall into it. And whoever will like- wile coniider, the Etymology, and the Roots and Pveafon of the Wordj> Behemoth and Le- viathan, and the Defcriptions that God hath here given of them, and ol their inilrumental Powers and Properties, will clearly perceive, that the Elephant cannot be figniried by the one, nor any Kind of Whale by the other ; and that the Powers and Properties here a- fcribed to them, are all applicable to the ce- lettial Of the Divine Trinity. 125 leftial Fluids of Light and Darknefs, and to no living Creatures, or other Things known to Mankind. And as God was mod graci- oufly pleafed fenfibly to fignify and reprefent himfelf by the material and vifible Heavens, that Mankind might thereby be enabled to form juft and true, and ufeful (although not com- plete and adequate J Notions of his Ubiquity or Omniprdence, and of his Manner of fubfift- ing and operating, or adting in a moft per- fect and diflinguithable, and conceivable Plu- rality in the one undivided and indivisible Je- hovah, or divine fcffence, which they would not otherwile been able to have formed : So we rind Job., when he was thus informed by God, in the true Knowledge of the material and vinble Heavens, and thereby enabled to fo:m a juft Notion of the aforementioned Perfections of God, which he could not o- therwife have formed ; although it is evident, from his reasoning with his Friends, that he had a juft Notion of his perfedt and fatherly Goodnefs, and Mercy and Juflice, and Equi- ty, although he could noi account for the Se- verity of God's Diipeniations to him at that Time, and therefore fpoke unadvifedly : He acknowledges the Omniicience and Omnipo- tence of God, who over-rules the vifible Heavens, and his having fpoken of Things that were too wonderful for him, and which he was ignorant oi, and did not underftand, and begs of God to inftrud him, and to en- crcafc 126 Of the Divine Trinity-. Creafe and enlarge his Knowledge; and faith, that all he knew of him, he knew by hear- ing the Traditions of Men concerning him; but that now he had feen him with his Eyes, (by the fenfibly perceptible Reprefentations which he had made of himfelf by the mate- rial and vifible Heavens ;) and fays, he will repent in Duft and Afhes, of whatever he had thought or faid amifs : Whereupon God de- clares, that Jyb's Friends had not faid what was right and true of, or concerning him, as his Servant Job had ; for they veiled the God- head in the material and vifible Heavens, his Creature^ whereas Job verted it in the fpiri- ritual and in vifible Jehovah, or divine Eflence, who had predeftinated and created all Man- kind for fpiritual and everlafting Happinefs after this Life, which his Friends did not be- lieve nor profefs. I fhould now proceed to (hew, how by the material and vifible Heavens, by which God hath been gracioufly pie j fed to fignify and reprefent himfelf, and by what he hath faid in his holy Word concerning them, we are enabled to form a juft and true Notion of his Manner of fubliiling and operating, or acling in a Plurality of diftind and different (in refpect of tbeir States, Forms, Motions, and Operations) and mo ft clearly conceivable Perfons, in the one undivided a id indivihble Jehovah, or divine Eflence : But I choofe previously to recapitulate and luring together under Of the Divine Trinity. iiy under one View, thole Truths which I have oblerved to have been difpetfed and fet forth in different Places of the holy Scriptures, concerning the material and vifible Heavens; by which we will be enabled to difcove* fome fundamental Errors or Falilioods in that new and anii-fcriptural Syftem of Philofo- phy, which hath been generally admired and embraced by inconfiderate Perfons, who have chofen to believe the groundlefs Affertions of a fallible Man, concerning the material and vifible H°avens, rather than what God the Creator and Suftainer of them, hath been pleafed to declare concerning them : And alio the Errors therein contained, concerning the whole Syftem of the natural or material World ; and concerning the original and in- ftrumental Caufe of Motion in it ; and of all the Motion?, whether local or inteftine, that are obfervable in all the particular Syftems, whether inanimate or vegetable, or animal, that constitute it, cr are contained in it. And concerning the immediate inflrumental Caufes o\ all the Phenomena, or apparent Effects tha<; are obfervable in it, or of as many of them as are neceffary and ufefnl for us to know, in order to be powerfully moved to admire the wonderful and perfect Wifdom and Power, and love and adore the great and fatherly Goodnefs of the Author, effici- ent Caufc and Continuer, and Suftainer of them- By which we will obtain a more true and 128 Of the Divine Trinity. and ufeful Syftem of Principles of natural Philofophy, than hath ever appeared in the World, except in the holy Scriptures, from whence they are extracted. This I judged neceffary to be previoufly done, becaufe (as I have before obferved) fuch as Men's natural Philofophy is, fuch will be their Religion, if the one be falfe, the other will neceflarily be falfe alfo ; for we can have no Notion of fpiritual Things, States or Actions, otherwife than by Means of the Ideas of natural and fenfrbly perceptible Things, by which God hath been gracioufly pleafed to fignify and reprefent them to us. And as God hath been gracioufly pleafed fen- fibly to fignify and reprefent himfelf to us, by the material and vifible Heavens, if our Ideas of them be falfe, our Notions of him thereby formed, will be falfe alfo. And if we form our Ideas of the material and vifible Heavens, by what is faid of them in that much-admired, becaufe not underftood, Syf- tem of mathematical Princip/es of natural Philofophy, wherein it is ground leisly and in contradiction to God's revealed WcrJ, affert- ed, that Darknels is not a Siibflance, but a Non-entity or mere Privation of Light, and alfo that a Vacuum in the Heavens is necef- farv, in order to the Mc ion of thofe Orbs which are ufually Called celeftial Bodies ; and alio in and about the Earth, in order to the local and in.eftine Motions of ail Bodies thereon ; Of the Divine Trinity. 129 thereon, by which) if true, all Mecha- nifm in the natural World would be deftroy- ed, and all Motion of and in Matter would immediately ceafe. And to give an amufing and unintelligible Solution to this unfolvable and unfurmountable Difficulty, imaginary Attraction, and centripetal and gravitating Powers or Forces, have been afcribed to, and afferted to be in Matter. It is indeed moft clearly afferted in the holy Scriptures, and a mod evident Truth, that all fpiritual Mo- tions are free, and proceed from Attraction* and that the Spirits of Men, are attracted or drawn to do all thofe Things which tend to their true and fpiritual Happinefs both tem- poral and everlafting, by a View arid Prof- pect of thofe good Things which God hath been gracioully pleafed to fet before them, for moving them to choofe to do all thofe Things which are neceffary to be done by them, in order to prepare and qualify them- felves for the Enjoyment, and conlequently for the fure Attainment, of them 3 and they are likewife fo drawn, by alluring and tempt- ing worldly Objects to Wickednefs for the Gratification of their bodily Lufls; but al- though this Doctrine be true with refpedt to all the Motions of all fpiritual Beings, which are all freely moved to act by Attraction^ Which is called the Cords of a Man, by the immaterial Spirits of Men^ which cannot be acted upon and forced to act contrary to their *3P Of the Divine Trinity. own free' Will or Choice, by mechanical .Impulfe, or the Operation of Matter upon them ; yet the Evidence of Senfe is fufficient to convince every contiderate Perfon, that natural or material Syftems are no otherwife .to be moved, than neceffarily, and by the Force of Matter violently acting upon them by actual Contact and Impulfe, or mecha- nical and fenlibly evident Force, and not by imaginary or unaccountable Attraction, and that they cannot poflibly move any longer than fuch mechanical Force is continued upon them j for Motion of natural Bodies, are Effects which cannot be either produced or continued without a Caufe producing and continuing them, by mechanically operating or acting, and continuing to operate or act upon them, fo long as the Effects continue. However, it hath been magi Serially impofed upon the World, that if a Body was projected in vacuo, (which is an unaccountable Sup- pofition) it would continue for ever in Mo- tion in that continued Vacuum, (i. e.) that Effect would commence or continue with- out a Caufe, which is unaccountable and in- credible. I mould here recapitulate, and fet before my Reader in one View, all thofe Particulars concerning the material and vilible Heavens, which I have before mentioned, as they lay difperfed in the holy Scriptures, wherein they are fpoken of, as proper Occafions offered for Of the Divine Trinity. 131 for making Mention of their Original, and of their different States, conftitucnt farts, Pow- ers, Properties and Motions; but I judge it proper before I draw them together, or fuch and fo many of them as are' fufficient to re- move, let afide and explode all thole falfe Accounts of the rn terial and viable I leavens, as have been delivered to the World by Per- fons falily reputed Philoibpher?, to tiic great Hurt of Mankind, to take Notice of iuch particular Falfhoods as have been magiiierially alTerted and fee forth concerning the material and vifible Heavens, and the immediate Caufes of all the Phenomena in Nature, in that celebrated but unintelligible Sy-ftem, called the Mathematical Principles of Natu- ral Phihfophy ; wherein the divinely revealed Word of God fet forth in the holy Scriptures, which carries along with it not only the mofi clear and evident Proof both or its divine O- riginal, and of its Truth, is fet at nought and contradicted, either inconfiderately or design- edly, by the Author of that Syftem, who had thefe holy Scriptures in his Poffeffion, by which he might have corrected and rectified all thofe deftruclive Errors, which he hath groundlefly, yet magifteriaily, obtruded upon the World, to the Injury of Men's fpiritual fancYifying and firing Faith, and consequent- ly of their Morals, and confequently to the endangering of their Salvation, as will by and by be made appear. And, K a Fir fa 1 32 Of the Newtonian Philofopby. Fir/}, The Author of this Syftem very juflly and truly afferts, that there are certain and true Caufes of all the Phenomena, or fenfibly perceptible Effects that appear in the natural or material World. Secondly, He fuppofes, that there are cer- tain fenfibly imperceptible (and indeed incon- ceivable) Principles, Powers, or Properties, to be in all Parts and Particles of Matter, which he afferts, to be the true and only Caufes of all the Phenomena in Nature, at lead of all them that he hath attempted to account for, or to aflign the immediate Caufes of; fuch as what he calls Electricity, by which, he means a centrifugal Power or Force, by which all Particles of Matter are enabled of themfelves, to move themfelves, and remove from to- wards the Centers, towards the Circumferences of the Bodies to which they belong} and he faith, that it is owing to this centrifugal Pow- er or Property, which he fuppofes and aflerts to be in all the Particles of this our terraque- ous Globe, that the Earth, near the ./Equa- tor, hath a Belt about it, of above feventeen Miles thick or high; and fuch is another Power which he hath fuppofed and afferted to be in all Matter, and which he hath call- ed Attraction, or a Power, Principle or Pro- perty, by which every natural or material Body is enabled to attract, or draw towards itfelf all other Bodies, with greater or lefs Force, according to their nearer or farther Dif- Of the Newtonian Philo/ophy. 133 Distances from it ; and that the attractive Power, or Force of any Body, is greater oi" lefs, in Proportion to the greater or le£ Quantity of Matter contained in it; and fuch is another Principle, Power or Property which he hath fuppofed and afierted to be in all Matter, which he calls Gravitation, or cen- tripetal Force, by which the Particles of all Bodies are enabled to move themfelves to- wards their own Centers, (which is a Force that adts contrary to his fuppofed centrifugal Force) and by which all Bodies projected, are enabled to gravitate, and move towards the Center of that Body from which it was projected. Thirdly, He faith, he doth not determine, whether this Co?iatus of Bodies to approach each other, proceeds from any Action or Motion in the Bodies themfelves, or from Spirits emitted out of Bodies, or from the /Ether or Air, or any other Medium, corpo- real or incorporeal. (Which I think to be not very confident with what he hath faid in the foregoing Proportion, wherein, he hath afcribed this Conatus of Bodies to approach each other, to the inconceivable Principles, Powers or Properties which he hath fuppofed and afferted to be in all Matter ; unlefs this Conatus, according to him, and thefe Princi- ples, Powers and Properties of Matter, be one and the fame ; and if that be the Cafe, his Meaning here mud be, that he doth deter- K 3 rnin*. 134 Qf *hc Newtonian Philofophy. mine, how material Bodies came by thefe, Powers, &c. which he hath afferttd to be in them; which -is a Thing that cannot pofTibly be determined, beiauie there are no iuch Principrrs, Powers or, Properties, in fuch Bo- dies as he ha.tii fuppofed \ a. ! aliened to- be in them y .but tb it the. Phenomena, or knfible Eftefl; of the Approach of Bodies to each o- ther, arid which- he h; Ji akiibed to his in- conceivable Cauies, w-jlj by and by bg.fhewn to be can fed by an evident and fenlloly per- ceptible Ca die., > Fourthly, Having fuppofed thefe imagim ry and leniibJy imperceptible, and jnconrav, \ ie Principles, Powers, or Properties to he in all Matter, and to be the Caufes of all Motion, and of all the Phenomena in Nature, at itaft, of all that he. hath attempted to accocm iorj he then attempts to prove their real Exift- ence in natural or material Bodies, by Phae* nomena obforved upon Experiments, made upon material 'Bodies. Fifthly^ Having imagined, that he had by thefe experimental and other Phenomena, proved the Reality of thefe imagina-y and fenfibly imperceptible, and unconceivable Principles, Powers or Properties, and their Exigence in Nature or -A\ Matter; and that thefe wqic the true Cauks of all the Pheno- mena -that he attempted to account for at leaft : He then proceeded to (hew how, and after what Manner, aieie im^irury and fen fibly Of the Newtonian Philofiphy.. ftfi 5 fibly imperceptible Caufes, which he had firft. fuppofed, and afterwards imagined he had proved really to exift in Matter, operate (o in it, as to produce all thofe Phenomena in the natural' or material World. Sixthly, And he faith, he doth not fhew how thefe imaginary Caufes act or operate for the Production of the Phenomena, by phyfi- cal, but by mathematical Principles, (i. e.) by affuming mathematical Signs, Lines, Num- bers and Diagrams (which in themfelves are infignificant) as having no Refemblance of na- tural Thing?, or of their' Powers or Properties ; and. to render thefe Signs, &c, fignificant, he fubftitutes fome of them, to fignify and reprefent natural Things, and thofe imaginary Principles, Powers or Properties, which he at firft fuppofed, and afterwards imagined (but falfty) to be in Nature or Matter, and thereby to reprefent what he calls the known Proper- ties of Matter, Properties, which he imagin- ed all Mankind muft acknowledge to be in it, by what he had ihewn by Experiments he- had made upon material Bodies -r and others of thefe mathematical Signs he fubftituted, ta fignify and reprefent /uch of thefe imaginary Powers or Properties, as were unknown and fought for. And thefe Things (or rather np Things) being thus fettled and let forth, he went to' work, and by Additions and Sub- tractions, and other Methods of mathemati- cal Procedure, and haying found the Sign of ths K 4. ima- 136 Of the Newtonian Philofophy. imaginary. Powt; or Property fought for, c- qua! to k the Signs of thoie Powers or T^ Parties which lie imagined to be really in Matter, and 10 be known, he concluded that what he : . Jiicovered to be true with re- fpeft to . infignificant Signs of imaginary Powers, ought to be acknowledged to be true with refpedt to the imaginary Powers which he fuppofed to be in Matter, and had repre- fented by thofe infignificant Signs, I call them infignificant, becaufe it can and will be {hewn, that there are no fuch Powers or Pro- perties in natural Things, as he hath fuppofed and afferted to be in thern, and hath repre- fented by mathematical Signs, which arc therefore infignificant, Thus inconfiderate and ignorant, but confident. Logicians, reafon a- bout the Powers and Properties, both of na- tural and fpiritual Things, of which they have no true Ideas nor Notions, nor any other Knowledge than that of the Names by which they are called ; , Having firft ranged the Naiinc or Word fufcfthuted to fignify or re- prefeut the Thing,' under fome general Pre- C canv nt> they fall to yvork with Tongue or Peri, to rea/on by the Help of logical Rules ^nd verbal Diftinclions, about the Word or Name, and in the End conclude, that what they have difepvued to be true about the Word, holds tn of the natural or Ipjritual Thing whi h wps ilgnified or reprefented by |t ^ grid th^t they iiave difcoyered every Pow> Of the Newtonian Vhikfophy. IJ7 er, Property, and Perfection of that natural or fpiritual Thing fo fignified or reprefented ; and which they had enquired after, although they be as ignorant of it, as when they went to work about it, their whole reafoning being a- bout the Word or Sign, and not about the Thing fignified or reprefented by it. Seventhly ', I think it neceffary to obferve, that the Fallacy, by which our celebrated Philofopher impofed firft upon himfelf, and afterwards upon the World, proceeded from his having inconfiderately and rafhly fuppofed and believed, that there were Powers or Pro- perties in natural "Things^ by which they were enabled to move themfelves, which are not really in them ; and by reafonihg from thefe fuppofed imaginary Powers, his Con- clufions, although formally and mathemati- cally true, were materially and phyfically falfe ; for nothing can be inferred from Non- Entity, but Non- Entity or Nothing: And this was his Cafe; for it will be (hewn by and by, that thofe active Principles, Powers, or Properties, which he adventured, for Want of due Confideration, to fuppofe to be in Mat- ter, and which he (from the Phenomena which he pbferved, upon his making Experi- ments upon feveral different Syftems of Mat- ter, and which he had not well confidered) was induced to believe to be in Matter, and to be the Caufes of all the Motions and other Phenomena in Nature, which he hath pre- tended 138 Of the Newtonian Philofophy. tended to account for, are not really in Mat- ter; and that therefore he 'bath afcribed all his experimental and the other Phenomena in- Nature, to wrong and Falfe 'Caufes, to Caufes that are neither fenfibly perceptible nor conceivable, nor provable, to have any real Exiftence in Nature or Matter • and that all thofe Phenomena which he hath afcribed- to unknown and improbable Caufes, are .really canfed by a fenfibly evident and mod clearly conceivable, and undeniable mechanical, or inftrumental Caufe, which every Perfon, when it is pointed out to him, will clearly perceive to be not only felf-fufficient for their Prbdu&ion, but to be the real mechanical or inftrumental Producer of them : And when this evident Caufe is clearly (hewn, Mankind will neceffarily perceive, that as there is no Neceffity for their fo doing, fo they ought not to afcribe thofe Effects to unknown and im- probable Caufes, which are neceffarily and manifeftly produced; by a fenfibly evident and undeniably exifting Caufe, which is felf-fuf- ficieiit for their . Productions 5 for when the Caufes of Effects are multiplied, it will be very difficult,' if not impofiible, to afcertain or fay, which is the true Caufe of them. Our celebrated Philofopher hath acknowledg- ed, (and I wifh for his Sake as -well as Mail' kind's, that all his Efflata had been as rational' and true) that the Caufes of Phenomena are not, to- be multipliers and as a felf-fufficient and Of the Newtonian Philofophy. 139 and fenfibly evident Caufe can be fhewn to be the Caufe of all the Phenomena he hath attempted to account for; and a? it is commonly faid, that Nature doth nothing in vain ; (but plight have been more truly and intelligibly laid, that Gcd, the Au- thor of Nature, doth Nothing in vain ;) fo we muft be forced, by the Power and Force of Truth, to acknowledge, * that fince God harh been graciouily pleafed to create, form, and make one feniibly evident inflru- mental Caufe, which neceffarily moves, and is felf-fufficient for the Production of all the Phaenomena of Nature, that are necefTary or beneficial for us to know the inftrumental as well as the efficient Caufe of, it is ihconfifr- cnt with the Belief of the perfect Wifdom and Goodnefs of God, to believe, that he hath multiplied Caufes, and hath implanted other unknown and unconceivable,, and improbable Caufes in Matter, for the Production of the fame Phaenomena or fenfible Effects ; and as be hath by Revelation, made known this fen- fibly evident and felf-fufficient Caufe of thefe Phenomena, whofe Truth the Phaenomena themfelves prove, (for their Caufes could ne- ver have been known without a divine Reve- lation ; and it is owing to Men's not having confulted the divine Revelations, that they have afcribed the Phaenomena to falfe and ima- ginary Caufes) therefore it is not only unrea- sonable, but impious, to afcribe the Phaeno- nomena "14° Of the Newtonian Philofophy. nomena to unknown and inconceivable, and improbable Caufes, or to any other Caufe than that to which God hath been pleafed to afcribe them, fince that cannot be done with- but disbelieving his divinely revealed Word, whofe Truth and divine Authority is undeni- able, as I have elfewhere mod clearly (hewn ; fuch Unbelief of God's demonstratively true and divinely revealed Word, (hews not only great Want of Confideration, but the great Conceit that fuch Perfons mu ft have of their own Wifdom and Self-Sufficiency, and alfo their great culpable Folly or Madnefs, who will perfevere in afcribing the Phenomena in Na- ture, to unknown and inconceivable, and im- probable Caufes, whofe Exiftence never can be proved, when there is a divinely revealed and fenfibly evident, and felf-fufficient Caufe, which every Perfon, who confiders it, may clearly perceive to be the neceffary, mecha- nical, or instrumental Producer of them. Eighthly , I judge it neceffary farther to ob- ferve here, that our celebrated Philofopher would have delivered a more true and ufeful Syftem of the Principles of natural Philofophy to the World, if he had clearly proved, that there were fuch adtive Principles, Powers, or Properties in any Syftems of Matter, as he hath, without Proof, afferted to be in all fuch Syftems, and declared to be the Caufes of all the Phenomena in Nature, before he pro- ceeded to fhew a^d account for their Mannqr of Of the Newtonian Phihfophy. 141 of exerting themfelves, and operating in and upon all Matter ; and that, if he had con- futed the divine Revelations concerning the Heavens and the Earth, more attentively than he appears to have done, his experimental Phenomena, and his Obfervations upon them, and his Inferences; from them, would have been more true and more ufeful to Man- kind. Ninthly, I think it alfo neceflary farther to obferve here, that our Philofopher, in order to ferve his Hypothefis, hath chofen to fix a Senfe and Meaning ;o fome Words, which he found neceflary to be ufed in his Syftem, that is not only different from, but contrary to the Senfe in which they have been always and properly taken; and by this Abufe of Language, Men's Ideas of Things and Adions fignified by Words, have been perplexed and confounded ; for he hath told the World, in the lafl Edition of his Principles, that he ufes the following Words, (viz.) Attradion, Gra- vity, centripetal Force, and Propenfity or Co- natus to adt, and Impulfe promifcuoufly, as if they fignified one and the fame Adl or Thing ; fo that according to him, to impel or drive from, is to draw to, and vice verfa : Where- as they had been always taken for different and contrary Adlions, but according to him, phyfical Impulfe or driving away from5 is ma- thematical Attradion or drawing towards the Agent. And to apologize for this Liberty taken 142 Of the Newtonian Philofophy. taken in the Abnfe cf Words, an Undertaker to explain his inexplicable Syftem, hath told us, that our Philosopher did not defign a phy- fical Explication of Things, but to point out a Power in Nature, that had not been ob- ferved before, (which is very true, for fenfi- bly imperceptible and inconceivable natural Things never fell under any Man's Obfervati- on before) and whofe Manner of acting he thought worth enquiring after ; and he hirn- felf hath told us, that Attractions might be more properly called Impulfes, but that he chofe rather to fpeak mathematically than phyfically (/". e. rather unintelligible than in- telligibly about natural Things.) And fpeak- ing about centripetal and centrifugal Forces, he fays, he would not have Mankind to be- lieve that he meant real phy fical Centers. Tenthly, As he hairr^ot proved his fenfibly imperceptible and inconceivable Principles, Powers or Properties, (which he hath made the Caufes of all the Phenomena in Nature or Matter, to exift in any material Syftem ; although he hath prepofteroufly attempted to (hew how thefe improbable Principles exert themfelves, and operate or acl in, and upon all natural or material Syftems) and as he hath told the World, that thefe Phenomena, (viz.) Hardnefs, Extenfion, Impenetrability, Mobility, infinite Divifibility, inactive Force, and cemrirugal, and centripetal, and attractive, and gravitating Powers, (which he faith may very Of the Newtonian Vhilofophy. 143 very reafqnably be prefumcd to be in all ma- terial Bodies) are the true fundamental Prin- ciples of all Philofophy. And having like- wife attempted, to prove by experimental and other Phenomena in Nature, that his fenfibly imperceptible and inconceivable and improba- ble, and therefore incredible Principles, &c. exiit in Nature. I fhall therefore, confider fome of the mod material of thefe Pheno- mena, which he hath produced as Proofs of the Existence of thefe inconceivable Caufes. And afterwards 1 fhall (hew, that they are, all neceffarily produced by a divinely created, and revealed, and fenfibly evident and real Caufe, and that therefore they can be no Proofs of the Exiftence of his imaginary, and fenfibly imperceptible, and inconceivable, and im- probable, and therefore incredible Caufes. And by (hewing thefe Things, Perfons more at Leifure than I am, may perceive how to proceed, in fhewing the Infufficiency of his other lefs material Proofs, which he hath produced for the Reality of his imaginary antifcriptural Powers in Nature. But before I, proceed to the Confideration of thofe parti- cular Phenomena, which he produces in Proof of the Reality of his antifcriptural and imaginary Powers in Nature or Matter. I judge it proper, previoufly to take Notice of fome antiicriptural and falfe Pofitions, which he hath magitterially, and in direct Contra- diction, not only to the holy Scriptures, but alfo 244 0/ the Newtonian Pbilofephy. alfo the Evidence of Senfe> which bears Tefti- mony to their Truth, aflerted ; and by which he forefaw, that if Mankind would be brought to believe them, upon the Credit of his ipfe dixit ■, as too many of them have for no o- ther Reafon, his Syftem would be longer- lived, than he could otherwife hope it would, becaufe many Perfons are not eafily with- drawn from the Belief of any Syftem of Phi- lofophy, be it ever fo falfe, which they have once embraced and profefled to admire : They look upon an Alteration or Change of their Opinions, as a Difcredit, as it is a Proof that they were capable of being deceived, and of having miftaken Falfhood for Truth -, and few there are, that have fo mean an Opinion of their own Underftanding, as to be prevailed upon to do any Thing, that they imagine will tend to the Impeachment of its Perfection. Moreover, fuch Divines, as were Admirers of this celebrated, but unintelligible Syftem, have taken great Pains (as far as confident Affertions would go) to lead Mankind into the Belief that the holy Scriptures were not defigned to make them Philofophers (i. e. to make them wife 5) whereas there never was X a true Syftem of either natural or fupcrnatu- ral, or moral Philofophy that ever appeared in the moral World, except that of the holy .Scriptures, as I have elfe where fhewn $ and they plainly forefaw, that if Mankind could by fuch Means be difcouraged from the Study Of the 'Newtonian Philofbphy. 