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 SOLEMN REASONS 
 
 FOR BELIEVING THAT 
 
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 GOD IS ONE: 
 
 AND FOR WITHHOLDING ASSENT TO THE PROPOSITION THAT 
 
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 GOD IS THREE. 
 
 "The fundamental principle of Protestantism is, the Bible is the only rule 
 of faith and practice." Professor Stewart. 
 
 "The language of Scripture, is the language of common sense; the plain 
 artless language of nature. Why should writers adopt such language as ren- 
 ders their meaning obscure; and not only obscure, but unintelligible; and not 
 only unintelligible, but utterly lost in the strangeness of their phraseology?" 
 
 Dr. Dwight. 
 
 BY JOSHUA LEONARD, 
 
 Member of the Presbytery qf Cor t land, New~York. 
 
 PRESS OF J. F. FAfilCHILD & SON. 
 
 1834.
 
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 . . 
 
 SOLEMN REASONS 
 
 AND FOR WITHHOLDING ASSENT TO THE PROPOSITION THAT 
 
 GOD IS THREE. 
 
 4t ' ' ' *F ' 
 
 REASON I. 
 
 The Scriptures are explicit in asserting the Unity of God. 
 
 Jesus answered him, The first of all the command- 
 ments is, Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is One Lord. . . 
 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast 
 said the truth ; for there is One God ; and there is none 
 other but he. And Jesus saw that he answered discreet- 
 ly." Mark, xii. 29. 
 
 Need I proceed and collect passages which assert, with 
 no reserve, that Jehovah is One? It is needless. God 
 styles himself " The Holy One ;" and says, he knows not 
 any other. Here we are safe in believing with all the soul. 
 We must so believe ; or we cannot love him with all the 
 heart, and mind, and strength. We need fear no conse- 
 quences. We may regard as fabulous, every scheme of 
 theology, which trenches on this foundation of all religion ; 
 natural, Jewish, or Christian.
 
 4 GOD is ONE; 
 
 I use terms literally, when I say, God is One Being ; 
 One Person ; One Agent ; One Spirit, infinitely great and 
 good. Each individual man is conscious that he is one. 
 And if he were asked in what sense he is one ; he would 
 justly suspect that the querist had some sly intention to 
 entangle him. When God says that He is One ; the man 
 without guile supposes that God is one, as he is one : one 
 conscious being. And so I understand that God is one. 
 
 I remark that GOD SUPREME is meant : He who was be- 
 fore the world ; before man ; before the created soul and 
 body of the man Christ Jesus : the Unchangeable Divinity, 
 from everlasting to everlasting. 
 
 It is the custom as well of scripture, as of heathen wri- 
 ters, to give the name God to every being which is made 
 the object of religious worship : whether it be superior or 
 inferior ; whether it be one or many. And the word Lord, 
 is used with meanings still more various and diminutive. 
 " There be Gods many, and Lords many : but to us, there is 
 but one God, the Father." I. Cor. viii. 5. The Father is 
 GOD SUPREME. This one God, is the Father of angels and 
 of men ; and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is 
 the Great Creator ; the King Immortal and Invisible ; the 
 unlimited and indivisible Jehovah. He is unbegotten, un- 
 born, unoriginated, independent, everlasting. This God 
 is united to the man Christ Jesus : and is the divinity 
 of Christ. Otherwise he has no divinity. For there is no 
 other reigning divinity in the universe. All others are 
 fabulous. The head of Christ is God." I. Cor. ii. 3. 
 (Appendix A.) 
 
 " To us there is but one God, the Father : and one Lord 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 Jesus means Saviour. But Jesus was a proper name 
 .among the Jews.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 5 
 
 Messiah, from the Hebrew ; and Christ, from the Greek, 
 both mean anointed. Christ was not a proper name ; 
 but a title of office. It was therefore applicable to the 
 whole succession of kings and high priests, good and bad, 
 of the people of Israel. Prophets, priests and kings, 
 were designated to their functions by being anointed 
 with oil. Hence David said of Saul, "The Lord forbid 
 that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's 
 Christ, to stretch forth mine hand against him ; seeing he 
 is the Christ of the Lord." I. Sam. xxiv. 6* This ac- 
 cords with the original. The title Christ was applied 
 to others chosen of God to fulfil his great designs. 
 Thus in Ps. cv. 15, "Touch not my Christs, and do my 
 prophets no harm." Hence the title " The Christ" was 
 given by the^ inspired writers, to that great personage, 
 foreshewn as one day to arise in Israel ; in whom all the 
 offices of prophet, priest and king unite. Thus David 
 represents him as anointed of God, to be king of God's 
 heritage : Isaiah, as consecrated to be God's messenger of 
 good tidings to men : and Daniel, as appointed of God to 
 make expiation for the sins of the people. Hence, " The 
 Christ" was used as a name of office by the suffering 
 Saviour himself, while he remained on earth : and is so 
 used by the evangelists. But Jesus Christ came by de- 
 grees to be used as the proper name of the man who was 
 crucified under.Pontius Pilate ; and is so used in the epis- 
 tles ; and so, commonly with us. 
 
 And by reason that the union of divinity and humani- 
 ty became more and more apparent, in and towards the 
 concluding part of revelation ; and that the Almighty pow- 
 er of the in-dwelling Godhead was displayed in his acts ; 
 and that. titles were given him which are giv-en to the Fa- 
 ther who was in him, and in whom he was ; and that the
 
 6 GOD IS OlfE J 
 
 divinity and humanity co-existed, co-willed, and co-acted ; 
 and that " we see the attributes of human nature in such 
 intimate conjunction with those of the divine :" hence the 
 import of the now proper name Christ, is enlarged to com- 
 prehend both natures. We sometimes use the name 
 Jesus Christ for the divinity and humanity united. And the 
 rather, since we sinners correspond with the Father by 
 the Son. And this orthodox language is expressive of scrip- 
 tural meaning. And the orthodox have also made this cor- 
 rect distinction, viz : when they speak of the divinity only ; 
 or irrespective of the created nature ; they call him God, 
 Lord, or Jehovah; and not Jesus Christ: as we never hear 
 them say, The heavens declare thy glory, O Lord God 
 Jesus Christ. But when they mean to embrace and spe- 
 cially refer to the humanity, always regarded as in union 
 with the divinity ; they use the proper name Jesus Christ, 
 embracing the whole complex person. And however this 
 may have come to be common language, there is. correct- 
 ness in the distinction it indicates. 
 
 Almost all words have different senses in different dis- 
 courses : . so they have in the sacred writings. Even the 
 words God, Lord, Father, Son, Spirit, Grace, Worship; all 
 are used with different meanings in different passages. 
 Thus, Jehovah said to Moses, "See, I have made thee a God 
 to Pharaoh." Exod. vii. 1 . Earthly rulers and judges are 
 called Gods, on account of their dominion among men ; 
 bearing a distant resemblance to the dominion of the Most 
 High. Thus in Ps. Ixxxii, "God" (Supreme) "standeth 
 in the congregation of the mighty. He judgeth among 
 the Gods. How long will ye judge unjustly ? I have said 
 ye are Gods ; and all of you children of the Most High. 
 But ye shall die like men ; and fall like one of the princes." 
 Good rulers in seats of power are entitled to worship
 
 AND NOT THREE. 7 
 
 (obeisance) from those whom they protect. Thus, in ful- 
 filment of Joseph's dream, his brethren, when he was 
 Lord in Egypt, bowed down their heads and worshipped 
 him. Gen. xliii. 28. Here too, Joseph is Lord. "As Pe- 
 ter was coming in Cornelius fell down at his feet and wor- 
 shipped him." Acts, x. 25. David having conferred the 
 throne upon Solomon, all the congregation " bowed down 
 their heads, and worshipped the LORD and the king." 
 I. Chron. xxix. 20. Here the self same word in the self 
 same place, means two things, viz : offering supreme hom- 
 age to Jehovah, and inferior homage to king Solomon. 
 (Appendix B.) 
 
 Hence, in obtaining the precise meaning of a word, we 
 jnust examine the very passage where it occurs. We do 
 similarly in conversation. We catch the meaning, and 
 the various shades of meaning, almost without effort. But 
 that we may understand the scriptures, we need not scru- 
 ple to use effort and care, when these are necessary. For 
 in searching* tl^it we may know what instruction God 
 meant to impart in any passage ; it is not enough that we 
 have a scriptural truth in our minds. We would know 
 the meaning of the very passage under consideration ; and 
 see if the truth we contemplatenbe the very truth intend- 
 ed in this very passage. It ought never to satisfy a preach- 
 er or his hearers, that he takes a text and preaches true 
 things. He should develope the very truths of the text 
 in hand. Otherwise, the confusion of his own mind will 
 render his hearers doubly confounded. Ezra the scribe 
 " read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave 
 the sense ; and caused the congregation to understand the 
 reading." Neh. viii. 8. 
 
 If we place a word of various import in a human creed, 
 and there give it a fixed meaning, and repeat the creed
 
 8 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 continually in the ears of the people; that meaning will be 
 suggested to their minds, whenever they read that word 
 in the bible. The consequence will be, they can never 
 understand the bible ; nor make sense of what they read. 
 Words, even the word God, has sundry meanings. 
 
 The angel said to Mary, " The Holy Ghost shall come 
 upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow 
 thee : therefore, also, that holy thing which shall be born 
 of thee, shall be called the Son of God." Luke, i. 35. 
 That " holy thing" was the created nature of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 In the course of his preaching, Jesus claimed to be the 
 " Son of God." On this, the Jews falsely said, ," Thou be- 
 ing a man, makest thyself God." John, x. 33. Jesus vir 
 tually denies the truth of their malevolent assertion : but 
 shews them from their scriptures, that though he was a 
 man, yet as a prophet sent by his Father, he might have 
 assumed the title God. But as matter of fact, he had not 
 assumed it. " Jesus answered them, Is it not written in 
 your law, I said, Ye are Gods ? If then he called them 
 Gods unto whom the word of God came ; say ye of him 
 whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, 
 Thou blasphemest ; because I said, I am the Son of God ?" 
 As if he had said, "Your hatred prompts you to accuse me, 
 contrary to truth, as having claimed to be God. I assum- 
 ed only the title, Son of God. And had I, as an inspired 
 man, assumed the title God, it would have been unexcep- 
 tionable. For prophets are so called in your scriptures. 
 How unjust then is your charge of blasphemy for assum- 
 ing the lower title, ' Son of God.' " 
 
 As " sent of God," he had a just claim to the title God ; 
 as we learn from this passage. He had a higher charac- 
 ter, and higher claims to the title God; which he warily
 
 AND NOT THREE. V 
 
 concealed as yet, lest they should kill him before the 
 time. (Appendix C.) 
 
 If I have wandered from the proposition, viz : " The 
 scriptures are explicit in asserting the Unity of God;" it is 
 that I may not be misunderstood. 
 
 When I assert that God is One ; I intend God Supreme, 
 as contradistinguished from the Gods of the heathen, 
 which are vanity and a lie ; and as contradistinguished from 
 earthly rulers and judges, who die like men ; and as con- 
 tradistinguished from prophets whom Jehovah hath sanc- 
 tified and sent unto the world ; and as contradistinguished 
 from the true body and reasonable soul of Jesus, the "holy 
 child" born of Mary, and begotten of God. The Son of 
 God was a man of sorrows, and died on the cross. His 
 soul descended into hell (hades, rendered hell in Acts ii. 
 27, and 31 ; and in Ps. xvi. 10.) ; and his body was laid in 
 the tomb. He, though "The Son of the Highest;" and 
 though "he must in all things have the preeminence ;" 
 was created by "The Power of the Highest, The Holy 
 Ghost which overshadowed Mary." 
 
 The Great God, who is One and Supreme, hath no Fa- 
 ther : and is Son to no Father in heaven above, or on earth 
 beneath. He is himself Eternal : The Father, and Law- 
 giver of all worlds. Of his own will, and according to his 
 own pleasure, he rules the immensity of created beings. 
 He always maintains his royal State ; and supports the 
 majesty of his Divinity. He never lowers himself, for a 
 moment, to act in subordination to another. Every creat- 
 ed intelligent being, on whatever world he is placed^ may 
 look up towards his throne ; and say, O my God ! But 
 Jehovah saith, " My God," to no one. He is sent on no 
 mission. He is appointed to no official station. It would 
 
 be impiety to say to him, Thy God hath appointed thee to 
 
 B
 
 10 GOD is OWE; 
 
 an office. It would be like attempting to tear him from 
 his throne ; and rank him with creatures under a Supe- 
 rior. 
 
 The Holy One is the uncontrollable Superior of all oth- 
 er beings, however great or small : however near to us, 
 or remote on worlds at illimitable distance. On his good 
 pleasure alone, depend their existence and their endless 
 destination. " Who shall not fear before thee !" 
 
 The created nature of Jesus Christ is The Son of God ; 
 whom the Father " hath appointed heir of all things, by 
 whom also he made the worlds ; who when he had by him- 
 self purged our sins, sat down on the right liand of the 
 Majesty on high ; being made so much better than angels 
 as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name 
 than they :" i. e. " The Son :" " My Son." Heb. i. 2, 3, 
 5. Through his mouth, the in-dwelling Divinity speaks ; 
 has spoken from the beginning ; and will speak. " His 
 name is therefore called The Word of God." He is The 
 Son ; not The Father : The Humanity ; not The Divinity : 
 " The Image of the invisible God ;" not " The invisible 
 God." He was made a curse for us, by hanging on a tree : 
 " was dead, and is alive." 
 
 The Eternal God had no origin : was not begotten : was 
 not born : is not servant, angel, or messenger. He is not 
 a man. He never received a law ; nor acted a subordi- 
 nate part. He never suffered : was never poor ; and nev- 
 er died. He never for a moment laid aside his perfections : 
 but has revealed his wrath from heaven against all who 
 will not acknowledge him as GOD. He never veiled his 
 glories : nor allowed excuse to those who remain ignorant 
 of them. He never made himself of no reputation : and 
 he damns wicked men for treating him with disregard. 
 He exalteth himself on high : and commandeth all worlds
 
 AND NOT THREE. 1 1 
 
 to magnify him. The clouds of adversity and sorrow roli 
 infinitely beneath him. He liveth from everlasting, and 
 forever ; and is without variableness or shadow of change. 
 HIM the scriptures declare to be ONE. 
 
 REASON II. 
 
 JV0 one passage of Scripture says that God is Three. (Appendix D.) 
 
 IP any one please to ask, what I mean to qualify by the 
 numeral three 1 I readily answer ; three any thing which 
 the querist pleases. I mean, that scripture does not say 
 that God is three at all. We read not in any one passage 
 that God is three Gods : or, three beings : or, three united 
 spirits : or, three percipient agents ; sending, or being sent : 
 or, three living divinities : or, three associates counselling 
 together, and speaking with one another: or, three equal 
 agents sustaining different offices, or any offices : or, three 
 persons equal in power and glory ; or, three economically 
 unequal : or, three equals consenting to be subordinate to 
 one another. 
 
 Either of these, I suppose, would be three persons. But 
 not one passage says that God is three persons : or, three 
 one : or, three substances ; or three in one substance : or, 
 three in mode, and not three in essence : or triune : or, 
 trinity : or, three in his nature or being. He is not said to 
 have been eternally three ; nor to have become three in 
 time. Nothing is said of his essence, unless it be implied 
 in the expression, " God is a Spirit." The numeral adjec- 
 tive three is not once in scripture applied to him in any
 
 12 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 sense. Whereas the numeral one is applied to him in pas- 
 sages not a few. He is characterized in the bible as " THE 
 HOLY ONE :" but never as " The sacred three." 
 
 If the enquirer think the scripture language may be im- 
 proved ; and say, that God is three : I have an equal right 
 to ask him what he means : three what 1 
 
 If he say, three Ab-ra-ca-da-bra : I may ask him what 
 he means by Ab-ra-ca-da-bra ? If he answer, I do not 
 know. It is an inscrutable mystery : I may not tell him he 
 is dishonestly imposing upon me. This would seem uncivil. 
 
 I ask him therefore whether he finds Ab-ra-ca-da-bra 
 in the bible ? He may answer, JVb : but the same thing in 
 meaning and substance runs through the whole bible : and I 
 must suspect your religion is vain ; and that you are on the 
 high road to perdition because you do not believe it. I cer- 
 tainly ought not to hold that man in contempt ; whether 
 he be a wise and apparently pious man in other respects, 
 or not. For such unmeaning sounds have been held in 
 reverence by millions of men : expressive of what they 
 have deemed sacred mysteries. 
 
 If instead of this, he answer, God is three one : triune : 
 or three divine and equal persons : I am just as unenlighten- 
 ed as before : if to the question What do you mean by three 
 persons? he says, My answer is, I do not know. I have the 
 same opinion of his honesty and wisdom, as before. Nei- 
 ther three Ab-ra-ca-da-bra, nor three persons in God, are 
 found in the bible. And no man knows what they are. 
 And neither of them furnish the least aid in obtaining the 
 meaning of any one passage in the bible. If so, I must 
 think their importance overrated. 
 
 I have introduced the cabalistical syllables Ab-ra-ca-da- 
 bra, merely to illustrate my meaning : not to make any 
 theorist ridiculous ; however unmeaning his creed. I am
 
 JLND NOT THREE. 13 
 
 not' disposed to levity while treating on these subjects. I 
 hold no heretic in contempt ; whether he be Christian, Jew, 
 or pagan. However obscured by his prejudices, or 
 sullied by folly or sin ; he has an immortal soul for which 
 Christ died. And if my prayers are specifically arrswer- 
 ed ; he and I will be saved, side by side, by the same 
 Grace : and we may be intimately associated in learning 
 the w r onderful works of God ; and in discovering the glo- 
 ries of his anointed Son. Indeed, he may be appointed to 
 do more towards expanding my intellect, and raising my 
 affections ; than I, in aiding his. He may condescendingly 
 guide my views ; and I joyfully yield precedence to him, 
 millions of ages hence. I can hardly ask more for myself, 
 or less for him, than that it may be so. 
 
 I repeat : " not one passage of scripture says that God is 
 three." Here I might stop. I have no passage to appeal 
 to, on the subject of God's being three. For there is no 
 passage in the bible on the subject. How am I to prove 
 this negative proposition ? If it were admitted as good 
 evidence that God is not three, that the bible says he is 
 one ; the task would be easy. 
 
 To find that God is three ; three equal persons ; or tri- 
 une : we must go to the creeds of men; to the speculations 
 of the fathers ; to the ancient Jews ; and to the mythology of 
 heathens. We must reverse Paul's rule, who says, "We 
 speak not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth ; but 
 which the Holy Ghost teacheth." I. Cor. ii. 13. 
 
 The venerable Dr. Dwight treats on the trinity, in Vol. 
 6, sermon 71. He admits in the beginning of his sermon 
 that " the proof of this doctrine must unquestionably be 
 derived from the scriptures alone." 
 
 The purest protestants have been forward in maintain- 
 ing that the bible is the only rule of faith and practice.
 
 14 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 For they observed that while men revered the canons of 
 the church, and acknowledged legislative power in eccle- 
 siastics ; the world was overspread with an artificial Chris- 
 tianity. Religion was a mere thing of wax in the hands 
 of ministers, which they could twist and shape into any 
 form they pleased. It was then arrayed in purple, and 
 decked in gold ; and had on its forehead the name " Mys- 
 tery : Mother of harlots." And this is not fancy, but his- 
 torical fact. 
 
 The word of God differs widely from the dogmas of 
 men. God knows : and is of a rectitude which will not 
 deceive. Men are ignorant, selfish, and imperfectly to be 
 trusted ; all over the world, through all ages since the fall 
 of man. In every order of men, selfishness points to some 
 interest of self ; as steadily an the needle to the pole. The 
 clergy make creeds which partake of the imperfection of 
 their authors : and they have no authority to bind the con- 
 sciences of men. Every man must receive the law at the 
 mouth of Christ ; and give personally account of himself 
 to God. Says John, " Beloved, believe not every spirit : 
 but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many 
 false prophets are gone out into the world." I. John, iv. 
 1. And the church at Ephesus was commended for this 
 reason : "Thou hast tried them which say they are apos- 
 tles and are not ; and hast found them liars." Rev. ii. 2. 
 They must have tried them by the word. 
 
 If, then, any sincere enquirer would know what Chris- 
 tianity is ; let him search, not in the great world around 
 him ; not in the catholic, the episcopalian, the presbyteri- 
 an, and the baptist church ; but in the bible : as Dr. Dwight 
 says, " unquestionably in the scriptures alone." This ren- 
 dered " the Bereans more noble than those in Thessaloni- 
 ca." Acts, xvii.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 15 
 
 " Pontiffs, priests, and ministers, distributed into difter- 
 ent classes, presided over pagan worship. The sacerdo- 
 tal order was supposed to be distinguished by an immedi- 
 ate intercourse with the Gods. And it abused its author- 
 ity in the basest manner to deceive an ignorant and 
 wretched people." Adams' view of Rel. p. 12. 
 
 This account of things in pagan countries, is more or 
 less applicable (if history deserves the least credit) to all 
 national establishments ; and indeed to all sects, during all 
 the ages which have rolled away. The reason is, man 
 has continued to be man ; in whatever garb ; under what- 
 ever profession. " Thus saith the LORD ; cursed is the 
 man that trusteth in man. Blessed is the man that trust- 
 cth in the LORD." 
 
 Notwithstanding the declaration of Dr. Dwight, in the 
 sermon alluded to, that " the proof of the doctrine of the 
 trinity must be derived from the scriptures alone :" the 
 sermon itself has this title, viz : " Testimonies to the doc- 
 trine of the trinity from the ancient Christians, Jews, and 
 heathens." 
 
 He admits that " it is a doctrine of an extraordinary na- 
 ture :" and that if we had now first discovered it in the 
 scriptures ; " we should be inclined to doubt the soundness 
 of our interpretation; if we found the Jews construing 
 certain passages in the old testament, and the early chris- 
 tians in the new, in a manner totally different from ours. 
 We should, I think, suspect our own mode of construction. 
 Nor is the testimony even of heathens concerning this 
 subject to be disregarded." 
 
 I should be much for going along with the Doctor, as 
 not behind in veneration ; if what he urges, firmly to per- 
 suade my willing faith, did not dissuade me most ; and 
 seem to cast ominous conjecture on the whole success -
 
 16 GOD is ONE ; 
 
 whbn he who much excels in mental strength, mistrustful 
 of scripture alone, grounds his hope, at least in part, oft 
 pagan fables, Jewish fictions, and the platonic mysteries of 
 the early fathers. 
 
 " The doctrine," he says, " lies wholly out of the course, 
 I think I may say, out of the reach of human thought." I, 
 too, believe that no thought has yet reached it ; nor any 
 man had a conception what the doctrine is ; as it is held 
 forth to the people, and received by them. And, I appre- 
 hend that the bible furnishes no aid to the mind which tries 
 to reach it. Yet I make the bible my creed, for the fur* 
 ther following reasons. 
 
 The Jews who embraced the gospel in the apostolic age, 
 were nevertheless zealous of their abrogated law ; and 
 mingled their old traditions with their Christianity : 
 thus corrupting the gospel. Acts, xxi. 20. Paul labors 
 in his epistles to correct this evil. 
 
 And it is equally well known that those who were con- 
 verted to the gospel from the gentile world, brought along 
 with them, much of their heathen philosophy ; and incor- 
 porated this into their Christianity. For centuries, they 
 were not free from the mysteries and sophisms of Plato ; 
 and the allegories of the philosophical sects, venerated by 
 their pagan ancestors. 
 
 During 325 years, Christians were cruelly persecuted 
 by their pagan emperors, and governors. So long, how- 
 ever, they were zealous and active in turning men away 
 from demons and idols ; and raising their worship to the 
 Holy One, who made heaven and earth, the sea and the 
 dry land : cheering them with good hope through the me- 
 diatorial reign of his glorified Son. And God gave wit- 
 ness to their tidings ; and by his resistless power, caused 
 the dead to hear and live. Those early and persecuted
 
 AND NOT THREE. : 17 
 
 disciples covered nearly as wide an extent of the earth 
 with Christianity, as our present Christendom. Since that 
 period Christianity has moderately progressed to the West; 
 but has lost territory on the -East. Judea, and the North 
 of Africa, and Asia Minor, where the early churches flour- 
 ished, are chiefly occupied by the followers of Mahomet. 
 The early Christians, thousands of whom were of Israel, 
 did more in extending the faith, while the powers of the 
 earth set themselves against them ; than all Christians and 
 their missionaries have done since. So numerous were 
 Christians in Asia and Europe and Africa, in the fourth 
 century, that the emperor Constantine found it convenient 
 to profess the faith. 
 
 And it is clear that until this time, no church had a Con- 
 fession of Faith, setting forth three persons in God : or 
 three equal agents in the substance of the Godhead : or 
 that God is divisible into persons' equal in power and glory : 
 or that there are three physical or philosophical distinc- 
 tions in the nature of God, rendering him triune, triple, or 
 threefold. Nor did one of them profess what is now pro- 
 fessed in all our orthodox churches as the orthodox faith. 
 
 The early fathers appear to have had no uniform or well 
 defined ideas, when they wrote of the pre-existent soul of 
 Christ ; the Archangel, Logos, or Word of God. Their 
 writings indeed have been so corrupted, that we cannot 
 pronounce what they originally were. "Where," says 
 Rev. Dr. Brownlee, " can the universal consent of the fa- 
 thers be found? Not on the pages of their.endless contra- 
 dictions. As for traditions and oral laws, we will treat 
 them with the same respect as we do the Koran of Ma- 
 homet. As for the fathers of the greek and latin church- 
 es ; I will receive their pages with veneration as soon as 
 the catholic church shall produce a genuine copy of them,
 
 18 GOD IS OA T E ; 
 
 purged from the scandalous alterations and corruption* 
 made in them by the monks of the dark ages." 
 
 When the potentates of the earth ceased to -uphold idol- 
 atry by the sword, they took sides with the Christians ; and 
 helped, forward the great apostacy or " falling away." 
 They convoked councils of bishops. These councils form- 
 ed creeds: and emperors enforced them on their subjects. 
 Few of the people could read or write. Preachers ava- 
 ricious and guileful every where arose. In the eastern 
 church, controversies spring up, and parties denounced 
 each other as heretics. Hence frequent councils, to and 
 from which, contentious prelates were continually riding 
 post, that they might bring every thing to their own will 
 and interest. In the western church, contests for the 
 episcopal seat at Rome, were carried on by bribes and vi- 
 olence and murder. The successful occupants enriched 
 by the presents of matrons ; by their credit at court ; by 
 the credulity of devotees ; and by thrusting their rapacious 
 hands into every man's pocket ; went abroad in their char- 
 iots and sedans ; feasting sumptuously, and imitating the 
 luxury of princes. Doctrine and morals being corrupted 
 in the clergy ; the people followed the general depravity. 
 Primitive churches, primitive pastors, primitive humility 
 and love and zeal, gave place to ANTICHRIST. The church 
 became a worldly sanctuary, avaricious, persecuting, 
 bloody. A few faithful " witnesses prophesied in sack- 
 cloth." 
 
 Through succeeding ages of monkish bigotry and pop- 
 ish fraud, religion was further corrupted from the sim- 
 plicity of Christ. The pretended ministers, on whom the 
 people blindly depended for permission to enter heaven, 
 upheld the thrones of monarchs : and monarchs in their 
 turn, showered on them the treasures of their empires.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 19 
 
 The Christianity found in the bible was illy .adapted to the 
 purpose of extracting from their flocks, a sufficient sup- 
 port for such a clergy ; or for exciting the reverence they 
 desired. They finally disallowed the reading of the bi- 
 ble by the people. Children were asked by their cate* 
 chists, "What do you believe?" Answer, "I believe 
 whatever holy mother roman catholic church has taught 
 and believed." And the belief was artfully inculcated ; 
 The cause*of Christ, the destruction of heretics, the sup- 
 port of priests; these Three are One, 
 
 Paul,with the spirit of prophecy, foresaw this Antichrist : 
 and said to the Colossians, " Beware, lest any man spoil you 
 through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of 
 men, after the rudiments of the world ; and not after 
 Christ." He taught that the reign of Christ on earth, and 
 " the gathering togather" of all nations unto him, " shall 
 not come, except there be a falling away first ; and that 
 man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition ; who as God, 
 setteth in the temple of God, shewing that he is God," as 
 to authority to make Articles of .faith, and Rules of disci- 
 pline : " even him whose coming is after the working of 
 satan, with power and signs and lying wonders ; and with 
 all deceivableness of unrighteousness: whom the Lord 
 shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall de- 
 stroy with the brightness of his coming." II. Thess. ii. 
 (Appendix E.) 
 
 I have yet another reason for giving but little heed to 
 " the ancient fathers, Jews, and heathens." Thejmore we 
 read ancient history, the more we are impressed with the 
 contrast between ancient darkness, and present light : and 
 we are urged to go forward, and not backward. Ancient 
 .history is of great value. Yet no intelligent man reads it, 
 without rejecting many of its records as fabulous ; and
 
 II 
 
 20 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 doubting of many others ; and becoming tired of the ab- 
 surdities and ignorance and crimes which he is obliged to 
 review. Since printing, and the mariners compass, and 
 the discovery of America ; men have been more improv- 
 ed in arts, and science, and mental independence ; than du- 
 ring the preceding 4000 years. 
 
 Of the " testimonies to the doctrine of the trinity from 
 the ancient Christians," cited by Dr. Dvvight ; most of them 
 indicate the union of God and Man, and the pre-existence 
 of the soul of the Messiah : doctrines which I advocate : 
 and not one of them teaches that God is three persons 
 equal in power and glory. One of them is Theophilus 
 bishop of Antioch, anno 181. 
 
 He says, " The three days before the heavenly lumina- 
 ries, represent the trinity ; God, and his word, and his wis- 
 dom." Now this is no mystery : not three persons. It 
 implies that God is One. All Christians believe in "God, 
 and his word, and his wisdom." This intelligible scheme 
 may be ranked with the schemes of those whom Watts 
 denominates modal trinitarians. And I here say once for 
 all, that I object not to them ; if expressed in a lucid man- 
 ner : nor to those schemes of trinity professed by some of 
 the protestant churches at the reformation, denominated 
 analogical ; if intelligibly expressed. 
 
 The schemes of real trinitarians, are those I deem un- 
 scriptural ; baleful to the understanding ; deceptive ; and of 
 malign influence on Christian practice : as that God in his 
 being has three physical distinctions which are unknow- 
 able : that he is three persons equal in power and glory : 
 three intelligent agents who send and are sent: three 
 equals who are economically subordinate to one another : 
 three holding different offices by mutual assignment: in 
 ,fine, all such schemes as are mystical and inexplicable :
 
 AND NOT THREE. 21 
 
 such as are intentionally so constructed as to " render the 
 meaning obscure ; and not only obscure, but unintelligible ; 
 and not only unintelligible, but utterly lost in the strange- 
 ness of the phraseology." 
 
 Dr. Dwight quotes Origen who lived anno 230. " Ori- 
 gen says, When we come to the grace of baptism, we ac- 
 knowledge One God only, the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Ghost." How does this teach three persons, when 
 he expressly says, " We acknowledge One God only?" as 
 if he would guard the unthinking against the belief of three 
 persons, from the three names used hi the form of bap- 
 tism. He probably knew that the One God The Father 
 is a Spirit or Ghost, and the sanctifier of saints. He may 
 have known that The Son is the " apostle and high priest 
 of our profession whom God has made both Lord and 
 Christ :" that God is united to him ; dwells in him ; speaks 
 through his mouth ; makes him his Logos. Whether Or- 
 igen's views of this matter were very clear, may be doubt- 
 ed. We shall quite mistake, if we imagine that the theo- 
 logical ideas of any of the fathers were very accurate. 
 Professor Stewart says, " They involved themselves in 
 more than a Cretan Labyrinth, by undertaking to defend 
 the eternal generation of the Son." One thing is certain. 
 The doctrine that God is three persons equal in power and 
 glory, cannot be found in any one-of the fathers, till more 
 than 300 years after Christ. 
 
 Dr. Dwight cites Justin Martyr, who declares " that 
 Christ the first born word of God, is Lord and God, as be- 
 ing the Son of God ; and that he was the God of Israel." 
 The next sentence, I think, shews that this father had 
 some notion of the distinction between the created and un- 
 created natures in the person of Christ. " We adore and 
 love the unbegotten and invisible God." Here this father
 
 22 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 describes the invisible God as unbegotten. The Holy One 
 is truly unbegotten and unborn and invisible. But Justin 
 calls the $on, the first born word of God. And it is true 
 that the son was begotten and born and visible. The dis- 
 tinction further appears in the next sentence. " Him (The 
 Father,) and that Son who hath proceeded from him, and 
 the prophetical spirit" (the power which moved the proph- 
 ets) " we worship and adore." This is correct theology : 
 and as correctly expressed, as could be expected in any of 
 the ancient fathers. 
 
 Justin further declares that " more than one divine per- 
 son is denoted by the phrase, The man is become like one 
 of us: and that one of them is Christ." 
 
 It is a clear truth that the pre-existent spirit of Christ 
 was the ancient Logos ; and was the speaker who said, 
 " Let us make man, in our likeness ;" and who said, " The 
 man is become as one of us." 
 
 With this also agree the words of Hermas, a compan- 
 ion of the apostles themselves. From Hermas, the Doctor 
 thus quotes. " The Son of God was more ancient than any 
 creature ; seeing he was present with the Father at the cre- 
 ation of the world." This apostolical father here express- 
 es pure apostolical truth. But the attempt to find three 
 equal persons in God in the discourses of this compan- 
 ion of the apostles, or of Justin Martyr ; would be as 
 vain, as to look for them in the discourses of Christ or of 
 Paul. 
 
 Again from Dr. Dwight. "Theophilus declares, that 
 Christ, assuming TO nfautov rou wffe, the face, or form of 
 God ; came to paradise, and conversed with Adam." 
 This is true bible divinity ; as we shall shew in the sequel. 
 But Theophilus knew nothing of the Sacred Three. He 
 was two centuries too early for this mystery.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 23 
 
 Again: "Athenagoras says, the N& xai Xoyog of God, is the 
 Son of God." A 07* (Logos) means reason or wisdom, as 
 it exists in God or man. It also means word, when it i 
 designed to express the manifestation of the wisdom ex- 
 isting in the mind. * It sometimes means a declaration of 
 the wisdom or will of God. It sometimes means a word 
 of efficacious command. And sometimes it is used person- 
 ally ; and denotes an intelligent being by whom as an in- 
 strument, God reveals his wisdom or performs his opera- 
 tions. In this last sense, Irenius uses it. " The Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ is revealed to men by his Logos, 
 Word ; who is his Son. And he made all things by his 
 Word. John, i. 3., i. e. by Jesus Christ. For Paul says, 
 Eph. iii. 9., God created all things by Jesus Christ*" This 
 is true. 
 
 It is hoped the reader who is unacquainted with the in- 
 tricacies of language, will now understand why Christ is 
 called Logos, The Word. For Logos means not only 
 wisdom itself; but one that speaks it forth ; or an instru- 
 ment by which God effects the purposes of his wisdom. 
 Now we read, " No man knoweth who the Father is, ex- 
 cept the Son ; and he to whom the Son reveals him." 
 The Son is also the prime minister of the Father in rul- 
 ing the kingdoms of his providence and grace. On these 
 accounts the Son first obtained, and still retains the title 
 Logos, The Word ; or The Word of God. 
 
 God made known his will by the pre-existent soul of 
 Christ. He was the Father's angel or messenger, in the 
 long gone by ages. He also executed his Father's pur- 
 poses. He was the angel who instructed Abraham, and 
 destroyed Sodom. The name Logos was properly given 
 to that angel who appeared to the patriarchs, and in whom 
 was God's name ; or God himself. (Appendix F.)
 
 24 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 Christ, then, in his created nature, being " the angel of 
 God's presence ;" the revealer of his wisdom and perfec- 
 tions ; and the instrument of effecting his purposes ; was, 
 and is called Logos, The Word. But while Jews and 
 early Christians and the penmen of the bible, call him the 
 Word of God ; they never thought of first, second, and 
 third persons, equal and eternal in God. 
 
 When they figuratively represent powers, attributed, 
 and agencies, in a personal manner ; the thread of the dis- 
 course sufficiently manifests what was literally meant. 
 We all use figurative language : and properly ; if intelligi- 
 bly. Unintelligible language frustrates the design of all 
 language. None but guileful men can need it. 
 
 We may now understand why Athenagoras called the 
 Son, The Logos, The Wisdom, or Word of God. 
 
 Athenagoras also says, " We who preach God ; preach 
 God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Ghost : and 
 the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one." He may have 
 meant one person ; agreeably to the opinion of Praxeas : 
 or, he may have meant that the unbegotten Father and 
 begotten Son were one in affection and purpose : or one 
 by some personal union : and the Holy Ghost the same 
 one God, sending forth his sacred influence, effectively to 
 draw men to Christ : or he may have spoken into the air : 
 as the ancients often did : and as the moderns often do. 
 Christ intelligibly said, " I and my Father are one :" and 
 all Christians " are one in us :" one in affection, aim and 
 purpose. Besides ; Divinity and Humanity are one com- 
 plex person and object of worship. Three equal persons 
 would contradict the language of Athenagoras. He says, 
 " The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are One ;" not Three. 
 
 We will now notice a few of the ancient Jews cited by 
 Dr. Dwight " Philo who lived just before the birth of
 
 AND NOT THREE. 25 
 
 our Savior, calls the Logos, the eternal Logos ; and says, 
 he is necessarily eternal : and the image of the invisible 
 God." 
 
 Logos here cannot mean the attribute wisdom ; but the 
 personal agent who reveals it, viz : the pre-existent soul 
 of Messiah. By " eternal," Philo may have meant that he 
 was before the world; sometimes called "the days of 
 eternity." At any rate, this is the meaning of many of the 
 antients. And with our light, we know this was the true 
 fact. In confirmation of this, He was " the image of the 
 invisible God," says Philo the Jew. Paul says precisely 
 the same thing. Col. i. 1 5., " Who is the image of the in- 
 visible God ; the first born of every creature ; and he is be- 
 fore all things." 
 
 The image of any being never is, nor can be, the being 
 himself. Still less, if the image itself is invisible, as God 
 is said to be. This would be physically impossible. To 
 say, We behold the invisible image of the invisible God ; 
 and the invisible image is the invisible God, whose invisi- 
 ble image he is ; would be both palpable absurdity and pal- 
 pable falsehood. For the Logos was visible. I. John, i. 1. 
 
 Further, Philo says, " He who is, is on each side atten- 
 ded by his nearest powers; of which (powers) one 
 is creative, and the other kingly. The creative (pow- 
 er) is God, by which he founded the universe. The 
 kingly (power) is Lord. He who is in the middle, being 
 thus attended by both his powers, exhibits the appearance, 
 sometimes of one, and sometimes of three." Be it so. 
 This is said of pure Divinity. This, then, is Philo's un- 
 polished mode of teaching that God has his two powers 
 of contriving and accomplishing his marvellous crea- 
 tion. This modal trinity leaves the Unity of God unim- 
 
 peached. 
 
 D
 
 26 GOD is ONE; 
 
 Of the Logos, Philo says, " He who is begotten, imita- 
 ting the ways of his Father, and observing his patterns, 
 produces forms or things." This is said of the " begotten" 
 created nature. And it much resembles what Christ said 
 of himself: " Verily I say unto you, The Son can do noth- 
 ing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do : for what 
 things soever he doeth, these doeth the Son likewise." 
 John, v. 19. 
 
 Of the Logos, he further says, " He is the manager of 
 this world." And, " God governs all things according to 
 the strictest justice, having set over them, his righteous 
 Logos, his first begotten Son." This is interesting. 
 Whence should Philo the Jew obtain this? Probably 
 from the 2, and 110 Psalms. " I have anointed my king 
 upon my holy hill of Zion," &c. 
 
 Again, " Philo calls the Logos an angel ; the name of 
 God" (my name is in him, said Moses ;) " a man ; the be- 
 ginning ; the most ancient angel ; the Archangel of many 
 names ; and the high priest of this world : and says, his head 
 is anointed with oil." 
 
 Really, this Jew seems better acquainted with the pre- 
 existence and personal character of his expected Messiah, 
 than many writers of the present day. He calls the Lo- 
 gos, " The Son of God ; his first born ; Prince of angels ; 
 prophet of God ; light of the people ; and more ancient 
 than the world." He calls him the "most honorable 
 Logos ; who stands in the limits between the creature 
 and the Creator ; the eldest, the first begotten of the sons 
 of God ; who under God, governs the world ; and who doth 
 humbly mediate for us mortals with him who is immortal." 
 -Watts, Vol. 6. p. 605. 
 
 This for a Jew, is admirable. Of the three equal per- 
 sons he had never heard
 
 AND NOT THREE. 
 
 27 
 
 Once more from Dr. Dwight. " The equilateral Trian- 
 gle, with three small circles at the angles, and the letter 
 Jod inscribed over against the upper angle, was a Jewish 
 symbol of the Deity." 
 
 For the sake of those 
 unlearned in Trigonom- 
 etry, I give the Diagram. 
 
 " The three sides," says Dr. Dwight (the Jews did not 
 say so,) " indicated the three persons in the Godhead : and 
 the equal length of the sides, their equality : while the Jod 
 was a direct proof that Jehovah was intended by the em- 
 blem. The three circles probably denoted the perfection 
 of the Three Persons." 
 
 Now, I think, a greater mathematician than Dr. Dwight, 
 explaining this figure, might say, it probably denoted 
 something else. Here are indeed Three points in the 
 Triangle ; Three equal sides ; Three equal angles ; and 
 Three equal circles : more, than a trinity of trinities. 
 They may denote twelve persons, or nine, or Three. If 
 we conceive of God as triform, triple, triangular, and tri- 
 lateral ; this will help us to the meaning of trinity and tri- 
 une. The whole Triangle is One. The sides are Three. 
 
 If the Jews ever did use this figure as " A symbol of the 
 Deity," they violated the express laws of their God. He
 
 28 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 forbid the attempt to bring the invisible Intelligence with- 
 in the range of our senses. If they represented him by a 
 Triangle,or made him triune ; they were not far from idola- 
 try. Whoever will attempt to do this for a moment .... and 
 then reflect on his conceptions .... will perceive that the 
 God he contemplated, extended but a few yards around 
 him : that he obscured the glory of the infinite Jehovah : 
 and debased his own mind. That a single Jew from Mo- 
 ses to Christ ever believed that God is three equal per- 
 sons, or trinity, we have no evidence. If ever there was 
 such a Jew ; his belief was founded on no passage of the 
 old testament. From Christ to the present day, the Jews 
 have maintained the Unity of God ; and deny that their an- 
 cestors ever held to a trinity in God. And the pretence 
 that their denial results from their hatred of Christianity, 
 would not seem very candid : would not be countenanced 
 by history : would not, I think, be true. 
 
 The Doctor proceeds : " Another method used by the 
 Jews to denote God, was, to include in a square, three 
 Radii, disposed in the form of a crowm The crown seems 
 to have denoted the dignity and supremacy of the object 
 designed : the number three (radii,) the three persons in 
 the Godhead." 
 
 It may be so. Far more probably it was not so. The 
 Jews never said so. At any rate, these Radii are less 
 striking than Virgil's. Virgil describes the cyclops with 
 their ibrges in Mtna, forming a thunderbolt : such as Om- 
 nipotent Father (Jupiter) hurls on the earth. The thun- 
 derbolt on which he viewed them at work, had one part 
 already polished off. On this part were 
 
 "Three Radii of wreathed hail : 
 
 Three, of watery cloud : and 
 
 Three of glaring fire and winged wind."
 
 AND NOT THREE. 29 
 
 Here again is a trinity of trinities : which, we may con- 
 jecture, represents the three persons in the Godhead of 
 Jupiter. They may, however, represent the seasons , or 
 something else. 
 
 We may now respectfully accompany the Doctor with 
 his " testimonies to the trinity from the heathens." Here 
 he will be more successful. Not in Jewish, but in pagan 
 antiquity, we may descry some glimpses of the doctrine. 
 
 " The name of God among the Hindoos, is Brachme. 
 The names of the three persons in the Godhead" (the 
 Doctor's language, not the language of the Hindoos them- 
 selves) " are Brachma, Veeshnu, and Seeva. The three 
 faces of Brachma, Veeshnu, and Seeva, they always form- 
 ed on one body, having six hands. This method of delin- 
 eating the Godhead, is ancient beyond tradition ; and carv- 
 ed every where in their places of worship." 
 
 Again, "The Diana of the Romans is stamped on a med- 
 al, as having three faces on three distinct heads, united to 
 one form. On the reverse, is the image of a man, holding 
 his hand to his lips ; under whom, is this inscription : Be 
 silent : it is a Mystery." 
 
 This, too, was a threeheaded monster. The worship- 
 pers, too, were taught not to be very inquisitive. For it 
 was a " Mystery." The hierophants knew that scrutiny 
 would be fatal to their gains. 
 
 Once more from the Doctor. "The Egyptians ac- 
 knowledged a triad , Osiris, Isis, and Typhon. These 
 persons they denoted by the symbols, light, fire, and a ser- 
 pent. They represented them on the doors and other 
 parts of their sacred buildings, in the figures of a globe, a 
 wing, and a serpent ," or snake. 
 
 " One of the Egyptian fundamental axioms of theology, 
 is, There is one principle of all things, praised under the
 
 30 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 name of the Unknown Darkness j and this thrice repeat- 
 ed." 
 
 " Unknown Darkness" is indeed an appropriate appel- 
 lation of the MYSTERY as still set forth. 
 
 Osiris and Isis, adored in Egypt, were the sun and moon. 
 They also worshipped the ox, the dog, the hawk, the cat, 
 the crocodile, leeks and onions, and almost every thing 
 but the One God. Rollin's An. Hist. Vol. 1. p. 129, 130. 
 
 The priests had possession of the sacred books. These 
 contained the policy of the government , as well as the 
 Mysteries of Religion. The priests had the care of the 
 consciences of the kings. And so it has been in all na- 
 tions. Both the political and religious secrets were in- 
 volved in symbols and enigmas. The reverential wonder 
 of the vulgar was strongly excited. The figure of Har- 
 pocrates in the sanctuaries, with his finger upon his mouth, 
 intimated mysteries riot to be explored by the multitude. 
 Pyramids, and temples were emblazoned with hieroglyph- 
 ics. There were figures unintelligible to the vulgar. 
 There were birds, and beasts, and creeping things. All 
 couched a hidden meaning. And when God brought out 
 Israel j instead of saying, 
 
 Remember an Egyptian Trinity : 
 He commanded them, 
 "Defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt. "-Eze. xx. 7. 
 
 A man of discerning mind, like Lucian, though a hea- 
 then, could see through the tricks and mystical illusions 
 practiced on the multitude. " You enter," says Lucian, 
 " a magnificent temple, every part of which glitters with 
 gold and silver. You look attentively for a God : and are 
 cheated with an ape, a stork, or a cat : a just emblem of 
 too many palaces ; the kings in which are far from being 
 the brightest ornaments in them."
 
 AND NOT THREE. 31 
 
 Such a man could estimate the motives of the priests 
 who swayed the credulous Ephesians, when they " wor- 
 shipped the great Goddess Diana, and the image which 
 fell down from Jupiter." Acts, xix. 35. 
 
 However heathens have carved images with three 
 heads on one body ; or portrayed them on their temples ; 
 they were vanities which we deplore. The priests and 
 priestesses alone were profited. Their Gods and God- 
 desses, their demons and demigods, were monsters of im- 
 agination. That may be said of all their Deities, which 
 Paul said of their Idols ; " We know that they are nothing 
 in the world : and that there is none other God but One." 
 I. Cor. viii. 4. This brings us back to our Bible, And 
 here, God is One ; not three, nor thirty thousand as with 
 the Greeks and Romans.
 
 GOD IS ONE 
 
 REASON III. 
 
 The works of God, as a revelation, proclaim his Unity. 
 
 " THE works of the Lord are great , sought out of all 
 those who have pleasure in them." Ps. cxi. 2. These 
 works will eternally remain, a revelation to all the un- 
 fallen inhabitants dispersed among them : and they would 
 be read with delight by us, did we "like to retain God in 
 our knowledge." 
 
 All human sciences have for their object, the develope- 
 ment of every thing knowable concerning these works. 
 And every branch of this knowledge adds something to 
 the grand display of the wondrous Contriver. God who 
 knows, is determined that he will be known : known by 
 his marvellous acts : known through the earth ; as well as 
 by principalities and powers in heavenly places. 
 
 The connections apparent in his works ; their invaria- 
 ble tendency to good ; and the order and beauty which 
 reign through their vast amplitude j suggest One Infinite 
 Intelligence superintending the whole. 
 