14^ of the holy Scriptures, and diverted from bringing the divinely revealed and demonftra-» tive Truth, fet forth and contained in them, againlt this molt falfe and deftrudtive Syftem, that it would neceffarily continue in Credit* and that as foon as ever thofe fcriptural Truths were brought againft it, it would neceflariiy fall to the Ground, together with all the! other falfe Sy Items, both of natural and fpiri- tual or fupernatural, and moral Philofophy, that ever appeared in the World, I fliould not have troubled my Readers With this Digreffion, which I hope they will think pardonable, becaufe neceffary, had not our celebrated Author's Account of the ma- terial and viiible Heavens, by which God hath been pleafed fenfibly to fignify and reprefent himfelf to Mankind; that they might be thereby enabled to form a juft, and true, and moft uleful, although not an adequate No- tion or Conception of his Ubiquity or Omni- prefence, and of his Manner of fubfiiting, ope- rating or a&ing in a Plurality of three Perfons, in the Unity of the one Jehovah or divine Effence, both in the natural, and fpiritual, or moral World, been fo contrary and contra- dictory to, and the Belief of it fo inconfiftent; with the Belief of the Account which God the Creator and Former of them, and who therefore belt knew their Structure, and their Motion^ and Powers, and Properties, and ©very Thing that could be faid with Truth L con- 146 Of the Newtonian Philofophy. concerning them, in his divinely revealed and demonftratively true and holy Word; and .whofe Truth is moft clearly manifefted in their ftupendous Work, as described and re- prefented by himfelf, for the Heavens de- clare the Glory or the perfect Goodnefs, and the perfect Wildom, as well as the perfect Power of God ; and the Firmament (which will be fljcwn to be a Plenum) fheweth it to be the Work of his omnipotent Word or Hand, for from the Beginning, the invifible Things of God, even his eternal Power, and his Godhead have been moft clearly manifeft- ed iby his vifible Works, which bear moft evident and undeniable Teftimony to the Truth of his divinely revealed Word, as well as to the divine Authority of it; and which therefore, ought to be embraced with Reve- rence and Joy, and Thankfulnefs, and not -contemned and contradicted, by inconiiderate, • and1 therefore culpably ignorant and vain, and prefumptuous fallible Men. And if our ce- lebrated Philolopher's falie Account oi the the; material and vifible Heavens was to be believed, Mankind could not pollibly be able to form a Notion of God fubfifting in a Plu- rality of Peribns in the Unity of the one ytbovah^ or divine EfTence, as he hath been • tgracio ully pleafcd to reveal, fignify and re- -pre'lent himfelf, in his divinely revealed and holy Word, moft clearly and perfectly verified in arid by all his Works, DLfpeniations to, and Of the Newtonian Fhilofophy. 147 and Dealings with Mankind, and all his in- ftituted ritual Ordinances: Whereas by the material and vifible Heavens, conildered ac- cording to the Deicriptions and Reprefentati- ons which God hath been gracioufly pleafed to give of them in his holy Word, we may as clearly conceive the Manner of God's fub- fifting in ar Plurality of Perfons in the Unity of the one undivided and indivifible Effence, as we can any fenfibly evident Truth in the natural or material World, and thereby the mod clear Verification of the holy Scriptures concerning that great and important Article of Faith, which our celebrated antifcriptural Phi- lofopher, by his moft evidently falfe Account of the material and vifible Heavens, hath laboured to efface and obliterate out of the Minds of Mankind, and therewith to deftroy the Cre- dit of the holy Scriptures lb far, in order to fupport his own vain and groundlefs, and impious and wicked Imaginations and Inven- tions. ( Fir ft > As I have before obferved, he hath magifterially, and with great Affurance, af- ferted in his Account of the material and vifi- ble Heavens, in direct Contradiction to the holy Scriptures, that Darknefs, which God declared he had created, was not a celeftial Fluid, but a Non-Entity > or mere Priva-i tion of Light, in order to make Room for his Vacuum or Void, which he hath thought neceffary to introduce, in order to the Efta- L a blifhmcnfc 148 Of the Newtonian Philofophy. blimment of fuch inconceivable Principles and Laws of Motion as he judged necefiary alfo to introduce, lor the Support of his ro- mantic philofophic Syilem. Secondly , He tells us in his Account of the Heavens, that the planetary Region?, although not perfectly void of all Matter, yet have but very little Matter in them ; for having philo- fophically reduced Dcrknefs to nothing, he faith, the planetary Regions have only the rare and fine Fluid of Light in them, and a thin Vapour that exhales from the Planets themfelves^ which are fo rare and fo inter- mixt with Void, that they do not give any Obftrudtion to the Motions of the Planets, caufed by the attracting and repelling Pow- ers refiding and acting in all Parts and Parti- cles of Matter. Thirdly, And to mew, that the planetary Regions are pure and void of all fuch Matter as would obftrudt the Motion of the planetary Bodies, he afferts, (and that he thinks fufR- cient for Mankind to found their Belief upon) that a Globe of Matter of an Inch Diameter, raifed to the Height of the Semi- Diameter of the Earth, would be able to expand itfelf fo as to fill all the planetary Regions ; and that fuch a Globe of Matter is fufficient to make a World as large as the natural or material World is, with in equal Quantity ok Void (u e. of nothing) interwoven with it, not- withstanding that he hath told us in ano- ther Of the Newtonian Philofophy. 149 ther Place, that the Weights of all Bodies, arc as the Quantities of Matter contained in them ; and that the Quantities of Matter in all Bodies, may be known by their different Weights. Fourthly, And to (hew that Bodies in Mo- tion (for he doth not tell us how the Planets were firft put into Motion) would continue to move for ever in direct Lines in Vacuo, or in Regions, as void of all obstructing Mat- ter, as he hath afierted the planetary Regions to be, if they were not drawn out of the right Lines in which they were projected, by the attractive, and gravitating, and cen- tripetal Powers which he hath afTerted to be in all natural or material Bodies, and to be proportional to the Quantities of Matter con- tained in them. He faith (and who dare prefume to call the Truth of any of his ma- gi fterial Dictates in Queftion) that a Bullet projected from an high Mountain or Tower, in an horizontal Direction, would move on for ever in a direct Line towards the Heavens (what he here meant by the Heavens, I can't fay, becaufe by the holy Scriptures I have been taught to think, that the Heavens and the material Air, are one and the fame Thing) if it was not obftrueted in its Mo- tion by the grofs Air in our Atmofphere ; and if it was not drawn out of the direct Line in which it was projected, by rhc attra< live Power in the Earth. And he lifcewife L 3 farther 150 Of the Newtonian Philofophy. farther afferts, that the Fall of fuch Bodies to the Earth, is an evident Proof of an attrac- tive Power in the Earth, and confequently in all Matter. 1 have before obferved, that nothing is more evident, than that the Moti- ons and Actions of all created Spirits, (Beings which are free, and incapable of being forced or moved by mechanical Contact or Jmpulfe) are moved and act only by Allurement or At- traction, by Good and Evil fet before them. Therefore our bleffed Lord and Saviour told his Difciples, John vi. 44. That no Man would come to him unlefs his heavenly Father drew him. And thefe attractive fpiritual Cords, which flow from Good and Evil, real or apparent, fet before] Mankind, are called, Ho/ea xi. 4. The Cords of a Man: But al- though this Doctrine of Attraction, holds true in the fpiritual, it doth not hold true in the natural World ; and it will by and by be ihewn that the Defcent of Bodies (any how projected) to the Earth, is no Proof of an attractive Power in the Earth, and that that Phenomenon, is owing to another fen- iibly evident and real and impelling Caufe. I fhall mention no more of the Falfhoods which he hath afferted concerning the mate- rial and vilible Heavens ; but I think it ne- ceffary to mention a few of the ufeful philo- sophical Difcoveries, which he hath thought fit to deliver to the World for the Benefit of all Of the Newtonian Fhi-ofbphy. 151 all thofe who choofe to rely upon his Word and believe him. And Firjl, He tells us, that the decay of the Fire in the Orb of the Sun (which h~ faith is not in the Center of the material World) which would otherwife happen by the long continued Omiffion of Light from it, is re- paired and. fupplied by the Vapours which proceed from the Tails of Comets. Secondly, That expired and expiring fixt Stars, 1 are revived and reftored to their Light, by Comets now and then dropping into them. Thirdly, He moreover tells us, that the Tails of Comets, are by Gravity, attracted towards the Atmofpheres of the Planets, and repair their Moifture loft by Exhalation. Fourthly, That the Vapours that iffue from the fixt Stars and Comets Tails, are in the Atmofpheres of the Planets, condenfed, and become Rain, and humid Spirits -7 and being concreted by a flow Heat, become Salts and Sulphurs, and Mud and Clay, and Sand and Gravel, and Stone and Coral, and other earthly Subftances. And Fifthly, That thefe Vapours are the fub- tileft, and befl, but fmalleft Part of our Air, which preferves the Lives of all living Things. And that the true Air is made out of more denfe Bodies than Vapours, and for that Rea- fon it is heavier than they are, and that there- L 4 fore *52 W ^e Newtonian rhilofophy, fore a moift Atmofphere is lighter than * dry. And Sixthly* That Light affcs upon other Bo* dies, and other Bodies upon Light at a Dif* tance, and without a&ual contact ; and that grofs Bodies and Light, are mutually con-* verted into each other. Seventhly, He hath discovered by accurate and attentive Oblervation, that Flies tread upon Water without being wet-fhod. I fhall not trouble my Reader with any more of our Philofopher's important Difco^ veries, for whofe Novelty I think I may venture to anfwer, leaving the Truth and Ufefulnefs of them, to be anfvvered and ac- counted for by his Admirers and Adorers : But I think it neceffary to obferve here, That the foregoing Inftances, are very material Parts, and as true as any of the Parts of that Philofophy, which they who have arofe and declared themfelves Champions for Licenti- puinefs, under the Name of human Liberty, and who have loudly declaimed againft all divine Revelations, and all divinely-revealed fpiritual and fciiptural and fandtifying Reli- gion, and proclaimed themfelves the Deli- verers of Mankind, from the Tyranny and Impofitions of crafty Priefts, and knavifh and wicked Politicians, who had impofed pretended divine Revelations upon them, whereby they were deprived of their natural liberty, arid reftrained frorp Jiving according Of the Newtonian Philofophy. 1 53 ta natural Religion (/. e.) according to the Dictates of their respective predominant bo- dily Lufts, which is lb agreeable to Flefh and Blood, and to the Nature (/. e. to the Body) of Man. Thefe, I fay, are a confi- derable Part of that Philofophy which thefe anti-fcriptural Heroes and AfTerters of the Self-fufficiency of the Light and Law of Na- ture, (/. e, of the Knowledge of fenfibly preceptible Things, and the Dictates of their bodily Lufts) for Sanctification and Salvation, and eternal Life, embrace and believe. would be amazing, if we did not confider the Infatuating and enraging Power of unmor- tified bodily Lufts, to think that there fhould* be any Perfons fo fpiritually blind and ftupid, as to give themfelves up to the Belief of fuch evident and ufelefs and deftructive Falie- hoods, and to disbelieve thofe moft clear and divinely-revealed and demonftrative fpuitual Truths, which are fet forth in the holy Scrip- tures, which are fo fpiritually beneficial, and indifpenfably neceflary to be fincerely and truly believed and obeyed by all Mankind, in order to Sanctification and Salvation, and true Happinefs, both natural and fpiritual, and temporal and everlafting, Having made thefe few previous Obferva* tions, upon this fo celebrated a Syfcm, which hath been fo wonderfully admired, becaufe it could not be underftood, and which hath employed many fldlful and ingenious Mathe- matician^ 1 54 Of the Newtonian Philofophy. maticians, who might have employed their Time much better, by applying their arith- metical and geometrical Knowledge to the Improvement of ufeful Practice and Mecha- nics 5 but have been diverted by their At- tempts, to explain his inexplicable Syftem : And having taken his imaginary and impro- bable Principle?, for real Powers exifting in Nature or Matter, have only expatiated and enlarged upon his fundamental Errors, by which their Labours have proved no way beneficial to Mankind. I {hall now fet forth fome of his experimental and other Pheno- mena in Nature, which he hath produced as Proofs of the real Exiftence of his imagi- nary Principles or Powers. And afterwards I will (hew, that all thofe Phenomena which he hath afcribed to imaginary Caufes, "are produced by a real and fenfibly evident Caufe, which hath been moft clearly pointed out to us in. the holy Scriptures, and that therefore his imaginary Caules have no real Exiftence in Nature. I (hall firft mention fome, and the moft material, of his experimental and other Phce- nomena, which he produces as Proofs of his imaginary, attractive, and gravitating, and centripetal Forces in Nature, or all Matter. Secondly, Some of thofe which he produ- ces as Proofs of centrifugal Powers therein. And Of the Newtonian Phihfophy. 155 Firji, He tells us, that the Inclination of Rays and Light towards the Edge or Point of a Knife, and the Stay or Inclination of Rays of Light, tranfmitted through a Glafs into the open Air, (which he calls a Vacuum) are Phenomena,which plainly mew an attrac- tive Power in the Knife, which ads at a Diftance ; and alio a retractive or attractive Power in the Glafs, which acts at a Diftance, and through a Vacuum according to him, up- on the Body of Light. Secondly, That the globular Forms of liquid Fluids, is another manifeft Proof of attractive and centripetal Force in Matter. thirdly y The Motions of the Satellites in perfect Circles about their refpective Prima- ries y is another Phenomenon which fhews an attractive Power in thofe Primaries, and a centripetal Power in thofe Satellites, and that therefore there are fuch Powers in Matter. Fourthly^ That the Flux and Reflux of the Sea, or the rifing or falling of the Tides, are another Proof of an attractive Power in Nature or Matter. For he afferts magifte- rially, and without other Proof, (unlefs the foregoing Phenomena, whofe Caufe he hath not proved, will pafs for Proof; that thefc Phenomena of the Tides, are owing to the united attractive Forces of the Sun and Moon fometimes acting in Conjunction to- gether, and to their feparate attractive Forces at j 56 Of the Newtonian Pbilojbphy. at other Times ailing in Oppofition to each other. Fifthly, He faith that the Fall of Bodies to the Earth, which have been projected up- wards, or in an horizontal or any other Di- rection from the Earth, and the Increafe of their Velocities in every Moment of their Ap- proach toward the Earth, and alfo the In- creafe of their Velocities in Proportion to the Heights in which they fall, and to the longer or fhorter Times they arc in falling, are evi- dent Proofs of there being fuch an attractive Power in the Earth, and of fuch gravitating and centripetal Forces in fuch falling Bodies, and therefore in Matter. Such Phenomena as he produces in Proof of their being centrifugal Powers or Forces in Nature or Matter, are as follows. Firft, He faith, that the higher Rife or Afcent of Water in fmaller than in larger Tubes, is an evident Proof of centrifugal Powers or Forces, in Water or other Liquor?, and therefore in Matter; for he faith that the Liquor is lefs preffed in fmaller Tubes im- merfed in it, than in larger, by Reafon of the Air's being rarer in fmaller than in larger Tubes ; and the Reafon of its being rarer in fmaller Tubes, he faith is, that its Particles re- cede from each other, and from the Sides of the fmaller Tubes by their centrifugal Forces, and therefore rife higher in fuch Tubes, and towards the Surface of the Liquors, where there is the leaft Preffure. Secondly Of the Newtonian Philofophy. 157 Secondly^ Having made Water an elaftic Fluid whofe Particles mutually recede or fly from each other, he faith, that the Phenome- non of Rings or Circles raifed, multiplied, and enlarged or fpread upon the Surfaces of (landing Pools, are a Proof of elaftic or cen- trifugal Forces, and alfb of a Vacuum in Na- ture or Matter, for he fays thofe Rings or Circles fo raifed, are occaiioned or caufed by the Condenfation of the Water by the Com- preflion of its Particles which are forced by the Fall of the Stone to recede into the void Spaces of the ambient Waters, and return a- gain from thofe void Spaces, which they had filled by their elaftic or centrifugal Forces. Thirdly, He faith, that the Belt that is a- bout the Earth at the ^Equator, about feven- teen Miles thick or high, is another evident Proof of centrifugal Forces in the Particles of the Earth, and therefore in Nature or all Matter ; for he faith that the Belt is caufed by the Particles of the Earth, receding or flying from the Center of the Earth towards its Circumference. And after all this he tells us that, where attractive Forces end, centrifugal and repel- ling Forces begin, which is inconfiftent with what he had faid before, where he faid attrac- tive Forces decreafe in Proportion to the Dis- tance of the attracting Bodies from each other ; and thar the Particles of Fluids recede from $ach other even when they are contiguous. 1 5$ Of the Newtonian Philofophy. I fhall not trouble my Readers with any more, of thefe Phenomena, which he hath vainly, impertinently, and therefore ineffectu- ally brought to prove the Reality, and Exis- tence of his imaginary Powers in Nature or Matter, which he makes the Caufes of all the Phenomena which he hath attempted to account for, but proceed to give an Account of what God hath been gracioufly pleafed, by Revelation and Reprefentation, to make known to us concerning the material Heavens, by which we will clearly perceive, the true and fenfibly perceptible and evident Caufe of all thofe Phenomena, wThich he hath attempted to account for, and 'which he in Contradic- tion to God's divinely revealed and felf-evi- dently or demonftratively true Word, hath afcribed to fenfibly imperceptible and incon- ceivable and irapi;obable, and. therefore, in- credible imaginary Caufes. After I have made an Obfervation or two concerning; the Inferen- ces we ought to make about different Sorts of Phenomena. And Firft, I mufl obferve that there are fome Phenomena or fenfibly evident Effects in Nature, which plainly and clearly point out to us their immediate inftrumental and me- chanical Courfes, io that we may be fatisfied, of the Truth of them, by the Reports which our bodily Organs of Senfation, (which God hath given us, and hath encouraged us to believe and lely upon in all fuch Cafes) make to Of the Newtonian Philofophyi 1 59 to our Spirits concerning them, fuch an Effect or Phenomenon is Burning, which we may reft fatisfied that Fire hath been the immediate inftrumental Caufe of. Secondly, That there are other Phenomena or fenfible Effe&s in Nature, which do not point out, nor lead us to the Knowledge of their immediate inftrumental Caufes, fuch as the Phenomena produced by the Magnet or .Loadftone, and of the Whitenefs of Snow, and the Gr-eennefs of Grafs, and Sweetnefs of Honey, &c. in all fuch Cafes a: little Con fide- ration will inftruct us, that thefe Effects them- felvesare fufficient, and all- that is neceffary for us to'know" concerning them, and that the Knowledge of their Caufes, would neither be naturally nor fpiritually beneficial to us, and therefore our Ignorance of them, ;is neither detrimental nor injurious to us, in Refpect of either our bodily or fpiritual Welfare; and by this we may learn that we ought not to mif- .employ our Time, in fruitlefly fearchins; after the ufelefs Caufes of fuch Effects, which becaufe they would be ufelefs and unprofitable .to us, God hath not thought proper to make them known to us, either by fenfible Percep- tion or divine Revelation. The true Philofophy in fuch Cafes is, neither to enquire after, Caufes, nor impofe either upon ourfelves or others, falfe and imaginary Caufes of thofe Effects which God hath thought fit to conceal, and are therefore iuveftigable, but acknowledge our l6o Of the NewtOdian Phikfophy. our Ignorance of them ; and the great Wi£ dorr* and Goodnefs of God in concealing the Know ledge of them from us ; that by ouf Ignorance, we may be taught to correct ouf Pride, and abate the Conceit we are too apt ta entertain of our own Self- fufficiency, and learn to know, that we cannot difcover the Caufc of any Effedts, which God hath not been gracioufly pleafed to difcover and make known to us, either by Means of our bodily Scnfa- tions, or by his gracious Revelation. Thirdly, That there are other Phenomena in Nature, which do not of themfelves lead us to the Knowledge of their immediate in^ ftrumental Caufes, and yet thofe Caufes are highly necefTary to be known by Mankind, as they (hew forth the perfect Power, Wif- dom, and Goodnefs of God, by which we are powerfully moved to admire, adore and love him with all our Hearts, &c . And that all thefe which are fo necefTary and beneficial to be known by Mankind, God hath been gracioufly pleafed to make them known to them, by the Revelations and Reprefentations he hath made of them, in his holy Word j and fo clearly by this fpiritual Light, that the Phenomena prove both the Truth and the divine Original and Authority of the Revela- lation, by which their Caufes were difcovered and pointed out. And where God hath been gracioufly pleafed, in perfect Wifdom and fatherly Goodncte, by Revelation and fenfible Re- Of the Newtonian Philcfophy. 1 6 1 Reprefentations, to make Difcoveries of the true, real, and fenfibly evident and undeniable Caufes of flich Phenomena or Effects, Man- kind ought not to prefume to afcribe thofe Effects to imaginary and fenfibly impercep- tible and inconceivably, and improbable, and therefore incredible Caufes, in Contradiction to the divinely revealed and fenfibly evident Truth. The true philofophical Procedure : When Perfons are determined to publifh their Ac- counts of the immediate and inftrumental Caufes of the Phenomena in Nature is, Firji, To confider whether the Phenomena them- felves point out their true realand fenfibly evident inftrumentai and mechanical Caufes j and if we find they do, to acquiefce in them, and not trouble the World with afligning other new and falfe and imaginary and im- probable Caufes of them. Secondly yTo confider, where the Phenomena don't point out and fhew their true real and fenfibly evident Caufes, and where divine Revelation hath faid nothing about them, to look upon them not only as inveftigable, but asufelefs and unprofi- table to be known, and that therefore we ought not to mifpend our Time (which is but fufficient for performing the Work which is indifpenfably necefTary to be done by every Man whilft he is in this World, in order to his Salvation and everlafting Happinefs in the jiext) in a vain and ineffectual Search after them, M kit 1 62 Of the NcuL'icnian Philofoply. left we be led by the Want of juit and ratio- nal Consideration, and Self-Conceit of our own Abilities for Invention and Difcovery, to af- cribe fuch Phaenomena to imaginary and falfe Caufes, to the fpiritual Hart, both ofourfelves and others, for the Belief of any Kind of FaUhood, whether natural or fpiritual, is in- jurious, and apt to millead us from the Belief of beneficial Truth. Thirdly, Where the Caufes of Phenomena are ufeful and beneficial, and therefore neceflary to be known, and where they don't point out and lead us to the Know- ledge of their Caufes, and where they are moil clearly pointed out to us by divine Re- velation and Reprefentation, we therefore ought to be. fatisfied that they are the true Caufes of thofe fenfible Effects, when by du- ly considering them, we moil clearly perceive, that they are not only Self-fufficient for their Productions, but that they mult neceffarily be produced by them; in fuch Cafes we ought not to multiply Caufes, for the Rea- fons before given, nor prefume to afcribe fuch Phaenomena, in Contradiction to God's di- vinely revealed and demonstratively true Word, to unknown and inconceivable and improbable, and therefore incredible Caufes, which have no Exiilence but in our own Ima- ginations. Whoever will proceed with thele Confiderations, will never irnpofe a falfe or nfelcf<, or cither naturally or Spiritually injuri- ous Svitem of natural Philolophy upon the World. Of the Ntwtonian Thilofophyl 1 63 World. His Syftem will be conformable to divine Revelations fet forth in the holy Scrip- tures, and will be true, and beneficial to be believed by Mankind, and its Credit will con- tinue unimpeachable and unaffailable to the End of Time and of the World. Our celebrated Philofopher, whofe Syftem I have now under Consideration, hath in Con- tradiction to, and therefore in Contempt of (for culpable Ignorance doth not excufe Men from Contempt of God's Word) the divinely revealed and demonftratively true Word of God, fet forth in the holy Scriptures, moft audacioufly prefumed to afcribe to imaginary and unknown, and inconceivable and impro- bable, and therefore incredible Caufes, thofe Phenomena in Nature, whofe true, real, and fenlibly evident, and felf-fufficient Caufe God hath been graciouily pleafed moft clearly, by Revelation and Reprefentation, to point out to us in his holy Scriptures ; and by fo doing hath impofed upon the World not only a moft falfe and ufelefs, and unprofitable, but a fpiritually injurious Syftem, as will by and by be made moft clearly and evidently appear: Whereas had he chofen to have confulted and confidered the divine Revelations fet forth in the holy Scriptures, when he was about to aflign the Caufes of the Phenomena in Na- ture, and to have been applauded rather for pointing out, and reviving and reftoring to the World thofe moft antient and beneficial, but M z greatly 164 Of the Newtonian Philofophy. greatly neg!e<£ted and long overlooked divine- ly revealed Truths, concerning the Caufe of the Phenomena in Nature, than for having been an Inventor and Difcoverer of new un- intelligible, and Jalfe and unmechanical in- strumental Caufes of natural Effect^, he would have left a truer and more ufeful Syf- tem of natural Philofophy to the World, by which his Memory would have been perpe- tuated with Gratitude, and juflly acquired Praifc in all fucceeding Ages of the World, although his Statue might not have found a Place among theirs who have eminently, but vainly, laboured to raife natural Religion upon the Ruins of that which is fpiritual and divinely revealed. Having made thefe few, and I hope not unufeful nor unneceflary Obfervations, I now proceed to recapitulate as far as is neceffary, and fet forth in a narrow Compafs, and as it were under one View, what I have before fet forth from the holy Scriptures, concerning the Account which God hath been gracioufly pleafed to give us of the material and vifiblc Heavens in general, and of their Origin, and of their original and created, but un- formed State ; and of the Origin of all Mo- tion and Mechanifm in the natural or mate- rial World ; and of the Formation of the ma- terial and vifible Heavens, and of their pre- fent and formed State, in which they have fubfiftcd, and continued inflrumentally and me- Of the Newtonian Philo/opLy. 165 mechanically to aft upon themfclvcs, and in and upon all other Matter and Syftems of Matter from the Time of their firft Forma- tion, and of their different conftituent Parts and their Intertextures 5 and of the perpecual Motions of their different conftituent Parts, in Directions different from, and contrary to each other ; and of the different Powers and Properties, and inftru mental or mechanical Operations of all their Parts ; but differing from each other in their States, Forms and Motions, and Manners of opeiating mecha- nically upon each other, and in and upon all other Syftems of Matter, interjacent between the Orb of Fire in the Center, and the Cir- cumference of the Heavens, penetrating and expanding, and compreffing and combining together all their conftituent Parts, Particle^ or indivisible Atoms, not by acting by ima- ginary Powers upon them, at great Diftances from them, but by actual Contact and me- chanical Impulfe upon them, and fo as that they ihould all perfectly anfwer both the par- ticular Ends, and alfo the great general End for which they were all defigned and created: By which we will clearly perceive the true andfenfibly perceptible, and evident Caufe of all thofe Phenomena in Nature, which our celebrated Philofopher hath afcribed to un- known and inconceivable, and improbable, and therefore incredible Caufes, whofe Exiftence in Nature cannot poffibly be M 3 {hewn, 1 66 Of the Newtonian Philojophy. (hewn, and whofe Attractions and other Actions at immenfe Diftances, cannot poflibly be either fenfibly or rationally ac- counted for. Notwithftanding he, by the Help of Hypothefes (which he hath vainly at- tempted to fupport by experimental and other Phenomena) hath laboured to prove their Exiftence; but the Proofs he hath brought, have been fo far from proving the Exiftence of his imaginary Caufes of the Phenomena, that they clearly (hew the true and fenfibly evi- dent Caufe of all the Phenomena that he hath attempted to account for : And by which we will likewife clearly perceive, how he hath proftituted and abufed Mathematics, in order to introduce falfe and unmechanical Phyfics, by fubftituting mathematical Signs, Lines, Numbers and Diagrams, (which are only fig- nificant and Realities, when they are made to fignify and reprefent real phyfical or natural Things) to fignify and reprefent Powers and Properties which have no Exiftence in Na- ture 5 and inferring the Exiftence of real phy- fical Things from Non- Entities, (i. e) the Exiftence of fomething from nothing ; and all this great, but fruitlefs Labour and Pains, he hath been at for many Years, to fupport the Credit of a mo ft unnatural and incredible, and falfe philofophical Romance. I have from the divinely revealed Word of God, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, and who therefore could give the beft and Of the Niwtonian Phihfiphy* 167 and trueftAccount of them and their conftitueqt Parts, and of their Texture or Structure, and ot the different Powers and Properties of their dif- ferent Parts, and of their different Motions in contrary Directions, and of their different Operations, and whofe Account carries along with it, moft evident Proofs of its Truth, fhewn, -f Fir/t, That the material and vilible Hea- vens, in their firil and created, but unform- ed State, was a Body of Darknefs, which fubfifled in an inert or unadlive and moti- onlefs State, and was upon the outward or convex, and inward or concave, Surfaces of the hollow Shell of this our terraqueous Globe, and enveloped or inclofed in it, the feminal conftituent Parts or Particles of all the natural or material Syffems, whether inanimate or vegetable, or animated, which God their Crea- tor, afterwards formed or made out of them. By this fciiptural Light and Information, we may clearly perceive, that Darknefs is a real fubftantiai created Thing, which fub- fifted in a motionlefs State before the For- mation of any natural- or material Light, as it hath exifted ever fince in the Form of Spirit or Darknefs in Motion ; that it is not a Non-Entity ', or mere Privation or Abfence of Light, as our celebrated anti-fcriptural Phi- lofopher (in order to fupport an inconceivable and improbable, and incredible Syftem of natural Philofophy) hath magifterially, and M 4 without 168 Of the Newtonian Philofophy. without Proof, afferted it to be, in Contra- diction to divine Revelation ; a Syftem in which he afferts, that all Syftems of Mat- ter, are not only enabled to move themfelves, but to aft upon, and move other material Syftems at immcnfe Diftances, and through void Spaces (in Contradiction to all ienfible Evidence, and beyond all human Concep- tion) by imaginary and improbable, and therefore incredible, attractive and repellent, and gravitating, and centripetal, and centri- fugal Forces, which he hath fuppofed, and magifterially afferted, to be in all Syftems of Matter. Secondly , That God by commanding by his all-powerfhl Word, Fire to arife, by vio- lent Motion, in the Center of the great Body of Darknefs, reprefented by a great Cloud ifTiiing forth every Way round about it in Rays of Light, penetrating and dividing be- tween the Parts of that Fluid of Darknefs, and extending themfelves from that Orb of Fire in the Center, to the Circumferences of the Heavens, like the Radii or Spokes of a Wheel, extending from its Nave to its Arch, (by which it is reprefented in Ezekieh Vi- fion) penetrating, pervading, and expanding, all material Syftems interjacent between the Center and Circumference of the Heavens. And by its expanding Force (iffuing out of a narrower into a larger Space) neceffirily comprefting the Radii of Darknefs, to rum in OJ the Newtonian Philofophy. 