 The minutest particle of mind or of matter, hath rela- 
 tions with the whole , and the whole acts on all its parts. 
 There are indications that all things with the nicest ad- 
 justment, are in a state of progression : rising to something 
 more perfect. The mineral kingdom lays the foundation 
 for the vegetable ; the vegetable for the animal ; youth for 
 manhood ; life for immortality. No limits can be set to 
 the advances which one new born infant will make in the 
 endless following ages. Thirty millions of these immor-
 
 AND NOT THREE. 33 
 
 tals begin on earth every year. They are delighted with 
 the novelty of existence. They swell the catalogue of 
 Adam's race, and of God's subjects. 
 
 Independently of scripture, we should conjecture that 
 the scene of God's works will not end: that we are on the 
 threshhold of a vast scheme which stretches forward to 
 eternity : and that all things were adjusted beforehand 
 with a view to the amazing whole. 
 
 We have no evidence that one particle of matter which 
 God has created ever was or will be annihilated. On the 
 contrary, that new worlds and systems may eternally be 
 lanched from the hand of Omnipotence and that the 
 mighty voids may be replenished with more dense habita- 
 tions for new and social communities ; are deductions of 
 reason, from what we know of the great Jehovah. 
 
 God did not breathe into man, and make him a living 
 soul , till he had prepared a world for him, surrounded 
 with light ; and a visible creation on which he could em- 
 ploy his powers. Nor have we evidence that he ever 
 created any other order of intelligences, till he had pre- 
 pared them habitations. And should the earth and sun 
 and material creation go out of existence, and " not leave 
 a wreck behind ;" all created minds would,, so far as we 
 can judge, either perish ; or, be thrown out of business ; 
 and be bewildered in everlasting night. The resurrection 
 bodies of saints and of Christ would be lost. And should 
 their spirits survive ; the means of their instruction which 
 the bible uses, would be gone forever. 
 
 We are taught indeed that the earth and surrounding at- 
 mosphere, defiled by a race who have left their first estate, 
 will be burned j and melt with fervent heat. " Neverthe- 
 less we, according to his promise, look" for their renovation 
 
 with augmented splendor. II. Pet. iii. 12, 13., Rev. xxi. 
 
 E
 
 34 GOD is ONE; 
 
 From eternity God was, what he is and will be. From 
 eternity, he had the power of creating and governing 
 worlds and persons. And no revelation he has given us, 
 says, that he did not from eternity, exert that power. 
 
 The infinity of God's perfections, and the infinity of lo- 
 cal extension in which he displays them ; present fields in 
 which we may forever expatiate : and from which we 
 may derive instruction to all eternity : and to all eternity 
 remain infinitely beneath the transcendent Divinity. 
 
 The bible contains a partial history of the formation of 
 this world and of the nether heavens ; and of man, and oth- 
 er beings visible and invisible who have special correspon- 
 dence with us. " Lo, these are parts of his ways ; but how 
 small a portion" compared with the whole ! Job, xxvi, 14. 
 
 We look at so small an object as a rose. We analyze 
 this flower ; and it is wonderful in its texture, its colors, 
 its fragrance, and the influence it receives from, and in> 
 parts to surrounding objects. View it with a microscope ; 
 and it swarms with organized and happy beings. They 
 have connection with their habitation ; and their habitation 
 is connected with us. The subject as we examine it, be- 
 comes complex. There must be atmosphere, and agita- 
 tion of air, and solar light. So that this flower has con- 
 nections with all the terrestrial elements ; and bears a re- 
 lation to the vast globe of tbe sun. So that an energy ex- 
 erted at the distance of 95,000,000 of miles, and a motion 
 of 200,000 miles every second of time in the particles of 
 light, are necessary to the pleasures of the animalcules in 
 the rose ; and to the flowering of the rose itself. And 
 these are some of the ends for which the sun was created. 
 There is here no mistake. For when we know to what 
 use God puts a thing which he has made, we know this 
 was his design when he made it.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 35 
 
 The earth being related to the sun ; and the sun to all 
 surrounding objects ; we and morning stars, and insects 
 and seraphs, bear a relation to unnumbered worlds ; and to 
 the myriads of beings who occupy them. Does it not fol- 
 low that One Intelligence organized these small and those 
 great portions of existence? and makes them co-operate in 
 results, perfect as heaven, and harmonious as the music of 
 the spheres? Should we feel safe, if divers divinities 
 ruled the parts ? when the least jar in their plans would 
 disarrange the whole ! 
 
 God is a Ghost invisible : a Spirit whom no man hath 
 seen, nor to eternity will see (literally.) The boundless 
 universe which his hands have formed, visibly demonstrate 
 his eternal power and Godhead. Do our minds in the 
 contemplation feel any need of the figure three ? So far 
 as his works adumbrate their Author, we discern the 
 grandeur of the Eternal One. 
 
 Moments and ages and eternity have their connective 
 relations. " An event apparently trivial forms a link in that 
 chain of events which extends from the beginning of time 
 to the consummation of the present state ; which runs 
 through a thousand worlds ; and stretches into eternity. 
 Some of the most appalling scenes of terror and destruc- 
 tion, have proceeded from an accident so inconsiderable 
 as to be nearly overlooked." Vid. Dick's Phil, of Rel. 
 
 Thus on pouring the contents of a phial into the air j 
 there have followed voices, and thunders, and lightnings, 
 and a great earthquake ; and the cities of the nations have 
 fallen. Rev. xvi. 17. We here feel our impotence. The 
 LORD reigneth : let the earth rejoice : let the multitude 
 of Isles be glad. He fills immensity. He securely man- 
 ages the motes in the air, and the armies in heaven. No 
 one can stop his hand. He has no equal : is bounded by
 
 36 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 no triangle : is distributed into no family of persons : has 
 no resemblance to an idol. The very thought contracts 
 our souls ; bewilders our powers ; shuts up our heart in 
 pigmy self. For in proportion as we diminish God in our 
 esteem, we magnify the idol self. 
 
 Uninstructed men are not accustomed to look through 
 the vast expanse of nature, swarming with worlds and liv- 
 ing beings. They regard infinite space as an infinite void. 
 
 View the naked savage standing on the beach, revering 
 the ocean as an angry Deity. He retires to a volcano ; 
 and this too is a God. Unacquainted with the long train 
 of causes and effects which stretches through all dura- 
 tion ; he constantly witnesses events .for which he cannot 
 account. And in his imagination, he peoples the hills, and 
 vallies, and earth, and air, with Gods and genii, and de- 
 mons, and invisible agents. 
 
 How great the difference between this savage, and the 
 polished inhabitants of Europe ; when, about 350 years 
 ago, printing was discovered. Yet were the inhabitants 
 of Europe 350 years ago, scarcely midway in intelligence 
 between that naked savage, and the improved society of 
 the present day. The repetition of unmeaning words, and 
 assenting to mysteries not understood, were required of 
 timid souls who dared not think for themselves. This 
 state of things cannot last. The course of time bears soci- 
 ety along to eminences, whence their prospects brighten 
 as they expand. An improved population cast off their 
 fetters, and look abroad for themselves ; not satisfied with 
 magical forms without substance : magical words without 
 ideas : magical ceremonies without knowledge and under- 
 standing. 
 
 "Our conceptions of God will nearly correspond with 
 the knowledge we acquire of the extent of his operations."
 
 AND NOT THREE. 37 
 
 The discoveries of modern astronomy shew us the planets 
 in their vast movements ; with a centrifugal force im- 
 pressed upon them by the Almighty, when first he set 
 them in their courses : and one uniform attraction holds 
 them in their circuits round their respective suns. The 
 globe on which we dwell, moves round our sun in a cir- 
 cle of 595 millions of miles, every year : and accomplishes 
 its journey without variation, from age to age. When 
 we look on the midnight sky, we behold a thousand suns 
 diffusing their splendors from regions immeasurably dis- 
 tant. We apply a telescope to a small portion of the vast 
 concave; and at once perceive a thousand more. All 
 these pass over the instrument in seven or eight minutes , 
 and are succeeded by as many more. " When we in- 
 crease the magnifying powers of the instrument, we des- 
 cry other orbs of light stretching still farther into the 
 depths of space." These ponderous masses with the 
 worlds which they illumine, reach to depths infinitely ex- 
 tended; and are on all sides around us. They are as en- 
 tirely without limits, as eternity is without limits ; as God is 
 without limits. Beyond all which telescopes can reach, are 
 boundless regions, where wonders of skill and power and be- 
 nevolence are displayed through the empire of Jehovah. 
 
 How wonderful this God of boundless might ! How ex- 
 cellent in power and glory ! Are there two other " per- 
 cipient agents" equal to him in power and glory ? With 
 our understanding expanded, as we view God's works j do 
 we ever think of applying the number three to the Divine 
 Architect? Never. Do we call the boundless God, " tri- 
 une" 1 Do we think of triangles and squares and radii ? 
 Never. Are we reminded of the pagan with his chisel 
 and hammer, carving from the rock a monstrous body 
 with three heads and three faces ? No, never, never.
 
 38 GOP is ONE ; 
 
 And yet, these expanded views of God's works, we take 
 in obedience to God's word. And his word excludes the 
 adjective equal, and every plural number of persons. Isai. 
 xl. 25, 26. " To whom will ye liken me ? or to whom 
 shall I be equal ? saith the HOLY ONE." Not " the sacred 
 three" equal in power and glory : but the Holy One, with 
 no " equal." " Lift up your eyes on high, and behold ! 
 who hath created these orbs ? and bringeth forth their 
 host by number ? HE calleth them all by their names, by 
 the greatness of his might : for he is strong in power." 
 This brings us back again to the bible ; which like the 
 book of nature, exalts the HOLY ONE. (Appendix F.)
 
 AND NOT THREE. 39 
 
 REASON IV* 
 
 The works of God, give no intimation that God is three. 
 
 i 
 
 HAD man kept his first estate, and replenished the earth 
 with a race bearing the image of God ; the surrounding 
 creation would probably have been our principal Revela- 
 tion. Nor should we have found the least difficulty in 
 " finding that he is not far from every one of us ; and that 
 we are also his offspring." Acts, xvii. In a world adorn- 
 ed with luxurious grandeur , surrounded with our Ma- 
 ker's wonders in the firmament of his power -, full of pleas- 
 ure in our intellectual and corporeal existence ; disinter- 
 ested in temper ; conscious that we originated nothing of 
 all we saw and knew and were ; creation would have been 
 one joyous temple, full of God. 
 
 We can, if we please, transport ourselves in imagina- 
 tion, to one of the greater globes in our solar system : and 
 with highest probability suppose the "inhabitants unfallem 
 They may be as superior to our primitive ancestors, as 
 their globe is superior to ours. The natural scenery with 
 which they are surrounded, the organization of their cor- 
 poreal frames : their employments and relations with one 
 another ; may differ from .those which obtain in our ter- 
 restrial sphere. 
 
 In God's works, are uniformity and variety. No twa 
 men are exactly alike in form, countenance and mental 
 powers. No two animals, or trees of the forest are pre- 
 cisely similar.
 
 40 GOD is ONE; 
 
 Diversities in whole orders of beings, both intellectual 
 and sensitive, will be found on the worlds dispersed 
 through immensity. These will be learned and un- 
 derstood by those who " delight themselves in the Al- 
 mighty :" and we hope by us j while we measure with our 
 existence the long tracts of eternity. 
 
 One principle of attraction pervades all material worlds. 
 The same light emanates from, or gilds them all. The 
 solar and stellar rays have the same laws of reflection and 
 refraction j and paint the same colors. The inhabitants 
 of those worlds regard the same general laws in pursuing 
 their pleasures, which are applicable to ours. Intelli- 
 gence is the same in them, in us, and in God. Holiness is 
 the same on earth, and in the heaven of heavens. The 
 numberless orders of intelligent beings can have no firm 
 concord, unless disinterested love reigns among them ; as 
 attraction reigns among their globes. 
 
 Doubts have indeed been expressed, whether those 
 worlds are inhabited at all. 
 
 We reason thus. All material things are w r ielded by 
 intelligent minds ; and are made subservient to their en- 
 joyment. As far as we know, all nature swarms with liv- 
 ing beings. Myriads of worlds are as great, and far great- 
 er than ours. In view of their suitableness to furnish 
 habitations, and to be abodes of boundless delight ; and in 
 view of the wisdom, of him who made them such : his in- 
 tention that they should be occupied, is fairly indicated. 
 
 We nevertheless prefer bible evidence, if it can be ob- 
 tained. See Isai. *xlv. 18. "Thus saith Jehovah who 
 created the heavens ; God himself who formed the earth 
 and made it : he hath established it : he created it not in 
 vain ; he formed it to be inhabited. I am Jehovah and 
 there is none else."
 
 AND NOT THREE. 41 
 
 In saying "there is none else;" he says there are no 
 other uncreated persons, besides the person speaking, and 
 using the first personal pronoun, " I." In saying, " He 
 created the earth not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited ;" 
 He contrasts the wisdom and utility of having the earth 
 peopled, with the folly and vanity of having it unoccu- 
 pied. 
 
 If then our comparatively little globe would have been 
 " created in vain," " had it not been inhabited :" (so teach- 
 es " Jehovah who created the heavens :") how can we 
 reason at all ? how discern the symmetry of divine opera- 
 tions 1 and, shocking thought ! how clear our Maker from 
 stupendous folly ? if we believe his more splendid and infi- 
 nitely numerous worlds " were created in vain ;" i. e. not 
 " to be inhabited ?" Is not this bible evidence ? 
 
 Now contemplate the holy inhabitants of the planet 
 Saturn. They see the noble acts of God. They survey 
 their own world, a globe 900 times larger than our earth. 
 They behold the Sun, and their seven moons : and their 
 world surrounded by a luminous ring, 600,000 miles in 
 circumference ; adorning their sky all around ; displaying 
 their Maker with admirable effect. With the best hopes, 
 we judge them sinless j happy in their paradisaical habita- 
 tion ; delighted with themselves, with one another, with 
 God, with all they see and know : and with a certain pros- 
 pect of endless life. 
 
 Now what within them, or around them, would inti- 
 mate the triple nature of their Lord ? or, shew them a 
 Son in the interior of his " essence," equal to himself; " be- 
 gotten, and not created ?" or, what would lead them to 
 detach his Spirit from himself as a third person ; they 
 knowing that he is himself a Spirit? i. e. detach one Spirit 
 from another Spirit, as first and third persons ? We could 
 F
 
 42 GOD is ONE; 
 
 not think the better of them, should we learn that they 
 were speculating on the "substance" of their invisible 
 Maker.-? or, maintaining that his " essence" was the same 
 in two, three, or six unintelligible " persons." Were this 
 announced to us ; could we resist the conviction that they 
 were drawing off their allegiance from the Lord God Al- 
 mighty j and verging to that idolatry which has dishonor- 
 ed ourselves 1 
 
 The noble inhabitants of that world know that " God is 
 a Spirit ;" and that " God is love :" that God is therefore 
 The Holy Ghost. They know that this Spirit is the Fa- 
 ther of creation ; and we, his offspring : that he is in the 
 midst of all changes j and by his active influence, effects 
 those changes ; ruling worlds of matter and of mind. They 
 know as well as we, that his mighty power rolls the plan- 
 ets, and brightens the stars ; and sways intelligences, and 
 rules their actions ; through his boundless realms. Their 
 language may differ, from ours ; and may be more free 
 from ambiguities. But they know that which we mean, 
 when we say, The Spirit of God garnishes the surface of 
 their globe j spreads radiance over their heavens 5 and 
 works in them to will, and to do, and to enjoy. 
 
 Their pure hearts open their mouths ; and their glad 
 voices spontaneously declare, what we needed an inspir- 
 ed prophet to declare in our dull hearing : "Thou, even 
 Thou art LORD alone.. Thou hast made heaven, the heav- 
 en of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things 
 that are therein ; and Thou preservest them all : and the 
 host of heaven worshippeth thee." Neh. ix. Q. The in- 
 habitants of Saturn are one of the heavenly hosts. 
 . While it is inconceivable that they should distribute the 
 Godhead into several persons ; they must contemplate the 
 HOLY ONE in the different relations he sustains to them.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 43 
 
 They and we contemplate him clothed with different at- 
 tributes ; performing his diversified operations. 
 
 Not unfrequently in our calm thoughts, we contemplate 
 God as at rest : at other times, as equably moving on in 
 his and our affairs : and at other times, as coming forth 
 rapidly ; sending abroad vengeance or mercy : rolling up 
 the heavens in blackness, and driving down the floods : or, 
 clearing off the tempest, and decking the fields with clear 
 shining after the storm. 
 
 But to search for interior distinctions in his being : or 
 several " percipient" persons in his substance ; equal, and 
 economically inferior and superior to one another : giving 
 and accepting offices , sending and being sent : Creation 
 teacheth not. God's word teacheth not. His Spirit 
 teacheth not. His Son teacheth not. Honestly I can not. 
 As accountable, I dare not so teach.
 
 44 COD is ONE ; 
 
 REASON V. 
 
 There is an apparent absurdity in the propositions, " Ood is three one :" " There 
 are three persons in God, and they are equal in power and glory ; and in 
 
 
 
 essence one. 
 
 THESE propositions wear on their face, the intention of 
 literal construction : the guise of plain truth. Indeed we 
 must understand real persons ; as otherwise they could not 
 be equal in power and glorious perfections. To say, Pe- 
 ter is equal to Peter ; and that each of them is possessed 
 of all the attributes of man ; or, that God is equal to God ; 
 would be frivolous. 
 
 That real persons are meant, we have, I think, the tes- 
 timony of Dr. Dwight. In maintaining the personality of 
 the last of the sacred three, or The Spirit ; he calls him " a 
 percipient being" p. 4 : and a " person addressed in prayer 
 as a distinct person from two others who are mentioned by 
 the names of God and Christ :" and a person to whom "an 
 office is assigned" p. 11. And " whether the Spirit send 
 or be sent, he is equally determined to be a living agent" 
 p. 17: obviously meaning " a living agent" in distinction 
 from that other " living agent" who sent or was sent by 
 him : " since," says he, " in the physical sense, it is impos- 
 sible that any other being should either send or be sent." 
 
 If there are three such "percipient beings," "living 
 agents," or " persons ;" and they are known to be equal ; 
 theadjective equal can be properly applied to them. 
 They are real persons. And they are so understood by 
 common people : and they are so set forth by the fashion-
 
 AND NOT THREE. 45 
 
 able theology. I suppose at the same time, the majority 
 of those clergymen who have studied the subject, would 
 declare against such persons ; if they were obliged to 
 speak out plainly what they believe. What they would 
 substitute may be more doubtful ; as there is much discor- 
 dance in their statements. They have latterly chosen to 
 say, they know not what they are ; leaving them as dark 
 mysteries ; and leaving the common people to imagine re- 
 al persons. I know how difficult it is with pious, and up- 
 right trinitarians, when reasoning on the subject, to keep 
 themselves in position. I have known trinitarians of an- 
 other character, when pressed with their absurdities, 
 change their position ; and complain that they were mis- 
 represented ; and use such language as " renders meaning 
 obscure ; and not only obscure, but unintelligible ; and not 
 only unintelligible, but utterly lost in the strangeness of 
 their phraseology :" and finally assume important airs, and 
 discharge an anathema. The inconceivable importance of 
 the mystery, is made to quadrate with its total unintelligi- 
 bility. This seems absurd. 
 
 I will not misrepresent any one willingly. I appeal to the 
 words of Dr. D wight : to Flavel's account of the Covenant of 
 Redemption j and to the standard writers in general : to de- 
 fend me from the charge of misrepresenting trinitarians ; 
 when I say their language denotes three persons, actual 
 persons. If such is the obvious meaning of their creeds ; 
 they have no right to travel out of the record, to escape 
 from a just charge of absurdity : nor to complain that they 
 are misrepresented : nor ought they to practice mental res- 
 ervation. Men of piety wish to be sincere : and when 
 they perceive the line of truth escapes their ken, they are 
 modest and candid. As to those trinitarians who claim 
 the right to anathematize such as assent not to their
 
 46 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 '** 
 
 creeds, they are sacredly bound to see that their Articles 
 are intelligible j expressed in no ambiguous terms. (Ap- 
 pendix G.) 
 
 The three equal persons in the Godhead are not under- 
 stood as analogical by the common people : for they suppose 
 they are all persons in the same sense. Nor, by a majority 
 of preachers: for they would then (unless dishonest) inform 
 their hearers that the first is a literal person ; and that the 
 second and third have only figurative personality. Nor, by 
 those who say they do not know what they mean by three 
 persons : for then they would know. Nor, by those who say 
 they are persons in a mysterious sense : for then the mystery 
 would disappear ; and they could explain themselves. 
 Then also they might keep within the sphere of ideas : 
 and anathemas would have nothing to do with the argument. 
 Trinitarians usually speak of three, as all infinite eter- 
 nal equal persons : as three percipient agents, performing 
 different acts : as counselling together ; making stipula- 
 tions whiph bear date from eternity : as assuming different 
 offices, and performing different parts in man's redemp- 
 tion : with nothing indicative of .figurative meaning ; nor 
 admitting such meaning. The created man Christ Jesus 
 is not the Son called the second person ; for he was begot- 
 ten in the womb of Mary ; knew not the day of Judgment ; 
 increased in wisdom j was a man of sorrows ; and died on 
 the cross. Whereas, the second person in the trinity was 
 (by the supposition) the Eternal Son, uncreated but be- 
 gotten in the substance of the Father. He was equal in 
 strength and glory to the Father who begat him, and to 
 God the Holy Ghost: and he could of himself do all things, 
 and suffer nothing. 
 
 Nor, on the hypothesis of three real persons, is the third 
 person designated by calling him, " God employed in his
 
 AND NOT THREE. 47 
 
 most benevolent and wonderful work-, that of restoring 
 holiness to the soul of man 5 in his most glorious charac- 
 ter, that of the Sanctifier." Who will say, this is descrip- 
 tive of a third person equal to the eternal Father and the 
 eternal Son T For he is the Eternal Father, for aught ap- 
 pearing to the contrary. Agreeably to Jude, 1st verse, 
 "Sanctified by God The Father." God the Father is 
 the Person, the God, the Spirit, the Holy Ghost, intended 
 by the apostle, when he said, " Sanctified by God The Fa- 
 ther." 
 
 Whereas, the Holy Ghost the Third Person of the 
 creeds, has accepted an office from the First Person ; and 
 is sent, shed down, or poured forth by the Second Per- 
 son, to perform the work of sanctifying the soul, as " office 
 work :" or he " proceeds from the Father and the Son." 
 I do not believe the apostle Jude or any other apostle 
 ever heard of the Three Persons now under con- 
 templation j and which, I think, present the appearance 
 of an absurdity. 
 
 To say there is no apparent absurdity in the doctrine 
 commonly set forth, would not be true. For men of the 
 highest standing in the literary world, such as Newton, 
 Locke, Milton, and a host of others, formerly and at pres- 
 ent, have thought it absurd. Many ecclesiastics, and ma- 
 ny mathematicians, philosophers, and politicians, have 
 thought the propositions, real absurdities : men, too, of the 
 purest morals: men who, on other subjects, have been 
 and still are, successful discoverers of acknowledged 
 truth. . 
 
 To elude the influence of such men, those interested 
 may revile them as errorists. This however would be 
 no proof that. they are not right ; nor that they are not sin- 
 cerely desirous to know what things are true in the mo-
 
 48 GOD is ONE; 
 
 mentous subject of religion. Nor is it true that the great- 
 est of men, not ecclesiastics, have inclined to the Divine 
 Unity, because they have remained ignorant of what is 
 going on among theologians-. They have been well vers- 
 ed in ecclesiastical as well as civil and political history. 
 They have been conversant with all schemes of doctrine j 
 and with the bible. Moreover they are less interested, 
 this world only considered, than those who denounce them. 
 And they could, if they pleased, denounce their denounc- 
 ers. And this would settle nothing; What they or their 
 denouncers are, the gteat day will disclose. There are 
 now "those who are first, who will be last;" when " the 
 Judgment is set, and the books are opened. " 
 
 Some WTiters have said that God is three in one sense, 
 and one in another. This is not an apparent abs.urdity. 
 It would, however, seem fair to tell in what sense they 
 consider him three. If this cannot be done, it looks 
 like an artful expedient ; as no valuable information is im- 
 parted. We all know, Or can know, in what sense God 
 is one person, viz : in a literal sense. We read in the bi- 
 ble of " his person" in the singular number, Heb. i. 3. ; but 
 not of his persons in the plural. 
 
 , To reveal is to make known. To say the three persons 
 are revealed, and not made known would be palpable ab- 
 surdity. 
 
 What is a person? I mean an individual intelligent be- 
 ing. I suppose this is the general understanding. I say 
 intelligent ; because we do not call a stone or a tree, a 
 person. Individual; because the being called person, 
 must be one. If we use the word person otherwise, we 
 can tell what we mean by it. We can tell what we mean 
 by any word, as well in theology as in mathematics. (Ap- 
 pendix H.)
 
 AND NOT THREE. 49 
 
 The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are said to be three 
 equal persons in God. The proof is an apparent absurdi- 
 ty. It is this. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are 
 each of them God Supreme. For the same attributes and 
 works are ascribed to each of them. They are therefore 
 three : three equal persons. The legitimate inference is*, 
 they are therefore one : one person. The latter conclu- 
 sion follows from the premises. Most .clearly they are 
 the same God. And why not the same person ? This, 
 too, most clearly follows from the premises. If they de- 
 signate the same God, they designate the same one intel- 
 ligent being ; the same person. Identity of actions and at- 
 tributes cannot be predicated of persons numerically dif- 
 ferent. This would be absurd. 
 
 God is one intelligent being : literally one person. If this 
 be true ; to say three persons are one God, is to say three 
 persons are one being, one person : i. e. three persons 
 are one person. For God is one being ; one person. 
 If any man say, this is not absurd ; let him remove the ap- 
 parent absurdity. Let him put the words in appropriate 
 order, and make the ideas, in the understanding, meet in 
 harmonious truth. Ambiguous language denotes ambigu- 
 ity of conception. Riddles and paradoxes are not neces- 
 sary in sound science. In religion they are unseemly. 
 
 But it is said, there are three persons in God in a sense 
 beyond our comprehension ; which we can neither con- 
 ceive nor explain. I ask then, what do we believe about 
 them 1 Plainly nothing. For the fact as well as the 
 mode is, by the position, beyond our reach ; kept hid in 
 God. Now, I think it absurd to say, we believe it. But 
 if it be only an apparent absurdity ; let him who thinks so, 
 shew that we can believe without ideas : without knowing 
 
 what that is which we believe. 
 
 G
 
 50 GOD is ONE; 
 
 If it be said, we approximate the idea of trinity of per- 
 sons ; we approach towards it : why give it a name before 
 we reach it? Possibly the idea is more remote than we 
 are aware of: or, it may be so different from our expecta- 
 tions, that when we reach it, we may think some other 
 name more appropriate. 
 
 Still we are told, creation is ascribed to Father, Word, 
 and Spirit. The same divine attributes are ascribed to 
 each. Be it so. We infer that Father, Word, and Spir- 
 it are not three persons, but one and the same person. 
 We use words as literally and intelligibly as we can. The 
 inference is clear. 
 
 One person may perform an action similar to the action 
 of another person 5 but not numerically the same action. 
 
 Moreover, one person may possess attributes very simi- 
 lar to the attributes of another person. But he cannot 
 possess identically the same attributes. Where persons 
 have attributes very similar j God has taken wonderful 
 care to enable us to discover that they are not the same. 
 Numerous and similar as men are, we rarely mistake one 
 for another. 
 
 Now this argument proves that the terms The Father, 
 The Word, and The Holy Ghost, intend One God, One 
 Being, One Person : not Three Gods, Three Beings, Three 
 Persons. Is it possible that the conclusion does not follow 
 from the premises ? 
 
 Here are the* premises. The Father, The Word, and 
 The Holy Ghost are each of them God Supreme : all the 
 three have the same attributes. Our inference is, The 
 Father, Word, and Ghost, are One God, One Being, One 
 Person : and limited to that One God, One Being, One 
 Person : and exclude all idea of Three Gods, Three Be- 
 ings, Three Persons.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 51 
 
 Again, the being or person who created the world, is 
 the one God. But creation is the work of Father, Word, 
 and Holy Ghost. Therefore Father, Word, and Holy 
 Ghost are that one person,' the one God. 
 
 Further, this divine being or person has peculiar attri- 
 butes. But these identical attributes are ascribed to Fa- 
 ther, Word, and Ghost. Hence most conclusively, Fa- 
 ther, Word, and Holy Ghost cannot be different beings or 
 persons ; but the same being, the same person. 
 
 This argument respecting persons, is the same as res- 
 pecting God or being. It is grounded on the same princi- 
 ple, viz:, the being and attributes of one person are not 
 the being and attributes of another. The unity of being 
 of Father, Son, and Spirit, is equally the unity of person 
 of Father, Son, and Spirit: and excludes three or thirty 
 from person, just as much as from being or from God. 
 And if the argument is not conclusive, and there may 
 after all be three or thirty persons ; so there may be three 
 or thirty beings or Gods. 
 
 Trinitarians use this very argument to prove that Fa- 
 ther, Son, and Spirit are One God. And it just as con- 
 clusively proves One Person. The argument bears with 
 the same force on the unity of God, the unity of being, 
 and the unity of person. Every attempt to evade this 
 force, will lead to absurdity ; or to that equivocation which 
 I have aimed to avoid. 
 
 Trinitarians acknowledge that distinction of being im- 
 plies distinction of person. But they do not admit that 
 distinction of person implies distinction of being. Why 
 not ? Because they would then have three Gods. What 
 then? Let us not take a crooked path to avoid the 
 consequences. If there are thr.ee Gods, let us hon- 
 estly acknowledge them all. Clearly if one person is
 
 52 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 one intelligent being, three persons are three intelligent 
 beings. 
 
 Shall we say, this is so with men : but not with God who 
 is so uncomprehensibly greater than we ? and whose mode 
 of existence is so different from ours ? 
 
 This is only an attempt to expunge from our minds, all 
 idea of person and personal identity. It is only saying our 
 doctrine is vox et nihil preterea : a sound and nothing else. 
 The doctrine is rendered " obscure ; and not only obscure, 
 but unintelligible ; and not only unintelligible, but utterly 
 lost." 
 
 Here a sincere Christian who from infancy has had true 
 religion and the trinity coupled together in his thoughts ; 
 may interpose and say, You are reasoning. What has rea- 
 son to do with the subject 1 Reason does not teach the bless- 
 ed Trinity ; nor furnish a clue to unriddle the perplexity of 
 the labyrinth in which you are wandering ; and where every 
 step is dark ; and where to expatiate is to be lost. But 
 does not the bible furnish a clue 1 
 
 No, my friend, No. The bible is a perfect stranger not 
 only to these perplexities, but to this whole labyrinth. It 
 says not one word on the subject. The labyrinth itself is 
 the work of men. And men are lost in their own devices. 
 
 A scheme of doctrine shrouded in such dark mystery, 
 is venerable by its antiquity ; and by the space to which it 
 is extended. It is not however, solicitous for scrutiny. 
 And by contemplative minds, its establishment and tri- 
 umph will be traced back to the policy and triumph of 
 the selfish principle in man : not to the disinterested rev- 
 elation of God. Transubstantiation, purgatory, and other 
 mysteries, are equally venerable by antiquity, and extent. 
 Ecclesiastics have defended each, during centuries of dark- 
 ness and fraud ; by censures and proscription , more than
 
 AND NOT THREE. 53 
 
 by argument. Force and fraud were long dominant in co- 
 ercing men's minds to uniformity of religious opinion, reli- 
 gious worship, and religious taxation. Upright men 
 would choose to have recourse to neither. The policy 
 has been dishonest and cruel, which in the name of Christ 
 and of the church, has denounced the heretic ; decried his 
 virtues 5 and crushed the man, merely because it could not 
 cope with his argument ; and was determined on his trib- 
 ute, or the aid of his influence. This is the dernier resort, 
 when destitute of fairer means. 
 
 When the Roman emperors took the Christian teachers 
 under their protection, and enforced the decrees of their 
 councils by the sword , those councils could have made 
 the unlettered multitude believe any thing. Suppose they 
 had decreed that the apostle Peter is " three one :" that he 
 is mystically " three persons in one essence," and these 
 three persons are equal, and are one ; they are Peter : and 
 that each of the popes, with his triple crown, is triune. 
 This would have been orthodox ; and would have been 
 believed : i. e. believed in the sense in which men are 
 said to believe in that which is " obscure ; and not only 
 obscure, but unintelligible ; and not only unintelligible, but 
 utterly lost in the strangeness of the phraseology." 
 
 It would also have been a speculative absurdity. But 
 the worst absurdity would have been seen in the practical 
 result. For the more mysterious "the unknown dark- 
 ness" of this sublime article is ; the more devoutly it would 
 have been reverenced by the credulous millions ; and the 
 more fearful the fires which would have consumed the 
 few who should presumptuously have disbelieved. 
 
 Has there been nothing monstrous in the practice, du- 
 ring ages of darkness, in fulminating censures, fires, and 
 damnation against those who have doubted of such unin-
 
 54 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 telligiblc jargon ? while whoredom, theft, and lies, have 
 been treated as comparatively venial? and by thousands 
 who have believed in pious frauds ? and tens of thousands 
 who have practised fraud ? 
 
 And I appeal to men of understanding in these better 
 times ; and ask : is it not really or apparently an absurd 
 thing, to lead men and women solemnly to profess that 
 they believe the mystery of three equal persons in God's 
 essence, or mode of existence ; of which persons, the 
 preacher is conscious at the time, that neither he nor they 
 have the least conception? And at the same time, to 
 treat as outcasts the men whose rectitude cannot ascribe 
 a pompous and mystical nothing to the " God who ought 
 to be feared ?" 
 
 Among ministers who practise this absurd thing, are 
 men who are good and true, as well as bad and dishonest. 
 I can ascribe rectitude to such a preacher with the same 
 facility with which I ascribe rectitude to the master of 
 slaves. Both the one and the other, formed by education 
 to such things froni early childhood, follow venerated an- 
 cestors ; and follow things wrong ; the wrong being asso- 
 ciated with much that is right. 
 
 To illustrate my meaning, I state a common church ar- 
 ticle. " You believe that the mode of the divine existence 
 is such as lays a foundation for a distinction into Three 
 Persons ; The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost : 
 and that these Three are One in essence ; and equal in 
 power and glory." 
 
 I look attentively for the meaning. It occurs, that it is 
 thought of great importance in the matter of salvation : or 
 why is it found in a solemn creed ? It might be pre- 
 sumed that it is very intelligible : or why is it propounded 
 to unlearned and very feeble minded persons, girls, young
 
 AND NOT THREE. 55 
 
 men and children j as well as to intelligent and learned 
 men 1 It might be reasonably presumed that it is adapted 
 to their several capacities, as other first principles of reli- 
 gion are. I, however, perceive at once, that I know noth- 
 ing what it means. I have hardly modesty enough to 
 think it is because my mental perception is so inferior to 
 the discernment of those feeble minded persons, girls, 
 young men, and children, who solemnly bow assent to it. 
 I somewhat suspect that if the preachers themselves un- 
 derstand what they mean, I too can get at the meaning. 
 I ponder again. I think of a " foundation for a distinc- 
 tion." " The ngode of the divine existence lays this foun- 
 dation." There are " Three Persons." They are real ; 
 for they are " equal." I suppose they are three exceeding- 
 ly high and uncreated persons. For all of them have " pow- 
 er and glory in equal," and I suppose in infinite degrees. 
 
 What the physical " essence" of one or three Divinities 
 may be, is not obvious. Whatever the " essence" is, it is 
 not a " mode." Neither, agreeably to this Article, does 
 the essence lay the " foundation for the distinction into 
 persons." For it is " the mode of the divine existence 
 which lays the foundation." As the bible has nothing on 
 these subjects, I again ponder and ponder. The " three 
 persons" resting on the "mode" as a "foundation," are 
 after all not " three," but one in the " essence." I hearti- 
 ly wish I could learn. But to me, the theorem is 
 "obscure; and not only obscure, but unintelligible; 
 and no only unintelligible, but utterly lost in the strange- 
 ness of the phraseology." Make the best I can of all 
 such Articles; and still I think their whole purport 
 merges in obscurity and " the Unknown Darkness." 
 
 Did I believe that the Articles have meaning in the 
 minds of preachers who read them to those whom they
 
 56 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 receive into the church : it would mortify me much to find 
 that the whole meaning, as it exists in my dull understand- 
 ing, is absolutely nothing. It would also seem passing 
 strange, that many men who are my superiors, are as to- 
 tally ignorant of the whole meaning as I am. This igno- 
 rance, when acknowledged, makes a heretic : disqualifies 
 for church fellowship ! Tell it not in Gath ! 
 
 Still it may be true, speaking figuratively, that God or 
 man is trinity. Napoleon was one person, literally. Two 
 of his powers might be personified. He might say, " I 
 counselled with my Logos, my wisdom or understanding : 
 and have found its decisions correct, ^ith a loud voice 
 it has remonstrated with me against blind passions. It urges 
 my interests, and seeks my glory. It sees the future, and 
 has arranged the details of the campaign." Or with some 
 variation of meaning, he might say, " I sent forth my Logos, 
 my powerful command, most opportunely. It ran very 
 swiftly, and moved the columns in an instant." Or, with 
 a little further variation ; " I made my Aidde-camp my 
 Logos, whom I sent to impart my orders, and fulfil the 
 decisions of my wisdom." Again he might say, " My Spir- 
 it is the most powerful agent in Europe. I will breathe 
 it into my marshals, and send it into my hosts. It shall 
 achieve the victory and astonish the world." 
 
 Here are three persons ; Napoleon, and his wisdom, 
 and effective influence : one literal ; and two figurative 
 persons. Yet no mystery : still less such a mystery as 
 needs to excite hatred and anathemas. Why not? Be- 
 cause it is understood : because we have ideas as well as 
 words. Or must we say, because it does not interfere 
 with a great scheme of profitable operations ? 
 
 I mean not that this is analogous to an hundred sacred 
 passages, all having meanings circumstantially or materi-
 
 AND NOT THREE. 57 
 
 ally different : nor that all might not have been as well 
 said, and as well understood, without the words " persons," 
 and " three," and " trinity ;" as with them. The bible did 
 not need these words ; nor use them. And it is impossi- 
 ble we should need them ; if our object is simply to know 
 and do the divine will. 
 
 H
 
 58 GOD is 
 
 REASON VI. 
 
 Minds early imbued with the doctrine that The Father, The Son, and? The Ho- 
 ly Ghost are three infinite equal persons in God; rarely obtain any intelligi- 
 ble meaning of the words Father, Son, and Ghost or Spirit ; us they read 
 these words in the bible. The icords have a settled, though illusory meaning 
 in the creeds. The creeds are constantly read in their audience. Jlnd they 
 always understand tJiat the words mean equal persons. 
 
 THUS " The Son of God" always means the second per- 
 son in the trinity. For instance : " That holy thing which 
 shall be born of thee, shall be called The Son of God." 
 " That thing" was the second eternal person. And 
 " though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the 
 things which he suffered." Heb. v. 8. This " Son" who 
 " learned ;" " learned obedience " " learned obedience by 
 sufferings ;" was the second person in the trinity consub- 
 stantial with the Father. So the creeds have fixed and 
 settled the matter, in the minds of the multitude. And 
 such is not the t meaning of Son in any one passage in the 
 bible. 
 
 And so Koly Ghost always means the third person. 
 Yet nvgjjxa, the Greek word rendered Ghost, means spirit, 
 wind, breath, soul of man, the soul of the man Christ Je- 
 sus, apparition, ardor, courage, affection, temper of mind, 
 desire, vigor or cheerfulness, energy, influence, inspira- 
 tion, miraculous power of prophesying, miraculous gifts, 
 sanctity of mind and of desire, divine power, effects of di- 
 vine power exerted, and the invisible God.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 59 
 
 With what profit can that man read the bible and the 
 several passages where Spirit has these several meanings ; 
 while he supposes that in them all, where allusion is made 
 to God, it means what his creed taught him from his infan- 
 cy, viz : The Third Person in the Trinity ? a sense in which 
 the word Spirit or Ghost is never once used in the bible ! 
 
 " While the Spirit of GOD is in my nostrils, my lips 
 shall not speak wickedness." Job, xxvii. 3. How does 
 the plain man understand Job 1 * He supposes " the Spirit 
 of God" the third person in the blessed trinity, was mys- 
 teriously in the nostrils as well as lips and heart of that 
 eminent man. Whereas, had he been unincumbered with 
 these mysteries, he would have known that Spirit of God, 
 in this passage, means air ; or breath, which Job, through 
 the agency of God, breathed through his nostrils. 
 
 A similar mistake, from the same cause, was made by 
 the translators in I. Peter, iii. 18. The apostle is ex- 
 horting Christians to be patient while suffering for well 
 doing : and enforces the exhortation from the example of 
 Jesus ; who in his last agonies had said, " Father into thine 
 hand I commend my spirit" or soul. The Father heard 
 and preserved his soul alive. Says Peter, (duly render- 
 ed,) " Christ also hath once suffered for sins, that he might 
 bring us to God : being put to death as to his flesh (body,) 
 but kept alive as to his spirit (soul) : by which he went 
 and preached to the spirits in prison." His soul survived 
 the stroke of death, and went unto hades ; while the cru- 
 cified body rested in the tomb. Vid. Bishop Horseley's 
 Sermon on the passage. 
 
 Our translators say, " Being put to death in the flesh, 
 and quickened by the Spirit." They had no authority for 
 the prepositions in, and by. They mistook the meaning 
 of ZwoiroMei'ff as here used, which they rendered " quicken-
 
 60 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 ed :" quickened by the Spirit. They thought it meant 
 that the Spirit the third person brought Christ to life. 
 But it really meant that Christ did not die at all as to his 
 spirit : but was rnade to live, or survive the death of the 
 body. Their mistaking his created soul for the Third 
 blessed person, led them to use the capital letter S in 
 Spirit. And Dr. Dwight adduces this passage to prove 
 " the Deity and Personality" of the third infinite agent in 
 God. Sermons, Vol. 3. p. 12. We can with equal pro- 
 priety, prove his Deity and Personality, from " The Spirit 
 of God," or atmospheric air, in Job's nostrils. We need re- 
 sort to no such means to prove that Holy Ghost, or Spir- 
 it, in divers passages of scripture, designates God himself 
 our glorious Sanctifier. 
 
 When we read in Judges, xiii. and xiv., " The Spirit of 
 the Lord began to move Samson at times in the camp of 
 Dan :" and " the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon 
 him, and he rent the lion as he would have rent a kid :" 
 and " the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and 
 he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men, and took 
 their spoil :" who, not embarrassed with the trinity, would 
 have suspected that " the Spirit of the Lord" meant the 
 third person in God 1 Or that Spirit and Lord meant two 
 of these persons'? or that God was a triple being? or three 
 one? A mind not previously occupied with a magical 
 enigma ; would readily have understood that God by his 
 unseen influence, excited an impetuous courage in Sam- 
 son j and nerved his arm to these exploits. But such a rea- 
 der would no more have suspected that God was several 
 persons, than that Samson was a numerous army. 
 
 Language is such that one word has various meanings. 
 And yet, several words are sometimes used with one and 
 the same meaning. As when we read,
 
 AND NOT THREE, 61 
 
 " God sent forth his word and healed the people." Ps. 
 cvii. 
 
 " He sendeth forth his word and melteth the ice." Ps. 
 xlvii. 
 
 " Thou sendest forth thy Spirit and they are created." 
 Ps. civ. 
 
 " The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of 
 the Almighty giveth me life." Job, xxxiii. 
 
 In these passages, " his Word," and "his Spirit," and 
 " his Breath," all mean one and the same thing, viz : the 
 effective power or influence which God put forth. 
 
 " If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God."-Mat. xii. 28. 
 
 " But if I by the Finger of God cast out demons." Mat. 
 xi. 20. 
 
 " The Power of God was present to heal." Luke, v. 1 7. 
 
 If " Spirit of God" is here the third person in the trinity, 
 " Finger of God" is the selfsame blessed person : and so is 
 " The Power of God." For obviously, Spirit, and Finger, 
 and Power in these three passages intend the same thing. 
 
 Of the Author of the sinner's regeneration, we read in 
 the following passages : 
 
 " So is every one that is born of the Spirit." John, iii. 8. 
 
 * c Whosoever is bora of God." I. John, v. 4. 
 
 " Sanctified by God The Father." Jude, i. 
 
 Here Spirit, and God, and Father, are one and the self- 
 same Sanctifier. If Spirit is the third person, so is The 
 Father, and so is God. If The Father is the first person, 
 so is God, and so is Spirit. And if God is the second per- 
 son, so is Spirit, and so is Father. Who will deny that in 
 these three passages, Spirit, and God, and Father, are one 
 and the selfsame person ? and not three persons ?
 
 62 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 The Spirit of God inspired the prophets ; renews the 
 soul ; imparts light and comfort and hope ; and will secure 
 the salvation of all the elect : all which is attributed to 
 God even The Father. Soul of God signifieth God who 
 is a Spirit : and Soul of man, the man himself as an intel- 
 ligent being. " Your new moons, my soul hateth." Isa. 
 i. 14. "My elect in whom my Soul delighteth." Ps. 
 xvii. 1. Is Soul a third person in the Godhead? It is 
 riot pretended. Yet it is identical with Spirit. The Soul 
 of man, and the Spirit of a man, is not a third person in 
 the man. And Soul of God, and Spirit of God, are used 
 in the lansrua^e of men ; and in analogy with what is said 
 
 d ' o J , o*/ 
 
 by man, of man. 
 
 So needful is it to ascertain and fix the meaning of words, 
 from the passages where they occur, in connection with 
 what lies around them ; and from parallel passages: and 
 not from some traditionary notions which we bring to the 
 text. A mind -pre-occupied with the sacred three, will 
 find them almost every where ; and understand the bible 
 almost no where. I say therefore, with Professor Stew- 
 art, " I could heartily wish the word persons had never 
 been introduced into the creeds of the church." 
 
 It may not be easy, precisely to determine in every pas- 
 sage, whether the Spirit of God or Holy Ghost means God 
 himself as an agent ; or his power put forth ; or the effect 
 of that power, or his sanctifying, inspiring or miraculous 
 influence. Yet there can be no material mistake. The 
 language, in which it pleases God to address men, is the 
 language of men. And could the bible be now translated, 
 with the biblical learning now in the world ; the language 
 would generally be as intelligible as the works of our best 
 authors. And now, if unincumbered with mystical tech- 
 nicalities ; we have no more difficulty in understanding
 
 AND NOT THREE. 63 
 
 what the inspired writers say of The Spirit of God, than 
 in understanding the expressions of Nebuchadnezzar and 
 his son Belshazzar. They say of Daniel, " The Spirit of 
 the Holy Gods is in him." Dan. iv. and v. Pharaoh uses 
 the same language. " Can we find such a man as Joseph, 
 in whom is the Spirit of the, Gods ?" Gen. xli. They 
 supposed the Gods, with their inspiring influence, were in 
 Joseph and Daniel. 
 
 The scriptures speak of God, acting by his word, his 
 spirit, his hand or arm, his finger, his breath, his soul, his 
 power, his voice, his eye, his mouth or his feet. And this 
 is altogether analogous to man acting by his natural powers 
 of body and of mind. 
 
 And if God, as pure Divinity apart from the man Christ 
 Jesus, is figuratively and analogically three , the analogy 
 is his resemblance herein to man with his powers of know- 
 ing, and efficiently willing, personified. And the doc- 
 trine of three infinite and equal persons in God, is a spe- 
 cies of polytheism unwarranted by the scriptures. Such 
 persons being creations of human imagination, ought 
 clearly to have other names. For people accustomed 
 from childhood to hear them named The Father, and The 
 Son, and The Holy Ghost, rarely learn, to their dying day, 
 the meaning of these appellations as used in the bible.
 
 64 UOUISONE; 
 
 REASON VII. 
 
 The bewildering influence of the cabalistical expressions employed in setting 
 forth the Trinity : the confusion of ideas: the inconvenient ignorance which 
 they settle on the minds cf hearers : these are objections to their use. 
 
 PUBLIC teachers who have clear ideas, paint them clear- 
 ly on the minds of their hearers. Those whose defini- 
 tions are indistinct ; and whose expressions do not convey 
 clear meaning j evince the obscurity of their own concep- 
 tions. They issue out words ; and not ideas. Hence the 
 bewildered views of their people on the subjects of the 
 Divinity and Humanity and personal character of Christ. 
 Hearers modestly impute their failure in obtaining clear 
 and well adjusted knowledge to their own incapacity and 
 inattention. They are mistaken. 
 