1 69 in a counter or contrary Direction, (viz.) from the Circumference, toward the Orb of Fire in the Center, where it met with le& Refiftance, and with an accelerated or in- creafed Velocity, as being compreiTed out of a larger, into a narrower Space, in a tapering or wedge-like, or fword-like Form, and compreiiing and combining all material Syf- tems interjacent between the Circumference and the Orb of Fire in the Center, with a Force every where equal to the expanding Force of the Light, and thereby feeding and repairing that Fire in the Center, by its alter- nate Influxes into it, occafioned by the alter- nate Effluxes of the Light out of it,' as God, by his Prophet Ezekiel, hath informed us, who tells us, That in his Vifion, (wherein the material Heavens were difplayed before him by a fenfible Reprefentation) that he faw a great Cloud which came from him who is invisible, and in the Midfl of that Cloud a Fire, with Brightnefs every Way round about it. And that that Fire caught hold of, and devoured, or eat, or fed upon itfelf, (/. e.) upon the Darknefs which rufhed into it, which is the fame in Subftance with itfelf ; for the celeftial Fire, Light, and Spirit, or Darknefs in Motion, are all one in refpecl of their Matter or Subftance, although they all differ from each other in refpecl: of their States, Forms, Motions, and Manners of operating in the natural or material World. By 17° Of rfje Newtonian Philofophy. By this fcriptural Light and Information; which God hath been gracioufly pleafed to give us by his holy Prophets, concerning the material and vifible Heavens, we may clearly perceive the Origin of all Motion and Me- chanifm, in the natural or material World, and how and by what wonderful, but mod clearly conceivable, inftrumental or mecha- nical Way and Means, they are continued and carried on in all material Syftems in it, fince the Time that God commanded Fire and Light to ariie in and about the Center of the material Univerfe, and how, and by what Means, that Fire and Light are con- tinued, and how the Light becomes Spirit, or Darknefs in Motion, at the Circumfe- rence of the Heavens ; and how the Fire is continually fed and repaired, by the con- tinual Influxes of the Darknefs into it; by which Means, they are kept in a perpetual regular circulating Motion, in their three dif- ferent States and Forms ; and by their ex- panding and combining Forces, mechani- cally move each other, and all other material Syftems, with equal Forces, interjacent be- tween their Center and Circumterence, and how all Things are fo mechanically moved by them, according to their different fpecinc and fyftematic Combinations, as perfectly to anfwer all the different Ends lor which they were in moil perfect Wiidom deligned, and created, and made s and that therefore, no Syftem Of the Newtonian Philofophy.' 17 j Syftem of Matter, either doth, or is able to move itfelf, or any other Syftem, by any fuch imaginary, attractive, or repelling, or gravitating, or centripetal, or centrifugal, in- conceivable Principles, Powers or Properties, as our anti- Scriptural Philofopher hath ground- lefsly fuppoied, and magifterially afferted, to be in all Syftems of Matter. And that all the Motions in all the Syftems in the natural or material World, whether inanimate or ve- getable, or animated, are produced or caufed, by that divinely- revealed, and fenfibly • evi- dent, and moil clearly conceivable Caufe,' the Fluids of the material and vifible Hea- vens in perpetual Motion. And we may likewife hereby moft clearly perceive, that the Fire in the Orb of the Sun, is not kept alive, and repaired, and fed, by the cafual Incidence of Comets Tails into it, but by the Influx of the grofs and dark Air into it, in continued alternate Intervals, re- fembling thofe of Refpiration, - in alternate Acts of Expiration and Inspiration ; or of the Circulation of the refined Blood from the Heart in the Arteries to the Extremities of the animal Microcofm, and returning back to it in a groffer Fluid by the Veins, and fo ejected, and received again in alternate Intervals. Thirdly, we may, by what I have before obferved from the holy Scriptures, concerning what God hath been gracioufly pleafed to fay himfelf 1J2 Of the Newtonian Pbilofophy. himfelf to Job and his mifbelieving Friends, concerning the Light and Darknefs, there called by the Names of Behemoth and Levia- thany expreflive of different Properties, and moving - in contrary Directions, and whole Forces, although in all Places equal to each other, are ftrongeft in the Neighbourhood of the Orb of Fire in the Center, and their Con- flicts and Velocities greateft there, where the Space they move in is narroweft, and mod confined, and their Forces weakeft, and the Velocities of their Motions, lead at their Circumference ; that the Volocities of all the Planets and Stars that are neareft the Center, muft be greater both in their Rotations about their own Centers, and in their Revolutions about the Sun their common Center, than the Rotations and Revolutions of thofe Pla- nets and Stars that are at greater Diftances from that Orb of Fire their common Center, for two mod clear and evident Reafons : FirJ}y Becaufe the Forces of the Heavens (by which all the Planets and Stars are moved) are ftrongeft, and their Velocities greateft, nearer than at greater Diftances from that common Center: And Secondly y Becaufe they that are Bearer that Center, have (hoiter Courfes to run, than they have that are at a greater Diftance, the Orbits in which they revolve being narrower. And alfo that thofe Stars which are near the Circumference of the Heavens, mull neceflarily be moved very flowly Of the Newtonian Phihjbphy. 173 flowly both in their Rotations and Revolu- tions, becanie the Motions of thofe caeleftial Fluids of Light and Darknefs by which they are moved, are there moil languid and flow ; and their Motions have been found by Ob- fervation, to be fo flow and imperceptible, that they were reputed fixt Stars ; but it hath been found by Obfervation alfo, that they have been moved from the Places in which they had been obferved to have been many Years before. And it muft neceflarily foU low, that that Luminary which is called the North Scar, muft by this Time, have mov- ed a great Way from the North Pole of the World, if it was directly under that Pole at the Formation of the World, and that it doth not now direct us to that Pole exactly. By all this, we may clearly perceive, that the Planets and Stars, are not moved in their Rotations and Revolutions, by any imaginary and inconceivable, and improbable attractive Powers, fuppofed to be in themfelves and all other Syllems of Matter, by which they are enabled to act unaccountably upon Bo- dies, through vaft Voids at immenfe Dis- tances ; but by the cseleftial Fluids of Light and Darknefs perpetually moving in Direc- tions contrary to each other, and acting con- tinually by Contact and mechanical Impulfe upon them. Fourthly, I have (hewn from the holy Scriptures, that Jehovah Ehbim> founded the 174 Of the Newtonian Philofophy. the Earth and the material World upon the Floods , (/. c\) upon the ca:lettial Fluids .of Light and Darknefs ; and that the Fluxes or Currents of thefe Fluids (in order to give us a Notion of their Strength) are repre- fented to us by Pipes of Brais, and Rods of Iron, extending from the Center to the Cir- cumference of the Heavens, and vice verja^ and moving in Directions contrary to each other. And that the Firmament compofed of them, is reprefented by a molten Glafs or Speculum, to (hew its Denfity and Ful- nefs without the Interpolation of any void Spaces between its component Particles; by which we may perceive, that the Planets do not move in void Spaces, or in Regions void of all refitting Matter, as our anti-fcriptural Philofopher, in Contradiction to God's re- vealed Word, hath magifterialjy afferted ; but in a Plenum, arid by the different Fluids which compofe or conftitute that Plenum or Firmament, and that thefe Fluids are called the Ballancers of the Clouds, by which they are raifed up in the Forms of fine Vapour, and Exhalations, and forced down again to the Earth in the groffer Forms of Dews and Rains : And thefe caeteftial Fluids, are laid to compafs the Earth about like a Garment, and that it is turned to them like Clay, to a Seal that clofely compreffes it. . By thefe fcriptural Informations, which e- very coniidcrate Perfon may clearly perceive to Of the Newtonian Tbilofophy. 175 to be evident Truths, we may perceive, that all Things, between the Center and the Cir- cumference of the Heavens, move, and are moved by a feniibly evident and a mod: clear- ly conceivable Caufe, (i. e.) by the continual mechanical Impulfes of the ftrong denfe Flu- ids of the material Heavens moving in contra- ry Directions, and continually acting by actu- al Contact: upon them; and that therefore they were not moved by fuch imaginary and inconceivable, and unaccountable attracting and repelling, and gravitating and centripetal, and centrifugal Forces, as our celebrated an- tifcriptural Philofopher hath groundleily fup- pofed and afferted to be in all Parts and Par- ticles of Matter. And by this we may like- wife clearly perceive, that a Void, or Vacuum in Nature, is not neceffary, in order either to the Commencement or Continuance of Mo- tion in the natural or material World; and that all that is necefiary for the Production of thofe Phenomena or ienfible Effects is, that there (hould be different Kinds of Fluids in Nature, fome of them of finer and more eafily moveable, others of them of groffer and lefs eafily moveable, or feparable Parts or Par- ticles, fuch as thofe of Air and Water, that the one might yield and give Place to the o- ther, upon Impulfe or Preffure; and all Kinds of Fluids might give Way to fixt Bo- dies put into Motion. And whoever will du- ly weigh and confider this, will clearly per- ceive, lj6 Of the Newtonian Philofophy. ee'hve, that if the b2Dy the whole Mixture of Nature was not a Plenum, Motion could not be continued in the World. I don't find that I have any OccaGon to re- capitulate any further, or fet before my Readers any of thofe other Powers and Pro- perties of the different Fluids of the material and vifible Heavens, which I, from the holy Scriptures, have formerly fet before them : Thefe few, which I have laft mentioned, be- ing felf-fufficient for letting afide this falfe Syitem of antifcriptural and unintelligible na- tural Philofophy, which hath been received with fo great Appiaufe in the World -, and for (hewing, that the particular Phenomena which he hath produced as Proof of the Exiftence of thofe imaginary Powers and Properties in Matter, which he hath aflerted to ba the Caufe of all the Phenomena in Nature for which he hath attempted to account 5 and as a Proof of a Vacuum in Nature, neither prove the Exiftence of his imaginary Powers, &c. in Matter, nor a Vacuum in Nature. And that thofe particular Phenomena which he hath fo produced, mod clearly fhew by the Light of the holy Scriptures, the divinely re- vealed Word of God, the true fenfibly evi- dent and moft clearly conceivable Caufe by which they, and all the other Phasnomena which he hath attempted to account for, are really and neceffarily, and inftrumentally or mechanically produced. Id Of the Newtonian Phihfbphy-, 177 In examining thefe his Phenomena, which he produces as Proofs of his imaginary and improbable Principles, Powers and Proper- ties in Nature, I fhall proceed in the Order in which I have before mentioned them. The Phenomena which he hath produced as Proofs of the Reality and Exigence of at- tractive, gravitating and centripetal Forces in Matter, and which I have chofen to exa- mine, I have before mentioned in the fol- lowing Order. Firjt, He tells us, that the Inclination of Rays of Light towards the Edge or Point of a Knife, and the Stay or Inclination of Rays of Light, tranfmitted through a Glafs into the open Air, (which the better to fupport his Hypothefis, he calls a Vacuum) are Priamo* mena, which plainly {hew an attractive Pow- er in the Knife, which ads at a Diftance, and alfo an attractive or retractive Power in the Glafs, which alfo acts at a Diftance, and according to him, through a Vacuum, upon the Rays or Body of the tranfmitted Light. I have before fhewn from the holy Scrip- tures, that the whole Mixture of Nature is a Plenum; and that the Fluids of Light and Darknefs are denfe and ftrong^ and active Fluids, which act upon each other, and upon all other Syflems of Matter, by their ex- panding and compreffing, and Combining Forces. By this we may clearly perl! {hat the Rays of Light paffing either the Side, N Buck, I78 Of the Newtonian Philofoph\\ Back, Edge or Point of the Knife, muft ne- ceflarily be lefs preffed on that Side which is obverted towards the Knife, than they are on the other Side, which is averted from the Knife; and that they muft therefore neceilari- ly be inclined towards the Knife, where they meet with the leaft PreiTure by the greater mechanical Preffure of the free Air that acts upon their other Side, which is averted from the Knife: The fame Confideration will en- able us to account for the Stop or Stay of the Rays of Light which are tranimitted through a Glafs into the open and free, and oppofing Air; fo that there is no Reafon nor Neceffity of flying to inconceivable attractive Powers, either in the Knife or Glafs, to account for, or aflign the Caufes of thefe Phenomena, when we may clearly perceive them to be neceiLrily produced by a fenfibly evident Caufe, the Air or Fluids of the material Hea- vens acting mechanically by actual Contact and Impulfe, with greater Force on that Side ot the Rays which is averted from the Knife and Glafs, than on the other; fo that thtfe Phenomena, which he hath produced in Proof of his imaginary and fenfibly imper- ceptible, and inconceivable and unaccountable Caufes, are an evident Proof of the real and fenfibly perceptible, and moil clearly con- ceivable Cauie, by which they are neceiTarily and mechanically produced, Secondly* Of the Ncivtonitm Philofophy. 179 Secondly, The Phenomena of the globular Form of Drops of Water or other Liquors, he produces as a Proof of centripetal Forces in Matter, by which every Particle of the Cir- cumferences of fuch Drops tend directly to their Centers, by which they neceflarily ap- pear under globular Forms: Whereas that Phenomenon is neceflarily produced by the aforementioned fenfibly perceptible and moft clearly conceivable Caufe, (viz.) the equal PrefTure of the heavenly Fluids upon all Parts of their Circumferences, by which they mud: neceflarily appear under that Form, and continue under it, till by re- peated Impulfes of thofe Fluids falling per- pendicularly upon them, they are flattened, and forced to aflume another Form : So that here again I rauft obferve, that there was no Reafon nor Neceflity for afcribing that Phe- nomenon to an unknown and unconceivable Caufe, when it could be (hewn, that it would neceflarily be produced by the fcripturally and fenfibly evident Caufe which I have now mentioned; for wherever a fenfibly evident Caufe, which muft neceflarily produce an Ef- fect, whenever it is produced, can be fhewn, all other Caufes of that Effect, how probable foever they may appear, ought neceflarily to be difallowed and rejected, and much more all fuch as are unknown and inconceivable, and unaccountable and improbable. Thirdly, He tells us, that the Motions of the Satellites in perfect Circles about their N 2 Pri- 180 Of the Newtonian rhilofophy. Primaries^ is another Phenomenon which fhews an attractive Power in thefe Primaries, and a centripetal Power or Force in thofe Satellites, and that therefore there are fuch Powers in Matter. For he fays thefe Prima- ries attract their Satellites at great Diftances, and through a vaft Void. Whoever will confider what hath been {hewn from the holy Scriptures (which carry along with them mod clear Evidence for their Truth) concerning the material and vifible Heavens, and that all Space between the Cen- ter and the Circumference of the Heavens, and confequently all the planetary Regions, are perfectly filled with the denfe and ftrong Fluids of Light and Darknefs, and move in Directions contrary to each other, and me- chanically act upon, and move all Bodies in- terjacent betweeen the Center and the Cir- cumference of the Heavens, which Forces are every where equal to each other, fo that no Body can be moved by them either nearer to their common Center, or to the Circumference of the Heavens, and there- fore all the planetary Bodies, mull: neceffarily be moved by them in a third Direction, and therefore circularly ; and that therefore the Satellites muft thus neceflarily be moved round their Primaries, as the Moon is about the Earth, and together with their Primaries round about their common Center the Sun. Whoever will confider thefe Things, will clearly Of the Newtonian Pbilofophy. 1S1 clearly perceive, that thefe circular Motions of the Satellites about their Primaries, (whe- ther in exact Circles or not, is of little or no Moment in this Cafe) and alfo of the Prima- ries about the Sun, are all occafioned by a fenfibly evident Caufe, (viz.) The mechanical Impulfes of thofe denfe and itrong Fluids of Light and Darknefs continually acting upon them in contrary Directions, and with equal Forces 5 and therefore thefe circular Motions of tile "Satellites about their Primaries is fo far from being a Proof of his imaginary, and improbable, and unaccountable, attractive Power in the Primaries to which he afcrib:s that Phenomenon, that the Phenomenon itfelf, together with the fpiritual Light of the holy Scriptures, plainly mews the true and fenfibly evident Caufe by which it is necefla- rily produced ; and therefore (as I have be- fore obferved) when the fenfibly evident Caufe that neceflarily produces the Effect, is clearly (hewn, and that it muft neceflarily produce it, as the Syftem of the natural or material World hath been in moft perfect Wifdom conftituted, fince the Time of its Formation 5 it is an Argument not only of audacious Impiety, but of that great Folly which ufually waits upon Vanity, and great Conceit of Self-fufficiency, to afcribe it to any other Caufe, and of an higher Degree of Folly to alcribe it to an unknown and im- probable Caufe, whofe unmechanical Way N 3 of 1 82 Of the "Newtonian Philofophy. of acting at great Di fiances, and through vaft void Spaces, is altogether incomprehen- iible, and unaccountable. Fourthly, The Flux and Reflux of the Sea, or the rifing and falling of the Tides, are another Proof which he produces for the Reality and Exiftence of his imaginary and unaccountable, attractive Forces in Nature or all Matter : For he r.fferts magifterially, and without Proof, (unlefs the afore-men- tioned Phenomena, whole true and real Caufe he hath not fhewn, will be admitted as Proof) That thefe Phenomena of the Tides, are owing to the united attracting Forces of the Sun and Moon lometimes act- ing in Conjunction together, and to their feparate attractive Forces, at other Times acting in Oppofition to each other. If we confider what hath been from the holy Scriptures (hewn before, concerning the denfe Fluids of the material Heavens, and of their ftrong and active PrefTure upon all Syftems of Matter, and that the Flux and Rife of the Tides, at any Place, attends upon the Moon's Arrival at the Meridian of the Place, and that the Waters rife higheft at or about the Time of the Moon's coming to the Meridians of Places, where the Situa- tion and other Circnmftances of the Shores, may not occafion fomc little Variation. By thefe Confederations, we may clearly per- ceive, that the Rife of the Waters, at any Place Of the Newtonian Philofophy. 183 Place where the Moon is in its Meridian, is owing to a fenfibly evident Caufe, (viz.) To the lefs Preffure that is upon their Sur- face in thofe Places than in any other, occa- fioned by the Moon's Interpofirion between the pafiing Fluids of the Light and Darknefs, and that Part of the terraqueous Globe in whofe Meridian it is. And the Force and Preffure of thofe Fluids, being greater upon thofe Waters, at whofe Meridian the Moon hath not arrived, muft neceflarily prefs them towards, and caufe them to rile in the Place in whofe Meridian the Moon is, where they meet with lefs Preffure and Refinance ; and when they are raifed to their greateft Hcighth at thofe Places, upon the Moon's leaving their Meridian, they muft neceffa- rily ebb off by a refluent Motion, by the Force of the heavenly Fluid falling more clireclly, and with greater Force upon them, and by their being oppofed by the Flux of thofe Waters which flow from thofe Places, at whofe Meridian the Moon hath not ar- rived. So that if our Philofopher had con- futed and well confidered the holy Scrip- tures, he would have clearly perceived, by that divinely revealed and Spiritual Light, that there was a fenfibly evident Caufe by which the Flux and Reflux of the Tides are neceffarily occafioned, and that therefore there was no Reafon nor NecefTuy of in- N 4 venting 184 Of the Newtonian Philofiphy. venting unknown and improbable Caufes, whofe Manners of acting are inconceivable and unaccountable for rationally accounting for thofe Phenomena. Fifthly, The laft of his Phenomena, which lie produces as a Proof of his imaginary, at- tractive, and gravitating, and centripetal Forces, which he fuppoled and afTerted to be in all Matter, that I (hall flay to confider and examine, is that of the Fall of projected Bodies to the Earth. For he tells us, That the Fall of Bodies to the Earch, which have been projected upwards, or in an horizontal, or any other, Direction from the Earth, and the Increafe of their Velocities in every Mo- ment of their Approach towards the Earth ; and alfo the Increafe of their Velocities, in Proportion to the different Heights from which they fall, and to the longer or fhorfeer Times they are in falling, are evident Proofs of there being fuch an attractive Power or Force in the Earth, and fuch gravitating and centripetal Force, in fuch falling Bodies, and therefore in all Matter. And that if a Bul- let was projected from an high Mountain or Tower, it would continue to move for ever jn a direct Line towards the Heavens, if it was not obrtructed by the refilling Air in our Atmofphcre, and if it was not attracted and drawn out of that flraight Line by the at* trading Power pr Force in the Earth. Of the Newtonian Phihfophy. 185 I have before fhewn from the holy Scrip- tures, That the Firmament, or material and vifible Heavens, confift of two formally dif- ferent ftrong and denfe Fluids of Light and Darknefs, which move in Direction contrary to each other ; that of the Light flowing continually from the Orb of Fire in the Cen- ter, towards the Circumference of the Hea- vens, like the Spokes of a Wheel from its Nave to the Arch, or the Blood in the Arte- ries, from the Heart to the Extremities of the Body of an Animal ; and that of Darknefs, from the Circumference to the Center, like the Spokes of another Wheel defcending from its Arch to its Nave, and dividing between the Radii of the firft Wheel, or like the grof- fer Blood returning in the Veins from the Extremities to the Heart of an Animal. And that thefe two Fluids differing from each other in their Forms, Properties, and Mo- tions, fill all void Spaces between the Center and the Circumference of the Heavens, and all with equal, though different expanding and combining, but both compreffing and impelling, Forces, in and upon all Syftems of Matter interjacent between the Center and Circumference, by alternate, and clearly con- ceivable, mechanical and actual Contact and Impulfe. Whoever will duly confider thefe Things, by this fcriptural and divinely re- vealed Light, will clearly perceive, Virft% That any Body projected upward, or in any other 1 8 6 Of the Neivtonian Philofophy. other Direction, from the Earth, muft rie- ceflarily be impelled and forced down to the Earth again, by the continual repeated Im- pulfes of one or other of thofe denfe and ftrongly impelling Fluids of Light and Dark- nefs upon it. And Secondly, That the Ve- locities of all projected Bodies, mufl necef- farily be increased in every Moment of their Approach towards the Earth, by continual repeated Impulfes of thofe flrong Fluids upon them, every new Impulfe neceffarily adding to, and increafing the Velocity they had be- fore : And for this other Reafon alfo, be- caufe there is always a lefs Force on the Sides of thofe falling Bodies, which are obverted towards the Earth, every Moment of their nearer Approach towards it. And Thirdly, That their Velocities mufl neceffarily be in- creafed by their falling from a greater Height, and are a longer Time in falling than other- wife, by their receiving a greater Number of Impulfes in falling from greater Heights, and in longer Times, and every Impulfe in- creafing their Velocity. The fame Reafons and Coniiderations, fhew the Falfhood of his Affertions concerning a Bullet projecting from an high Mountain or Tower. And by thefe fame Confiderations, which every attentive Perfon will perceive to be Truths, we may clearly perceive the true, and fenfibly per- ceptible, and evident Caufe of theie laft- mentioned Phenomena j and the Falfliood and Of the Newtonian Philofophy. 187 and Non-exiftence of the imaginary, and in- conceivable, and unaccountable, and incre- dible, attracting, and gravitating, and cen- tripetal Powers in the Earth, and in fuch falling Bodies to which he hath afcribed them. Having thus fhewn that the attracting, gravitating, and centripetal Forces, which our celebrated Philofopher hath dreamed and ima- gined to be in all Matter, are Non-Entities, which have no Exiftence but in the ground- lefs Imaginations of fanciful and inconfide- rate Perfons, I proceed to fliew, that the Phenomena which he hath produced as Proof of repellent and centrifugal Forces being in Matter, do not prove fuch Forces to be in it, but the divinely revealed and ferifibly percep- tible Caule by which thefe Phenomena are necerlarily produced. His Phxnomena, which I have chofen to confider and examine, are as follow, Firft, He faith that the higher Rife or Af- cent of Liquors in fmaller Tubes, than in thofe of larger Diameters, is an evident Proof of centrifugal Forces in Liquors, and there- fore in Matter. For he faith, that the Li- quor is lefs prefTed in fmaller Tubes im- merfed in it, than in larger, by reafon of the Air's being rarer (that is mixt with the Li- quors) in fmaller than in larger Tubes. And he tells us, that the Reafon of its being rarer in fuch Tubes, is, becaufe its Particles recede 1 88 Of the Newtonian Philofophy. recede from each other, and from the Sides of the Tubes, by their centrifugal and repel- ling Force, and that therefore the Liquor with which thefe Particles of Air are blended, muft neceffarily rife higher in fuch Tubes towards the Surface on which there is the leaft Preffure. To fhew the true and fenfibly evident Caufe of this Phenomenon, and that it is not owing to his imaginary, centrifugal, or re- pellent Forces which he hath fuppofed to be in either the Air or Water, all that is ne- ceffary to be confidered, be fides the ftrong compreffing Force of the heavenly Fluids, is, that the inner Surfaces of fmaller tubes, are proportionably larger than the inner Surfaces of larger Veffels. Therefore the lateral Pref- fure upon the Liquor (occafioned by the equal vertical Preffure upon the different fized Tubes) muft neceffarily be proportionably greater in the fmaller than in the larger Tubes, and therefore the Liquor contained in the fmaller Tubes muft neceffarily rife higher towards the vertical Surface on which there is the leaft Preffure, by reafon of the greater Preffure upon its Sides and Bottom 5 fo that there was no Reafon nor Neceffity for recurring to imaginary and unaccountably, afting, centrifugal, and repelling Forces in Matter, to account for a Phenomenon, when the real and fenfibly evident Caufe that muft neceffi'ily produce it, is fo clearly difcernable by the Light of God's divinely revealed World. Secondly^ Of the Newtonian Philofophy. 189 Secondly, Having made Water an elaftic Fluid, whofe Particles, he faith, mutually re- cede from each other, he tells us, that the Rings or Circles raifed, multiplied and en- larged, or fpread upon the Surfaces of land- ing Pools, upon a Stone's being let fall upon them, are a Proof of elaftic or centrifugal Forces, and alfo of a Vacuum in Nature or Matter ; for he faith, thofe Rings or Circles fo raifed, are caufed by the Condenfation of the Water, by the Compreflion of its Parti- cles, which are forced by the Fall of the Stone to recede, and retreat into the void Spaces between the Particles of the ambient Waters 5 and that thefe retreated Waters re- turn again from thofe void Spaces which they had occupied, by their elaftic or centrifugal Forces. In order to convince every confederate Per- fon, and fuch as have attended to God's di- vinely revealed Word, that this Phenomenon, doth not (hew, that there is either a Vacuum, in Nature, nor any fuch repellent or cen- trifugal Forces in Water or any other Matter, as he hath afcribed it to. Every fuch confi- derate Perfon may clearly perceive, that if Water was capable of fuch Condenfation by the Particles of the impelled Water retreating into the void Spaces of the ambient Waters, as our Philofopher fpeaks of, or if there were fuch void Spaces in the ambient Water, for the impelled Water to retire into upon for- I go Of the Newtonian Philofophy. forcible Impulfe, that there could not poffibly be fuch a Phxnomenon as that of Rings or Circles raifed upon its Surfaces upon fuch Im- pulfe j or that if there was, it muft necefTarily be occasioned without a Caufe ; for if the Particles of the impelled Water retired into the void Spaces of the ambient Water, thofe ambient Waters would not be forced to rife in Circles, to make Room for the impelled Waters to retire into; fo that the Rife of thefe Rings into the finer and more eafy yielding Fluid of Air, are fo far from being Proof of a Vacuum, that they are an evident Proof that there is no fuch Void in Nature ; and that the vanifhing away of fuch Rings or Circles fo raifed on the Surfaces of ftanding Pools, is fo far from being a Proof of centri- fugal or repelling Forces in the Particles of Water, that they are an evident Proof of the true, real and feniibly evident mechanical Caufe, by which they are at laft made to clofe or vanifh away, and which hath been moil: clearly pointed out and fhewn to us by the Light of the holy Scriptures 3 by which we may clearly perceive, that the Rings or Cir- cles, fo raifed, were at firfl caufed by the Impulfe ot the Stone, or that the Waters fo forcibly impelled, having no void Spaces to retire into, were neceflarily forced to rife up into the finer and more eafy yielding Fluid of Air ; and that the ambient Waters which cncompafled theie firft raifed Circles, were by Of the Newtonian Phihfophy. 191 by the fame Original Caufe forced to rife in larger fpreading, bat lower Rings or Circles, behind or beyond thofe firft raifed, and fo on, till the firft impreffed Force was entirely over*, powered and deiiroyed by the Force and con- tinued Impulfes of the heavenly Fluids, fall- ing vertically upon thofe fo raifed Circles, till the Surface of the Pool was again reduced to its former Level; and by confidering the true Caufe of thefe Circles fo raifed on the Surface of the groffer and left eafily moved Fluid of Water, and of their Propagation and Continu- ance, and of their gradual Decay and Ceffa- tion at laft, we may clearly conceive the Manner of the Propagation and Continu- ance of Sounds to great Diftances, by Circles raifed fir ft by mechanical Impulfe or Explo- fion; and propagated and continued in the finer and; more eafy yielding Fluid of Air ; and of their gradual Decreafe and Decay, and Ceffa- tioji at laft, by the continued Impulfe of the Fluids of the Heavens upon them, till they are at laft over-powered, and fo vanifh and die away. All Fluids, groffer and finer, being mechanically moved after the fame Manner by actual Contact: and Impulfe, which would be deftroyed by a Vacuum, which would de- ilroy all Contiguity, and confequently all Continuity of Impulfe, and confequently all Mechanifm and Motion in the natural or material World. By 192 Of the Newtonian Pkilofopby. By thus (hewing the true, real and fenfibly perceptible Caufe of the foregoing Phenome- na, which have been rendered fo clearly dif- cernable by the fpiritual Light of God's di- vinely revealed Word, (which our Philofopher was above attending to or regarding, when he was compiling his philofophical Romance, however he came afterwards to (hew more Regard for fome of its hiftorical and prophe- tical Parts) we may perceive, that his centri- fugal and repellent Forces, which he hath fuppofed to be in Matter, are as meer Non- Entities, and have no more real Exiftence in Nature than his imaginary and inconceivably a&ing, attracting and gravitating, and centri- petal Forces have been (hewn to have. As to his Belt of feventeen Miles and a half high, which he hath afferted to be about the Earth near the /Equator, and which he hath brought as a pregnant Proof of centrifugal Forces in the earthy and watery condiment Particles thereof, I (hall not trouble my Reader with any Examination of it; becaufe I don't find that Perfons who have eroded that Line, admit the Truth of the Matter of Fact ; although all Perfons who have confi- dered the Matter, agree in the fpherical Form of the Earth, and in admitting its largeft Diameter to be at the /Equator. I (hall make but one or two Obfervations more upon our celebrated Philofopher, and then take my Leave of him. And Of the Newtonian Philofiphy. I93 And the Fir ft is on the Caufe that he hath affigned for the Reflection of the Light from Glafs: And he tells us, that the Rays of Light are not reflected by their finking a- gainft the impenetrable and indivifible Atoms of the Glafs, or any other Matter, which ^ would neceffarily caufe fuch Reflection. (And to make way for the Ad million of hisxima- ginary and inconceivable Caufe, although he he hath talked of the fmalleft Parts of Mat- ter, and mentioned them as one of the Caufes of the Diver fities of Colours, yet he hath denied the Indivisibility of its conftitu- ent Atoms, and hath alTerted, (how confift- ently with himfelf, I leave his Admirers to account for) that what he calls the fmalleft Parts of Matter, are infinitely divifible -7 and hath invented an Arithmetic, to make Com- putations about thefe infinitely divifible Parts of Matter, which can never be reduced to their fmalleft: Parts ; and if he had not by a fruitful Invention, difcovered that Matter was infinitely divifible, and therefore had no fmalleft Parts, People might have fallen into, and continued in that unphilofophic Belief, that our moft perfectly wife and good God made all Things according to the exact Weight, Meafure and Number of the mate- rial Atoms, which he by Creation provided to form or make this Syftem of the material Univerfe out of, fo that there might not be one Atom in it lefs than there is, by which O all . I$>4 0/ tlJe Newtonian Phihfophy. all Mechanifm and Motion in it would have been deffroyed. And having thus wifely pro- vided for the Reception of his imaginary and inconceivable Caufe) he afcribes the Re- flexion of the Rays of Light from Glafs, to a vibrating and repelling Spirit in the Glafs, and emitted out of it, which puts the Glafs, or the Rays of Light, or both, into Fits, which he calls Fits of eafy Reflexion and Tranfmiflion : This I fhall alfo leave to the Admirers of his Syflem, to explain and fup- port. The fenfibly evident Caufe, (viz.) the Impulfe of the Rays of Light againfl the impenetrable and indivifible Atoms of the Glafs, which is fufficient for the Production of that Phenomenon, and which mufh ne- ceflarily be produced always as Occafions of- fer, being iufficient to fatisfy me, who nei- ther profefs nor defire to know any other Philofophy, either natural, or fupernatural or moral, than what 1 have learned from the di- vinely revealed Word of God, fet forth in the holy Scriptures, and which I find fufficient for fpiritually diipofing, and perfectly enabling and powerfully moving me to prepare and qualify rriyfelfj by Faith and San&ification, for Salvation, and true and fpiritual Happw nefs, both temporal and everlafting. As a Confirmation of the Truth of what I have laid concerning the true and feniiblv evident Cauie of the Reflexion of Light from Glafs, I fhall here obilrve, that another more grofs and Of the Newtonian Vhilcfophy. 195 *nd fcnfible Fluid is reflected from another fixt Body, by the very fame fenfibly evident Caufe, that I have laid Light is reflected from Glafs ; and 1 am inclined to think and believe, notwithstanding all that our cele- brated Philofopher hath laid to the contrary, and on Behalf of his imaginary and incon- ceivable Caules, that the Reflexions and Tranfmiffions of all Kinds of Fluids, from and through all fixt Bodies, areeffe&ed bythe fame Caules and Means. If the Fluid of Water be fquirted forcibly againft a perforated Body, fuch as a Skreen or Riddle, thofe Parts of the Water which happen to be forcibly im- pelled againft the crofs Bars of the Skreen, will neceflarily be reflected by them, whilii thofe Farts of it, which are directed towards the Holes,are tranfmitted without either the Skreen or the Waters b?ing put into Fitsofeafy Reflex- ion orTranfmiilion, perceivable or conceivable by me ; and being iaiisfied, that the fenfibly perceptible Caufe was fufficient for producing that Phenomenon, and mud always necelTa- rily produce it, I did not trouble myfelf with making Experiments, in order to the Multi- plication of the Caules of it ; but I am cor- rigible, and will readily acknowledge my phiiofophic Error, when 1 am l'hewn a Caufe that more clearly and truly accounts for that Phenomenon, and that the fenfibly evi- dent Caufe which I have dcribed it to, and O 2 which I96 Of the Nrivtonian Philofophy. which will and muft always neceflarily pro- duce it, is inefficient for its Production. Another Thing which I think not impro- per to take notice of, before I take my laft Leave of this celebrated Syfiem of Philoiophy, fo greatly admired and eikxmed, although not underftood, by all the Declamers againit all ipiritual, and icriptural, and divinely re- vealed Religion, and all divine Revelation, is, That the Heathen Philofophers, who were very ignorant of the immediate and me- chanical Cauies of moft of the Phenomena in Nature, becaufe they did not attend to, nor carefully confider the divine Revelations that had been handed down to them by oral Tradition, concerning the material and visi- ble Heavens, which are the true Caufes of all the Phenomena in Nature that Mankind have attempted to account for, have, how- ever, in feveral Cafes, fpoke with more Truth, and more Modefly, and lefs Aflii- rance, than our celebrated Philofopher, who had better Means of knowing the Truth by the holy Scriptures than they had, hath done 5 and therefore his Ignorance of the Truth is more culpable and lefs excu fable than theirs. They fpoke more Truth, for they denied a Vacuum in Nature, and afferted that the Planets moved in a Plenum, and what they called (olid Orbs, which were Truths $ and they {hewed greater Modefly or lefs Ailu- ranee, for when they found themfelves unable to Of the Newtonian Philofoph\\ 1 97 to account probably for a natural Phenome- non, they frankly con fe fled their Fgnopance, and afcribed it to an occult Quality or Caufe which they acknowledged themfelves to be ignorant of. Whereas our celebrated anti- fcriptural Philofopher, in Contradiction to the divinely revealed Word, and the Evi- dence of Senfe and Reaibn of Things, hath afferted, that there is a Vacuum in Nature, and that the Regions in which the Planets move, are vaft void Spaces, or Spaces void of Matter, capable of refilling or retarding their Motions, and that they are all moved by imaginary, and inconceivable, and unaccount- ably acting Powers in themfelves, which have been (hewn to be Non-Entities which have no Exiftence in Nature ; and that he hadi expreffed himfelf with lefs Modefty, or more AfTurance, is very evident, for although he was as grofsly ignorant of the true Caufes of all the Phenomena he undertook to ac- count for, as any of the Gentile Philofophers were, and more culpable and lefs excufably fo than any of them •, yet he was fo far from acknowledging his Ignorance, that he, with great AfTurance, magiflerially afcribed the Phenomena he undertook to account for, to evidently falfe, and inconceivable, and unac- countable, and un mechanically acting Caufes, mere Non-Entities which had no Exiftence but in his own Imagination, as I have un- deniably fhewn, and by this his anti-fcrip- O 3 tural 198 Of the 'Newtonian Phihfophy. Uual Mifreprefentation of the material and vifible Heaven?, which was hie fundamental Error, (by which he was led to the Inven- tion of all his imaginary and falfe Principles, Powers, and Properties afferted to be in Mat- ter, and which drew thefe my Animadver- fions upon him) he deceived all thole who were fo inconliderate as to embrace and be- lieve his unintelligible Syitem, to their great fpiritual Hurt and Detriment, as w?ill by and by be made appear. Whereas the Gentile Philofophers (the Epicureans excepted) by their having afferted the Fulnefs of the Hea- vens, and their having uttered no Falfhood concerning them, (as their Anceftors, who made Gods of them, had done) did very little Hurt to Mankind by their natural Philo- ibphy, however they might have hurt them by their Metaphyfics, and done them no good by their Sy items of Ethics. The Er- rors which they led them into about the Caufes of the Phenomena of Nature did not interfere with their Belief of the one and only true fancYifying and faving Faith, and confe- quently did not interfere with their Morals. But by our Philofopher's falfe and anti-fcrip- tural Account of the material and vifible Hea- vens, the fancrifying and faving Faith upon which the good Morals of Mankind are alto- gether founded, would have been effaced and obliterated out of the Minds of Men, if his Account had been univerfally believed ; for the Of the Nt-wtonian Philofophy* igg the material and vifible Heavens, which God hath been gracioufly pleafed to give us fuch particular, full, and clear Accounts of, by the Declarations he hath made concerning both their Original and prefcnt State, and Texture, and Fulnefs, and of their different Powers, Properties, Motions, and mechani- cal Operations, and by the fenfible Represen- tations he hath made of them in the holy Scriptures, which are the only Things by which we are enabled to form a juft and true, although not a perfect and adequate Notion of himfelf with refpect to his Ubi- quity or Omnipotence, and of his being "Je- hovah Elohim. three Perfons in the Unity of the one Jehovah or divine Efience, and our God: And by the holy fcriptural Account of them, we are perfectly enabled to form all the juft and true Notions or Conceptions of thefe Perfections concerning God, by which we are powerfully moved to admire, adore, and love him for his fatherly Love and Goodnefs, thus fir ft manifefted to all Man- kind j and to manifeft the Truth and Since- rity of our Love to him, by the Rectitude and perfect Goodnefs of our Morals, by our Perfeverance in perfect Obedience to his moft and only perfect, and purifying Law, which he, by Revelation, gave us for no other End but to make us holy and happy both temporally and everlaftingly. But fhould we believe our anti-fcriptural Philofopher's O 4 Ac- 200 Of the Newtonian Philofophy. Account of the material and vifible Heavens, it would be impoiTible for us to have any juft or true Notions or Conceptions of the afore- mentioned adorable Perfections of God, and to love him on their account, for Men will not believe any Perfections of Spiritual Things, of which they can form no Notions or Con- ceptions, unlefs the unreafonable Belief of them tends to encourage them in the Gra- tification of their predominant bodily Lufrs. And by Men's not believing the afore-menti- oned amiable and adorable divine Perfec- tions, (which no Believer of our Author's Syftem of natural Philofophy can have any Notion or Conception of) they are deprived of a mofl powerful Motive to love God, and obey his Law, by which, and by only, they can be made perfectly pure, and truly pious and charitable, and every other Way truly and morally virtuous, and faved from Luft, Wickednefs, and Mifery, both temporal and everlafting, and made truly and fpiritually Happy either temporally or everlaftingly. By this Confideration, we may alio perceive, that his Syftem of natural Philofophy, hath done more Hurt in the World, than all the Syf- tems of Phyfics publifhed by the Gentile Phi- losophers taken together, that have come down to us, have ever done. I am at a lofs to account for the Ground or Reafon he had for hoping and believing, that his Syitcm of feniibly imperceptible and in* Of the Newtonian Vhilofophy. 20 1 inconceivable Principles, Powers or Proper- ties, which he fuppofed and afferted to be in Matter, would ever be embraced and believ- ed by any Per Tons of common Senfe or at- tentive Consideration, when we might have forefeen, that no confederate Perfon could be convinced and fatisfied, that the Phenomena which he appealed to as Proofs of the Reality and Exigences of his imaginary Principles, &c. were really produced by thofe his fuppofed imaginary Principles or Powers ; although fuch Perfon, by his Inattention to the holy Scriptures, might not be able to affign the fenfibly evident, and therefore true Caufe by which all fuch Phenomena muft neceiTarily be, and therefore are produced. The bell Reafon I can affign for fuch his Hope and Belief, is, that he thought his curioufly- drawn Lines, and Schemes, and Diagrams, would entertain and amufe his Readers Minds, and divert them from attending to the Fallacy he put upon them under the Colour of fair, and juft, and true, mathematical Reafoning, by fubitituting mathematical Signs, Lines, Numbers and Letters, (which are in them- felves infignificant) to reprefent his imaginary Principles, Powers, or Properties in Matter, (by which they are not rendered more Signi- ficant) and then proceeding by a juft and true mathematical Procedure and Manner of Rea- foning, to an ^Equation, by which he really found nothing to be equal to nothing ; but by 202 Of the Newtonian Philofophy. by his having fuppofed his imaginary Princi- ples, &c. which he had afferted to be in Mat- ter, (and which were only Non-Entities or Nothings} he falfely concluded that he had found a real phyfical Something, equal to a real and phyfical Something, by which he impofed upon Mankind, if he did not upon himfelf; for although his Reafoning was mathematically and formally right and true, yet it was phyfically and materially wrong and falfe -> and therefore inftead of the true Inference which he ought to have made, that Nothing was equal to Nothing, he falfely infered that he had found Something equal to his fuppofed and imaginary Something, which was really Nothing. And amufed by his in- fignificant Lines, &c. which they imagined to be fignificant, and thereby not attending to the grofs Fallacy, thus fpeciouily put upon them, were led inconfiderately into the Be- lief of his unintelligible and antifcriptural,and falfe and impious, and wicked-making Sy- ftem -, which I hope I, by the Light of the divinely revealed Word of God, fet forth in the holy Scriptures, have fufiicicntly and un- anfwerably refuted. The Admirers of this unintelligible and unaccountable Syftem have been many, and I hope I have given Offence to none of them, by my Endeavours to refcue them from grofs and dangerous Errors, by effectually explod* ing, by the Affiftance of God's revealed Word, fo Of the Newtonian Philofophy. 203 fo antifcriptural, and therefore impious and wicked a Syflern : Yet as fome of the lefs confiderate of them, may be apt to think and fay, that the Character of a Perfon, whofe Fame hath been long and loudly celebrat- ed and renowned for his Eminence in the Knowledge of the liberal Sciences ; and who is now in his Grave and unable to anfwer for, or vindicate himfelf; a Perfon who by his Labours, hath done fo great Honour to the Britijh Nation, that Statues have been erected to perpetuate his Memory, and held in great Veneration, by the Advocates for the Self- fufficiency of natural Religion -, ought to have been treated with greater Genclenefs and Delicacy than 1 have obferved, in ipeaking of him and his philofophical Works. For the Satisfaction even of fuch Perfons, who feem to have greater Regard and Con- cern for fupporting the Reputation of a Per- fon who hath dared to contradict, and there- by blafpheme the divinely revealed and de- monftratively true Word of the great and living, and eternal and only true God ; than for either the great God the Creator of Heaven and Earth, for the Ufe and Benefit of all Mankind , from whofe Goodnefs and Bounty we receive all the good Things, both natural and fpiritual, and temporal and ever- laffing, we either enjoy or poffefs ; or for his divinely revealed Faith and Law, by the fincere and true Belief of, and Obedience to which, 204 Of the Newt 07ii an Philofophy. which, and by which only, wc can be fancli- fied and laved, and made truly and fpiritually happy, both temporally and everlaftingly. I anfwer, Firjl, That I have faid nothing of this however celebrated Author, that is not ftridtly true, and perfectly con fi (tent with Decency, Candor and good Manners, and with that Charity I owe to all Mankind, by which I am obliged to labour to the utmoft of my Power and Abilities, to turn them from the Error of their Way, that I may contribute to the Salvation of their Spirits and their Souls ; and that I may bring them back to the Belief of the divinely revealed fpiritual and holy fcriptural Truth, from which too many of all Ranks and Orders from the higheft to the lovveft have been withdrawn, and have departed and fallen, that they may be made truly and fpiritually happy, both tem- porally and everlaftingly. Secondly, That if our celebrated Philofopher had not, by contradicting God's divinely re- vealed Word, prefumptuoufly attempted to efface and obliterate out of the Minds of Man- kind, the true Belief concerning the material and vifible Heavens, by which, and by which only, we are enabled to form a juft and true Notion of his being a Plurality in Unity, in the one fekoval\ or divine EiTence, and our God, and thereby to perceive a mod power- ful Motive to adore and love him, and obey his 'Law* and to fubilitute a falfe Belief of the Of the "Newtonian Philofophy. 205 the material Heavens, in the Room of the true Belief concerning them, by which we are difabled to form a juft and true Notion of Johovab Elohim, and are thereby corrupted in our Faith, concerning him, and his Goodnefs in condefcending to become Elohim, and de- prived of a moil powerful Motive to Perfe- verence in perfedt Obedience to his Law, by which, and by which only, we can be fandifi- ed and faved, I ihould not have employed my Time In the refuting of his particular Syitem. I acknowledge with his other Ad- mirers his profound and extenfive Know- ledge in Mathematics, nor do I aim at leffen- ing the Applaufe given him lor any Thing he hath done, that may be beneficial to his Country or Mankind ; but let him not be ap- plauded for his Philofophical Works, by which all who believe them mull: be fpiritually in- jured, left Men be led to believe the Work, on Account of the Regard they obferve to be paid to the Memory of the Author. Men's Writings cannot juftly derive Credit from their Writers. But Writers may very juftly derive Credit from their Writings, which have been found to be true and beneficial to Mankind. Therefore, Writings found to be falfe and injurious to Mankind can refledl no Honour upon the Memory of their Authors, but in the Opinions of inconfiderate Perfons, and of propofterous Judgments. Thirdly, 2o6 Of the Newtonian Phihfophy. Thirdly, As it is evident that the true Wif- dom and Virtue, and true Honour, ft. e.) the Honefty and Integrity, good Faith and Probi- ty, and together with them, the Wealth, Strength, Profperity, and true Happinefs, both private and focial, natural and fpiritual, and temporal and everlafting, of the Britifh Na- tion, have been obfervably upon the Decline and Decay, among the Generality of all Ranks and Orders of Man and Womankind, in all States and Stations, from the higheft to the lowefl ; ever fince the Time that the holy Scriptures, the divinely revealed, and demon- flratively true Word of God, hath been dif- regarded, and openly and avowedly contradict- ed, and made the Object and Subject of the Contempt and Ridicule, of inconfiderate and culpably ignorant, and therefore audacious Mifbelievers. I therefore, a Minifter of the one and only, and demonftratively true, fane- tifying and laving, and divinely revealed, fpiritual and fcriptural Religion, that ever was, or is, or ever will, or can be in the World ; and a Prefbyter, and Minifter, of that one and only true and truly (although not perfectly) reformed epifcopal Church of God ; wherein and wherein only, that one and only true fanctifying and laving, and divinely revealed Spiritual and fcriptural Religion, can be purely, and therefore truly and effectually taught and inculcated, have thought myielf obliged in Duty (lince my Superiors, Perfons in the higheft Of the Newtonian Philofophy. 