 I have occasionally questioned such hearers ; and re- 
 ceived answers like the following : 
 
 What do you think of Christ? 
 
 Jlns. He is the Eternal God. 
 
 Had he a created soul or spirit? 
 
 Jlns. I should not dare to say so* He is the everlasting 
 Son of God ; the second person in the sacred trinity ; and 
 equal with the Father. 
 
 I asked the lady of a respectable judge, (both profes- 
 sors,) 
 
 Do you think that Jesus Christ had any soul? 
 
 Jlns. No. 
 
 Do you think he had, Judge ? 
 
 Jlns. No, I do not.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 65 
 
 Do you think he had a body ? 
 
 Jlns. I rather think he had : though this has be$ n doubt- 
 ed by some. 
 
 Others have been asked, Whose Son is the Eternal 
 God Jesus Christ ? 
 
 Jlns. The Father's only begotten Son. 
 
 Is The Father a different God? 
 
 Jlns. No. 
 
 Are we then to understand that God is his own Father ? 
 that he has a Son who is himself? Is the Son's Father, 
 the Son himself? and the Father's Son, the Father himself? 
 
 Jlns. It is a mystery. There are three persons in the 
 Godhead. 
 
 Who is the Holy Ghost? 
 
 Jlns. The Third Person in the adorable Trinity. 
 
 Has he any Father ? 
 
 Jlns. No, he is sent. He is equal to the other persons. 
 
 Has he any Son ? 
 
 Jlns. No. 
 
 Is there any other God besides him ? 
 
 Jlns* No. 
 
 The Holy Ghost being the only One God, has no Fa- 
 ther and no Son. How do you reconcile this with God's 
 having a Son? and being himself that Son? 
 
 Jlns. By the mysterious trinity of Persons. 
 
 The apostle speaks of a God, whom he calls " the God 
 and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." In what sense is 
 he " the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ? 
 
 Jlns. Christ the Son, though equal with the Father, was 
 begotten of the Father in his own essence. The manner 
 is a mystery. The Father who begat, did not create The 
 Son. The Son is equally God and uncreated as The Fa- 
 ther. 
 
 / I
 
 66 GOD is ONE; 
 
 And in what sense is The Father, " the God of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ ?" 
 
 dns. The Eternal Son voluntarily agreed to act a part 
 in man's redemption subordinate to the Father; and 
 to obey him : and accepted the office of Mediator under 
 the Father. And he acknowledges the Father as his God, 
 while in this subordinate character. And he will continue 
 in this economically inferior station, till he shall have made 
 his foes his foot-stool. 
 
 And what relation will his rank then bear to that of his 
 Father and his God 1 
 
 Am. I suppose, as he was from all eternity equal to his 
 Father in power and glory ; he will not think it robbery to 
 re-assume his equality and primeval rank. 
 
 How is all this reconciled with I. Cor. xv. 24? Paul 
 acquaints us that instead of the Son's rising to his prime- 
 val equality at the time of delivering up the kingdom, he 
 will descend to a subordination. " Then cometh the end, 
 when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God even 
 the Father: when he shall have put down all rule and all 
 authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put 
 all enemies under his feet. For he (the Father) hath put 
 all things under his (the Son's) feet. But when he saith, 
 All things are put under him (the Son) it is manifest 
 that HE is excepted which did put all things under him. 
 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall 
 the SON also himself be subject unto him that did put all 
 things under him : that GOD may be all in all." Does 
 Paul here teach that the Son is the second person in the 
 Godhead, equal in his original power and glory with his 
 Father ? And does Paul say, he will rise to his original 
 equality ? Does he not exactly reverse this theory ? and 
 say ; " Then shall the Son also himself be subject to him
 
 AND NOT THREE. 67 
 
 that put all things under him, that God may be all in 
 all?" 
 
 dm. It is a mystery. , rt TMs passage from Paul is prob- 
 ably not yet understood. 
 
 Nothing is here said of the third person in the adorable 
 trinity. Will he also rise from his inferior and official sta- 
 tion which he has received from the Father ? or as some 
 say, from the Father and the Son conjointly? Will he, 
 too, leave his office work, his mission, or procession ? and 
 reassume his equality with the Father and the Son, from 
 whom he proceeds ? 
 
 JJns. The standard writers on the subject of the most 
 Holy Trinity have not pretended to make explanations : 
 and for the best of reasons. The subject is a mystery. 
 What we have to do, is to believe; not to search out the 
 Almighty unto perfection. It is enough for us to know 
 that God is three in one, and one in three. 
 
 When it is said of the Son, " God, even thy God hath 
 anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows ;" 
 who are the Son's " fellows ?" 
 
 Jlns. The other persons in the trinity. They are all 
 equals. 
 
 Are they distinct Gods? 
 
 Jlns. No. 
 
 Are they distinct persons? 
 
 Jlns. Yes. But in their essence they are one. 
 
 Are we then to understand that Christ's fellows are 
 identical with himself in essence, and that he is anointed 
 with more gladness than they ? 
 
 Am. It is a mystery. But the Father said of the Son, 
 " Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man 
 that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts : smite the shep- 
 herd, and the sheep shall be scattered." Zech. xiii. This
 
 68 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 " shepherd," this " man," this " fellow," is Jesus Christ 
 the Eternal God against whom God the Father called the 
 sword of justice to awake. 
 
 Who in Rev. i. 18, said, "I am he that liveth, and was 
 dead?" 
 
 Arts. It was Jesus Christ the Eternal God. The great 
 Jehovah died. 
 
 Who governed the world while he was dead ? and who 
 brought him to life again ? 
 
 Jlns. There are three. The Father always governs the 
 world. Christ the Eternal Son wa.s " quickened," i. e. 
 brought to life, "by the Spirit" the third person. Hence 
 the " Deity and Personality of the Spirit." 
 
 Why then does Paul exactly say, " God the Father rais- 
 ed him from the dead?" Gal. i. 1. 
 
 Jlns. It is a mystery. 
 
 On the whole do you not think that the Son was a creat- 
 ed soul and body ? 
 
 Jlns. I have not understood that the Son was a created 
 being. He is equal with the Father : and was begotten by 
 the Father the first person from all eternity in his own es- 
 sence ; and begotten by the Holy Ghost the third person 
 in the womb 'of the virgin: and so he became man, and 
 was dead and buried. 
 
 And was this the soul which he commended to the Fa- 
 ther on the Cross ? and the Ghost which he yielded up, 
 when he bowed his head and died? 
 
 Jlns. Undoubtedly. 
 
 And did God the Son say, " My soul is exceeding sor- 
 rowful even unto death ?" and " Thou wilt not leave my 
 soul in hades ?" ^Acts, ii. 
 
 Jlns. I suppose so, in some sense. It is a mys- 
 tery.
 
 
 AND NOT THREE. 69 
 
 And was this Eternal God the Son, this uncreated but 
 . begotten God ; was he the speaker who said, " Verily, 
 verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of him- 
 self ?" John, v. 1 9. And, " Of that day, knoweth not the 
 Son, but the Father ?" John xiii. 32. 
 
 rfns. I suppose he spake after the manner of men in his 
 inferior station in the economy of redemption. In his me- 
 diatorial character, he could make these declarations : 
 though in himself, he knew and could do all things. 
 
 This is truly after the manner of men. Thus the cath- 
 olic priest as a man is profoundly ignorant of the crimes 
 of those who confess to him. But as confessor, he knows 
 them well, and grants absolution. But do you find no dif- 
 ficulty in conceiving -this Eternal Son, this second person 
 in the trinity, brought down from the bosom of the Father, 
 and diminished to the dimensions of the soul which ani- 
 mated the "holy child" conceived in the virgin? 
 
 Jtos. This is the mysterious incarnation. Great is the 
 mystery of godliness. 
 
 Hearing such and similar answers, we sometimes say to 
 ourselves, Is the doctrine of three equal persons, a doc- 
 trine of revelation ? pure revelation ? certainly and clear- 
 ly revealed ? and so clear and important that w r e cannot be 
 saved without it ? And is it still so mysterious ? so kept 
 hid in God that we can know nothing what it is ? where 
 the light is darkness ? and where, the revelation of it is an 
 oracle uttering all the ambiguities of the Sibyl at Cumae, or 
 Apollo at Delphi ? And when Watts and others, with the 
 bible as their guide, set forth " The glory of Christ as 
 God-Man ;" and attribute to his inferior nature, whatever 
 is beneath pure Divinity ; and to his Godhead, whatever is 
 Divine : must clouds of dust cover them ? and cries of her-
 
 70 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 esy assail them ? Of this the meek spirit of Watts com- 
 plained: and his works are still regarded with sus- 
 picion, and misrepresented by men who have studied 
 the subject less hours, than prayerful Watts studied it 
 years. 
 
 Watts in his Logic, long used in colleges as a classic, 
 laid down this, among rules which learners should observe 
 in searching for truth, viz : " Never content yourselves 
 with words without ideas." 
 
 When he attempted to speak and write on the scholas- 
 tic trinity in which he was educated ; he found that he 
 could not follow the rule he had laid down for his juniors. 
 Resorting to the bible ; he found no such trinity there. 
 Acquainting himself with the diiferent schemes of trinity 
 invented by men in dark ages ; and studying the scriptures 
 with a view to the subject more than thirty years ; he 
 found the mystery and jargon of the creeds were useless. 
 He learned that an analogical trinity is defensible and in- 
 telligible : that Christ both as God and man, has glories too 
 generally overlooked : that we have not yet apprehended 
 all those things which may be learned from the bible con- 
 cerning our Lord Jesus Christ : that " the maturer age of 
 the world has given light to many passages which were 
 not well understood in the days of the fathers :" that " con- 
 sulting the bible with diligence, and looking only at the 
 sense as it lies before us ; neither considering nor caring 
 whether it be new or old doctrine, so it be true ; is more 
 likely to lead us to advance the growing honors of our 
 Savior ; than to interpret sacred texts in correspondence 
 with schemes learned from men." 
 
 He also modestly presumes that " succeeding writers 
 will yet further unfold the glories of our blessed Lord ; 
 and correct any mistakes he may have made, while pur-
 
 AND NOT THREE. 71 
 
 suing his tract through the third heavens the present resi- 
 dence of the glorified Jesus ; and in tracing the footsteps of 
 the Son of God, through long past ages of his pre-existent 
 state j which commenced before these lower heavens were 
 formed ; or time was measured by the sun and moon." 
 Watts' "Glory of Christ." 
 
 Paul says, " The invisible things (attributes) of God, by 
 the things which are made, are clearly seen." If, to serve 
 a turn, we say, they are not clearly seen, we contradict the 
 bible. And truly common people have clear ideas of God's 
 power, omnipresence, and eternity. They know what 
 they mean by these words ; and can so express themselves 
 that others know what they mean. 
 
 When we pretend that trinity of persons, like all God's 
 perfections, is mysterious and incomprehensible ; we ei- 
 ther deceive ourselves, or we mean to deceive others. 
 We blend things which are unlike. We know what the 
 attributes of God are ; far as our minds can reach. But 
 what the orthodox trinity is, we know nothing. We see 
 God's perfections clearly. They fill the measure of our 
 comprehension, and appear grand and sublime. We study 
 and enlarge our minds to twice their former capacity : and 
 we contemplate the same divine perfections : and our per- 
 ception of them is twice as august as before. But double 
 or quadruple our knowledge of the mystery of the trinity, 
 and our thoughts do not reach the subject at all. We see 
 it neither clearly nor dimly. When we ask a pious trini- 
 tarian of his creed, he admits that he is environed with 
 difficulties ; and that he hopes for more light. The Lord 
 will grant him a good deliverance. When we ask an 
 anathematizing trinitarian to say, what he demands that 
 we should believe ? He presents the subject before us, 
 ex cathedra, with superior airs. When he has done ; we
 
 
 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 find he has told us what we as well knew when we were 
 eight years old, as he knows now. He has not yet started 
 from the mathematical point. 
 
 The common people are not much encouraged to scru- 
 tinize these mysteries. They are rather cautioned to be- 
 ware ; and be content with their inability to comprehend 
 such high matters. They are told that God is One j and 
 that God is Three : that he is 'triune : that three infinite 
 persons are equal : and that they are not three, but only 
 one in essence. They ruminate upon what they think 
 profoundly conceived by their teachers ; upon the profun- 
 dity of the mystery of one God in three intelligent persons, 
 arranging themselves as first, second, and third in office 
 and rank. They bow assent to the words. Their belief 
 and zeal are settled : their knowledge nothing. Let those 
 who doubt this, question them, and I think they will be 
 satisfied. 
 
 I have asked plain men, Who are the three persons in 
 the Godhead? 
 
 With surprise at a question so simple ; they answer, 
 The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost. 
 
 And who are we to understand by each of these names, 
 Father, Son, and Ghost ? 
 
 Looking at me as if they would say, as the Roman said 
 to Paul, " Art not thou that Egyptian which before these 
 days leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men 
 that were murderers ?" they answer : The Father, The 
 Son, and The Holy Ghost are the three persons in the God- 
 head. 
 
 These two questions being now answered, it would 
 seem uncivil to enquire further. So when the Indian sage 
 made the important discovery that the earth is supported 
 by an elephant, and the elephant by a tortoise : he felt com-
 
 AND NOT THREE. 73 
 
 placency in the solution of the question, What supports 
 the earth in empty space 1 He would have thought the 
 querist an idiot or heretic, who should have asked, on 
 what the tortoise stood? This was a mystery. 
 
 Mr. Locke says, " Our knowledge being so narrow, it 
 will perhaps give us some light into the present state of 
 our minds, if we look a little into the dark side, and take a 
 view of our ignorance-, which is infinitely greater than 
 our knowledge. This may serve much to the quiet- 
 ing of disputes, and to improvement in useful knowledge. 
 We thus discover how far we have clear and distinct ideas. 
 We confine our thoughts within the contemplation of 
 those things which are within the reach of our understand- 
 ing. We shall not launch out into the abyss of darkness 
 where we have not eyes to see, nor faculties to perceive 
 any thing. To be satisfied of the folly of such a conceit, 
 we need not go far." 
 
 Locke and Paul were similar reasoners ; and laid down 
 similar rules in logic. They agreed that words, without 
 ideas, are vehicles which carry nothing but elements of 
 jangling. Men, who use words which convey no mean- 
 ing, are, according to Paul, barbarians. " If I know not 
 the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speak- 
 eth, a barbarian : and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian 
 unto me." I. Cor. xiv. 11. And it must be confessed, it 
 sometimes makes men act toward each other as barbari- 
 ans. Words must be defined, and used as signs of our 
 ideas. Sentences must convey distinct mental propositions : 
 or we are prone to " fight as those who beat the air." 
 
 " If," says Paul, *' the trumpet give an uncertain sound, 
 who shall prepare himself to the battle ? So likewise ye, 
 unless ye utter words easy to be understood (" significant" 
 in the margin, and "well signifying" in the Greek,) how
 
 74 GOD is ONE; 
 
 shall it be known what is spoken ? For ye shall speak 
 into the air." " I had rather speak five words with my 
 understanding, that I might teach others also, than teA 
 thousand words in an unknown tongue." " Let no man 
 deceive you with vain words." He also speaks of some 
 ministers who had " swerved from charity out of a pure 
 heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned ; 
 and turned aside unto vain jangling ; understanding neither 
 what they say, nor whereof they affirm." I. Tim. i. 
 
 He who saith, " there are three persons in God : and if 
 I am asked, what I mean by these persons ? my answer is, 
 I do not know :" that man " speaketh into the air." Of 
 what use are the words, if no ideas are connected with 
 them ? no not in the mind of the speaker himself? Will 
 the senseless words sanctify and save the soul 1 And shall 
 we be damned if we do not assent to words and sentences, 
 where there is no connexion between language and 
 thought ? So it seems. For I am orthodox, if I say, " God 
 is three one ;" no matter in what sense ; any sense ; a mys- 
 terious unintelligible sense ; no conceivable sense : but 
 damned, if I do not. So I am told. This crushes the un- 
 derstanding of timorous mortals ; and prepares them for 
 sanguinary fanaticism ; or for any purpose w r hich can be 
 turned to account. Paul and Locke were right. " Words 
 easy to be understood ;" " ctear and distinct ideas j tend 
 much to quieting disputes." (Appendix I.) 
 
 If there are three equal, intelligent, infinite persons ; we 
 have ideas. There are three Gods. 
 
 If we say, we mean something midway between three 
 Gods and one God, we are bewildered. The light that is 
 in us is darkness. And how great is that darkness ? 
 
 If we mean an unknown something , we know not what 
 that unknown something is. We "understand neither
 
 AND NOT THREE. 75 
 
 what we say, nor whereof we affirm." To whom shall 
 we erect our altar? " To the Unknown God." 
 
 If we pretend we believe in an unknown something ; we 
 reach after a supposed something, which in our under- 
 standing, is a real nothing : an illusory something, of which 
 we must speak in language elaborately indistinct. Would 
 not this tend to settle a bewildering influence ; a confu- 
 sion of thought j an inconvenient ignorant, on the minds 
 of our hearers ? Would it not be doing them a wrong 1 
 
 " Pastors according to mine heart shall feed you with 
 knowledge and understanding." Jer. iii. 15. Pastors 
 who teach their hearers to sing and pray to " Three in 
 one, and One in three :" do they feed their flocks with 
 " knowledge and understanding 1" 
 
 An argument in favor of Three Persons in God, has 
 been presented to me 5 and apparently with a view to si- 
 lence me. And it has the effect. It is this. " Nearly or 
 quite all true piety is with those who believe in our mys- 
 tery. And nearly or quite no piety is with you who do 
 not." What can I say ? The sinful publican heard a sim- 
 ilar comparison; and wholly against himself: a comparison 
 instituted by a fellow worshipper who went up with him 
 to the temple to pray. The poor man went down to his 
 house without opening his mouth : except to say, " God be 
 merciful to me a sinner." 
 
 Most sincerely do I acknowledge the piety of thousands 
 and tens of thousands of the people who have been educa- 
 ted in these mysteries ; and of those eminent reformers who 
 knew not how to shake off all the manacles with which 
 an ignorant ancestry and a crafty priesthood had early 
 bound them. They have, in important respects, been 
 burning and shining lights in the times in which they 
 have lived. They have been God's workmanship, regen-
 
 76 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 crated and preserved by the Holy Ghost ; justified by faith 
 without the deeds of the law : conducted to heaven under 
 the guidance of our Lord Jesus Christ ; to the praise of 
 God's glorious grace. Such are redeemed from the earth 
 by the blood of Christ : are saved on terms which exclude 
 boasting ; on terms which redound to the glory of God 
 who sitteth on the throne, and of the lamb forever and 
 ever. God grant that my lot may be with such ; whatever 
 mistakes now bewilder them. Should this be the event; 
 both they and I, as we rise from this state of darkness and 
 clouded perception, will drop our cumbersome errors, 
 with our cumbersome flesh : and henceforth use language 
 void of ambiguity. In heaven, the light gained in an hour, 
 may exceed all the feeble glimmerings of the present state. 
 Dishonesty, however, and uncharitable intolerance, and 
 attempts to wield God's thunders over which they have 
 no control j are no better in trinitarians than in Unitarians.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 77 
 
 REASON VIII. 
 
 The confusion, embarrassment, and tendency to guileful evasion which the cabal- 
 istical propositions contribute to produce in preachers; are objections to 
 their use. 
 
 " WILL ye speak wickedly for God ? and talk deceitfully 
 for him ?" says upright Job. Hundreds of volumes have 
 been written on the subject , and divines are as yet in no 
 wise agreed, what the trinity is. It is so contrived that 
 from its indistinctness, it admits of endless controversy. It 
 is like an object, scarcely descried through a mist, which 
 can be defined neither in form nor dimensions. If we af- 
 firm that we believe it; and are asked, Believe what? we 
 presently bewilder our hearers in subtleties too thin and 
 shadowy for comprehension. When ministers preach on 
 the subject as*a first principle of faith ; is there no danger 
 of their falling into a spirit of guileful contrivance, to guard 
 against self-contradiction and absurdity ? Honest men, if 
 mistaken, are still honest. I speak of the tendency of the 
 mystery. 
 
 Example. A scheme of trinity, long and widely preva- 
 lent, is as follows. " A distinction of names and internal 
 relations, which is drawn from different relative proper- 
 ties in the divine nature. Thus the Father, Son, and Spirit 
 are a threefold repetition of the selfsame divine essence,, 
 with some inconceivable relation to each other ; called pa- 
 ternity, filiation, and spiration." Watts, Vol. 6. p. 377. 
 Whoever will admit this is orthodox. Its influence in pu- 
 rifying us from heresy, is talismanic. I therefore transcribe 
 Watts' opinion of it.
 
 78 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 " The cbmmon explication of the generation of the Son, 
 and procession of the Spirit from the Father and Son, 
 which was authorised in the latin church, was derived 
 down to us from popish schoolmen ; and is now become a 
 part of the established faith in most of the protestant na- 
 tions : because at the Reformation, they knew no better 
 way to explain the trinity. They contented themselves 
 to say, it is incomprehensible : and therefore forbid all fur- 
 ther inquiry. Their account of the derivation of the Word 
 and Spirit from the Father, seems to me, to be a set of 
 words of which I can form no ideas. It was invented by 
 subtle and metaphysical schoolmen, to guard as far as pos- 
 sible, against the charge of inconsistency : and was never 
 designed to convey a clear conception to the mind of man." 
 
 " The most approved writers represent it thus. The 
 generation of the Son, is, the Father's communication of 
 his own individual essence to the Son ; together with the 
 personal property of being begotten. By this property, 
 he differs from the Father." ' ; <^ 
 
 " The procession of the Spirit, is, a communication of 
 the selfsame essence both from the Father and the Son, 
 unto the Spirit ; together with the personal property of 
 spiration or proceeding. By this property he differs from 
 the Father and the Son." 
 
 " How strange soever this language appears to persons 
 who seek for ideas with words, I seriously profess this is 
 the justest, and I think plainest description I can give. 
 If it be possible to make it plainer, I will repeat the same 
 in another form of words." 
 
 " The scholastic scheme supposes the generation of the 
 Son to be a sort of repetition of the selfsame essence of 
 the Father, together with some new personal property 
 called filiation, which joined to the divine essence, makes
 
 AND NOT THREE. 79 
 
 up the person of the Son : and this repetition or reproduc- 
 tion of the divine essence, with its new personality, is ow- 
 ing to the Father only." 
 
 " It also supposes the procession of the Holy Ghost to 
 be another repetition of the same essence ; together with 
 some new personal property called procession, which join- 
 ed to the essence, makes up the Holy Ghost: and that this 
 repetition or reproduction of the essence with its new 
 personality, is owing both to the Father and the Son con- 
 jointly : or as some say, it is from the Father as the ori- 
 ginal principle, by the Son as a medium." 
 
 " Some indeed have thought it was improper to say that 
 the essence did generate, or could be generated or derived. 
 They suppose only the personality of the Son was genera- 
 ted by the Father ; and the personality of the Spirit pro- 
 ceeded from the Father and Son. But when you enquire, 
 What these personalities are 1 they say, filiation or son- 
 ship ; and spiration or procession. On the whole, there- 
 fore, Son-ship is generated; and Procession proceeds. 
 But the generality of orthodox trinitarians go into the for- 
 mer sentiments of the generation and procession of the 
 essence itself." 
 
 " I reverence the names and memory of those excellent 
 men who have asserted and defended these opinions. But 
 when I enquire of my own heart, whether ever I could 
 form any ideas from this language, when in my younger 
 days I firmly assented to these sounds ; I must honestly 
 confess, I could not." (Appendix K.) 
 
 I believe that Watts made this confession honestly. 
 And I solemnly believe that similar honesty would prompt 
 those in our days who firmly assent to similar sounds, to 
 make the same confession. Nor can I honestly call on 
 my fellow men to assent to such unintelligible sounds ;
 
 GOD is ONE; 
 
 until I shall honestly believe that " ignorance is the moth- 
 er of devotion ;" and that it is a noble work of piety, to 
 " darken counsel by words without knowledge." 
 
 Such too are the unmeaning words of the council of 
 Nice, A. D. 325. Constantine the last of the heathen 
 emperors, now become nominally a Christian ; and really 
 the ecclesiastical, civil, and military head of the church, 
 was president of this first general council. Their words 
 are, " We believe in one God, the Father Almighty ; and 
 in one Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, the only begot- 
 ten of the Father ; God of God ; light of light ; very God 
 of very God j begotten, not made ; of the same substance 
 with the Father ; who for us men, came down from heav- 
 en, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the virgin 
 Mary, and was made man. We believe in the Holy Ghost, 
 who proceedeth from the Father and the Son." 
 