207 higheft Stations, and my Brethren Minifters in and of that true Church, Perfons of more extenfive Learning and greater Abilities than I pretend to, and who, I hope, are not lefs diftinguifhable for their Piety, Virtue and Learning, than for the Eminency of their Stations, have for Reafons which I know not, fo long declined fo feafonable and neceffary an Undertaking) to employ the Talents with which God hath entrufted me, in labouring: to (hew the Falfhood of our Philofopher's Doctrine, by which the holy fcriptural Doc- trine, concerning the material and vifible Heavens, hath been gainfaid and contrad idled; and by which Mankind have been diverted from the Confideration of thefenfible Repre- fentation, which God hath been gracioufly pleaied to make of himfelf > by which, and by which only, we are enabled to form a juft and true Notion of his Manner of fubfiftino- in a Plurality of Perfons, in the Unity of the one Jehovah, and divine Effence, and of his fo operating, both in the natural and fpiritual, and moral Worlds, for the Reiteration of the Belief of the Doctrine of the Trinity, in the Unity of the one and only true and living God, which is neceffary to be believed, in order to our loving God with all our Hearts, and to our continuing in Obedience to his purifying Law, which are the two Things neceffary, and indifpenfably neceffary to be done by all Mankind, in order to their San&i- fication and Salvation, and true and rational, and 2o8 Of the Newtonian Philojbphy* and Spiritual Happinefs, both temporal and everlafiing. That by fhevving the demon- ftrative and moft clearly conceivable Truth of that Doctrine, I may revive and reftore to the World again, the Belief of the holy Scriptures, which contain, and molt clearly fet forth, the one and only true, fanctifying and faving, and divinely revealed, and fpiritual and Chriftian Religion, that ever was, or ever will, or can be in the World. That Truth and Righteouf- nefs, and Charity, and every other moral Vir- tue, may be reflored to the World again, which have been extinguifhed and blotted out of the Minds of the Generality of all Ranks and Orders of Man and Womankind, in all States and Stations, from the higheft to the lowed:. That true and honeft and ufeful IudufTry, built upon thofe only true and ever- lafcingly durable Foundations, may be crown- ed with true (/. e.) with fpiritual as well as natural and worldly Profperity, and true and rational Happinefs, both natural and fpiritual, temporal and everlafting. Thefe were my Reafons for taking Notice of this celebrated Author, and of his Syftem of falie, and foolifh, and wicked-making Philo- fophy, which he fent into the World, and to ihcw that God's Word is Truth, and that they who have prefumed to contradict it, are Liars and Deceivers, and that therefore the Word of him who is omniprefent, and om- nifcient;ahd therefore infallible, and who is a God Of the "Newtonian Philofophy. 20 '9 God of mod perfed: Goodnefs, and therefore neither can, nor will lye nor deceive, is to be believed and obeyed, rather than the Words of fallible and vain Men, whatever high O- pinion the inconfiderate World may enter- tain of them. And as I have before obferved, if the aforementioned deftru&ive Confequen- ces had not neceffarily attended the Belief of his anti-fcriptural Dodtrine, I fhould not have laid out any Part of my Time in coniidering and refuting his inconceivable and improbable and incredible Principles which were necef- fary to be exploded and removed out of the Way, in order to the Eftabliihment of the Belief of the divinely revealed, and demonftra- tive, or rather felf-evident Truth, which I was going to fhew, when I was turned off in order to make this long, but neceffary, and I hope, ufeful Digreffion,to which I am now about to return. Having before fet forth the true fcriptural Doctrine concerning the material and vifible Heavens 5 and having alfo removed the falfe and antifcriptural Doctrine, which had been let up in Oppofition and Contradiction to it, out of the Way, I mould now return to the Point from which I was neceffitated to digrefs; and fhew how, by the material and vifible Heavens, by which God hath been graciouf- ly pleafed in Condefcenfion to our Capacities, fenfibly to fignify and reprefent himfelf, (for I have before obferved, and will hereafter P (hew 2io Of the Divine Trinity. fliew, under the Article or Word Man, moft clearly and demonflratively, that we can have no juft Notions of God, nor of any other fpiritual Thing, State or Action, by any other Ways or IVkans, than by fuch fen- fible Reprefentations of them as God hath been gracioufly pleafed to point out to us by divine Revelation) we are enabled to form a juft and true, and fpiritually beneficial, al- though not a compleat and adequate Notion or Conception of God, or of the Elohim fub- fi fling and operating in a Plurality of Perfons, in the one Jehovah, or divine EiTence. But I delire my Reader's Leave previoufly to obferve here, and before I leave the Con- fideration of the Word Heavens ; that al- though by the Word Heavens in the Language of the holy Scriptures, the material Air in the three different and diftinguifhable Forms of Fire, Light, and Spirit, or Darknefs in Motion, be primarily meant and fignified, and thatGod or the three Elohim, in the one Jehovah, or divine Effence, are alfo meant and fignified by the Word Heavens, taken in a fecondary and metaphorical or figurative Senfe, on Ac- count of his having choien fenfibly to fignify and reprefent himfelf, and to be called by them and by their Names. I judge it necef- iary to obferve that there are other Things in the holy Scriptures meant by the Word Heavens taken in a fecondary and figurative Senfe. And ft Of the Divine Trinitt. 211 And in this Senfe the Spirits of Men arc reprefented, by the Name or Word Hea- vens, Heb. ix. 24. where it is faid, That Chri/l entered not into the holy Places made with Hands , which are the Figures of the true, but into Heaven itfelf, now to appear as Gody or in the Perfbn of God, for us, to intercede with us by his Word. And in this fecondary Senfe of the Word Heavens, the true Church of God, the Spi- rits of all fincere and true Believers is meant and fignified. As Rev, viii. 1. where it is faid, When he opened the f event h Seal, there was great Silence in Heaven about the Space of half an Hour. And Deut. xxxii. 1. where it is faid, Give Ear 0 Heavens, and hear O Earth (i. e.) all fincere and true Believers, and fpiritualiy and heavenly-minded, repre- fented by the Heavens > and all Unbelievers, and earthly-minded, reprefented by the Earth. And St. Matth. vi. 10. Thy Will be done in Earth as in Heaven (i. e.) by the unbeliev- ing and earthly, as by all fincere and true Believers, and fpiritually-minded Perfcns. And by the Kingdom of God or Heaven in the holy Scriptures, is meant not only the Spirits of all fincere Believers, who live m perfect Obedience to the divine Law, but alfo the fpiritual Faith and Law by which, and by which only, they are made Mem- bers of that fpiritual and heavenly Kingdom, As by the good Seed, is not only meant the P 2 revealed 2i2 Of the Divine Trinity. revealed Word of God, but alfo the fincere and true Believers of that Word. St. Luke viii. ii. and St. Mattb. xiii. 38. and St. Matth. iv. 17. where it is laid, Repent , for the Kingdom of Heaven is at band: And vi. 10. where it is faid, Tby Kingdom come. Having made thefe few Obfervations on the different Senfes or Meanings in which the Word Heavens is taken in the holy Scrip- tures, in this Place where the Word Hea- vens is under my Confideration, becaufe I (hall have Occafion in the Courfe and Fro- grefs of this Apology, to make ufe of the Word in thefe different Acceptations of it which I have here mentioned. I now pro- ceed to fhew how we are perfectly enabled by the material and viiible Heavens (by which God hath been gracioufly and fenfibly pleafed to fignify and reprefent himfelf, and by whofe Name he hath chofen to be called, and by that Account which he hath been gracioufly pleafed ' to give us in his holy revealed Word, of their one Subftance, and of their Texture and Fulnefs of their Subftance, and of the different States and Forms in which their not iubftantially, but formally diffe- rent conilituent Parts fubfiit, and of their different Powers, and Properties, and Mo- tions, and inftrumental Operations) to form a juft and true, and fpirimally beneficial, although not a complete and adequate, No- tion or Conception of his Manner of iubiift- ing Of the Divine Trinity;. 213 ing in a Plurality of Perfons in the Unity of the one "Jehovah or divine Effcnce, and of his operating or acting in a Plurality in Unity both in the natural or material, and in the lpiritual or moral Worlds. I have before flievvn from the holy Scrip- tures, Fir/l, That the material and vifible Heavens, by which God hath been pleafedfen- fibly to fignify and reprefent himfelf, in their firft and uncreated, but unformed State, fub- fifted in the Form of motionlefs Darknefs, which enveloped and contained within it, the feminal Atoms of all the different Syftems of all natural Things, whether inanimate, or vegetable, or animal, that have ever fince ap- peared, and which were formed and made out of them. Secondly, That God, by his all-powerful Word, commanded the centeral Part of the great Cloud or Body of Darknefs, to become a Flame of Fire which iffued forth in bright Rays of Light, penetrating through and di- viding like the Radii or Spokes of a Wheel between the groffer Fluid of Darknefs, and extending from the Nave or Orb of Fire in the Center, to the Arch or Circumference of the Heavens, where having grown languid in its Motion and Cooler, granulates into the groiTer Fluid of Darknefs, which being com- preffed by the expanding Fluid of Light on all Sides, is moved in a contrary Direction downward, like the tapering Radii of ano- P 3 ther 214 Of the Divine Trinitv. ther Wheel extending from the Arch or Circumference, to the Nave or Orb of Fire in the Center of the Heavens into which it is forced, and feeds that Fire in the Center ; and by thefe Means the perpetual and regu- lar circulating Motion of the Fluids of the Heavens, all one in refpedt of their Matter or Subftance, but different in their three States and Forms of Fire, Light, and Darkneis, all moving and operating differently, is kept up and continued in themfelves, by whofe per- petual Motion all Syftems in Nature whe- ther inanimate, vegetable, or animal, are all properly moved by the Operations of thefe celeftial Fluids continually acting mechani- cally and by immediate Contact, in and upon them, according to their various and won- derfully different, rarer, and denfer Combi- nations, and upon all their conftituent Atoms, and differently fized, and formed, or figured Parts and Particles, are fo moved, as that every one of them lhould anfwer their par- ticular Ends, and that all of them fhould anfwer the great, wife, and good End for which they were defigned and created, (viz.) The Uk and Benefit of Mankind ; the Sup- port of their Bodies, and the Inftru&ion of their Spirits, in this their State (not of Pro- bation, as it is commonly, but falfely, called) but of Preparation and Qualification of themfelves by Faith and Sandtification, dur- ing their Continuance in this World, for Sal- vation Of the Divine Trinity. 21 j vatlon and everlafting Happinefs in the next. And that by thefe celeftial Fluids of Fire, Light, and Darknefs, all Space is filled, and that here are no void Spaces between the Center and Circumference of the Heavens, by which material Contact and Impulfe, and confequently all Mechanifm and Mo- tion, would be deftroyed, and neceflarily ceafe in the natural or material World. And Thirdly, Having like wife fhewn from the holy Scriptures, and the Account which God hath therein given us of the prefent and form- ed, as well as of the firft and unformed, State of the material and vifible Heavens, (by which he hath been gracioufly pleafed to fignify and reprefent himfelf to us, that we might thereby be enabled to form a juft and true, although not a complete and perfect, Notion or Con- ception of his Manner of fublifting in Plura- lity in the Unity of the one Jehovah or di- vine EiTence, and of his Manner of acting in Plurality in effential Unity both in the na- tural or material, and in the Spiritual or moral Worlds.) That no one of thcfe for- mally, but not effentially different inftru- mental Agents, (viz.) The celeflial Fire, Light, or Darknefs, although they all move and act in different Ways and Manners, could, or can, move or act unlefs they all co-ope- rated, and moved, and acted together, and in different Ways and Ma, ners from each other, that the Light could not iffue forth, P 4 if 2i6 Of the Divine Trinity. if the Fire did not continue to burn, and the Fire could not continue to burn, if the Spirit or Darknefs in Motion did not continue to rufh into it; and that Darknefs could not continue to rufh into it, unlefs the Light con- tinued to become Spirit or Darknefs in Mo- tion at the Circumference of the Heavens ; and that therefore no Effect can be produced by any one of thefe in ftru mental Agents in the natural or material World, unlefs the whole three concur and co-operate together, and in different Ways and Manners in and for the Production of it. And that although an Ad: or Effed of the Fire, may be very different from an Ad or Effed produced either by the Light or Darknefs, yet fuch Aft or Effed of the Fire, could not be pro- duced if the Light and Darknefs did not both co-operate at the fame Time with it, and in different Ways and Manners for the Produc- tion of it ; and the fame may be faid of the Ads or Effeds produced by either of the other. By this we may clearly perceive, that every Ad or Effed produced by any one of thefe necefTary and inftrumental Agents, the celef- tial Fire, Light or Darknefs, is the Ad or EfYed of all the three co-operating together after different Ways and Manners for its Pro- dudion ; and that any Ad or Effed that is afcribed to any one of them, may with equal Proprietv be afcribed to either of the other. V And Of the Divine Trinity. zij And that when any Act or Effect is afcribed to any one of them, it is not to be understood of that particular Agent, exclusively of the other two, but of that particular Agent, in Conjunction and Co-operation with the other two. And that, as the Fire, Light and Darknefs, all confubftantial or one and the fame in re- ipect of their Matter or Subftance, and only differ from each other in, and by their dif- ferent and perfectly, and fenfibly diftinguifh- able States and Forms, and Motions, and Manner of operating or acting in the natural or material World j fo thefe three instrumen- tal and material, and neceiTary celeftial A- gents, are all co- temporary, and co-equal in all their Powers and Properties, and equally de- pendant upon each other; and at the fame Inftant that God commanded the Fire to burn in the Center, the Light iffued forth from it, and the Darknefs moved and rufhed into it 5 fo that no one of thefe Agents can be faid to be prior or fuperior to another, or be before or after another, or to be unequal to, and independant of either of the other. By this we mod clearly perceive a Plura- lity of confubftantial and cotemporary, and in every Refpect co-equal Agents, in one Sub- ftance in the natural or material World. However a Trinity in Unity, hath been dif- credited and confidently denied, and reputed and declared to be incomprehensible and an Abfurdity and impoflible to be true; and the holy 218 Of the Divine Trinity. holy Scriptures which afferted the Truth of that Dcdtrine, which the Evidence of Senle and the Reafon of Things mod clearly (hew to be true, have been treated with Contempt, and ridiculed, for having afferted fo evident and unqueftionable, and undeniable a Truth,, by Perfons who would not be prevailed upon to confider and ufe that divinely revealed and fpiritual Light, which would have pointed out and have fhewn them the true State of the material Heavens, by which they would have been fenfibly and rationally convinced of the Truth of that Dcclrihe which the holy Scriptures have fo clearly fet forth, and which can no longer be doubted of or de- nied, without denying a Fad whole Truth is both rationally and fenfibly evident And as our moft gracious God hath been gracioufly pleafed feniibly to fignify and re- prefent himfelf to us by the material and vi- sible Heavens, that we might thereby be ena- bled to form a jufl and true, and fpiritually bene- ficial, although not a complete and adequate Notion or Conception, not only of his Ubiquity or Omniprefence, and confequently of his Omnifcience, but alfo of his Manner of fub- fifting in a Plurality of Perfons in the Unity of the one Jebovab, or divine ElTence, and of his Manner of operating or acting in that Plurality in Unity, both in the natural or ma- terial, and in the fpiritual or moral World ; that we might be thereby powerfully moved to Of tlx Divine Trinity. 219 to admire, adore and love him, for his great and wonderful fatherly Goodnefs and Love, thus manifcfted in his Condefcenfion to be- come Elcbim, in order to create this World for Man, and all Mankind for true and ra- tional Happinefs, both temporal and ever- Jafling 5 and to manifeft the Sincerity and Truth of our Love to him, by Perfeverance in the iincere and true Belief of that Faith, and in perfect Obedience to that Law, which he by Revelation gave us for no other End, but for enabling and powerfully moving us to prepare ourfelves by Faith and San&irication, for Salvation and eternal Life; and which we could not poflibly have ever known without a divine Revelation. And that we might like- wife be powerfully moved to receive and em- brace with Reverence thofe holy Scriptures, which contain thofe divine Revelations which God hath been gracioufly pleafed to make of himfelf to us, and of his great and manifold divine Perfections. And as it is by thefe ho- ly Scriptures, (to whofe Truth, the Reports of our bodily Senfes and the Reafon of Things bear Teftimony) that the Revelations and ienfible Reprefentations which God hath been gracioufly pleafed to make of his Manner of fubfifting in a Plurality of Perfons in the Uni- ty of the one Jehovah, or divine .Effence, have been tranfmitted down to us, therefore we ought to afcribe no other Plurality in Unity to him than he hath been gracioufly pleafed 220 Of the Divine Trinity. pleafed in thofe holy Scriptures to afcribc to himfelf, which is a moft clearly con- ceivable, and comprehenfible Plurality in effential Unity, and ought not to teach and untertake to defend and explain any other than the holy fcriptural divine Trinity, be- caufe all other trinitarian Doctrine will be found to be incomprehenfible and inexplica- ble, and by the Reafon of Things impoffible to be true, and altogether anti- fcriptural. Such is the Trinitarian Doctrine of all thofe who have not diftinguifhed between the co- cternal, and co-effential, and unbegotten, and in every Refpect co-equal Word or Son, who is one of the Perfons in the divine Trinity diftinguifhed by that Name : And J ejus Chrifl our Lord, who is the only begotten Son of God, who is not co-eternal, nor co-effential, nor co-equal with the Father, Son, or holy Ghoft, in the divine Trinity, and whom they have confounded and made one with the co-eternal, and co-effential, and co-equal, and unbegotten Son, and one of the Perfons in the divine Trinity, without any fcriptural Ground or Authority. For according to the holy Scriptures, the whole three Peribns dif- tinguifhed by the perfonal Names of the Fa- ther, Son, and Holy Ghoft, in eflential Uni- ty, are the Father of our Lord J ejus drift y and together in moft intimate Unity with him of all Mankind, and the Creator of all Things, and not the fingle Perfon diftin- guiihed Of the DivinI Trinity. 221 gu iflied by the Name of the Father in the divine Trinity, exclufive of the other two Per- fons, and of J ejus Chrijl ; fo that when Chrijl faith, that he is in the Father and the Father in him, it is not to be underftood of the An- gle Perfon diff inguifhed by the Name of the Father in the divine Trinity, but of the whole three Perfons, who together were his Father, in whom he dwelt, and they in him in all the Ful- nefs of the Godhead, fo that he was not, nei- ther could be, one of the Perfons in the di- vine Trinity, but he being taken into mod: intimate Unity with them, and being one in them, and they in him, became together with them, but not exclufive of them, Ima^ w^/orourGod, co-eternal, co-effential, and co-equal in all Refpedts, and therefore unbe- gotten as touching his Godheady but begotten and different in Effence, and in all Refpe£t inferior to, and dependent upon the Father, (/. whether publick or pri- vate. 2jo Oj the Divine Trinity. vate, which God hath appointed to be ob- ferved, and for no other Reafon but for putting and keeping us perpetually in Mind of him, and of the fanctifying and faving Faith and Law, which he hath been gracioufly pleafed to reveal and fo make known to us; and of the indifpenfable Neceffity of perfevering in the iincere and true Belief of the one, and in perfect Obedience to the other, in order to Sancli heat ion and Salvation, and eternal Life. So that Gcd did not appoint any Kind of Worfhip, either fpiriiual or bodily and ritual, private or publick, for his own Sake, but al- together for ours, and that we might be ipi- ritually benefited thereby. And as we cannot be fpiritually or any other wife benefited, by any other Kind of Worfhip than that of a fincere and true Faith, in the one and only, and living and eternal God, and of Obedience to his perfect and purifying Law ; and that of attentive Obfervance of his divinely inftituted Ordinances for putting and keeping us continu- ally in Mind ot the Faith and Law, therefore there cannot pofiibly be any fuch different Kinds of fuperior and inferior Worfhip, as thefe Novellills have endeavoured to perfuade Mankind wickedly and impioufly and un- proiitably to pradtice. Nothing more is necefTary to be done by the Teachers and carneft Defenders of the one and only true, fandtifying and faving, and fpiriiual and fcriplural, and divinely revealed, and Of the Divine Trinity. 251 and Chriflian Religion that ever was, or is, or ever will, or can be in the World, than to fet it forth in a pure true and unmixed fcriptural Light before diem, in order to confirm and eftablifh them in the fincere and true Belief of it, and in perfect Obedience to it ; and for enabling them to difcover the Folly and Falf- hood, and Impiety and wicked and everlaftin^- ingly deftructive Tendency of all the corrupt- ed and falie Religions that have ever been in the Worid, and to difcover their Fallacy, and their Wicked nefi, and the everlafting miferable End to which they neceffarily lead all thofe who believe their Doctrine and obey their Precepts, and thereby to preferve themfelves from being corrupted by them. It was bv that Consideration that I was moved to draw up in order to publifh my Apology for the one and only true, tyc\ Religion in general, which is now prepared and ready for the Prefs, wherein I have fet forth the few Arti- cles of Faith, and the few Precepts which comprehend the whole of it in fo clear and fcriptural a Light that every Reader may plainly and readily perceive, the demonftra- tive Truth of every one of the particular diftinguifhing Doctrines or Articles of Faith ; and the Perfection and perfect Righteoufrefs of every one of its Precepts, and the necel- fary Tendency of the fincere and true Belief of the one, and of Obedience to the other, to qualify Mankind, for Salvation by Faith and Sanctification 3 and for the Enjoyment and z52 Of $e Divine Trinity. and confequently for the fure Attainment o* true and rational, and natural and fpiritual Happinefs, both temporal and everlasting. And it was by the fame Consideration that I was moved to fct forth this long controverted particular Article of the divine Trinity in Unity, in its moil clear and fcriprural Light, by fetting forth that mod clear and fenfible Reprefentation which God hath been mod gracioufly pleafcd to make of himfclf, in thofe holy Scriptures, his divinely revealed Word, that Mankind might thereby clearly perceive the Truth of that Doctrine, and the Profita- blenefs, and therefore the Neceflity of fincere- Jy believing it, and that there might for the Time to come, be no Contefl or Controverfy about it. This Controverfy was firfl; brought into the Chriftian Church, by Perfons prejudiced by Principles of falfe Philofophy by which they had been tainted, and it was cuftomary with fuch Converts to Chrillianity to attempt to wreil and pervert the Senie and Meaning of the holy Scripture?, in order to reconcile them to their philofophic Errors, inilead of correcting the Errors they had embraced by the plain and evident Truths of the holy Scriptures. But it muft be acknowledged, that when Arianifm began to be publickly protefled, and the Doctrine of the divine Trinity in Unity, to be openly attacked and denied, that the warm but weak Attempts which Of the Divine Trinity. 253 which the reputed Orthodox made for the Support and Defence of that fcriptural and fell-evidently true Doctrine of the divine Trinity in Unity -, and the perplexed and incomprehensible and inconiiftent and unin- telligible Explications which they published concerning it, by their having fet forth the plain and clear Declarations of it, but at the fame time overlooking and neglecting to fet forth that fenfible Reprefentation which God had been gracioufly pleafed to make of him- felf in thofe holy Scriptures, by which the Doctrine of the divine Trinity in Unity would have been fhewn to be a fenfibly, and there- fore a ieif-evident Truth, and without which the Truth of the fcriptural Declarations con- cerning it could not poilibly be fhewn ; have greatly contributed to the Continuance of Multitudes, in the Belief cf the impious and wicked Doctrines of the Arians and Sabellians, and to the great Increafe of the Numbers of Converts to their Osinions. And to the Con- tinuance of this Overfight and Neglect: of the reputed Orthodox, may be afcribed not only the Rife and Continuance of the no lefs im- pious and wicked Doctrines of the Socinians, and of the late modern Refiners upon them and the Arians ; but alfo in a great Meafure, the Rife and Growth of Deifmj by which Mankind are taught to hope and reft afTured of Salvation and endlefs Happinefs in the next World, by living flrictly according to the Law 254 Of the Divine Trinity. Law of their Nature, (/. e.) according to the Dictates of their refpective predominant bodily Lulls whilft they continue in this. Thus we may fee what evil Confequences have attended this Overfight and Neglect of the reputed Orthodox, who by their having overlooked the feniible Representation which God had been gracioufly pleafed to make of himfelf, thereby rendered themfelves unable to diftinguifh between the different Senfes of the Word Father, which occur in the holy Scriptures, where it is fometimes taken Angu- larly for the tingle Perfon diftinguithed by the Name of the Father in the divine Trinity ; and fometimes conjunctively and collectively for the whole three Perfons in the divine Trinity, who taken together are the Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift, and together with him of all Mankind, and the Creator, Former and Maker, and Preferver and Suftainer of all Things. And by their overlooking thisDiftinc- tion alfo, which is fo clearly fct forth in the holy Scriptures, they have appropriated certain Actions to the (ingle Perfon diitinguifhed by the Name of the Father, and to him only, which he performs as God, independently of the other two, (viz.) the Son and holy Ghoit, which according to the icriptural Declaration and Representation are and ought to be alcribed to the whole three Perfons in the divine Trinity, who neither can. do, nor can act in any Cafe, oiherwife than in joint Co* Of the Divine Trinity. 255 Co-operation together. And by their having negle&ed to dirtinguifh between the co-eternal and therefore unbegotten, and co-effential, and in every refpect, co-equal Perfon diftinguifhed by the Name of the Son in the divine Trinity; and the only begotten Son of God the Father, (/. e.) of the whole divine Trinity, the Father of the Man Chri/i Jefus^ whom they have moil intimatriy united to the co-eternal and co-effential Perfon called the Son, and made one together with him, and both together God, to whom they have afcribed and appro- priated other Aclions, which are only per- formable by this God the Son, independent of the Perfons called the Father and holy Spirit. And by their having overlooked and neglected to diftinguifh between the co-eternal and co- effential, and in every refpeel co-equal holy Spirit, and the holy ian&ifying and faving Spirit of Faith, which proceedeth from the Father, {i.e.) the whole Trinity, and from or by the only begotten Son J9 produced into Being before every other Creature, and gives this Reafon for faying fo, Becaufe all 'Things were created by him that are in Heaven, and that are in Earth, vifible and invijible ; and that they were created by, or becauje of him ; and there- fore he is the Heit of all Things, as he is called, Heb. i. 2. And St. Paul exprefsly fays*, Colo/, i. 17. That he is before all Things, and that all Things have confifted by him* And to the fame Purpofe the Author to the Hebrews fpeaks, iv. 15. That although he was tempted in all Points like as we are, yet he was without Sin ; by which it appears that he exifled before Adam, and that he never was in the Loins of Adam, for all that were in the Loins of Adam, were tainted a*id corrupted by Luft, and thereby became ftrong-» ly inclined to Lull;, and confequently to Sin, by the Corruption of their Nature, by their being all Partakers of the Nature of Adam, who flittered Lnft to take Pofleffiori of his Nature, by which his Spirit alio became cor- rupted, or ftrongly inclined to Luft, when all Mankind actually exifted in him in a fe- minal State. By this moft plain and clear fcriptural Account, which is verified by the flrong natural Propenfity that is obiervablo in all Mankind to one or oth^r of the three S 2 great 260 Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. great cardinal Lulls of the Flefh, the World or Pride by which they are moved to all the Wickednefs they commit in the World, (and which cannot be fuppofed to have been in Man in the original State in which he wis created, for the holy Scriptures tells us, EccL vii. 92. That God made Man Upright. And it is inconfiftent with the Belief of the per- fect Wifdom and Good of God, which is felf-evident by all his Words and Works, and Difpenfations to, and Dealings with Man- kind, and all his holy Ordinances, which .were difpenfed for preferving them in that happy State in which they were created in the Image and Likenefs of God, and for refcuing and delivering them from that un- happy State into which they had fallen, by • hearkening to, and believing, and obeying the Dictates of their bodily Defires, which are fo apt to become inlatiable and exorbi- tant, and infatuating Lufts to think other- wife. Or that he was created with fuch irre- gular and infatiable Lufts in him.) We may moil: clearly perceive how all Mankind be- came fo ftrongly inclined to Sin and Wicked- nefs; and how the Man Chrijl Jefus, the only begotten Son of God, although tempted in all Points like as we are, was yet without ^ Spot or Blemifh of Sin, becaufe he pre-exiiled, or was produced into Being before all Crea- tures, and therefore before Adam ; and there- fore was not in Adam% who fuffered his Na- ture Of the Divinity of JcOjs Chrift. 