 This first council made out no formula of three persons 
 equal in power and glory. Having imperial authority 
 now with them ; they judged it useful to assume an im- 
 posing attitude toward those pestilent wretches who 
 doubted of their dogmas : and they anathematized those 
 " who affirm that the Son is a different hypostasis (per- 
 son) from the Father:" i. e. they pronounced their curse 
 on those who maintained that the Son had any substance 
 of his own. 
 
 It was discussed by this council, whether the Son was 
 o|Aoougio<r (consubstantial) with the Father. Those who were 
 in favor of ojwouffios, said that it signified that the Son was 
 of the substance of the Father ; but not a part divided off 
 from the essence. To some of the bishops who doubted 
 of o/Aoougioff, the president of the council, viz: the emperor, 
 replied ; that " by it he did not mean that the Son was of 
 the Father, by any corporeal affections ; nor by any eMrorop.fi
 
 AND NOT THREE. 
 
 (sudden separation or dividing off:) for it was impossible 
 that an incorporeal nature should admit of corporeal affec- 
 tions : but the thing was to be understood of a divine in- 
 comprehensible manner :" i. e. " an incomprehensible man- 
 ner" of being " begotten, not made." They on the whole 
 pronounced consubstantial to be orthodox : and it has so 
 remained to this day. And I apprehend it still means " an 
 incomprehensible manner" of theogony : or Ab-ra-ca-da- 
 bra. 
 
 Fifty -six years after, A. D. 381, Theodosius ordered an- 
 other general council which assembled at Constantinople : 
 and they decided more expressly that there are in God, 
 three most perfect hypostases (persons.) By their aun 
 thority they strove to crush " the pest of Sabellius, and 
 the blasphemy" of other dissenters who stood in their way. 
 And as the catholic church has depended more on the an- 
 cient councils than on the bible ; they have with zeal de- 
 fended the mystery of three persons : and accumulated 
 numberless other mysteries which have advanced their 
 sacred hierarchy. Nor is it marvellous that Luther did 
 no more toward removing the mass of corruptions which 
 had accumulated in the church. Had the pleasure of God 
 continued his life to the present day ; his mighty mind 
 woufd probably have moved the Reformation quite beyond 
 its present stand : and have cleared off some of the clouds 
 which yet hang around the protestant mind ; or which yet 
 rest on its future prospects. 
 
 Professor Stewart has presented us with sundry modern 
 illustrations of the sacred mystery of the trinity. Letters 
 to Channing, p. 43. " The celebrated Leibnitz was re- 
 quested by Loefler, to give him an affirmative definition 
 of the persons in the Godhead. He sent for answer : 
 
 * Several persons in an absolute substance numerically the 
 
 K
 
 82 
 
 GOD is ONE; 
 
 same, signify several intelligent substances essentially re- 
 lated.'" 
 
 " On further consideration, he abandoned this, and sent 
 a second: which was, * Several persons, in an absolute 
 substance numerically the same -, mean, Relative incom- 
 municable modes of subsisting.' " 
 
 " If Leibnitz understood this, I believe he must have 
 been a better master of metaphysics than any person who 
 has read his definition. In fact, he does not himself ap- 
 pear satisfied with it : for not long after, he wrote as fol- 
 lows : ' We must say that there are relations in the divine 
 substance which distinguish the persons: since these 
 persons cannot be absolute substances. But we must 
 aver, too, that these relations are substantial. At least, we 
 must say that the divine persons are not the same concrete, 
 under different denominations, as a man may be said to be 
 a poet and an orator. We must say, moreover, that the 
 three persons are not as absolute substances as the 
 whole.' " 
 
 " With quite as little success did that masterly reasoner 
 Toellner of Frankfort, labor to define the subject. ' It is 
 certain,' says he, * that we must conceive as co-existing 
 in God, three eternal and different actions ; the action of 
 activity, of idea, and of the desire of all possible good with- 
 in and without him.' " 
 
 " Three really different actions co-existing from eter- 
 nity, necessarily pre-suppose three different and operative 
 substrata. It is thus through the aid of reason illuminated 
 by the scriptures, we come to know that the Power, the 
 Understanding, and the Will of God, are not merely three 
 faculties , but three distinct energies, i. e. three substances." 
 
 " Turtullian's, or the Nicene creed is as intelligible to me 
 at this." p. 42.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 83 
 
 From all these schemes of trinity, I, too, gain no knowl- 
 edge. And I may say the same of twenty other schemes : 
 as that " God is one in three, and three in one :" or this, 
 " Three persons in God are three distinctions in God 
 which are unknowable ,:" or this, " The mode of divine ex- 
 istence is such as lays a foundation for a distinction into 
 three equal persons." I suppose the whole which is con- 
 tained in all these creeds, so far as ideas are concerned, 
 may be more succinctly expressed in this single proposi- 
 tion, viz. Three equal persons in one essence are Ab-ra- 
 ca-da-bra. If the expressions contain an idea, or a, particle 
 of sense J how microscopic the eye which can discern it ! 
 
 Now if learned ecclesiastics, who make these creeds, are 
 compelled to use such ambidextrous caution in selecting 
 their words j and are so disagreed in them ; and so una- 
 ble to fix on any account of their meaning, lest they con- 
 tradict themselves : let the honest man judge : can a j vast 
 company of preachers of all degrees of capacity from the 
 least to the greatest, go out and preach and defend them ; 
 without temptation to guileful equivocation ? 
 
 There Will be among their hearers, some discerning up- 
 right souls, who will not practice guile themselves ; nor 
 believe that guile belongs to religion ; nor be passive when 
 their understandings are imposed upon. 
 
 One will say to his minister ; Explain to my understan- 
 ding what you mean, when you say, " Our God is one on- 
 ly in number ; and yet three persons ; each of whom is 
 our God. Our God is one in number, in respect to his 
 essence ; but three in regard to persons. Two or three 
 persons cannot exist, where there is only one essence. 
 For to constitute more than one person, more than one 
 essence is required. For what is person, but one intelli- 
 gent essence ? or in what way, I pray you, does one per-
 
 84 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 son differ from another, unless by diversity of numerical 
 essence ? This implies that the divine essence is one on- 
 ly ; yet there is more than one person j although the di- 
 vine essence which is one, and divine person, are identi- 
 cal." 
 
 Toellner also comes up, and says : " You teach that the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are each a particular person 
 endowed with understanding : and at the same time nei- 
 ther of them has his separate being, his separate under- 
 standing, his separate will, his separate power of action : 
 but all three have only one being, one understanding, one 
 will, one power of acting. You therefore affirm that there 
 are three real beings truly separate : each having his own 
 power of acting, and not having it: three separate persons, 
 and three persons not separate." 
 
 Taylor, too, presents his difficulty. " There can," says 
 he, " be no real distinction between the Father and the Son, 
 unless they so differ, that what is peculiar to the Father, 
 is wanting in the Son : and what is peculiar to the Son, is 
 wanting in the Father. Now that excellent property 
 which belongs exclusively to the Father, or exclusively to 
 the Son, must be numbered among the excellent perfec- 
 tions of God. It follows that some excellent property is 
 lacking both in the Father and in the Son. Neither is en- 
 dowed with infinite perfection. It must be conceded then 
 that the essence of the Father and the Son, is not the 
 same." 
 
 Hearers have a right to expect that their minister 
 will imitate Paul ; who said, " We have renounced the 
 hidden things of dishonesty ; not walking in craftiness -, nor 
 handling the word of God deceitfully." II. Cor. iv. 2. If 
 hearers suspect that they aTe to be treated as reasonable 
 beings ; they will take the liberty to be inquisitive : and
 
 . 
 
 AND NOT THREE. 85 
 
 preachers must say something. And can they remove the 
 difficulties which hang heavily on their schemes of equal 
 persons in the Holy One ? Can they guide an intelligent 
 querist or candid objector, through the dark mazes, with a 
 torch of light? Is not a minister constrained to talk round 
 about the subject ? to keep on the look out, lest he expose 
 his ignorance, or appear feeble, or contradict himself ? Is 
 he not conscious of an embarrassment which (even if he 
 be honest) exposes him to some temptation to shifts and 
 twists and guileful equivocation 1 Is he not compelled a- 
 droitly to substitute one word for another? and after ex- 
 hausting all verbal refinements, to flee to mystery that he 
 may escape from absurdity? If he is, my objection has 
 weight. If not, not. 
 
 Conversing with ministers in the utmost familiarity, I 
 have found them using words with strange and unusual 
 meaning : successively changing the meaning : qualifying 
 the meaning : substituting new meaning : disowning all ob- 
 vious meaning : till I have been unable to perceive that any 
 meaning whatever was left. This is as well known to me, 
 as any fact whatever. 
 
 It would seem to be a bold, but not pious attempt to un- 
 dertake to analyze the Divinity, regarding the Godhead 
 as a compound ; and resolving it into its constituent parts. 
 Many of the former patrons of these mysteries have had 
 an interest in guilefully using them to excite the reverence 
 of the multitude. We cannot otherwise account for their 
 anathematizing and burning as heretics, those who saw 
 through their craft. It is not meant that this proves any 
 one of their schemes of trinity untrue. It only proves that 
 those who so supported the trinity, were murderers. They 
 applied fear and torture ; where the proper weapon, if it 
 existed, was evidence, or argument. At the same time,
 
 86 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 those schemes with the usual means of supporting them ; 
 have had (as learning has advanced) a serious influence 
 in lessening confidence in clerical rectitude ; and in produ- 
 cing that deism which has been so prevalent among the 
 learned in Europe and America. To their influence may 
 probably be traced the following remarks of a great states- 
 man and scholar, and strictly moral man. " The clergy 
 are ready at the word of the Lawgiver, if such a word 
 could be obtained, to put the torch to the pile, and to kin- 
 dle in this hemisphere, the flames in which Calvin consu- 
 med poor Servetus, because he could not find in his Euc- 
 lid, the proposition which has demonstrated that Three 
 are one ; and that One is three : nor subscribe to that of Cal- 
 vin, that magistrates have a right to exterminate heretics." 
 Jefferson's Works, vol. 4. p. 322. 
 
 To the same mystical policy as the proximate or remote 
 cause, may probably be traced the following sentence, in 
 a Letter to Gov. Gerry of Massachusetts. " The mild and 
 simple principles of the Christian philosophy, w r ould pro- 
 duce too much calm, too much regularity of good, to ex- 
 tract from its disciples, a support for a numerous priest- 
 hood : were they not to sophisticate it, to ramify it, to 
 split it into hairs, and twist its texts ; till they cover the 
 divine morality of its author with mysteries j and require 
 a priesthood to explain them." Jefferson's Works, vol. 
 3. p. 468. 
 
 Who can say that such reflections do not spontaneously 
 arise in a mind conversant with history ? with historic 
 views of the Catholic priesthood, the Greek priesthood, 
 the mystics who have abounded, the priesthood of the 
 dark ages ? History shows men and their motives without 
 disguise. And readers do better judge of the actors, than 
 when they see them in their masks, in the living world.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 87 
 
 Professor Stewart says, " The history of past ages ex- 
 hibits an appalling picture of disputes about the person of 
 Christ. The very last age witnessed a dispute in Germa- 
 ny between theologians ; whether the humiliation of Christ 
 consisted ' in abstinence from both the direct and reflex 
 use of divine majesty ;' or, in the ' occultation of divine ma- 
 jesty :' a dispute which agitated the Lutheran church to 
 its very centre." 
 
 Intelligent men witnessing the mysteries and janglings 
 of such theologians, very reasonably conclude that they 
 derive their theology from " chaos and old night :" and 
 that if the bible has given countenance to such theology, 
 the bible itself must have had the same origin. 
 
 But the Professor frankly and truly states what now is ; 
 that " if we are to credit one mode of representation , the 
 greatest portion of Christ's humiliation consisted in his hav- 
 ing renounced and absolutely laid aside his Divinity, during 
 the time of his incarnation : and that as GOD, in this di- 
 minished condition, he did actually expire on the cross. 
 All the powers of language are exhausted to shew how 
 great must be the sufferings and condescension of Christ, 
 in undergoing such a degradation as this." Letters* p. 91. 
 " The most ingenious and learned Dr. Walljs makes no 
 scruple to say, the word person, when applied to The 
 Word and Spirit in the divine nature, is* metaphorical, an- 
 alogical, and figurative. Yet he was esteemed an ortho- 
 dox trinitarian." Watts, vol. 6. p. 368. To this trinity, 
 the adjective equal is inapplicable. 
 
 Watts himself says, "If the doctrine of the trinity can- 
 not be explained in a literal sense, lest we make three 
 Gods ; I esteem it much safer to construe the terms of 
 personality in a figurative sense. One Divine Being with 
 his powers of knowing and effecting, will allow a figura-
 
 88 GOD i* ONE ; 
 
 live personality to the Word and Spirit j and accord with 
 certain scriptural representations." 
 
 " As outward speech and breath are powers of the hu- 
 man body ; as reason and vital activity are powers of the 
 human soul , so analogically, God is a being with powers 
 which he is sometimes pleased to describe by the terms 
 Logos and Pneuma, Word and Spirit, speech and breath, 
 or reason and active efficience." " Yet," he continues, " I 
 will by no means contend for the word person to express 
 these divine powers." 
 
 Calvin also describes the Word and Spirit as the wis- 
 dom and power of God the Father : yet he calls them 
 persons. 
 
 If we suppose a minister understands his creed ; and 
 believes that God is One literal person ; and that he speaks 
 in certain passages, as sending forth his Logos and Pneu- 
 ma, his Word and Spirit, as analogical persons ; will he 
 lead uninformed people to profess belief in three persons 
 equal in power and glory j and not inform them that they 
 are not all persons in the same sense? For surely 
 those assenting to the church Articles, have no suspicion 
 that they are metaphorical and analogical 5 and not literal 
 and infinite persons. Nor can they. For they are made 
 to profess that these persons are equal to one another in 
 power and all perfections. Nor will they suspect that the 
 minister himself, in a mental reservation, believes them 
 to be persons in different senses. And if he does so be- 
 lieve, can he honestly conceal his belief? and leave those 
 whom he receives into the church to imagine real persons ; 
 and grope along in the dark as well as they can ? I sup- 
 pose not. 
 
 Watts was unincumbered with these difficulties. ." And 
 where," says he, " the personal characters attributed to
 
 AND NOT THREE. 89 
 
 Christ in scripture are too literal to be solved by such 
 figurative personality ; let'it be observed that Christ had a 
 distinct human nature, a body and soul in union with Di- 
 vinity. And surely in this, he may and does use the per- 
 sonal pronouns I, thou, he. This will abundantly solve the 
 attribution of personal ideas to Christ. The man Jesus is 
 a proper person. And his union with Divinity does not 
 destroy his personality. And the whole complex being, 
 or God-Man, hath sufficient personality to use the same 
 pronouns." 
 
 " And as this sufficiently accounts for personal ascrip- 
 tions to Christ, since his incarnation ; it will solve such 
 personal ascriptions to him before his incarnation. For 
 God formed and assumed his soul into union with himself, 
 before the creation of the world." 
 
 I ask permission to imitate those good men who con- 
 tend not for the word person to express either divine pow- 
 ers or supposed distinctions in God. For the bible never 
 uses the word person for any such purpose. How much 
 less for three infinite agents in God, " equal in power and 
 glory !" i. e. equal in all divine perfections ! I have dis- 
 used such language towards forty years, that I might be 
 free from temptation to guileful ambiguity in my instruc- 
 tions. And had I done otherwise, I know not how I could 
 have honestly prayed, " Lead us not into temptation." 
 (Appendix L.) 
 
 One remark more. On subjects less serious than re- 
 ligion ; it is contrary to all rules of correct composition ; 
 " to jumble metaphorical and plain language together : to 
 construct a period so that part of it must be understood 
 metaphorically; part literally: which always produces 
 confusion." Dr. Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric.
 
 GOD is ONE; 
 
 ' . 
 
 REASON IX. 
 
 The expressions " God is three one :" " three persons, all equal, co-eternal, per' 
 takers of Divinity :" " three persons in one substance :" " triune :" " holy, 
 blessed, and glorious trinity :" Mese furnish no facilities for understanding 
 any one passage in the bible ; but altogether the reverse. 
 
 MEN blindly yielding their understanding to a pompous 
 creed, which they do not comprehend ; nor know how 
 their teachers construe ; dare not examine the bible freely. 
 They dare not suppose it to mean what it says. Prejudg- 
 ing that their mysteries are true, whatever else is not true ; 
 that these mysteries are somehow in the bible ; if not on 
 the face of the text, yet discernible to their guides : how 
 do they read ? When the article of their creed is exact- 
 ly contradicted by some passage of scripture, they put 
 some far fetched Construction on that scripture ; or think 
 it rather strange ; or that it needs the aid of a commenta- 
 tor, or verbose expounder. 
 
 The orthodox creed says, " the Son is equal to the Fa- 
 ther/' The Son says, " My Father is greater than I." 
 Which is true with the common man ? The creed. For 
 he believes the eternal Son begotten of the Father in his 
 own substance, is the second person in God, and equal to 
 the Father. So far all is plain, ana not to be denied. What 
 next ? He supposes the Eternal Son, having " veiled his 
 Divinity in humanity ;" and contracted it into a narrow 
 compass : " as GOD in this diminished condition, he did ac- 
 tually expire on the cross." And while " in such a deg- 
 radation as this," he could mysteriously say, " My Father 
 is greater than I ;" though he was truly and fully equal to 
 his Father.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 91 
 
 A man says to his neighbor, " I have devised a plan for 
 the recovery of my prodigal son. My plan involves par- 
 ticulars which are kind in their design : but the success of 
 the whole requires that they be kept secret : and as yet I 
 know that they are locked up in my own mind. For who 
 can see what passes in the recesses of my soul ? But my 
 own spirit surveys them with delight, and will reveal them 
 in due time." This is "the artless language of nature." 
 
 The plan of saving man by Christ was, in many of its 
 circumstances, kept hid in God for ages. And before re- 
 vealed, is called " mystery," and " hidden wisdom." Nor 
 could it be penetrated by any intelligent being in the uni- 
 verse j till .God himself was pleased to reveal it. For who 
 could discover the councils of his heart ? No one except 
 his own omniscient spirit. This, too, is " the artless lan- 
 guage of nature." 
 
 These cases are compared and illustrated in I. Cor. 2., 
 where Paul inspired to make known the good designed 
 for sinful man by God, says: " We speak forth the wisdom 
 of God, which in a mystery was kept hid, which God or- 
 dained before the world unto our glory ; which none of the 
 princes of this world knew. As it is written, eye hath 
 not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart 
 of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that 
 love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his . 
 spirit. For his spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep 
 things of God. For who (j.'g) knoweth the things (secret 
 counsels) of a man, save the spirit of the man which is in 
 him ? Even so, the things of God (his eternal purposes) 
 knoweth no one (ou&k,) but the spirit of God." This is 
 " the artless language of nature." Plain people, unsophis- 
 ticated with phisosophy (falsely so called,) could not miss 
 the meaning. And would they suspect " the Spirit of
 
 92 GOD is ONE ; 
 
 God" is a third person among three persons in God? any 
 more than that " the spirit of the man" is a third person 
 among three persons in the man? Yet Dr. Dwight uses 
 this text " in support of the ' Personality' of the Third 
 among the Three." Vol. 3. p. 6. Is the bible thus ren- 
 dered intelligible? or unintelligible?
 
 AND NOT THREE. 93 
 
 REASON X.* 
 
 The erpre*tion$ which are so unmeaning in theory, are equally alien to experi- 
 mental religion. 
 
 UNDER the most powerful influences of the Holy Spirit ;, 
 when God forces on sinners a conviction of their guilt and 
 ruin ; when their spirits are overpowered with fearful ap- 
 prehensions of the just but insupportable wrath of their 
 Holy Sovereign : these futile expressions evanish from 
 their minds. 
 
 Selfishness is so total, so rooted, so controlling in the 
 hearts of men since the fall, that they never will be free 
 from it; nor from the curse of God which follows it: un- 
 less they are new created ; born again ; by the omnipotent 
 Spirit of God. His resistless energy alone takes away the 
 base exclusive self-love in the heart ; and causes disinter- 
 ested love to spring up in its place. He makes the wretch- 
 ed enemy feel what he is ; what he has done ; what he 
 has deserved : ano! what he is to expect, if justice and 
 judgment are to proceed in his deplorable case. Now hfe 
 hopes from himself are gone. Instead of abounding in 
 righteousness and good works, as compared with publi- 
 cans and harlots ; he is absolutely vile and unrighteous, as; 
 compared with God and his law. An heavenly temper 
 being divinely imparted to him; God and his- law are his 
 delight. He despairs of help from every arm of flesh : and 
 he cries to sovereign grace for pardon : and he finds it can 
 be obtained through the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God. 
 He is consoled : rejoices in hope.
 
 4 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 What has produced this change in the man 1 God, who 
 is a Spirit ; and who has access to the sinner's spirit : God, 
 by his spiritual unseen influence. Not the man him- 
 self; nor his fellow man. No person in the universe, but 
 the only One God. The rebel man with his selfish heart 
 and pride, and hopes all broken down and prostrate ; is 
 glad to receive hope and forgiveness and salvation from 
 grace : and on terms which place him side by side with 
 the chief of sinners ; and he ascribes his deliverance and 
 the glory of his salvation to God on his immovable throne, 
 and unto the Lamb that was slain. 
 
 All this is effected not by birth, nor by the will of the 
 flesh, nor by the will of man, but by God : by t God, w r ho 
 hath mercy on whom he will have mercy : by the " Holy 
 Ghost, who is God j employed in his most benevolent and 
 wonderful work, that of restoring holiness to the soul of 
 man ; in his most glorious character, that of the Sanctifier ; 
 in a work demanding the supreme gratitude of mankind ; 
 in a character demanding their supreme gratitude and 
 love." 
 
 The salvation of lost man, is by the same power of the 
 Highest ; the same irresistable influence ; which at first 
 brought forth the earth, and arranged the elements from 
 chaos : and poured light and beauty on a world which the 
 Creator himself pronounced to be " very good." 
 
 The conversion of the soul dead in sin, is by the same 
 Almighty power in Christ Jesus, which will give life to all 
 who are literally dead. Men's speculations are bewilder- 
 ed in their common times ; with a number of persons ar- 
 ranged in *their offices, and equal in Godhead. When ran- 
 somed from spiritual bondage ; they think no more of sev- 
 eral persons in God, than will the dead when springing 
 from their graves.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 95 
 
 The' regenerated behold in Jesus, " the image of the in- 
 visible God." In his life, and temper ; they behold the very 
 temper which reigns in infinite strength in the Divinity. 
 The- Father " draweth them" to the Son. The " Son re- 
 vealeth the Father" to them. " No one can pluck them 
 
 A 
 
 out of the Son's hand. The Father is greater than all. 
 And no one can pluck them out of the Father's hand." 
 
 And when the saints, under the guidance of this Divine 
 Person, are disarmed of their malignant spirit ; when they 
 are in their nearest approximations to Christ and God the 
 Father ; and full of disinterested kindness to man ; when, 
 in fine, in their most heavenly frames : their mysterious 
 three have no place. In this state of mind, they would no 
 more injure a fellow sinner, or burn an heretic ; than they 
 would blaspheme God, or revile his Son. 
 
 Such is the difference between the honest Christian, and 
 the monopolizing hypocrite : between the living minister 
 of Christ , and those who " say they are apostles, and are 
 not, but do lie." 
 
 The converted, when their love is waxed cool, may be 
 trained to various human systems. Custom may reconcile 
 them to the endurance of human impositions. If igno- 
 rant, and rigidly taught the absurd dogmas of a sect ; they 
 may revere those dogmas. Those who, with sinister aims, 
 impose absurdities on them, have the greater sin. 
 
 And how remote will three equal persons be from the 
 thoughts of all saints and all sinners, when rising in swarms 
 from the sleep of death, they will be caught up in the air ; 
 and behold the land and the seas burning below? when 
 " God shall judge the World in righteousness by that man, 
 through whose lips the sentence will pass, from which 
 there is no appeal? All his ransomed ones will by him 
 be made kings and priests unto his God and Father. All
 
 96 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 his " enemies will be his footstool." Ps. ex. 1 . The first 
 begotten Son, " ruling in the Majesty of the name of Jeho- 
 vah his God," will have reduced all things under his abso- 
 lute sway -.jwith the single exception of " him which did 
 put all things under him. And w r hen all things shall be 
 subdued unto him ; then shall the Son also himself be sub- 
 ject unto him that put all things under him, that God may 
 be all in all." I. Cor. xv. 27.
 
 AND NOT THREE* 97 
 
 REASON XI. 
 
 The mystery of trinity of persons in God ; three, equal, and one ; interpose dif- 
 ficulties in the way of understanding the personal and mediatorial character of 
 " the man Christ Jesus." 
 
 WE now speak of him who " came forth from the Fa- 
 ther :" " the first begotten Son :" who was " in the form 
 of God," and assumed " the form of a servant :" who was 
 " rich and became poor :" Who obeyed and suffered : who 
 " finished the work he was sent to perform on earth :" who 
 prayed to be restored to " the glory which he had with the 
 Father before the world was." Not one of these expres- 
 sions is applicable to the uncreated God : and every one of 
 them exclusively pertains to the begotten Son, " the man 
 Christ Jesus." 
 
 To me it seems that little account is made of this per- 
 sonage by the fashionable theology. Yet he is great, both 
 as he existed before his incarnation; and as he exists 
 since his exaltation. Gabriel said to Mary, " Thou shalt 
 conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son. And he 
 shall be GREAT j and shall be called the Son of the High- 
 est." John the Baptist thought himself " unworthy to 
 stoop down and unloose the latchet of his shoes." 
 
 Preparatory to what will be offered under this and the 
 next Reason, we premise that, the scriptures obviously 
 teach that there are in Christ two distinct natures, or literal 
 persons ; God and Man united in a transcendant manner ; 
 so as to be one complex person. 
 
 My soul is not my body : and my body is not my soul. 
 
 I, however, call my soul and body united, myself: and in- 
 
 M
 
 98 GOD is ONE; 
 
 elude them both under my proper name. I can also con- 
 template them severally and apart. I can reason concern- 
 ing their powers, diseases, and remedies, as understand- 
 ingly, as if they were separated. How they are united , 
 or of the manner in which I have no knowledge ; and 
 consequently no belief. 
 
 The Supreme GOD is not the Man Jesus. And the 
 Man Jesus is not the Supreme GOD. United, they are 
 one complex being, and object of worship. A created and 
 an uncreated mind are more similar than soul and body. 
 And I perceive nothing absurd in their union. I call God 
 and Man united, my Savior, or my Lord, or by the proper 
 name (by usage become a proper name) Jesus Christ* 
 Yet I can contemplate them severally ; and reason under - 
 standingly concerning their powers, attributes, and rank. 
 Those things which in the bible are? said of Christ, which 
 can be said only of Supreme Divinity ; I refer to his Divin- 
 ity. And those things which in the bible are spoken of 
 Christ, which can be said only of a nature inferior to the 
 unchangeable Jehovah j I ascribe to his humanity. And 
 in my apprehension, infinite confusion disfigures the com- 
 mon theology from inadvertently confounding these divine 
 and human attributes and acts : sometimes ascribing those 
 things which are purely divine, to the man ; and those 
 which are applicable only 4o the man, to the Divinity : 
 sometimes making Jehovah a feeble distressed mortal or 
 servant ; and sometimes "making the man or child, the in- 
 visible God : and as the result, marring the beauty and 
 confounding the character and station of each ; and ob- 
 scuring the consistency and glory of the united whole. 
 
 These evils may, I think, be traced to the dark contri- 
 vance of trinity in unity, and unity in trinity : and to a de- 
 nial of the pre-existence of Christ's human soul.
 
 
 AND NOT THREE. 99 
 
 The soul and body of each child of Adam, " the man 
 Christ Jesus" excepted, come into existence simultaneous- 
 ly, by human generation. Had it pleased God to have 
 created our souls all at once, at or before the beginning of 
 the world ; and to have united each soul to the body pre- 
 pared for it, when that body existed by procreation ; he 
 would have done so. 
 
 The bible teacheth that, as to the man Christ Jesus, 
 God actually did, in some moment of his own eternity, 
 create his soul, as " the first begotten of every creature ;" 
 Col. i. 15: and "the beginning of the creation of God." 
 Rev. iii. 1 4. He existed in the form and likeness of God ; 
 and mysteriously united to him, ages before the body pre- 
 pared for him was conceived in the virgin. His soul had 
 as noble a pre-eminence above other human souls in its or- 
 igin , as his body had pre-eminence over other human bo- 
 dies 5 having no Father but the Holy Ghost : so " that he 
 might in all things have the pre-eminence." Col. i. 18. 
 
 In every part of his being, in soul and body, GOD was 
 his Father : and he was the Son of God. And in every 
 sacred passage where the title SON OF GOD is applied to 
 Christ , it is exclusively applied to his created nature : and 
 never once to his divine nature. Christ's Divinity is un- 
 begotten, unborn : and is never Son, servant, messenger? 
 angel, or man. Christ's Divinity has no Father, no Moth- 
 er, no Parent, no Origin. Nothing is said in scripture of 
 his Divinity, as to his being, station, rank, attributes, or 
 acts ; below or beneath the dignity of GOD Supreme, in- 
 visible, immortal, unchangeable.* 
 
 *"The generation of the Son of God, as divine, as God, seems to be out of the 
 question : unless it be an express doctrine of revelation : which is so far from 
 being the case, that I conceive the contrary is plainly taught ." Stewart, p. 42. 
 
 When will preachers recognize the truth expressed in this extract? and cause 
 their hearers to understand it? Whenever this shall be; "The pillar of the
 
 100 GOD is ONE ; 
 
 It seems to me that there is no need of our thoughts be- 
 coming confused, when in reading the scriptures, we find 
 Christ represented in the sublime characters of true and 
 eternal God ; and in the inferior characters of a derived, 
 dependent being, existing " with God" from the beginning ; 
 " in the bosom of the Father ;" " coming from the Father 
 
 cloud" which has so long " been darkness," will " give light to,Israel." In the 
 following passages, the Professor informs us that " Son of God" does not mean 
 the divine nature of Christ, but his human nature. 
 
 Phil. ii. 9. " Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name 
 which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow," 
 &c. " This is predicated of that nature which is capable of obeying, and of be- 
 ing rewarded." " In a similar way, ' All power is given to him*in heaven and 
 earth :'" " i. e. he is constituted ' head over all things to the church.'" "Act- 
 ing as such, ' All enemies are put under his teet.' " " And this dominion will be 
 resigned at the final Judgment." (This is the Son in whose name we_are bap- 
 tized.) 
 
 "Of the same tenor are the following passages : I. Cor. xi. 3 ' The head of 
 Christ is God.' I understand it of that nature of which this can be predicat- 
 ed." " When Christ is called 'The image of the invisible God :' ' the bright- 
 ness of God's glory :' ' the express image of his person :' or ' the only begotten 
 of the Father :' ' the Son of God :' ' God's own Son :' ' his dear Son :' I under- 
 stand all these as descriptions of his mediatorial nature and station." The 
 Professor means that all these denote the man Jesus ; as is apparent from 
 the next sentence. " I know indeed that many of these texts have been appro- 
 priated by some trinitarians, to prove the divine nature of Christ : in my opin- 
 ion injudiciously, and without any solid reason." " Texts of this class may be 
 found in Mat. xvii. 5 ' This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased :' 
 John, i. 14 'The Logos was made flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace 
 and truth ; and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Fa- 
 ther:' John, x. 36 ' Say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent 
 into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God ?' Col. 
 i. 13 ' Who hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son :' Heb. i. 5 
 'Unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son; this day 
 have I begotten thee ?' Rom. viii. 29, 32 ' Whom he did foreknow, he also 
 did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the 
 first born among many brethren.' ' He that spared not his own Son, but de- 
 livered him up for us all.' " &c. p. 125. 
 
 In none of these passages can the Professor discover a Son as God, as Divin- 
 ity : or a Son equal to the Father in power and all divine perfections. Nor can 
 I. ' I know indeed that these texts are used by most trinitarians to prove the
 
 
 AND NOT THREE. 101 
 
 into the world ;" obeying and suffering ; " ascending up 
 where he was before ;" " glorified with the glory which he 
 had with the Father before the world was." 
 
 Can we not understand when we read of Jhe visibility, 
 the locality, the dependence, the sufferings, prayers, and 
 intercessions of the Son? and of the invisibility, the omni- 
 presence, the independence, and superiority to prayers and 
 tears of the unbegotten Divinity ? and this God and Man 
 united from before the foundation of the world, as one co- 
 existing, co-acting, agent ? one object of our love, and 
 trust, and worship? Why can we not (at least in most 
 cases) as easily ascribe the things which belong to pure 
 Divinity, to Divinity ; and those which are inferior to Di- 
 vinity, to the humanity of Christ; as we can ascribe 
 thought to our souls, and fingers to our bodies ? Why can 
 we not understandingly worship " God manifest in the 
 flesh ;" as well as do obeisance to our earthly governor ? 
 We bow to the governor who is flesh as well as spirit. 
 We worship Christ who is God and Man. 
 
 But to speak, as the common theology does, of some 
 real and natural subordination of an Eternal Son to an E- 
 ternal Father, and both equal : or, to suppose the Father 
 only is self-existent and unbegotten ; and the co-eternal 
 Son's existence, and power, and begotten Godhead, are to 
 be referred to the Father as the spring and fountain of it ; 
 and think this will account for those sublime and inferior 
 
 divine nature of Christ : but in my apprehension injudiciously, and without any 
 solid reason. 
 
 And if the second person in the trinity appears in none of these texts ; I know 
 not where to look for him : or for a Son who is GOD Supreme having a Father. 
 
 Dr. Watts says, " I know no text which gives Christ, considered as GOD, the 
 title The Son. Son of God is the Humanity of Christ." Such, too, is the doc- 
 trine of the learned commentator Dr. Adam Clarke of the Methodist denomina- 
 tion.
 
 102 GOD is ONE; 
 
 expressions : or, to think, of priority and posteriority of or- 
 der between the Father and the Son in the Godhead itself: 
 or, to suppose the Son who is equal to the Father in es- 
 sence, is inferior in mode, or condition , or economically 
 subordinate, obedient, and submissive : or, to say the eter- 
 nity and necessity of existence of the Son, make him di- 
 vine j though derived from the Father by a mystical gene- 
 ration : or, to suppose the Father, Son, and Spirit are uni- 
 ted in one Godhead, though they are three distinct intelli- 
 gent agents or real persons : or, to speak of God supreme, 
 as a creature ; and of man, as God supreme : any of these 
 are dark. They need the mollifying construction of inter- 
 preters. They need many hard figures of speech. They 
 lay a foundation for very perplexed ideas , or rather ban- 
 ish all ideas. And they need, like transubstantiation, to 
 be shrouded in mystery : where the multitude may be oc- 
 cupied in exploring mazes which lead to nothing. 
 
 These sad devices owe their existence, in part, to the 
 grand error that Christ's soul had no existence previous 
 to his coming in the flesh, and being born of Mary. 
 
 CHRIST'S PRE-EXISTENCE. 
 " No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came 
 down from heaven, even the Son of man who was (owv, 
 imp. tense, not 'who is') in heaven." John, iii. 13. This 
 " man," " even the Son of man," is not the invisible God : 
 but is the very MAN Jesus. He says, he " came down 
 from heaven;" and "ascended up to heaven." " He that 
 cometh after me, is preferred before me," says John the 
 Baptist, " because he was before me." John, i. 30. It is 
 not true that the man Christ was before John, as to the 
 flesh. For he was six months younger. Jls to his soul, 
 he was before John, and before Abraham, and before Ad- 
 am.
 
 
 AND NOT THREE. 103 
 
 " He that coraeth from above, is above all ; he that is of 
 the earth is earthly and speaketh of the earth : he that 
 cometh from heaven is above all." John iii. 31. " The 
 first man was of the earth earthy : the second man is the 
 Lord from heaven." I. Gor. xv. 47. " Which," says Bish- 
 op Fowler, " the apostle speaks of Christ's original in op- 
 position to Adam's. Adam's soul Was created on earth, a 
 body being made out of the earth for it : but the soul of 
 Christ was created in heaven, and is therefore the Lord 
 from heaven." 
 
 " The second man who is the Lord from heaven," no 
 more means the Supreme God, than " the first man." For 
 it is the apostle's design to show that as we live and die 
 on earth after the pattern of the first man Adam ; so the 
 man Jesus who came from heaven shall be the pattern of 
 the saints, raised at the last day. As the soul of the man 
 Christ came down from heaven, and assumed a body on 
 earth , so the souls of the saints shall come from heaven, 
 and assume their immortal bodies on earth. The parallel 
 of bearing the image of the first and second Adam is just. 
 And our Lord or his apostles could not have expressed 
 his literal descent from heaven in plainer words. 
 
 " The bread of -God is he which cometh down from 
 heaven, and giveth life unto the world." John, vi. 33. 
 " I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the 
 will of him that sent me." ver. 38. God always does 
 his own will ; and is never sent down from heaven. There 
 is no one who can send him. If Christ's soul did not pre- 
 exist in heaven, how could he be sent down from heaven, 
 to do either his own will, or the will of another who sent 
 him 1 But he is express in asserting that he was there 
 before he came down. " What and if ye shall see the Son 
 of man ascend up where he was before ?" ver. 62. Does
 
 104 GOD is ONE; 
 
 the common theology believe this of " the Son of man T' 
 Not at all. It denies that " the Son of man" ever was up 
 in heaven before ! or, that he ever came down from heav- 
 en ! or that he so much as existed ! It does indeed pre- 
 tend that the Eternal Son, the second person who is God 
 Supreme is "the Son of man," and pre-existed. If this 
 be true, then man is the Father of God ; and God is the 
 Son of man. This is pagan theology. It reverses the 
 theology of the bible, which represents God as the Father 
 of man. " He that ascended up on high, descended first to 
 the lower parts of the earth. He that descended, is the same 
 also that ascended up far above all heavens." Eph. iv. 9. 
 
 " I came forth from the Father, and am come into the 
 world : again, I leave the w r orld and go to the Father." 
 John, xvi. 28. " Glorify thou me, O Father, with thy own 
 self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world 
 was." John, xvii. 5. How plain, if the soul of Christ was 
 " the first born of every creature?" Col. i. 15. And if, 
 as first born Son, he had glorious dignity with his Father 
 in heaven before the world was ? and in all the following 
 ages, till he divested himself of it at his incarnation ? " Fa- 
 ther I have finished the work on earth which thou sentest 
 me to do : I have delighted to do thy will, O my God." 
 Ps. xl. ". And now, O Father, take me to thee in heaven 
 where I was : glorify me with the glory which I had in the 
 beginning : my days or abasement are accomplished : let 
 the splendor, and riches, and form of God which I had 
 with thee before the world was, be restored." 
 
 That it was the created nature, and not the divine, which 
 was thus glorified in its pre-existent state, is clear from 
 John, xvii. 24 " Father, I will that they be with me, that 
 they may behold my glory which thou hast given me : for 
 thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world." This
 
 
 AND NOT THREE. 105 
 
 would te a very inapt thing for Christ to say as to his di- 
 vine nature. It would make his Divinity quite a different 
 thing from the divinity of the Father ; and quite inferior : 
 so inferior as to have his glorious honors given to him. 
 
 Christ's Divinity had no glory given to him : and he nev- 
 er prayed to be restored to any glory of which he had 
 been disrobed ; neither had his Divinity any Father to 
 pray to : neither was the Divinity in need of any thing : 
 nor did he ever offer any prayer to any God or Person. 
 And it is infinitely impossible that he ever will, world with- 
 out end. 
 
 Our Lord Jesus really emptied himself of peculiar glo- 
 ries which he possessed in a pre-existent state. Scrip- 
 ture leads us so certainly into this sentiment, that trinita- 
 rians are obliged to describe God the Father as parting 
 with his Son (as Divinity) out of his bosom. They rep- 
 resent the Son (as Divinity^ leaving the bosom of the Fa- 
 ther: (as Divinity) quitting the felicities of the upper 
 world : (as Divinity) laying by his glorious estate ; part- 
 ing with heaven ; coming down to earth : (as Divinity) 
 born of woman, making prayers in his distresses ; and 
 wishing to get back, so soon as 'the, will of him who sent 
 him would permit, to the glory which he had with the Fa- 
 ther before the world was. All this is infinitely impossi- 
 ble in reference to the Divinity of Christ : but fitly repre- 
 sents the humiliation of his pre-existent soul. Vid. "Watts 
 p. 594. 
 
 " That very being which came down from heaven is re- 
 presented as having a will different from the will of God j 
 and therefore he must be inferior to God. Now this could 
 be no other than the will of his human soul. At his ago- 
 nies and passion he had such a will, when he manifested 
 
 the innocent reluctance of human nature at first ; but af- 
 
 N
 
 106 GOD is ONE; 
 
 terwards said, ' Father, not my will, but thy will be done/ 
 Luke, xxn. 42. Now it would sound very harsh to rep- 
 resent Christ as God, saying, I came from heaven, not to 
 do my own will, but the will of him who sent me : when it 
 is eternally impossible that the Godhead of Christ should 
 have arwill, different from the will of another who sent his 
 Godhead." Ibid. This would decidedly make two divine 
 persons ; two Supreme Gods. 
 
 " In the same manner our Lord speaks in prophecy, < I 
 delight to do thy will, O my God : yea, thy law is within 
 my heart' (a law that he should come in the flesh, and be 
 made a sin offering.) This prophecy is cited in Heb. x 
 * When he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice, and 
 burnt offering, thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou pre- 
 pared me : lo I come to do thy will, O God.' This 
 
 seems the proper language of his human soul ; not of his 
 Divinity. Those who refuse to expound this of his pre- 
 existent soul, apply it to his Divinity 'in his inferior or del- 
 egated character as mediator ; and as the Father's servant 
 employed in this grand errand." Ibid. 
 
 But it is eternally impossible that his Divinity should 
 have " a delegated character," or an " inferior character ;" 
 or be " servant ;" or sent on " an errand." And now, as 
 always, we are compelled to observe that they who do not 
 acknowledge the true personal character of the man Jesus, 
 his pre-existence, his mediatorship, and his " pre-emi- 
 nence in all things ;" do necessarily degrade his Divinity 
 also. 
 
 " Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also 
 tempted, and were destroyed of serpants." I. Cor. x. 9. 
 " Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though 
 he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor." II. Cor. 
 viii. 9. The literal person who was rich in heaven, be-
 
 AND NOT THREE. 107 
 
 came poor on earth. " If to evade this, any one will say, 
 he was rich as God, and poor as man ; Bishop Fowler an- 
 swers : this is such a strain and force upon scripture, that 
 it looks like laying hold upon any thing at a dead lift." 
 
 " Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery 
 to be like God (to exist on in the form of God :) but made 
 himself of no reputation and was made in the like- 
 ness of men." Phil. ii. 6. The adjective " equal," found 
 in this verse, in our translation, originated with the trini- 
 tarians. There is no Greek adjective corresponding with 
 it, meaning " equal," or meaning any thing else. 
 
 " Who is the image of the invisible God, the first born 
 of every creature : for by him were all things created ; 
 and he is before all things." Col. i. 15. He must have 
 been before all things, if he created them. But how c$>uld 
 he create them ? Is not God the creator ? Heb. i. 2, will 
 answer " His Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all 
 things, by whom also he made the worlds." 
 
 " Christ is * the first born of every creature.' Much 
 art and criticism have be*en employed to apply these words 
 to the divine nature, by an unusual construction. But sup- 
 pose his soul to exist thus early ; and he is ' the first born 
 of every creature' literally : and he is literally * the begin- 
 ning of the creation of God,' as he styles himself, Rev. Hi. 
 14." Watts, p. 609. 
 
 All the passages which represent Christ before his in- 
 carnation, in a nature inferior to the supreme God ; ne- 
 cessarily lead us to believe the pre-existence of his human 
 soul. His Divinity is nothing less than God Supreme. In 
 the old testament, Christ is sometimes represented as Je- 
 hovah : and sometimes as a man, angel of the Lord, Cap- 
 tain of the Lord's hosts : visible to patriarchs, conversing 
 with Abraham, wrestling with Jacob, encouraging Joshua,
 
 1 
 108 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 Gideon, and others. His pre-existent soul is, in the old 
 testament, represented as having both natural and deputed 
 powers, superior to those of other angels. He was Mi- 
 chael : i. e. " who is like to God ?" He was " angel of God's 
 presence," prince of angels or archangel : still a spirit suit- 
 ed to a state of union with a human body , as well as un- 
 ion with God. For at times from the beginning he assum- 
 ed a body with the natural acts and appetites of a man. 
 And as a man he was often sent to perform acts and ser- 
 vices for the people ; some of which were quite too low 
 for the dignity of Supreme God. He appeared to the pa- 
 triarchs as a man ; in the character of a messenger : and 
 consequently in a nature, and in a character, distinct from 
 Jehovah. Divinity is not man or messenger. 
 
 Urns when Israel blessed the two sons of Joseph, he 
 said, " The God which fed me all my life long unto this 
 day ; The Angel which redeemed me from evil, bless the 
 lads." Gen.xlvui. 15. Here the uncreated and the cre- 
 ated persons, the Divinity and Humanity, the Sender and 
 sent, the God and man, are jointly addressed by our father 
 Jacob. The common theology says that as man, he did 
 not yet exist. Jacob knew better : for he had wrestled 
 with him ; and seen him ;. and prayed to him for his bless- 
 ing. He knew him to be a glorious angel or spirit, in 
 whom God dwelt ; and by whom he pronounced words, 
 and performed acts of judgment and mercy. Seeing him, 
 he says he " saw God face to face : and made supplication 
 to him." 
 
 With this agrees Exod. xxm. 20 ; where God says to 
 Moses, " Behold I send an angel before thee to keep thee 
 in the way. Obey his voice. Provoke him not. For he 
 will not pardon your transgressions. For my name is in 
 him." Here the angel is sent by God ; and is consequent-
 
 AND NOT THREE. 109 
 
 ly inferior to God. Yet he must be obeyed with rever- 
 ence. For he would punish or pardon. How so ? For 
 the same reason that he could forgive sins in the days of 
 his humiliation. " My name is in him." 
 
 His pre-existent soul united to Divinity, is called " The 
 Angel of his presence." " In all their affliction, he was 
 afflicted : and the angel of his presence saved them. And 
 he carried them all the days of old." Isai. Ixiii. 9. 
 
 Whoever will read the first chapters of Genesis, may 
 easily perceive that God having created all things by Je- 
 sus Christ, appeared to Adam and Eve visibly as a man : 
 conversing with a human voice : in a bodily shape : and 
 thus made it known that he had formed them in what he 
 called "our image." God's Logos, his speaker, who said, 
 " Let us make man in our image," is by Paul declared to 
 be "the image of the invisible God." He made our first 
 parents in his image, even as to their bodies and organs of 
 speech and living spirits; as well as with "knowledge, 
 righteousness, and holiness," resembling those perfections 
 in the boundless God. How else could such dialogues be 
 
 o 
 
 carried on ? How could Adam and his wife seek to hide 
 themselves from his presence, if he had not manifested a 
 visible presence? or how know his voice, if he had not 
 conversed with them by a human voice? The man Jesus 
 was as visible to them as we are visible to one another : and 
 unquestionably he was surrounded by the resplendent 
 brightness with which he is described in his now glorifi- 
 ed state, in the book of Revelation : and in which he was, 
 in a less degree, surrounded, on the mount of transfigura- 
 tion. 
 
 In this effulgence he appeared on mount Sinai, when 
 Moses and the seventy elders " saw God." And as Moses 
 caught some of this luminous brightness, we cannot doubt
 
 110 GOD is ONE; 
 
 but our parents before the fall, were shrouded in its splen- 
 dor. And the departure from them of this effulgence, on 
 their transgression, was among the " signs of woe that all 
 was lost." In a moment they w r ere ashamed of their na- 
 kedness : and sought to avoid the face of God, by hiding 
 themselves among the trees of the garden. 
 
 The Great God was accustomed of old to appear with a 
 bright cloud, or flame of fire : and from this proceeded a 
 voice, assuming the awful names of Jehovah, God of Israel, 
 I am that I am. Whence all who saw and heard, knew 
 that " THE LORD was there." Sometimes, however, amidst 
 this fire, was the form of a real MAN, called the angel. 
 This was the MAN afterwards called Jesus of Nazareth. 
 