261 Cure to be corrupted ; and therefore was not by Nature prone, or inclined to Luft or Sin. And who, when he was fent and came into the World as Man, by ftedfaftly pcrfevering in the fincere true Belief of, and in perfect Obedience to that mod: perfectly purifying Faith and Law which God, by Revelation, hath given to all Mankind, preferved him- felf pure from Luft and Sin, as Adam might have done had he perfevered in the fincere and true Belief of that perfectly purifying divinely revealed Faith or Law. Having thus from the holy Scriptures, to whofe Trurh the Reafon of Things bears Teftimony, let forth all that was neceffary to be obferved concerning Jefus Cbrift, as he was perfect Man confifting of a material Body, and of an immaterial and immortal Spirit, by whom a molt perfect Pattern of pure and fpotlefs Innocence, and of univerfal Benevolence or perfect Charity, and of per- fect fpiritual Wifdom and Righteoufnefs, was fet before Mankind, in order to move them to embrace and fincerely believe the divinely revealed, purifying, and fpiritually beneficial Truths which he had declared to them, that they might be thereby powerfully moved to follow his Example, and perfevere in perfect Obedience to the divinely revealed, mod per- fect and only perfect, and perfectly purifying Law, that by fo doing they might become truly S 3 and 262 Of the 'Divinity o/"Jefus Chrift. and rationally happy both temporally and cverlaftingly. I mall now proceed to (hew from the fame holy Scriptures, to whofe Truth (as I have before obferved; the Reafon of Things bears Teflimony, how and in what Refpedt J ejus C/jriJf, the only begotten Son of God, was really and truly Gcd, the one true liv- ing and eternal God, the Creator cf the Heavens and the Earth, and of all Things vifible and inviiible, and their Prderver and Suftainer. That by mewing this to be a mod clear and undeniable Truth, all Man- kind may be powerfully moved to believe him to be in all Relpefts equal with the fu- prenie eternal and everlafting God, from whofe Bounty we derive all the good Things we either enjoy or poffeis, and to worfhip him as they worlhip the one eternal and living God 5 and that they may be thereby en- couraged to Labour, as the Apoftle directs, Epkfj\ iv. 13. To come in the Unity of the Faith, and of the Knowledge of the Son of God, to the Meafure of the Stature of the fu/ne/s vj Qbrijt% to whom God his Father (u e. the whole Trinity in eilential Unity) did not give the Spirit (01 Faith; by Meafure, John iv. 30. And in order to this, I judge it necefiary previoudy to obferve, That the Godhead doth not confift in the divine Eflence abftracted from the divine Glory or Goodnefs, which volun- Of the Divinity ofjdm Chrift. 263 voluntarily and freely flows from the divine EfTence. And that therefore, Chrifl did not become God by his being in the divine Ef- fence, and by the divine EiTence being in him 5 for the divine Erfcnce is ommprefer.t and above all, and through all, and in you all, Ephef. iv. 6. For in him we live and movey and have our Being , Acts xvii. 28. The di- vine EfTence is in every inanimate, vegetable, and fenfitive or animal, and in every fpiritual Syftem ; and therefore in the Bodies and Spi- rits of every Man, as really and truly, as ever it was or is in the human Body or Spint of our Lord yefus Chriji ; and they are all as really and truly in it, and live and move, and- have their Being in it. And therefore if the Man Jefus Chrift could be called the true and living God, by being in the omniprefent divine EfTence, and by the omniprefent divine Effence being in him, every Man, nay, every Thing in the natural or material World, might for the fame Reafon be called God. There is a great Difference between the fcrip- tural Phrafes of being in God, and God in us ; and of ourdwelling in God and God's dwelling in us: All Mankind, and the molt impious and wicked, and diabolical Scelerates amon^ them, void of all divine Perfections, and all Tilings in Nature, as well as the moft pure and pi- ous, and godlike Perfon that ever lived in the World, may with Truth be faid to be in God, and Gcd, whofe Elfence is omniprefent, S 4 to 364 Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. to be eflentially in them, by which they nei- ther become faithful nor obedient Sons of God, nor Gods, nor Images nor Liktneffes of God: Bat they, and they only, can be truly (aid to dwell in God, and to hive God dwelling in them, who think, fpeak and act in him, and he in them, (u e.J they, and they only, who fincerely believe in him, and in his divinely -,w- Word, and perfevere in perfect Obedience to his moft perfect and perfectly purifying Lawj they who thus be- lieve and live, may be truly (aid to dwell in God, and to have God dwelling in them, and to be one in and with God, and God one in and with diem ; an< their Minds or Thoughts, and their V, ill; or Denies, and their Woids and Aftions may be truly faid to be Gods, and one and the fame with God's, and God's Mind and Will, and Words and Actions to be theirs, being one and the fame with theirs; and fuch Perfbns, and fuch only; may be truly faid to be the Image and Likenefs of God, and to be true, faithful and obedient Sons of C^d, Sons in a different Senfe of the Word from that by winch all Creatures may be called Sons of God ; and to be Gods, as our balkd Saviour 'ays lome Men were, and may be truly called Gods, John x. 35. that is, fuch as Sincerely and truly believed and obeyed the Word of God which came unto them : But no Man ever fince the Fall of our firft Parents, die Man Chrifl Jefus ex- cepted, Of ike Divinity of Jefus Chrift. 265 cepted, was ever fo fincere and true a Eeiiever of God's revealed Word and Law, as that it could be truly faid of him, that he was one in and with God, and thai God was one in and with him; although many of them fince that Time, have made fuch good Uk of the Meafure of the divinely revealed and fpiritual Grace of God, which they were ftill capable of receiving, as to have thereby faved them- selves from everlafling Mif .y and to have qualified themlelves for the Enjoyment ai lure Attainment of Salvation, and of true and rational Happinefs, boih temporal and ever- lading: Whereas the Man Chrift J ejus, tl only begotten Son of God, who was pro fuc I into Being before all other Creatures. ar,d therefore was never in the Loins of Adamt and whofe Nature was not therefore corrupt- ed in Adam, fo perfevered in the fincere and true Belief of, and in perfect Obedience to the divinely revealed and perfectly pirift ing Word and Law of God, that he thereby continued perfectly faithful and pious, and pure or holy, by which he became the well- beloved, as well as the only begotten Son of God ; and was not only enabled to fave him- felf, and to prepare and qualify himfelf for the Enjoyment and fure Attainment of true apd rational Happinefs, both temporal and everlafting, but to become one in and with God, and God one in and with him ; fo that all his Thoughts, Defires, Words and Actions might 266 0/ the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. might be truly faid to be God's, and God's Thoughts, Words and Actions, for the Sanc- tification and Salvation of all Mankind, might be truly faid to be his 5 fo that he, together with God, his heavenly Father, and God, his heavenly Father, together with him, and who in mofl intimate Unity with him be- came Immanuely or our God ; and on Ac- count of this moft intimate and infeparable fpiiitual Union, he declares himfelf to be one in and with God, his Father, and God, his Father, to be one in and with him, God faying and doing nothing, but in and by, and together with the Son, and the Son laying , ana doing nothing, but in and by, and toge- ther with the Father, dwelling in him ; and it is on Account of this moft intimate fpiritual y Union, by the Spirit of Faith, which he had without Meafure, by which God's Thoughts, Defires, Words and Actions became one and the fame with his, and his one and the fame with God's, that he faid, John x. 30. I and my Father are one ; and when the yews were about to ftone him for fo faying, and thereby making himfelf God, he did not deny, that he declared himfelf to be God, when he faid, that he and his Father were one, but appealed to their own holy Scriptures, in which they thought they had eternal Life, as he told them, yohn v. 39. that they might by them fatbfy themfelve% whether or no, Perfons to whom the Word of God came, and who thereby Of the Dkinity cfjefys Chrift. 267 thereby obtained fuch a Meafure of that pu- rifying Spirit of Faith, as moved them to obey the divinely revealed Law, were not called Gods in thofe very Scriptures upon which they relied for Salvation and eternal Life; and whole Words he laid could not be broken or rejected, and denied to be true, becauie they are molt evident Truths: And in confe- quence hereof he faid, fay ye of him whom the Father hath fan&ined (by communicating to him the purifying Spirit of Faith without Meafure, and lent into the World to be to- gether with himfelt their Saviour and Re- deemer, and Immanuely or our God^ thou blafphemefr, or fpeakeft ill of God, becaufe he laid, I am the Sen of God not by G; ration only, but by the holy Spirit of Faith without Meafure, bv which God dwelled) in me and 1 in him, by whom I am enabied to do thofe VVoiks which you muft acknowledge can be done by none but God, and which therefore prove the Father (1. e.) the whole divine Trinity) to be in me: And whv do ye not therefore with the holy Scriptures, ac- knowledge the Truth that I have declared to you, and confefs, that the Father and I are one, and that we together in moft intimate and infeparable Union are the Chrift ^ your God, as the Spirit and Body of Man in moil intimate Union are one Man; and that the Words and AcTions of God (peaking and act- ing in me, are with moft ftricl Propriety and truth 268 OftheDhinity 0/Jefus Chart-. Truth faid to be mine, and the Words and Adtions of me fpeaking and adting in God, are with moft ftridl Propriety and Truth faid to be God's, as human Words Srnd Actions may be afcribed either to the Body or Spirit co-operating together in moil: intimate Unity, but neither wholly or exclufi.ely of e.ich other? And it is of this moft intimate and infeparable Unity, which came by that un- mcafureabk Spirit of moft perfectly purifying Faith, which dwelt and continually moved, and acted in the holy Child and Man Je/ust by which he always continued in perfect Obe- dience to God, his Father's Will, and by which, God's Will, Words and Aftions be- came biSj and by which his Will, and all his Words and Aftions became God's, and by which he became one in and with God, and God one in and with him, that we are to underfLnd the following Texts, John xvii. 2t. where he prays, T^hat they may be all one as thou Father art in mey and I in thee ; and that they a!J6 may be one in its, and that they may be one (among themfelves, by Unity of Faith, that their Wills, Words, Lives and Adlions may be one) even as we are one: And it is on Account of this fpiritual Unity of Faith, and confequently of Will, Words and Works, that he faith, John xiv. 9. He that hath feen mey hath feen the Father ; for I am in the Father and the Faiher in me, and the Words that I fpeak unto you, I fpeak not Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. 269 not of myfclf, but the Father that dwelleth in me, and doth the Works which ye fee me do, fpeaketh the Words which I fpeak unto you ; and to denote this, his moll: in- timate Unity with the Father, he faith, John xvi. 15. All things that the Father hath are mine. And xvii. 10. All thine are mine, and all mine thine. By what hath been faid, we may clearly perceive, that when Cbri/l (aid, Mark xiii. $2. But of that Day and Hour knoweth no Man; no, not the Angels which are in Heaven, neither the Son, but the Father That by the Son here, is meant that Je/uSj as Man, and the only begotten Son of God, did not know that Day and Hour, although, as Chrifty and in moft in- timate Unity with God his Father, he might have afcribed that Knowledge to him- felf, being God as well as Man. For as Chri/ly and therefore as God and Man, he faith all Things that the Father hath are mine, and therefore his Knowledge, Wif- dom, Power and Goodnefs, are my Know- ledge, Wifdom, Power and Goodnefs, by our moil: intimate Unity, by which he is one in and with me, and I one in and with him. Having thus previoufly obferved from the Holy Scriptures, how and upon what Ac- count God and the Man Je/us are one, and together one God, and in what Refpedt they may be confidered, fo as that they cannot be called 4 270 Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. called one God, (for as I have before obferved) when we affert and profefs to believe a divine Trinity of Perfons in the Unity of the divine Eflence, if we affert and believe Truth, and what is fpiritually beneficial, and therefore neceffary to be believed, we muft affert and believe fuch a Trinity in Unity, as is moil clearly and conceivably fct forth in the holy Scriptures, the divinely revealed Word of God : So when we affert and profefs to be- lieve, that JbfUs is the Chrift, and that the holy Man-Child Jefus in moft intimate fpi- ritual Union together with God his Father, are but one God, and hnmannelon God to us, if we affert and believe Truth, and what is fpiritually beneficial, and therefore neceffary to be believed concerning this Article,- we muft affert and believe fuch a Divinity in Jefus Chrift as is moft clearly fet forth in the holy Scriptures, for if we believe fuch a Trinity in the Unity of the divine Eflence as, or either the reputed Orthodox, or fuch a Trinity not in Unity of the divine E (fence, as the modem Refiners upon Arianifm and Socinianifm have taught 3 or fuch a Godhead in Jefus Chrift, as either of thefe have afcribed to him ; we will then believe Doctrines that are falfe and incomprehensible, and inconfiftent, and in- credible, and which if th^y could be believed, could be of no fpiritual, nor of any other Benefit to us cither temporal or everlafting. But if we aflat and believe what the holy Scrip- Of the Divinity c/Jefus Chrift. 27 1 Scriptures, the divinely revealed Word of God, have moft clearly fet forth concerning thofe two Articles, (viz.) The divine Trinity of Perfons in the indivifible Unity of the divine ElTence, and the Divinity of Cbrtfl, or of the Godhead of Cbrifl and of his Fa* ther, being one of the fame 5 we will then afTert and believe, two moft evident and clearly conceivable Truths which are Spiri- tually beneficial, and therefore neceffary to be fincerely and truly believed by all Man- kind, in order to their Sanctification, Salva- tion, and eternal Life; as the iincere and true Belief of thefe, powerfully move us to love God with all our Hearts, and powerfully encourage us to follow the Example of Cbrifl, as far as the Meafure of the fandtifying Spirit of Faith which we embrace, will enable us fo to do. That we may, like him, dwell in God, with God in us ; that we may be one in and with God -, and God one in and with us ; and fo become Gods, or perfectly good and blefTed Beings, as far as by our Meafure of Faith we are enabled to become fo. For God's Revelations of both thefe Truths, as well as all t]iefe other Revelations which have been alwaysmoft clearly conceiv- able and perfectly intelligible Truths, were made for moving Mankind to prepare and qualify themfelves by Faith and Sandtification, for true Happinefs both temporal and eternal. Having obferved all thefe Things, I proceed to 272 Of the Divinity of Jefus ClirifL to the Conlideration of fuch of thofe Texts oi Scripture as have been contefted and falfely interpreted by the Arians and Socinians; and which afcribe all the Powers, Properties, and Perfections of the one and only true fupreme and living God, to the Man Chri/l Je/us 5 and how upon what Account they are af- cribed to him with Truth and Juftice. Almighty God, fpeaking by the Mouth of his holy Prophet, I/aiah ix. 6, 7. concerning Chrift. of whom it was foretold that he would be born of a pure Virgin who had not known Man, faith, To us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the Government fliall be upon his Shoulder, and his Name /ha/I be called, Wonderful, Counjel/or, the Mighty God, the Ever la/ling Father, the Prince of Peace -, and of the lncreafe of his Government and Peace there Jhall be no End. And vii. 14. it is faid, Behold a Virgin Jhall bear a Son, and (hall call his Name Immanuel. Although thefe Appellations of mighty God, and everlafting Father, and Immanuel, can be attributed to none but the fupreme, true, living and eternal God, yet we fee they are in the foregoing Texts, given to the Man Chri/l Jtfus, the only begotten Son of God, who was produced into Being before the Cre- ation of the World, and was afterwards in- carnate, or took human Flem upon him (as had been foretold by God himielf, and his holy Of the Dhim'ty of Jefus Chrift. $j% holy Prophets) in the Womb of a Virgin* carnally unknown by Man. They who have believed the holy Scriptures, the divinely revealed Word of God, who is a God of per- fect and latherly Goodnels and Truth, and therefore neither will nor can lie, have juftiy concluded, that the Man Jefus Chrift, pro- duced, and incarnated as hath been laid be- fore, muit be the one fupreme, true, living and eternal God, becaufe there can be bus: one fuch God. And the holy Scriptures which have (hewn Jefus Chrift to be both God and- Man, have Fikewife moil clearly (hewn him to be the one and only true, fupreme, liv- ing, and eternal God ; and that the holy Child Jefus in moft intimate Union with the one eternal God, are both together but one God. But many, by their not attentively confidering the holy Scriptures, and by giv- ing themielves up to their grcundlefs, and therefore vain Imaginations, have been un- able to conceive this wonderful, but clear and moft ufeful, and demonfirative Truth 5 and therefore fome of them have exprefsly denied it, and together with it the divine Au- thority and Truth of the holy Scriptures, and of all fcripmral Religion, which have fo clearly alTerted this moft evident and ufeful Truth ; and alio the Neceffity of any divine Revela- tion, or of any divinely revealed and fpiritual Religion. Such are Deifts and Advocates for the Self-fufficiency of the Light and Law T of 274 Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. of Nature, or what they call the Religion of Nature, for the Attainment of the Know- ledge of all Things neceflfary to be known, believed, or done by Mankind, in order to their Salvation and true Happinefs both pub- lic and private, and natural, and fpiritual, and temporal, and everlafting. Others there are, who as openly deny the Divinity of Jejlts Chrift, and a Trinity of divine Perfons in the Unity of the divine EC- fence, as the Advocates for the Self-fuflici- ency of what they call natural Religion, have done, but do not with them deny the divine Authority and Truth of the holy Scriptures, and of the fcriptural Religion, which fo clear- ly fet forth the divine Trinity in Unity, and the fupreme and true Divinity of Jefus Chrift: Nor the Neceffity or divine Revelation, and confequently of revealed Religion, although they be ftrenuous A fie r tors of, and generally Livers according to the Dictates of what is called natural Religion, i. e. according to the Dictates of their bodily Senfations, ard of their respective predominant bodily Lufts. And the Ways and Manners that thefe Perfons, viz. the Arians and Sjci?iia?is have taken and uied, in order to evade and elude the Force of the fifripttiral Evidence for the Truth of both thefe DoctrineS, and to fupport the Denial of tfaofe clear and evident icriptural Tru hs, have been to falfify the holy Scrip- tures either by Subtractions, or fpurious In- ter- Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. 275 terpolationt, which as I have obfervcd, have been but of very little or no Benefit for the Support of their bad Caufe, which is by no Ways or Means to be fupported ; or by v/reft- i'ng and perverting the Senfe and Meaning of tbofe Texts of Scripture, which they could not otherwife corrupt or faliify ; as will molt clearly appear, when the unqueftionably true Interpretation of tliefe Texts is let forth, in Conformity to the original divinely revealed Faith and Law, which were given by God to Mankind, for no other Reafon, but to move them to become and continue pure as he is pure, or holy as he is holy, and perfect- ly good and benevolent as he is, that they might by fo doing qualify them Tel ves for the Enjoyment of true Happinefs, both temporal and everlafling. For it will anon appear, that nothing can more powerfully move Man to become perfectly good and God-like, than the iincere and true Belief, that Jefus Cbri/i is together, and in mod intimate fpirirual Unity with God his Father, the one and only true, fupreme, living, and eternal God, as he is moil truly called in the holy Scriptures ; which the Generality of Mankind, by their want of due and attentive Confideration, and not by any want of Clear nefs in thofe Scrip- tures, have mifunderftood, and confequently mifinterpreted to their own great Hurt and Detriment. T 2 0:hcrs 276 Of the Divinity of Jcfus Chrift. Others there are, who for want of fuch due and attentive Confederation of the holy Scriptures, whofe divine Authority and Truth they acknowledge, as well as a kind of Ne- cetiity (but not an indifpenfable Neceffity) of a divine Revelation, and of a divinely revealed Religion, although they teach the Self-fuffi- ciency of what is called natural Religion, for all thofe who will attend to it; as they have denied a Trinity of co-eternal and co- effential, and in every Refpecl co-equal di- vine Ferfons in the one Jehovah or divine Elfence : And thereupon introduced the true Doctrine of a plurality of diilindt and diffe- rent, and fubordinate Gods into the divine Trinity. So they have made Jefus Chrijl not that one and only true, and fupreme and living and eternal God together with his Father, as the holy Scriptures teach ; but in Oppofition to thefe holy Scriptures, they have made him a diftinct God, and different from, and fubordinate and inferior to, and altogether dependent upon the one and only true, and fupreme God : And have accordingly pro- vided, a new and unheard of, and unintel- ligibly fubordinate, and inferiour kind of Worfhip for him. Thefe (as I have before oblerved) are the new and anti-fcriptural Doctrines of the modern Refiners upon Aria- nifm and Socinianifm, who of late Years flarted up, and for a while made a Noife among us, by a Controveriy, in which the Dif- Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. 277 Difputants neither underftood themfelves nor one another. And the Tares that were then fown in the Minds of Men prepared to re- ceive them, by the Neglect of proper Cul- ture of the Huibandmen, have fince increaf- ed and fpread, by Means of the fame Neglect, that very little of that good Seed of the Word of fanctifying and faving Truth is any where to be found. Others alfo there are, who have affumed to themfelves the Title of the Orthodox, for the Reaion I have before given, and who by their having as little attended to, and conlidered the holy Scriptures as any of thoie I have before-mentioned, have fallen into a very different, and yet not lefs deftruclive Error, than any of thofe before-mentioned, having by their Inattention to God's revealed Word, given an anti-fcriptural and therefore a falfe and unintelligible, and incredible Account, not only of the divine Trinity in Unity, but alfo of the true and inconteitible Divinity of Jefus Chrifl, that only begotten Son of God, by teaching that the co eternal and therefore unbegotten, and co-eiTential, and in every Relpect co-equal Perfon diiHnguifhed by the Name of Word or Son in the Divine Trinity, was produced by an eternal and unintelligi- ble Generation, and that he took unto him- felf the only begotten Son of God, the Man Chri/l Jefus \ who thereby became together in molt intimate Unity with him, one of the T 3 Pcrfons 278 Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. Perfons of the divine Trinity ; and fo a God diftinct and different from, and ailing In a Manner different from, and independent noon the other Perfons in the divine Trinitv, and confequently that there is a Plurality of co-ordinate Gods in the divine Trinity : Whereas the holy Scriptures moft clearly teach that there is but one God, and that the whole three Perfons in the divine Trinity are but one God ; and that the whole divine Trinity dwelt in the Man yfusy and he in them, and that he together with them, and they toge- ther with him, are but one God. And that therefore, he never was one of the divine Perfons in the divine Trinity, but he toge- ther with- the three Perfons in the divine Trinity who dwelt in him, and he in them mod intimately and infeparably, and not ex- clufively of each other, is-, or are, the one and only, and mighty God, and everlafting Father and ImmanueL And if their anti- icriptural and falfe, and inconceivable and in- credible Doctrine could poffibly be conceived and believed, the Belief of it would be no way beneficial to Mankind, any mpre than the Belief of any of the aforementioned falfe Doctrines, and therefore is not worth con- tending for : Whereas the Belief of the Di- vinity of ye/iiS Cbrijl, as it is let forth, in the holy Scriptures, and that he together with his •her xi.t>. the whole Three Persons in the divine Trinity) duelling in him, and he in them, Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. 279 them, in mod intimate and infeparable Uni- ty, is, and are together, but nor exclufively, the one and only true fupreme, living and eter- nal God ; gives Mankind the greateft Encou- ragement that poffiblycan be given them, to move them to become perfectly pure and good, and perfectly and univerlally benevolent and God- like, that like him they might be perfectly happy both temporally and ever- laftingly. Now that Mankind may be brought to perceive clearly, this moft evident and clearly conceivable, and fructifying and faving fcrip- tural Truth, (viz.) that the Man Chrift JefuSy who was created or produced into Being, by God his Father, [i.e. the whole three Perfons in the divine Trinity) and who was in the Fulnefs of Time conceived, and in- carnated, or took human Flefh upon him, in the Womb of the Virgin (as God him- felf, and by the Mouths of his holy Prophets had foretold) in moft intimate and ipirituai Union,, with that one and only true fu- preme and eternal God, is together with him but not exclufive of him, that one and only true fupreme living and eternal God, and thereupon juitly and truly called in the holy Scriptures, the mighty God, and everlaiting Father, and lmmanuely or God with us. And that they may be refcued and delivered from the Belief of all the aforementioned, not only antifcriptural and unprofitable, but T 4 ever- aSo Of tie Divinity of Jefus Chrift. Cverlaftingly deftructive Errors, into which fo many have been inconfiderately led and fallen. I tiiuft defire my Readers to recol- lect and con fide r what 1 h ive before, from the holy Scriptures, and in the Words of thole Scriptures fet before them, that they may thereby perceive wherein the Unity or Onenefs (it I may be allowed to ufe the Word) of God together with the Man Chrift ^//a? con lifts : Arid theaby peiceive how all the Powers, Properties^ and Perfections which are afcribed or attributed to the one, are with equal Propriety afcribed and attributed to the other ; for had it been dulv ccnfidered where- in this Unity corififts, which is fo expreftly, and particularly and clearly fet forth in the holy Scriptures, it is hardly pofiible that a Con; eft or Controverfy mould have ever hap- pened about fo evident a fcriptural Truth. And it hath been altogether owing to Men's not having confideied wherein fhe Unity or Onenefb confuted, which the holy Scriptures have afcribed of God, and the Man Cbrijl jefus, which is a fpifitual Unity founded on Faith, and not an effential Unity or Onenefs, and to their having believed that fhe holy Scrip- tures had afferted an effential Onenefs or God I Man, which is inconceivable and im- p >ffible, that Inch a C ontroverfy firft began, and hath ever lince coniiuued to the Deltruc- tion of many deluded Souls, who had been lid away from the Belief of a divinely re- vealed Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. 28 1 vealed and moft evident fcriptural Truth, by which they would have been moved to have united themfelves to, and in fome Meafure become one with God, and thereby made themfelves truly and fpiritually happy, both temporal and everlafting. I have before (hewn from the holy Scrip- tures, and in fcriptural Words, that the Ap- pellations, Powers, Properties and Perfections, fuch as the mighty God, and everlafting Fa- ther ^ andlmmanuel. And the Creadon and fuf- taining all Things, and Oonnifcience, which implies Omniprefence, which can be attri- buted to none but to the one and only true fupreme living and eternal God, have been alfo attributed in the holy Scriptures, to the Man Jefus Chrift, the only begotten Son of God. From whence it neceflaiily follows, that if theie Appellations and Powers, &c. are in the holy Scriptures juffly and truly afcribed to the Man Jejus Cbrid, thai he and the one and only true fupreme, living and eternal God, taken together are one Firing, and the one true God. As Chrift h* n f hath afferted, faying, my Father and I a one. Was nothing more (aid in the holy Scriptures concerning this Point, than what our bleffed Saviour hath afferted, where he faid, / and my Father are one, Mankind would be apt to fiy, how can this be ? For they would not be able to conceive the Truth of the Affertion, nor how the one and only true and eternal God, and the Man Chrift 282 Of the Divinity cf Jefus Chrift. yffiiSf who did not exift before he was pro- duced into Being, could be one and the fame Thing, and one and the fame God 5 and as they could not, 10 they would lipt have be- lieved him together with his Fa; her, to be one and the lame God. But the holy Scrip- tures, and Jefus Cbrifl^ have not only de- clared and affirmed them to be one and the fame Thing, and to be togeiher one, and but one God ; but they have moft clearly (hewn the Truth of that Affirmation, and that is a moft clear, and clearly conceivable Truth. And how they cannot poffibly be otherwifc thdn one Thing, and both together but one God, and that whatever is afcribed to the one, may with equal Propriety be afcribed to the other. But the holy Scriptures have been miftaken by many, and although they be peifeclly clear in themfelves, yet they have been milunderftood and mifinterpreted by many, for many Ages paft, and they have been faid to have afferted Things which they have no where afferted. J ejus Qbrift and the holy Scriptures have afferted, that the Man Jefus Chrift, and his Father (the whole divine Trinity in effential Unity) are one, one Thing, and the one and only true and living God ; but they have no where af- ferted, that the Man Jefus Chnjl, together with his Father, were one God irom all Eternity ; nor that the Man Jefus Chrift, who did not exift before he was produced into Being by his Father (the whole divine Tri- Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. 283 Trinity) before the Creation of the World, exited from all Eternity. Thefe are not fcriptural AlTertions or Doctrines, but the falfe and inconfiftent Doctrines of inconfide- rate Men, who have miftaken and mifre- prefented the holy Scriptures. The true fcrip- tural Doctrine concerning this Point, as ap- pears by the ftrict, literal, and grammatical Conftru&ion of the fcriptural Words, is that the Man Chrift Jefus, and his Father {/. e. the whole divine Trinity in effential Unity) the one true and eternal God, are one Thing, and the one true and living God, and have been fo, not from all Eternity, but from the Time that he who was afterwards called Jejus and the Chrift, was produced into Being ; and that from that Time, all the Powers, Pro- perties, Perfections or Operations, which has been afcribed to the one, might be, and were, with equal Propriety afcribed to the other, not on account of their effential, but of their fpiritual, and mod intimate Unity or One- nefs, which proceeded from that unlimitable and unmeafurable Spirit of purifying divinely revealed Faith, which dwelt in the Man Chrift Jefus ; by which all his fpiritual Thoughts, Defires, Words and Actions, became one and the dime with God's, and all God's Thoughts, Defires, Words and Actions became one and the fame with His j and by which he thus be- came, one and the fame God, in, and together with his Father, but not exclufive of him ; and by which his Father became one and the lame God. 284 Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. God, in, and together with him, but no exclufive of him, as is mod clearly fet forth in the holy Scriptures. From whence I have moll: clearly fhewn, That Chrift who was produced into Being before all Creatures, and who had the HolySpi- rit of divinely revealed and perfectly purifying Faith communicated to him by God the Father without Meafure, had thereby all the Full- nefs of the Godhead, (/. e. all Gcodnefs) dwel- ling in him, by which he together with his Father in moil: intimate fpiritual Unity with him, but not exclufive of him, became ////- manuel, or our God. By which we may clearly perceive the Truth of the Words of St. "John i. ver. 1. where he faith, That in the Beginning (i. e. in the Head, Origin, or Foun- tain of all Being) was the Word or Son, and that the Word was with God, and that the Word was Gody and that all Things were made by him, who was together with God, Jo that without him co-operating in Unity toge- ther with God, nothing was made that was wade. And as Creation is thus afcribed to him, as being one in and together with God, by that immenfurable Spirit of Faith, by which all his Thoughts, Dcfires, Words, and Actions became one and the fame with God, and by which all God's Thoughts, Defires, Words, and Aclions, became one and the fame with his : So on Account of the fame mod intimate ipiritual Unity or Onenefs by Faith, may all the other Operations, Powers, Properties, Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. 285 Properties, or Perfections, which can be attri- buted to no other but the one and only true living and eternal God be with equal Proprie- ty afcribed to him. For they being thus one, whatever is afcribed to him, is afcribed to God ; and whatever is afcribed to God, is afcribed to him ; for he and his Father are one, and together the one God, who do no- thing but in moft intimate Unity and Co- operation together. And it is on account of this moft intimate fpiritual Unity or Onenefs that Chrift faid that all Things that the Father hath are mine, and all mine are my Father's. And he that feeth me, feeth the Father, for the Father and I are one, he be- ing in me and I in him, by this fpirit of Faith, which he hath given me without Meafure, by which I dwell in him and he in me. And this fpiritual and fcriptural Unity or Onenefs of God, and the Man Chrift Jefusy which came by the unmeafurable Spirit of purify- ing divinely revealed Faith which dwelt in the Man Chrift Jejhs is not only a moft true, but a moft clearly conceivable and intel- ligible Onenefs which every Man may clearly conceive and underftand by viewing and con- fidering himfelf by the fame fpiritual and fcriptural divinely revealed Light, which is the only true Light which lighteth every Man that cometh into the World, fo as to enable him to difcern fpiritual Things, which can only be fpiritually difccrned, God hath afforded 286 Of the Divinity of Jefns Chrift. afforded a fufficient Portion or Meafurc of his Spirit to every Man, who receiveth and be- lieveth, and acteth according to the Dictates of this purifying Spirit of Faith, of which he may have a greater or leffer Meafure, ac- cording as he chufes to defire or receive it. And he who fincerely and truly believes and acts according to the Meafure of this Faith which he hath, may clearly perceive that all his Thoughts and fpiritual Defires and Words and Actions, are fo far one and the fame with God ; and that all God's Thought0, Defires, Words, and Actions, are fo far one and the fame with his, and that he fo far dwells with God, and God in him, and that he is fo far one with God, and God fo far one in and together with him. And that fo far he may together with, but not exclufive of God, be called God. For fuch Perfons in the Holy Scriptures, are in this Senfe call- ed God's by God himfelf, I have Jaid ye are Gods. And as this is moft clearly conceivable in Refpect of ourfelves, fo it is not lefs clearly conceivable, in refpect of Chrift in whom this purifying Spirit of divinely revealed Faith dwell in all its Fulnefs with which Bound or Meafure, by which all his Thoughts, De- fires, or Words and Actions without Excep- tion, neceflarily became one and the fame with God's dwelling with all the Fulnefs of the God in him, by this immenfe Spirit of Faith $ and by which all the Thoughts, De- lires, Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift, 287 fires, Words, and Actions of God, without Exception became one and the fame with his. Thus we may moft clearly perceive when and how, and by what Means the Man "Jefus Chrijf together with his heavenly Father, who dwelt mutually in each other, came to be the one and only true fupreme, living and eternal God -> and how all Mankind, by ha- ving God dwelling in them, and they in God, by the fincere and true, Belief of the divinely revealed Spirit of Faith, which they may all have a Meafure of, may fo far be- come one in and with God ; and God in abd with them ; and therefore may together with him, be ftri&ly and perfectly fofar called God's: And how all the Attributes which can be afcri- bed to the one and only true and fupreme, and living and eternal God, are with the ftri&eft Propriety in the Holy Scriptures afcribed to ye/us Cbrift in moft intimate Unity one with him, and that he is moft truly called in the Holy Scriptures the mighty God and ever* la/ling Father^ and Immanuel, and Creator^ Maker a?id Sujlai?ier of all Things, by whom all Things conjijl, as he is John'u i, GV. and Colo]], i. 16, 17, and that Qmnifcienee wftich implies Omniprefcnce is juftly and truly ascri- bed to him, as it is John ii. ver. 24 where itisfaid, J ejus knew all Men, and what was in Man. And chap. vi. ver. 64. Jefus knew jrom the Beginning who l hey were that believed not> and -who would betray him. And ch M ipoke 288O/ the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. fpoke of himfelf, Rev. ii. ver. 23, faying, 1 am he that jearcheth the Reins and the Heart. And it is on account of this moil intimate fpiritual Unity by which Chrift be- came one with his Father, that it is faid of him, Phil. ii. vcr. 6. who being in the Form cj God, thought it no Robbery to be equal with Goa, becaufe he and God his Father were one ; and therefore whatever he affirmed of God his Father was equally applicable to him- felf, and whatever he affirmed of himfelf, was equally applicable to God his Father, they being both together but one God ; but nei- ther of them fo exclufive of each other, fince the Time of their becoming mod: intimately and iofeparably one, by God's Condefcenfion to take to him the human Nature, and moil intimately to unite himfelf to it, in order to his reconciling the World to himfelf by his Humiliation and Death. And here it maybe neceffary to obferve and confider, that when- ever any of the afore-mentioned, or any other of the Divine Properties or Perfections are afcribed to the Man Chrifi J ejus, they are not to be underitood of him exclufive of God his Father, but of him together with his Fa- ther, and are to be afcribed to him on account of the Unity or Oneneis by which all Things that the Father hath, became his, and were therefore truly claimed by, and afcribed to him. And fo when any of the human Pow- ers or Properties of the Man Chrift Jefus are afcribed Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. 289 afcribed to God his Father, they are not to be underftood of the Father, exclusive of the Son, the Man Chrift Jejus, but of him to- gether with the Man Chrift jfejus, and on account of that moft intimate Unity or One- nefs, by which all Things that the Son hath became his, and may be truly afcribed to him, but could not be afcribed to him before he became thus intimately united to him, and one with him. And therefore when it is laid, St. Mark xiii. ver. 32. 71: at of that Day and Hour knnveth no Man, no not the Angels which are in Heaven, neither the Sony but the Father. It is to be underftood of the Son considered as Man only, and exclufive of the Father. For In moft intimate Conjunction and Unity, and one together with the Father, In him are hid all the Treafures of Wifdom and Know ledge 1 ColoiT. ii. ver. 8. As in this laft Paragraph, I have from the holy Scriptures, moft clearly and truly fet forth the Divinity of our bleffed Lord and Saviour J ejus Cbriji, the only begotten Son of God ; as it is fct forth in thole holy Scriptures : Which fheweth he is one in, and with God his Father; and how God his Father is one in, and with him ; and that therefore they two together, (but neither exclufively of the other) are the one and only true fupreme, living and eternal God. And that whatever is affirmed of, or afcribed to the one, may with the ftiicteft Truth and Juftice be equliy affirmed of,, and afcribed to the other. And when, U and 2go Of the Divinity c/Jefas Chrift. and how, or by what Means they two, came to be in mod Arid, intimate, (pi ritual ^but not eflential) Unity, together the one and only true fuprerne living and eternal God, who were not fo from all Eternity. And having likewife fhewn, that this fcriptural Truth, is not only a moil: fpiritually bene- ficial Truth, by which Mankind have the greateft Encouragement given them, to pre- pare and qualify themiclves for the Enjoy- ment and lure Attainment of Salvation, and true Happinefs, both private and public, and natural and fpiritual, and temporal and evcr- lafting, by the only Means, by which thefe greateft and mod valuable Bleflings are to be obrained ; but alfo a moft evident, and clear- ly conceivable Truth, I muft earneftly de- fire my Readers, to read over, and attentive- ly confider the foregoing Paragraph, toge- ther with thofe Texts of holy Scripture, which 1 have before produced, as they are the fcriptural and everlaiting Foundation, upon which all the Truths fet forth in that Paragraph are built ; that they may by fo doing, refcue and deliver themfelves from the Belief of thofe anti- fcriptural and ever- laftingly deftruclive Errors, which have been introduced into, and fpread abroad in the World by the Arians, Socinians, and Deifts, who have not only denied a Trinity of di- vine Perfous in the Unity of the one jfeho" val\ or divine Eifence, but alfo the Divi- nity Cf the Divinity of Jefut Chrift. 2 9 1 nity of Jtfm Chrift, the only begotten Son of God, by which they have extirpated out of the Minds of Multitudes, not only the Belief of one of the mod powerful Motives and Reafons for moving us, to love God with all our Hearts, and confequently to perfevere in Obedience to his mod perfect, and only perfect, and perfectly purifying Law ; but alio the Consideration of the greateft En- couragement that ever was given by God to Men, to prepare and qualify themfelves by Sandtification, for the Enjoyment and fare Attainment of true Happinefs, both tempo- ral and everlafting. And that they may likewife thereby refcue and deliver them- felves, from the Belief of the no lefs anti- fcriptural and filfe, and everlaftingly deftruc- tive Errors, of the late modern Refiners upon Arianifm, Socianifm and Deifm, who have fet up a divided Trinity of diftincl: and different Perfons, fome of them fuperior, and others of them inferior and fubordinate, and dependent in the Godhead, and have thereby laboured to eftablifh the Belief of three different Kinds of Gods ; and have made Jcfus Chrift, one of tho e their infe- riour Gods, for whom they have provided a different Kind of Worfhip. And lafily, that they might alfo thereby reftue and de- liver themielves from the Belief of the no lefs anti-fcriptural, and falfe, and everlaftingly deftru&ive Errors of the reputed Orthodox U z of 292 Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. of all Denominations, who have taught, that there are three eternal, and co-effential, and co-ordinate, and in every Refpedt co-equal Perfons in the divine Trinity, but indepen- dent on each oilier in all their different Ope- rations or Actions, and that one of them al- though co eternal and theiefore unbegotten, was begotten by an incomprehenfible and un- intelligible eternal Generation, and that ano- ther of thefe divine Perfons, although co- eternal, &c. and therefore unprcceeding, did notwiihftanding eternally proceed from the other two, by a no lefs incomprehenfible and unintelligible eternal Proceffion. And they have likewife taught, that the whole divine Trinity of Perfons, did not dwell in Jefus Cbriji, the only begotten Son of God, and he in them, according to the holy Scriptures; but that one of the divine Perfons diftinguifh- cd by the Name of the Son in the* divine Trinity, by taking him into effential Union with himfelf, who they call Hypoftatical, or perfonal Union \ he thereby became one Per- fon with him, and thereby one of the Perfons of the divine Trinity, and in Unity together with him, a diflincl and independent God from the other two Perfons, whom they make (till co eternal and therefore unbegot- ten, (although they declare one of them to be begotten) and co-effential and co ordi- nate, and in every Refpect co-equal Gods, independent of each other in all their Opera- tions Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. 293 tions. A mod wicked and abfurd, and in- conceivable and unintelligible Doctrine, by which Mankind are milled from the Belief of the moft clear and evident, and clearlv con- ceivable true Doctrine of the holy Scripture, concerning the divine Trinity in Unity, and concerning the true Divinity of our bleffed Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift, the only be- gotten Son of God, which I from the holy Scriptures have here moft clearly and intel- ligibly fet forth, and which contains the moft powerful Motives and Encouragements to Mankind, to love God with all their Heart?, and confequently to perfevere in perfect Obe- dience to his moil: perfect, and only perfect and perfectly purifying fpiritual and icriptural Law : And to prepare and qualify them- felves to become like God, pure as he is pure, or holy as he is 5 and perfectly good and merciful, and perfect as he is perfect, in order to their being truly happy, both tem- porally and everlaftingly. And are led to be- lieve a Doctrine, which if it could be ren- dered conceivable and intelligible, and fhewn to be true, which are two Things impof- fible to be done, the Belief of it would not be of the leaft Benefit to Mankind ; nor can any Meafure contribute towards moving them to do any of thofe Things, which are in- difpenfably neceflary to be done by all Man- kind, in order to their Sanctification and Sal- vation, and true Happinefs both private and U 3 focial 294 ®f the Divinity of Jefus Chrifr. fecial, and natural and fpiiitual, and tern* poral and everlafting. And whoever will duly confider that our moil: gracious God predeitinated or defigned, and created all Mankind for true Happinefs, both temporal and everlafting ; and that he doth not re- quire any Perfon to believe any Thing in or- der to his Attainment of thoie happy Ends, that he cannot mofl clearly conceive to be, not only mod evident Truth, but that the Belief of it is neceffary for the Attainment of thefe happy Ends : And that therefore he hath been gracioufly pleafed to reveal and to make known to us in his holy Word (verified in all his Works, orDifpenfationsto us) every Thing neceflary to be believed or done by us, \n order to our Attainment of thoie great and happy Ends, and that therefore all his Reve- lations muft neceflarily be, not only clearly conceivable Truths, but alfo fuch Truths as arc neceffary to be believed by all Mankind, in order to their Attainment of thofe happy Ends. I fay, whoever will ferioufly and duly confider thefe few mofl: clear and evident Truths, will clearly perceive, that the incon- ceivable and unintelligible, and incredible, and not only ufelefs and unprofitable, but ever- laftingly deftrudtive Doctrines of the reputed Orthodox, as well as of the late modern Refineis upon Arianifm, Socinianifm, and Deifm ; and of the Arians and Socinians con- cerning the divine Trinity in Unity, 2nd the Piv<- Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. 295 Divinity of jfe/us Cbrijiy can not be divinely revealed, or the holy fcriptural Doctrines, concerning thole Points : And that the Doc- trine which is moft evident and clearly con- ceivable, and fpiritually beneficial Truth, which I have here, from the holy Scriptures, fet forth concerning thefe two Points, is the divinely revealed and true fcriptural Doctrine concerning them. For this Doctrine which I have here fet forth from the holy Scriptures concerning them, could never have come to the Knowledge of Mankind without a divine Revelation, as will be hereafter fhewn in the Sequel of my Apology, for the one and only true (anctifying and favirg, fpiritual and fcrip- tural, and Chriftian Religion, that ever was, is, or ever will or can be in the World, under the Article or Word Man. I do not think it neceffary to add any Thing here, to what I have faid before, con- cerning the Divinity of the Perfon diitinguifh- ed by the Name of the holy Spirit in the divine Trinity in Unity, in the one Jehovab, or divine Effence : Having before fhewn, that Perfon to be co- eternal and co-eflential, and in every Refped co-equal to each of thofe Perfons diftinguifhed by the Names of the Father, and the Son, in the divine Tri- nity ; that thefe three Perfons are altogether but one God. And that although all their different perfonal Actions be different in their Kinds from each other, yet no one of them U 4 ca« 296 Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. can produce any one of them, unlefs they all concur and co operate together, for the Pro- duction of any one of thefe ; ib that any perib- nnl Action of any one of them may with equal Propriety be afcribed to any other of them ; fo that although every one of them be God, yet no one of them is God in a Senfe ex- clufive of the other two. But it may be neceffary jq obferve here, that neither the late pioqeVn Refiners upon Artanifmi &ocianifm9 and Deifm, nor the reputed .Orthodox have carefully diflinguifhed between the co-eternal, co-efiential, and in every Refpedt co equal Perfon, diilinguilLed by the Name of the holy Spirit in the divine Trinity ; and the holy fandlifying and faving Spirit of Faith, which proceeded from the Father (/. e. the whole divine Trinity) by his Revelation of his only begotten Son, the Man CMfi Jejutt to our firft Parents, and by them to al) Man- kind. And by their not making this Dif- tindtion, the Refiners upon Aiianiim, &c, have made the fanctifying or laving Spiiit of J\a h, a divine Perfon, and have lpoken of it, whenever the Word occurs in the holy Scriptures as a diAincl:, arid different, and a ihboidinate and inferior God, to whom they jfay inferior (/, e. unintelligible) Worihip is to be paid, And the reputed Orthodox have Jikevvife, by their not having coniidcrcd and preferved this Piftin&ion, millaking this di- vinely revealed and holy fpirifual landVifying and Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift, 297 and faving Faith, for the co-eternal and co- eiTential Perfon, diftinguifhed by the Name of the holy Spirit in the divine Trinity, and have made it a God in every Refpect co-equal to each of the other two Perfons, diftinguifhed by the different Names of Father and Son in the divine Trinity, and have made it a diftindfc and different God from them, and exclufive of them, and independent of them in all its perfbnal Operations or Actions* And I judge it neceffary, farther to obferve here, that we ought neceffarily to take and underftand the divine Trinity in Unity, and the Divinity of Jefus Chrifly the only begot- ten Son of God, in the Senfe they are fet forth to us in the holy Scriptures, fince it is by thofe holy Scriptures, and by thofe only, that both thofe divine Myfteries came to our Knowledge; and if we underftand them in that Senfe, we will find them to be not only nioft evident and mod clearly conceivable, but moft beneficial divinely revealed fpiritual and fcriptural Truths. Whereas, if we take upon us to refine upon the holy Scriptures, God's Revelations to Mankind, by which and by which only we are enabled to difcern and form juft, true, and right Notions or Concep- tions of fpiritual and fenfibly imperceptible Things,and give ourfelvesup to our own ground- lefs Imaginations concerning them : And build our Faith concerning them, on fuch falfe and fandy Foundations, we will, by fetting our- 2p$ Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift, ourfelves up to be wifer than God, find our- felves led into inconceivable, and inexplicable, and inextricable and everlaftingly deftruftive Errors concerning them -, and as our No- tions of them will be perplexed, fo our Dif- courfe about them, will for ever be unin- telligible. If it happen to be obje&ed againft this clear and holy fcriptural Account, which I have here given of the divine Trinity in Unity, and of the true Divinity of Jejus Cbrijiy who together with his Father (/. e. the whole three Perfons in the divine Trinity) is, or are, in moft intimate Unity, the one and only true, fupreme, living and eternal God : That it is not conformable to the Do&rine of the antient Fathers of the Church, and ecclefiaftical Councils, concerning thefe Points, they having declared themfelves upon them as the reputed Orthodox have ever fince done. To this, I anfwer, that I have as juft a Refpeft, and as great a Regard for the antient Fathers and Councils as any un- prejudiced, impartial, and truly religious Man, can or ought to have : And pay as great a Regard to ,thdr Teftimony concerning Mat- ters of Faft, fufficiently and well attefted by them, (which are the only Things that their Teftimony can be properly or pertinently brought to prove) as any Man living pys, or ought to pay to it. But I do not found cither my Faith, or my moral Practice, upon the Of the Divinity ?/"Jefus Chrift. 299 the Doftrines or Precepts of the Fathers, or the Determinations of Councils : But upon the Doctrine and Precepts of the holy Scrip- tures, which contain and fet forth the divine- ly revealed Word and Law of God ; becaufe I can clearly perceive the Truth of the fpiri- tual Faith, which comes by the Light of the divinely revealed fpiritual and fcriptural Word, and the perfedt Righteoufnefs of that Pradtice, which is conformable to the divine- ly revealed fpiritual and fcriptural Law : And that the fincere and true Belief of the one, and perfect Obedience to the other, are indik penfably neceffary for the x^ttainment of Sanc- tification and Salvation, and true Happinefs, both temporal and everlafting ; and the only Means by which thefe moil: valuable Bleffings can be obtained. And that it is by this di- vinely revealed fpiritual, and fcriptural Faith and Law, which God gave to our firfl Pa- rents, and by thefe only, that all fubfequent Texts of Scripture, relative to Faith and Mo- rals, can be truly and infalliby interpreted ; and that it is by thefe alfo, that all Doftrines and Precepts of all particular Churches and Perfons, can be truly tried and judged of, whether they be of God, or of Men ; and whether they be true or falfe, or rightious or wicked, and tend to everlafting Happinefs pr Mifery. And therefore I do not judge of the Truth or Falfhood of any religious Doc* trine, pr Articles of Faith, or of the Righ- teoufnefs 300 Of the 'Divinity 0/Jefus Chrift. teoufaefs or Unrighteoufncfs of any moral Precept, by their Conformity, or Non-con- formity to the Writings of the Fathers, or Determinations of Councils. But 1 judge of the Truth and Falfhood, and Righteoufnefs and Un righteoufnefs of their Writings and Determinations, by that divinely revealed and unerring and infallible Rule, fct forth in the holy Scriptures. And fo far as the Doctrines of the divine Trinity in Unity, or of the Di- vinity of J ejus Ckrifty as fet forth and ex- plained in the Writings of the Fathers, and in the Debates or Determinations of Coun- cils, are not conformable to the Dodrine of the Scriptures concerning thofe Points, and therefore neither conceivable nor credible, nor beneficial so be believed : I have fo tar dif- fered from them, that my Faith and Practice xiiight be conformable to the holy Scriptures, which can be mod clearly fhtwn to contain the divinely revealed Word and Law of God, and to be demonflratively true, and felf- evidently perfect, and perfectly righteous ; and ' indiipenfably neaflary to be fincerely and truly believed and perfectly obeyed, in order to Sanctification and Salvation, and true Hap- pinefs both private and focial (whether oe- conomical or political) and natural and fpiri- tual, and temporal and everlafling. And I think it neceffary farther to obferve, that if the reputed Orthodox, had been more at- tached to t,he Study of the holy Bible, than to Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. 301 to the Study of falfe and anti-fcriptural Phi- losophy, whether antient or modern, and of the Writings of the Fathers, and of the De- bates and Determinations of Councils : And had they laboured more for the Attainment of true and heavenly Wifdom, and ufeful and Spiritually beneficial Knowledge, than for the Attainment of popular Applaufe for Acute- nefs and Subtlety in cavilling, and for exten- sive Reading and Learning, they themfelves would have been wifer and better, and more ufeful Perfons, and more valuable Bleffings to the reft of Mankind, and would have juftly merited the Title of the truly Orthodox, which they had unjuftly affumed to themfelves. They would by fo doing have been enabled not only to have put an end to the anti- trinitarian Controverfy, which hath fubfifted undetermined for fo many Ages, but to all the other religious Contefts, with which the World hath been -fo long difturbed, and ren- dered impious and malevolent, and unchari- table, and every other Way wicked. They would then have been able to have extirpated all Kinds of Superfluous, or falfe and merely outfide Religions, by which Multitudes are led to Impiety and Wickednefs, and Mifery, both temporal and everlafling, under the Spe- cious Pretence of outward and apparent A .f- terity and Sanctity : And to have brought Mankind to the Knowledge, and Sincere and true Belief of, and Obedience to, the one and only 302 Of the Divinity ofjetiis Chrlft, only true fan&ifying and faving, Spiritual and fcriptural, and truly rational chriftian Reli- gion, that ever was in the World, fince the Fall of our firft Parents, or ever will or can be in it to the End of it. And by this, true and fpiritual Purity, Piety, and Charity or univerfal Benevolence, and every other moral Virtue, and Unity, Unanimity and Peace, would have been revived and reftored to the World, which are Bleffings that can be raifed upon no other Foundation than thefe of di- vinely revealed fpiritual, and fcriptural Truth and Righteoufnefs, whatever fhort-fighted and weak, and falfe Politicians, and tempo- rary Expedient-mongers, in the Plenitude of their own Wifdom, may vainly imagine to the contrary. I have now finifhed what I judged proper and neceffary to be faid upon thefe two great and important Articles of the Chriftian Faith, which are (o neceflary to be fincerely and truly believed by all Mankind, in order to their Sanctification, Salvation, and eternal Life. As they contain a moft powerful Motive for moving them to love God with all their Hearts, and to manifeft the Truth and Since- rity of their Love, by Perfeverance in per- fect Obedience to the moft perfect, and per- fectly purifyingLaw, which he by Revelation gave to Mankind, for no other Reaion, but to preferve, reicue, and deliver them from the Captivity, Tyranny and Slavery of their in- Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. 3 33 infatuating and enraging bodily La (is, and confequently from all Sin and Wicked - nefs, and fpirituul Mifery in this World >, and from inevitable and endlefs Mifery, which by the Reafon or neceffary Courfe and Confe- quences of Things will be everlailingly oc- cafioned by them in the next. And as they like wife contain the great t ft Encouragement that could poffibly be given, to move them to become and con dime perfectly pure and good, and univerfally Benevolent, and God-like, as our bleffed Lord and Saviour Jefus Cbrift was in this World, that we may be perfectly and everaftingly happy, as God our heavenly Father is in the next World* For without Holinefs Man cannot fee the Lord. And as I hope what I have faid from the holy Scriptures upon thefe two Articles, will appear to all reafonable Perfons fufficient, for fhewing them to be moft evident and clearly conceivable, and therefore undenia- ble, and no longer to be contefted and controverted Truths, as they are let forth in the holy Scriptures: However inconceivable and conteftable or deniable they may be, as they have been fet forth and repref.mted by the reputed Orthodox, who have not taken from the holy Scriptures what they have declared or delivered concerning them. And likevvifefor mewing the Infufhciency, Weak- nefs and Impertinence of all the Rcufons and Objections which have been brought by the Avians ^ 304 Of the Divinity $/*Jefus Chrift. Arians^ Socinians, and Deijls again ft thefe de- monftratively true, and fpiritually beneficial Doctrines, and that they have proceeded from their grofs culpable Ignorance of the Truth, occafioned by their not having duly confidered thofe holy Scriptures, which contain thatfpiri- tual Light, by which, and by which only, thefe and ail other fpiritual Truths can be difcerned. And alfo for (hewing the everlaftingly de- ftructive Tendency of the Denial and Disbelief of thefe demonflratively true and divinely revealed and fpjritually beneficial fcriptural Doctrines concerning the divine Trinity in Unity, and the true Divinity of J ejus Chrijt the only begotten Son of God. And alfo for (hewing the Folly and FaKhood and Incon- ceivablenefs, and Inconfiftency, and Incredi- bility and Unprofitablenefs, and deftructive Tendency of the Doctrines of the Misbelie- vers of thefe two Doctrines (/. e.) of the late modern Refiners upon Arianijmy &c. and of the reputed Orthodox, who have pretend- ed to believe and teach both thefe Doctrines, and to teach them from the holy Scriptures, when what they have declared and delivered concerning them, hath no Ground or Foun- dation in thofe holy Scriptures ; ib that what they have uttered concerning both thefe di- vinely revealed fcriptural Doctrines, is altoge- ther Aiitilcriptural, as well as many others taught by them, which I have el fe where (hewn to be deftrudive of Sanctiiication and Sal- Of the Divinity of Jefus Chiift. 305 Salvation, and eternal Life. So I defire Leave to recommend to the attentive Confederation of my Readers in general, and of the Reve- rend Fathers of the true reformed Epifcopal, and therefore truly Apoftolical Church of God in thefe Kingdom:^ and to my Reverend Brethren the Clergy of that only true and truly reformed Epiicopal Church therein by Law eftabliflied, the foregoing Pages. And as 1 have no other View bur that of letting forth the divinely revealed fan&ifying and faving ipiricual and fcriptural Truth, I fhall be thankful to any Perfon who will inform me either publickly or privately, wherein I may have failed inadvertently, (for I am lure I have not wilfully or delignedly) in fetting forth and {hewing the divine Original, or the evi- dent Truth, or the Conceiveablenefs, or the fpiritual Profitableness of the fir cere and true Belief of the aforementioned Doctrines, which were the principal End I aimed at in writing and publishing this Treadle ; that I may cor- rect what may be found amifs, and Supply what may be judged defective in it. And if it may be judged perfect, and fufficient for anfwering the End for which I defigned it, and that I have reafoned altogether from Prin- ciples either felf- evidently or demonstratively true, and that I have reafoned juftly, and not fallacioufly from them, and that the Conclu- iions I have drawn from them, are neceffary and demonstrative Truths j and that there- X fore / 1o6 Of the Divinity fl/JefusChrift, fore the Doctrines of the divine Trinity in Unity, and of the fupream Diviniiy of ye- ('us Chrifl in the moll perfect Unity with God his Father (/. c. the whole Trinity) as fet forth in the holy Scripture?, are divinely revealed arid ckmonftrativtly evident and moil clearly conceivable Truths, necefTary to be be- lieved by all Mankind, in order to their Sanc- tincation and Salvation, and true and fpiritual Happinefs both temporal and everlaiting, and that I have by (hewing thefe Things, done every Thing in my Power for the Confirma- tion and Eilabliihment of Mankind in the Belief of thefe demon ft rative and clearly con- ceivable fpiritually beneficial Truths, which have been for many Ages contefted and con- troverted, to the Hurt of Multitudes of mii- inftru&ed People. I hope fuch of my Rea- ders as may be convinced by what I have here let forth of the divine Original, and the Truth and Ufefulnefs, and of the Neceffity of the iincere and true Belief of the afore- mentioned Doctrines, will ufe their Endea- vours to propagate thefe Truths, as far as they are able, That Multitudes may be brought fo far forward on their Way, to- wards embracing the whole of the ,one, and only true fanctifying, and faving and divinely revealed fpiritual and fcriptural, and Chriftian Religion that ever was, or ever will or can be in the World, I having contributed, as far as I was able to that molt ufeful and neccflary Work, Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. 307 Work, by my Apology for that holy Religion, wherein 1 have deim narratively proved the divine Original and the Truth and Perfusi- on and pcifed Rigjateoufteft of that Faith and Law which are the integral Parts of which it wholly con fills," and of the indifpenfable Ne- ceffity of perfevering in the fincere and true Belief of the one, and in perfect Obedience to the other, in order to Sandification Salva- tion, and true and fpiritual Happinefs both temporal and everlaftihg. When the Minifters of the true Church of God, convinced and fatisfled of the Truth and Perrcdion,and perfccl Righteoufnefs of the one and only true and divinely revealed ianc- tifying and laving fpiritual and fcriptural and Chriftian Faith and Law, and of the indif- penfable Neceffity of Perfeverance in that fincere and true Belief of the one, and in per- fed Obedience to the other, have fatisfled themfelves that they in their different Stations, and according to their different Talents or Abi- lities, have to the utmoil of their Power con- fcientioufly laboured, for the Propagation of this Faith and Law ; and for the Conversion of all Mankind, of all Ranks and Orders, States and Stations from the night ft to the loweft, as they have had Opportunities of fo doing, to the fincere and true Belief of, and Obedience to this Faith and Law, (forunlefs they perfevere in fo doing, they do not diicharge the Du- ties of their refpedive Stations in the Church of X 2 God, 3oG Of the pivinity cf Jcfus Chrift. God, and thereby (hew, tint they neither fincerely h Sieve' nor obey the Faith and Law ) they may then (but net before) reft Spiritual- ly Satisfied in their Con Sciences, that they e juftly done their Parrs, and faithfully diicharged their Duties as Minifters appointed by God to minifter to Mankind in ipiritnal Things. And that neither the Errors nor WickedneSs of others will be imputed to them, nor charged to their Neglect of either Spiritual Inftruftion, Admonition, or Reproof, although many may be found faithlefs and difobedient, and impious and wicked ; for when the Minifters of God have done every Thing in their Power, as Opportunities have offered, for converting Sinners from the Er- ror of their Ways, and for Saving their Spi- rits and their $ouls from WickedneSs and Mi- fery, there may probably be Sound Some oSall Ranks and Orders, States and Stations, Srom the higheft to the loweft, Sunk So deep in Sen- Suality, that like Swine, they will not only tread their Pearls under their Feet, but will turn upon and rend thoSe who charitably Set them beSore them. From Such the Minifters and^MeSfengers of God, are not to expect better Treatment than J ejus Cbri/l the only begotten Son of God, the Captain of their Salvation, and glorious Leader in the great Work of Reformation and Reconciliation and Redemption of Mankind, received from them. Therefore Such PerSonsarc to be marked and avoided ts Of the Divinity of J^fus Chriit. 309 avoided and let alone, and given up; '(ill they are awakened by the fevere Judgments of God, which they wil! neceffarily draw down from his Wifdorh and Goodnefs and Merty upon themfelves, by their Wickednefs1': and thereby rendered docile and inclinable to attend to the profitable inftruction, and fea- fonable Admonitions and Reproofs of the divinely authorized Minifters. And. if they will not be awakened to Repentance by thefc fevere Judgments with which God, in his Fatherly Goodnefs and Mercy, afflicts them in this World, in order to fave them from everlafting Mifery in the next ; they will be cut off as Perfons incorrigible ; who would not labour for their own Salvation, and who would fpiritually injure others by their impi- ous and wicked Converfation and Example, if they were fuffered to continue longer in this World, Therefore, I fay, they will in perfect WifJom and Goodnefs and Mercy to the reft of Mankind, be cut off as Perfons who have filled up the Meafure of their Iniquity, and Will die in their Sins, (/. e.) with all their Luft unmodified about them, by which they will neceffarily, and by the Reafon, or nece- fary Courfe, Connexion, and Confequence of Things, become inevitably and ever- laftingly miferable, notwithstanding that our nioft gracious and merciful God and hea- venly Father, by the fending, coming, and Death of his only begotten Son JefusCbnji; X 3 accord- 31.0 Of the Divinity of]dus Cbrift. according to his moil fure Word of Promife and Prophecy concerning him, hath done every Thing that was proper and ncccflary and poflible to be done for fpiritually difpo- fing, and perfectly enabling, and powerfully moving all Mankind to prepare and qualify themfelves for the Enjoyment and fure At- tainment of Salvation, and true and fpiritual Happinefs both temporal and everlafting, and for putting and keeping them continually in Mind of every Thing proper and neceffary to be known, believed, or done by them, in order to their San&ification, Salvation, and eternal Life. And it is well worth the while of every Man living daily to confider, that every Luft, whether of the World, or the Flefh, or of Pride, or vain Ambition, which are differ- ed to enter and take Pofleffion of our Nature, and to become predominant over our Spirits, unarmed with iincere and true Faith, is very infatuating, as well as enraging, and apt to throw the Spirit tainted with it into a deadly Lethargy ; and that if Men are not awaken- ed out of it to fpeedy and fincere Repentance, neither by the Consideration of demonftra- tivc fpiritual and fcriptural and divinely re- vealed Faith, and of the indifpenfable Ne- ceiiity of perfevering In the iincere and true Belief of it, in order to their Sancliftca- tion and Salvation, and true and fpiritual Happinefs both temporal and everlafting ; nor Of the Divinity g/"Jefus Chrifr. 311 nor by the Consideration of the fevere, or- dinary, temporal Judgment which will ne- ceffarilj \ nor or the extraordinary divine temporal Judgments that will probably ; nor of the inevitable and endlefs Mifery, which will alio neceflarily, and by the Reafon or neceffary Courfe and Coulequen.ee of Things attend impenitent Perfeverance in Unbelief, Misbelief, or infincere Belief of that Faith, by which, and by which only, Mankind can be moved by iincere and true Repentance, and perfect Obedience, when thefe Things are let in a moll clear Light before them ; it is morally impoffible that fuch Perfons (hould be awakened to Repen- tance, till they are roufed by the laft Trum- pet, fummoning to the lad general Judg- ment, where they will fee the great God of Heaven and Earth, mod clearly juflihed in all his Words and Works fpoken and wrought for the Sandtification and Salvation of all the Children of Men, notwithstanding that they have been left unconsidered, and disregard- ed by Multitudes in all former Ages, and ridiculed and treated with Contempt by ma- ny Perlons of all Ranks and Orders, States- and Stations from the higheil to the lowed: in the prefent, when and where all fuch impenitently impious and wicked Perfons, capable of no other Repentance than that of Judas, fAsl*t*.rMia9 will hear their jufl Sentence, of Go ye cur fed into thojc ever fa ft- X 4 ing 312 Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrift. ing Flaw a of your Lufts, which ye have chcriihcd, and provided and prepa- red for you reives whilft ye continued in this World, notwitbftandinding the great and wonderful Things which God hath faid and done to preferve, and fave and deliver you from them, and (for I have elfewhere in my Apology fhewn, that Men's bodily Lulls, which are the* wicked Spirits that tempt Mankind into all the Sins and Wickednefs which they commit in this World, are the only true and real Devils which everlaftingly torment the Wicked in the next) which if duly confidered, is a moft awakening Confide- ration -, and as it is a Truth which every con- fiderate Perion will clearly perceive by the Reafon or KeceiLry Courfe and Confequcnce of Things to be undeniable, and that endlefs Mifery, muft be the unavoidable Portion of every Perfon without Diftindtion in the next World, who do not prepare and qualify themfelves by San&ification, for Salvation and everlafting Happineis whilft they live in this. And that although every Man hath fufficient Time allowed him whilft he is in this World, to prepare and qualify himfelf, and render himfelf capable of the Enjoyment of perfect and endlels Hnppinefs in the next by Faith and Purification, without which it is impofii- ble to be obtained : Yet the Confideratioa that our Continuance of this World, although fufficient, is butffiort, and but fufficient for that Of the Divinity 0/Jefus Chrift. 313 that Performance of the Work of Salvation for which we were fent into it, and that therefore this fhorr, but precious Interval of Time, ought not to be fquandered or mifem- ployed -, arid'if we likewife coniider that our Time in this World is not only lhcrt but un- certain, and that we know not whether we have another Day or Hour to live, we will thereby perceive .the indifpenfable Neceffity of letting about our fpi ritual Preparation with Speed, and without Delay, and continue air- ways peril ctiy prepared by Perfeverance in the fincere and true and living, and lively Be- lief of that Faith which came by the Reve- lation of God's fending, and the corning of the Death of Jejm Chrift our Lord, that we may be thereby moll: powerfully moved to continue to love God with all our Hearts, our Mind?, and our Souls, and manifeft the Truth and Sincerity of our Love, by Per- feverance in perfect: Obedience to his mod perfect, and only perfectly purifying Law, every Moment of our Lives ; becaufe if Death arrefts us unprepared thus, he will ne- ceffarily, and by the Reafon or necefTarv Courfe and Confequence of Things, be ine- vitably and inexpreffibly, and everlaflingly miferable. Therefore I moft earnestly re- commend that Faith which came by Je/us Chrift twho by (hat Faith, which he embra- ced without Meafure, became one with his heavenly Father, and his heavenly Father one 3 14 Of the Divinity of Jefus Chrifr. one with him, and together in mod intimate Spiritual Union with his Father, the one and only true fupreme and living God ; to whom in pet-fed Unity, together beafcribed all Glo- ry, Honour, Might, Majefty, and Domini- on andWifdom, Blefling, and Immortality ; and to whom be directed the pure and fin1 cere Love of all our Hearts, our Minds, and our Souls, with all our Strength ; and to whom be addreffed and offered up in fpiritual Faith, and in Sincerity and Truth, and Purity of Heart all Prayer and Supplication, Praife, and Thanfgiving, Worfhip and Service now and for ever.) To the Confideration and fincere Belief of all Kings and Princes, and of their Counfellors and Miniflers, who fel- dom think of the great Work of their Salva- tion, if we may judge of their Faith, and their Regard for God's Law, by the Mea lures they purfue, and the Actions they perform. And of all intermediate Ranks and Orders of Men, of all Stations and Profcffions, who too often miftake Superftition for true ipiritual fanclifying and faving Religion ; and to the loweft Ranks and Orders of Mankind, who leldom think of God or of a future State after this Life, or of the Salva- tion of their immortal Spirits, or of the Means, by which, and by which only, they can be fan&ified in this World, and faved from inexpreilible and endlefs Miiery in the next. That they may be all alarmed by the Of the Divinity c/Jeflis Chrift. 315 the Confideration of thefc awakening Truths> and moved to have their Part in theory? Re- furreEiion^ which is from the Grave of Luft and Sin in this World, by hearkening to the awakening Inftru&ipns, Admonitions, and Reproofs of the Spiritual Watchmen, whom God hath fet over them to watch for their Souls, as Perfons who are to give an Account for their fpiritujl Welfare or Mifcarriage. That they may thereby lave themftlves from the Wrath to come, and that the fe- cond Death may have no Power over them, (/. e.) that they may not be made everlau> ingly miferable in the next World, by the unquenchable Flames of thofe exhorbitant and infatiable and inraging Luffs or t; World, of the Fleih, and of Pride, by whi b they were made impure and impious, an. i < m- charitable and malevolent, and everv o, Way wicked Angels and Agents of the Devil, and fpiritually miferable in this World. — And there is no other Way of u.\ g our- felves from the everlafting fpiritual Mifery^ which our unmortified bodily Lulls will ne- ceflarily and inevitably bring upon us (if we die with them unmortified in us) than by Perfeverance in the fincere and true Belief of that Faith which God revived and reiiored to our firft Parents, by the Revelation of his fending, and the coming and Deaih of his only begotten Son Jefus Chrift into the World; for by the Mcafure of this^ Faith, which every 3 1 6 Of the Divinity of Jefus (Thrift. every Man may have, if he will chufe to embrace it, we are mod powerfully moved to love God with all our Hearts, and to mortify and purify our Spirits from all thofe bodily Lufts, by which we are made impi- ous and wicked, and fpiritually miferable both temporally and everlaitingly, and there- by to become pure and good, and God-like whilit we are in this World ; and like him perfedlyand everlaitingly happy in the next. And for our Confolation and Encouragement to perfevere in the fincere and true Belief of, and in perfect Obedience to this fan&ifying and laving, and both temporally and ever- laitingly happy-making lpiritual Faith. Our moil gracious God and heavenly Father was moft gracioufly pleafed to iet before us, the Example of his only begotten Son, the Man Chriji Jefas, who being a mere Man by his embracing that perfectly purifying Faith without Meafure, became one with his hea- venly Father, and in moft intimate fpiritir.I Unity with his Father, (by which his Will and all his Thoughts, Defires, Words, and Works, became one and the fame with his Father's, and the Will and all the Thoughts, Defires, Words, and Works of his Father became one and the fame with his) he became together with him, but not exclufive of him, the one and only true fupreme and living God ever all Bleffed for ever and ever. Amen. FINIS. Now in the Prefs, And fpeedily will be Publiilied, Animadverfions on the Volume of Letters of the late Lord Bolingbrokey concerning the Study of Hiftory. WHEREIN is moft clearly {hewn (from thofe demonftrated and un- conteftibly true Principles, by which, and by which only, all the Arguments and Objections which ever have been, or ever will or can be brought and raifed, by Unbelievers or Mif- bclievers of all Kinds and Denominations a- gainft the divine Authority and Truth, and Perfection and perfect Righteoufnefs of the holy Scriptures ; and of that one and only true, and divinely revealed fancYifying and faving fpiritual and fcriptural and Chriftian Religion, that ever was, or ever will or can be in the World, which is fo clearly contain- ed and let forth in thofe holy Scriptures \ can be demonstratively and unanfwerably, and therefore effectually fhewn, to be invalid and groundlefs and irrational ; and to tend to make Mankind impure, and impious, and wicked, and fpiritually miferable? both temporally and everlaftingly, and that every Particular t which his Lordfhip hath produced and ad- / vanced in thofe Letters, in order to blaft and deftroy the Credit of the facred Hiftory of the Advert ifement* the holy Bibk j and of that one and only true and divinely revealed, Spiritual and ChriiUan Religion, which is mod clearlv contained and let torth therein ; is either falfe and ground- less, or altogether impertinent, and tends to make Mankind impious and immoral, and fpiritually miferable, both temporally andever- laftingly ; and to have proceeded altogether from either grofs but culpable, and therefore inexcufable Ignorance of the facred Hi (lory of the Bible ; and of that holy and only holy and happy-making Religion therein contained, or from Makvolence to Mankind, which is all that his Lordihip's Arguments fet forth ia thefe Letters, can be fhewn to prove. By J 0 II N SCO T% D. D. Prepared and ready for the Prefs, And to be Publifhed by SUBSCRIPTION, The fir ft Part of an Apology for the one and only trite and divinely revealed fanclifying and faving ana Chriftian Religion, that ever was, or ever wtU or can be in the World : Confiding of two Volumes in Octavo Wherein are demonftratively fhewn, Firjl, HP H E divine Authority, or Revelation of that A Religion. Secondly, The demonftrantive and undeniable Truth of the Faith, and the fell- evidently perfect Righteouf- nefs of the Law, which are the conftjtuent Parts of that Religion, Thirdly, The indifpenfable Neceffity of perfevering in the (ulcere and true Belief of that Faith, and in per- fect Obedience to that Law ; in order to Sanclification and Salvation, and true Happinefs both natural and fpi- ritual, and temporal ^and everlalting ; and alfo the Self- funic iency of Perfeverance in the iincere and true Belief of that Faith, and in per feci: Obedience to that Law, for the Cure Attainment Ot thofe great neceflary and happy Ends. Fourthly, The divine Original and Inftitution of all the iuftructive and memorial Ordinances, and the true and only End for which they were appointed to be pub- lickly and privately, and conftantly and perpetually adminiftcred, and attended upon, and obferved : And their great Propriety for anfwering the Ends for which they were originally inftituted ; that Mankind, by theie Confederations, may be with-held from a fuperftitious Obfervance and Abule of them. By (hewing thefe four Things in a demonftrative Way, (which hath not been ufu ally done by the Mini- fters of the Church of God) the wicked and everlaft- ingly dcftruclive Tendency of all the Objections and Arguments, which have been raifed and brought a- gainft the one and only true and divinely revealed, C5V. Religion, by Acheii$p and t>e,iirs? and all other licen- tious Adverttfemcnt. tious Advocates for natural Religion ; and by all He- reticks and Scifmaticks of all Denominations, will be made demonstratively to appear. And by (hewing thzfe four Things, all the particular Sc&-diflipgui(hi|^Do£lrines and Precepts of all the corrupt and fa lfe^Ch.u relics that have ever been in the World, will be made appear to befalfe and wicked, and to tend and make Men fupcrftitious and impious, and wick-rd and malevolent^ and uncharitable, and hypo- critical, and truly and fpiritually mifcrable, both tem- poralis, and cverlafcingly. Fifthly and Itiftty, In this Apology will be (hewn, wha the one and only true fan£tifying and faving, &c. Religion is, at. d wherein it wholly confifls ; and how and by what Means it hath (o happened, that for fome Ages pad, as well as in the prefent, it hath been very little known or regarded by the Generality of any Rank or Order of Mankind, even in the Chriftian World, and al*o the true and only Means and Method, by which it can he revived and reftored to the World again, in its original Purity and Perfection, for the Revival and Reiteration of true and Spiritual Purity and Piety, and univerfal Benevolence or Charity, and per- feci: Righteou fuels, and every other moral Virtue. That Mankind may be awakened, and powerfully moved to ufe the Means, by which, and by which only, they can be qualified for Salvation, and the En- joyment and Attainment of the true and fpiritual Hap- pinefs,' both temporal and everlaft in . . By J 0 H N SCOTT, D. D. The Price of the hrft Part, confiding of two Vo- lumes in Octavo, ftitehed in blue Paper to Subscribers, is only fourteen Shillings, feven Shillings to be paid at the Time of fubfci ibing, and the other (even on the Delivery of the Books. Subscriptions are taken in, and Receipts given for the Delivery of the Hooks, at the Author's Dwel- ling Houfe in Orchaid-Striet, Weflmi>ijler ; Mr. Wood- fall, Printer, the Corner of Craig's Court , Charing- Crofs ; Mr. Hawkins , Bookfeller, between the Two Clemple-Gatesy Fleet Jl tee t» \ i&