 So it was when he passed before Moses, who had pray- 
 ed ; "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory." He put Mo- 
 ses in the cleft of a rock ; that by his intervening hand he 
 might prevent Moses from seeing his face, which now 
 shone w r ith an effulgence too bright for his organs of vis- 
 ion : and having passed him, allowed him to see his back 
 parts, which shone with more endurable rays. He pro- 
 claimed at the same time, his Divinity, and his very heart. 
 " The LORD God : merciful and gracious ; long suffering : 
 abundant in goodness and truth : keeping mercy for thou- 
 sands : forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin : and who 
 will by no means clear the impenitent." Exod. xxxiu. 
 At a time just before this, " All the people saw the cloudy 
 pillar at the tabernacle afar off from the camp : and Moses 
 went into the tabernacle : and the Lord spake to Moses 
 face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." 
 
 He who is here called " Lord " even the speaker who 
 talked with Moses face to face : is by Stephen, Acts, vii. 38, 
 called " the angel :" " the angel which spake to Moses in 
 the wilderness." Now we can say, " the angel" or mes-
 
 AND NOT THREE. 1 1 1 
 
 senger wuu spake to Moses face to face, is the pre-existent 
 soul of Jesus Christ, in a body temporarily assumed. But 
 if we say " the angel" was the Divinity of Christ, we forget 
 what Divinity is. We are tainted with the spirit of those 
 who " changed the glory of the uncorruptible GOD, into an 
 image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four 
 footed beasts, and creeping things." Rom. i. 23. Other- 
 wise we could not call Divinity " the angel :" " sent :" mes- 
 senger. 
 
 It was the pre-existent Logos in a human form, that 
 dwelt in this brightness in the wilderness, and was "the 
 angel :" and it was the Divinity which dwelt in this man ; 
 or this angel. For at times he assumes the awful names 
 of Divinity : and at times, inferior names and titles. God 
 and man are united. 
 
 And how are the glories of the man Christ Jesus over- 
 looked, when all these historical facts are overlooked ? and 
 even his ancient existence denied 1 and when the ancient 
 decree is forgot, " Thou art my Son ;" " sit thou at my 
 right hand " " rule thou in the midst of thine enemies 5" 
 make them thy footstool ? Not only his ancient, but his 
 present regency over saints, and over the uttermost parts 
 of the earth, is unobserved. H* 1 *' 
 
 If the Son did not yet exist, and the second psalm is on- 
 ly a prediction that God would have a Son ages hence - 7 
 why were the ancient kings, and judges, and dwellers on 
 the earth enjoined, " Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye 
 perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little : 
 blessed are all they that put their trust in him?" Ps. ii. 12. 
 
 And how is the Divinity of Christ lowered down by the 
 theology which denies the pre-existence of the Son, the 
 first born of creatures'? His Divinity is lowered to the 
 rank of Son, angel, sent : receiving law and commission as
 
 112 GOP i# ONE; 
 
 prophet, priest, king on my right hand : acting a part sub- 
 ordinate to another person who is economically his supe- 
 rior, and really his equal. Does his Divinity lose his 
 jealousy for his great name thus ? Quite impossible. 
 
 Is it not beneath the grandeur of all that belongs to 
 Godhead to come down and supply the place of a human 
 soul for the actions of animal nature ? Did an Eternal 
 Person in GOD, become an angel, and animate a body 
 which appeared to the ancients, to Moses, and the elders 
 of Israel ? And did this invisible God suffer himself to 
 be called a man? and one sent on an errand? Did Al- 
 mighty GOD animate a body, and walk with two other an- 
 gels, himself an angel too ? and visit Abraham ? and tarry 
 with him several hours under a tree 1 while Sarah made 
 cakes, and dressed a calf for GOD to eat 1 And did GOD 
 eat of the cakes and of the calf dressed with butter and 
 milk ? Gen. xvin. Vid. Watts. 
 
 Did Jehovah the second person wrestle with Jacob 
 in human limbs 1 and spend a good part of the night thus 
 wrestling, till break of day 1 Gen. xxxu. And why is 
 he called "a man 1" ver. 24. And an " angel?" Hos. 
 xn. 4. God Supreme, whether as first, second, or third 
 person, is not a man ; or angel , or servant. 
 
 At the same time the angel in question was not a com- 
 mon angel. For then the high claims and titles of Di- 
 vinity could not have issued from his mouth in connec- 
 tion with the inferior titles of a man and messenger. But 
 being the pre-existent soul of Christ, God's first begotten 
 Son in heaven, even " the angel of his presence," " in 
 whom was his name," or himself; all is intelligible ; all is 
 becoming and wise* 
 
 The same angel came and sat under an oak and con- 
 versed familiarly with Gideon j and tarned while Gideon
 
 AITD NOT -THREE, 113 
 
 * * ""'' * * * 
 
 made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes, and broth in a 
 pot, and presented them unto him under the oak. Judg- 
 es 6. 
 
 I know not one passage of scripture which will author- 
 ise the belief that one part of the Godhead, detached and 
 sent down another part of the Godhead : or that a second 
 person in God and equal to the Father, was ever sent 
 down from heaven to earth to do any thing : still less to 
 sit under an oak in a visible shape : or to eat veal, and but- 
 ter, and milk : or to wrestle : or to stand on a wall with a 
 plumb-line in his hand : or as " God in a diminished condi- 
 tion" to obey or suffer : or to pray to his Father to restore 
 to him " the glory which he had with the Father before 
 the world was." 
 
 I do not believe that a " Son begotten, not made, being 
 of one substance with the Father, very God of very God, 
 came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy 
 Ghost of the virgin Mary ; and for us men was crucified, 
 and buried, and rose again :" and that this Eternal Son be- 
 ing the second Person in the trinity, after his resurrection 
 from the dead, " ate a piece of broiled fish and of an honey 
 comb." Such mysteries need to be set fo^h with much 
 cautious verbosity. For when the subject is stripped of 
 its mystical dress, and presented naked and without dis- 
 guise ; we lose all reverence for it. While we ascribe di- 
 vine characters to a created nature, and inferior charac- 
 ters to the divine ; we can collect darkness around our- 
 selves ; and with Harpocrates crying, " It is a mystery : be 
 silent !" we can feel reverence. But taking the bible for 
 our guide without the creeds; and the mysteries are 
 scattered : " God is light :" and we are ashamed of the 
 illusions in which our senses are abjured, and our reason 
 
 lost. 
 
 O
 
 114 GOD is ONE; 
 
 With the scriptures before me, I cannot credit a scheme 
 of theology which lowers so immeasurably the Majesty of 
 Christ's Divinity. Nor can I credit a scheme which hides 
 from our view his pre-existent humanity : the riches he 
 exchanged for poverty : " the form of God" which without 
 " robbery" he might have continued ; and which he volun- 
 tarily exchanged for " the form of a servant :" and his 
 yielding up his life for his enemies, when he could have 
 commanded more than twelve legions of his angels to de- 
 stroy them in a moment. 
 
 While we overlook the glory which " the first begotten 
 of every creature" had with the Father before the world 
 was ; and his mighty agency in conducting the affairs of 
 the world from the morning of time ; we are wont to with- 
 hold from him the glory which is his due in his present 
 regency over all the earth, s I mean the man Christ Jesus. 
 The common theology questions his capacity to judge the 
 world : and urges this as an argument (instead of the true 
 arguments) for his Divinity. It says that " that man whom 
 God hath ordained," " by whom he will judge the world," 
 " to whom he hath committed all judgment ;" cannot know 
 all the secrets of the countless millions which will stand 
 before him. it maintains that his Divinity only will know 
 all the merits and demerits of those millions : and that the 
 Man who will act as visible judge, will act in the dark ; when 
 he shall say, " Come ye blessed ;" and " depart ye cursed." 
 
 Governor Festus said of Paul his prisoner, " It seemeth 
 unreasonable to me to send a prisoner to Augustus, and 
 not withal to signify the crimes laid against him." Acts, 
 xxv. 27. And will the Man Jesus doom sinners to an 
 eternal hell, and not know exactly for what ? Is not this 
 degrading that Man by whom God will judge the world in 
 righteousness?"
 
 AND NOT THREE. 115 
 
 And is it thus that as ministers of the word, we are to 
 set forth the peculiar honors of the " One Mediator between 
 God and men, the Man Christ Jesus 1" qualifications and 
 pre-eminences which belong to his sacred soul and body ? 
 powers and authorities derived to the Man from his exal- 
 tation to the throne in heaven ; and from his union with 
 Godhead? 
 
 We may not always find it easy to say exactly how far 
 the human nature is the immediate subject of some sublime 
 actions and honors ; and how far they must be ascribed to 
 the in-dwelling Divinity. Nor do we always precisely 
 mark the boundaries of the rainbow. Yet scripture has 
 clearly taught the exaltation of our nature in the Man Je- 
 sus to the right hand of God ; and to inconceivable knowl- 
 edge and power and splendor. And do we honor him whom 
 the Father delights to honor ; when we refuse to learn 
 his personal glories, his reign in heaven, and his mediato- 
 rial government over all the earth 1 Jesus our prophet has 
 never taught us to strain one line of his word in order to 
 exalt his Deity, or sink his Humanity. And when we take 
 the liberty to do so , we invariably degrade both his Divini- 
 ty and Humanity. Do we not dishonor our blessed Savior 
 when we refuse to read the distinct, though united hortors 
 of both ? Do we not leave the example of inspired men ? 
 
 Peter in his first sermon, Acts ii, speaks of Christ, " ex- 
 alted by the right hand of God." ver. 33. Who is thus 
 exalted ? " Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God." 
 ver. 22. Whose Son ? " Of the seed of David as to the 
 flesh." ver. 30. Whose Lord 1 David's as to his spirit. 
 For Peter quotes the Psalm in which David says, " The 
 LORD said unto my Lord." Still Peter says, he was the 
 " man that was taken and crucified and slain." ver. 23. 
 * The man whom God raised from the dead.'* -ver. 32.
 
 116 GOD is ONE; 
 
 The man * whose soul (not whose Divinity) was not left 
 in hades :' nor ' his flesh' left in the grave long enough 
 to * see corruption.' ver. 31. This man 'was exalted 
 by the right hand of God.' ver. 33. 
 
 This man is expressly called the Mediator in scripture : 
 whereas, Christ as God, is never expressly called the Me- 
 diator. * There is One God, and One Mediator between 
 God and men, The Man Christ Jesus.' I. Tim. ii. 5. (Ap- 
 pendix M.) 
 
 This man was 'the holy child Jesus,' whom God anoint- 
 ed, and ' made both Lord and Christ :' against whom the 
 heathen raged, when they 'were gathered together against 
 The LORD, and against His Christ.' Acts, iv. 25, 26, 27. 
 WHY WAS THIS MAW EXALTED 1 
 
 As a reward of his labors and sufferings. ' Therefore 
 shall he divide the spoil with the great, because he poured 
 out his soul unto death.' Isa. liii. 10. How high is he 
 exalted ? ' He humbled himself, and became obedient un- 
 to death. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and 
 given him a name which is above every name ; that at the 
 name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heav- 
 en, and things on earth, and things under the earth ; and 
 that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
 to the glory of God the Father.' Phil. ii. 8. He was Da- 
 vid's Lord of old. But his Lordship is extended. He is 
 ' Prince' not only ' of the kings of the earth :' Rev. i. 5 : 
 but ' exalted far above all principalities and powers in the 
 heavenly places:' Eph. i. 21 : and even demons and satan 
 are so perfectly subject to him, that at his order, they fall 
 like lightning from their usurped thrones. 
 
 * Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals. 
 For thou wast slain : and hast redeemed us to Gotl by thy 
 blood.' Rev. v. 9.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 1 1 7 
 
 Divinity was not 'slain.' Divinity is not exalted and 
 rewarded, because humanity ' was slain.' Nor can Divin- 
 ity be exalted at all : save in the esteem of creatures. The 
 sufferings of the man cannot be rewarded by elevating the 
 station or enlarging the rights of the independent God. 
 
 The man Jesus, expressly caHed ' The Son/ knew not 
 the day of judgment when he was on earth. He has now 
 a scene of futurities spread out before him, to which we 
 can prescribe no limits : except that he is not omnicient. 
 The book of the Revelation begins with t.he declaration 
 that ' God gave to Jesus Christ the knowledge of things 
 which must come to pass.' * The Lion of the tribe of Ju- 
 dah hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the 
 seals.' Rev. v. 5. ' The lamb that was slain, having sev- 
 en horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of 
 God, came and took the book out of the right hand of him 
 that sat on the throne, and opened the seals.' ver. 6. The 
 Lamb is the offering for sin j the man : not God. He must 
 needs understand the divine counsels by which the church 
 and the world are to be governed till all enemies are 
 brought under his feet. For with his unknown powers, 
 and as mediator, and as united to Divinity, it is given to 
 him to reign over the nations, and to judge the world. Di- 
 vinity knew all that was in the prophetic book, while it was 
 yet sealed. 
 
 Observe that he is declared ' Worthy to open the seals,' 
 on this account, viz: 'he has redeemed us to God by his 
 blood.' ver. 9. Surely it was not Godhead , nor any sup- 
 posed Person in Godhead, that was converted into a 
 ' Lamb' and shed his ' blood' for transgressors. Yet Paul 
 says, 'God's mighty power set him at his own right hand 
 in heavenly places, far above all principality and power and 
 might and dominion and every name that is named, not
 
 118 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 only in this world but also in the world to come : and hath 
 put all things under his feet.' And that the mighty pow- 
 er of God raised him from the dead. Eph. i. 20. Whose 
 God set him at his own right hand? Verse 17 answers. 
 ' The God of our Lord Jesus Christ.' 
 
 Here I ask in reference to these identical passages. 
 Does The Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, mean The 
 Man ? Or, the second person The Eternal Son in the 
 substance of God, and his * Equal in power and glory?' If 
 the latter, then God the Father is not only Father to God 
 the Son ; but he is God to God the Son. And God the Son 
 has received by way of gift, f all power in heaven and earth :' 
 and it was given to God the Son as a reward of his humil- 
 iation and labors and sufferings, when he was in the lowly 
 condition of a ' Lamb' led forth to the slaughter : and the 
 Father's ( mighty power wrought in Jehovah the Son ? 
 when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own 
 right hand.' Do we honor, or dishonor God by ascribing 
 to him, such an abasement and advancement? such con- 
 traction and expansion? such an accursed death and de- 
 pendent resurrection ? 
 
 Watts says, ' If we do not suppose it to be the human 
 nature which is endued with authority, we shall be forced 
 to interpret this text thus, viz : God raised the human na- 
 ture from the dead, and set his human nature at his own 
 right hand 5 i. e. on high above the clouds : and put all 
 things under the feet of his divine nature : which seems 
 but a shifting and evasive exposition. No man who reads 
 it with an unbiased mind, would use this strange inter- 
 pretation.' p. 549. 
 
 All powers and authority are inherent in God, and 
 without gift. The inferior nature which is capable of re- 
 ceiving rewards and gifts, is not equal with the Father in
 
 AND NOT THREE. 119 
 
 power and glory. So thought Paul. Rom. xiv. 9 ' To 
 this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he 
 might be Lord both of the dead and living.' 
 HIS POWERS. 
 
 It may be asked, How can he exercise Lordship over 
 the * dead and living ?' 
 
 This question needs not to be asked , since God says, 
 it is so. We readily admit that ' the Son who knew not 
 the day of Judgment, and could of himself do nothing ;' and 
 who * both died and revived ;' is still not omnicient. His 
 mediatorial dominion to which he is exalted, does not ex- 
 tend, like the dominion of pure Divinity, to the boundless 
 infinitude of space ; and to worlds brought to our view by 
 modern astronomy. * There is one mediator between God 
 and men :' not between God and the inhabitants of distant 
 worlds. ' Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for 
 thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for 
 thy possession/ The dominion of him who * died and re- 
 vived' clearly extends to our world and race ; and to the 
 enemies of our race : and to the heavens which contain his 
 legions, of angels whom he sends as ministering spirits to 
 the heirs of salvation. What concerns us, concerns Christ. 
 For we are his ; and he is set over us as Lord. ' Let all 
 the house, of Israel know assuredly that God hath made 
 that same Jesus whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ.' 
 Acts, ii. 36. He therefore controls all beings and events 
 which promote or obstruct our salvation. 
 
 Within these limits are contained all things in the fol- 
 lowing, and similar passages. ' At the name of Jesus every 
 knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, 
 and things under the earth.' To Divinity, every knee 
 shall bow, on worlds where a mediator is not necessary : 
 on worlds so distant, that what has befallen our race,
 
 120 GOO is ONE; 
 
 \ 
 
 may be unknown for millions of ages yet to come ; and 
 may delight them exceedingly when made known to them. 
 
 At the end of the present state of our world ; the heav- 
 ens and earth, reserved unto fire, will melt with fervent 
 heat. It is supposed by Dr. Dwight and other principal 
 divines, that the conflagration will not extend beyond this 
 globe and its surrounding atmosphere : or not beyond the 
 influence of sin in our race : at any rate, not to worlds of 
 unfalleribeings dispersed through all the infinitude of space. 
 
 Our conceit very naturally leads each of us to think that 
 our dear self is rather the most important being ; and that 
 our world is a main part of God's works : and the work of 
 redeeming man, quite the greatest work in which Jehovah 
 is engaged. Any being who is " without partiality," and 
 " no respecter of persons," must judge of us very differ- 
 ently. 
 
 Some very wise men have understood that most of the 
 expressions in the Mosaic account of creation, are applica- 
 ble only to our solar system : or to worlds in our neighbor- 
 hood as compared with other worlds too remote for our 
 eyes and telescopes and imaginations. 
 
 With these hypotheses would harmonize the facts, that 
 God created those works by Jesus Christ : that his depu- 
 ted dominion extends to them : that he originally existed 
 with reference to the race he was to redeem : that all be- 
 ings who can influence us for good or/or evil are within 
 his government : that they were created for him, as well 
 as by him : and that he was filled with delight when he 
 saw them rise into existence. " The Lord possessed me 
 in the beginning, before his works of old, or ever the earth 
 was. I w as brought forth, when there were no fountains 
 abounding with water. When he prepared the heav- 
 ens, I was there.* When he appointed the foundations of
 
 AND NOT THREE. 121 
 
 the earth, I was by him, as one brought up with him* And 
 I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him : re- 
 joicing in the habitable part of his earth. And my delights 
 were with the sons of men.' Prov. viii. Was not this 
 the Logos, the Archangel, the Son of God in heaven ? who 
 ' came down from heaven ?' and who was the Son of Man 
 on earth ? Millions of angels were and are under his or- 
 ders, to execute his works of judgment and mercy. He 
 has led captivity captive, and has power over the armies 
 of hell. All good beings on earth and in heaven follow 
 him. All the wicked on earth and in hell are leagued under 
 the prince of darkness against him. Each follows his lead- 
 er : and the war will last till Messiah shall bring all under 
 his feet. ' Michael and his angels fight against the Drag- 
 on : and the Dragon fights, and his angels/ Rev. xiii. 7. 
 
 And shall Christ's prophets and apostles, and judges 
 who by him rule on earth, have a portion of power given 
 them 1 and shall not God's first born Son have the plen- 
 itude of it, now that the Father has exalted him at his right 
 hand ? now that ' in him dwelleth all the fullness of the 
 Godhead bodily T Could Moses divide the sea with his 
 rod, and turn flints into rivers 7 Could Joshua say to the 
 sun, Stand still 1 and arrest the moon in her course ? Could 
 Paul make fevers and dropsies depart at his word, and 
 flee at the appearance of his handkerchief? Could Peter 
 heal the sick, and command Tabitha to arise from the 
 dead ? And cannot the man Christ Jesus with the wisdom 
 and power of in-dwelling Godhead, rule time and nature 
 as he please 1 and manage all things in heaven and earth, 
 mortal and immortal 1 when, too, it pleased the Father to 
 exalt him to his own right hand for this very purpose ? 
 
 * Unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou 
 art my Son ? this day have I begotten thee 1 But unto the 
 
 P
 
 122 GOB is 
 
 Son, he saith, * Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. 
 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest iniquity : therefore 
 God, even THY GOD hath anointed thee with the oil of 
 gladness above thy fellows.' Heb. i. Reading this chap- 
 ter, we see the agency of the Son in creation, acting with 
 ' God, even His God.' We see him governing the world : 
 and we learn his superiority to . angels, whose prince he 
 was, and is. Yet one of his angels, so inferior to the Arch- 
 angel, is able, when sent with a pestilence, to destroy 
 70,000 of Israel, on account of David's sin. II. Sam. xxiv. 
 One of his angels could slay 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in 
 the camp of Sennacherib in one night. II. Kings, xix. 
 Even Satan, prince of the power of the air, when permit- 
 ted, could raise storms and hurricanes, and send lightnings 
 from heaven. Job i. 
 
 When we limit our conceptions of the powers oT the 
 created soul of Jesus, and bring them too near our own ; 
 it is because we have too high a conceit of ourselves ; and 
 too low an opinion of GOD. We are ready to fancy the 
 difference between ourselves and Jehovah so small, that a 
 mind so superior to our own as that which David and Paul 
 and Peter ascribed to God's first born Son (Ps. ii. 110 : 
 Heb. i. : Acts ii.) especially since his descent into hell, 
 and exaltation above all heavenly powers ; must be imme- 
 diately raised to Godhead. Then we do err, not know- 
 ing the scriptures, nor the boundlessness of God's works 
 and Divinity. There may be endowments in one created 
 spirit, excelling those of our whole race. And if there be 
 a spirit of such vast and unknown endowments ; we need 
 not marvel that such should be the soul of Jesus, united to 
 the illimitable Jehovah ; exalted as God has declared him 
 to be, since he descended into hades : and of whom God 
 has decided that * he must in all things have the pre-emi-
 
 AND NOT THREE. 123 
 
 nence.' Col. i. 18. Vid. Watts's ' Discourse on the ex- 
 tensive powers of Christ's human nature in its present glo- 
 rified state.' 
 
 But is it within the scope of our understanding, (with 
 any revelation yet made to us,) to limit and define the 
 powers, and authorities, and honors of the Son ? With 
 profound submission, we say, by no means. For this is a 
 part of his revelation itself. * All things are delivered to 
 me of my- Father. And no man knoweth who the Son is, 
 but the Father.' Luke, x. 22. This declaration is broad 
 and distinct. The things pertaining to the personal char- 
 acter of the Son which are not yet revealed, are as yet 
 mysteries : and consequently do not yet ' belong to us or 
 to our children.' Deut. xxix. 29. Belief concerning such 
 things is out of the question. They may be revealed to 
 us, and of course belong to us, and entertain "and delight 
 us, in the future ages of blessedness. We shall * see him 
 as he is.' 
 
 Let us not, however, forget the injunction, ' Grow in 
 grace j and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ ;' 
 in so far as he is revealed. II. Pet. iii. 18. 
 
 It is revealed that he ' ascended up on high far above 
 all heavens, that he might fill all things ; after he decend- 
 ed first to the lower parts of the earth j and gave gifts unto 
 men.' Eph. iv. ' The same Jesus whom the Jews slew 
 and hanged on a tree, God exalted to be a Prince and a 
 Savior, to give repentance unto Israel, and remission of 
 sins.' Acts v. He can succor tempted Christians, * being 
 an high priest who was tempted in all points as we are ; 
 and can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities.' Heb. 
 iv. f He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to 
 God by him, because he ever liveth to make intercession 
 for them.' Heb. vii.
 
 124 GOD is ONE; 
 
 ' Nor can we suppose that Christ intercedes for all his 
 saints, not knowing their persons and trials. Every Chris- 
 tian does this. When we read that our great high priest 
 is passed into the heavens, and can be touched with the 
 feeling of our infirmities, having himself been tempted as 
 we are : the expressions are inapplicable to his Deity. 
 They refer to his Humanity. And would the scriptures 
 encourage our application to the Intercessor in such ten- 
 der language ; if he knew only that there are thousands 
 of tempted saints on earth, of whose sorrows he had no 
 exact knowledge ?' 
 
 Full of hope and consolation, we may individually apply 
 to a mediator and to God in him. That mediator said, 
 ' Father, I know that thou nearest me always.' His will 
 that his poorest disciple shall be relieved, instantly moves 
 the power which moves the universe. 
 
 If we love the Lord Jesus in sincerity, we shall not cold- 
 ly call him Master. We shall be concerned to honor him, 
 not only as Supreme Divinity ; but as Son in humanity , in 
 all the offices he is anointed to fill : confining ourselves 
 only to what is revealed : and not intruding into mysteries, 
 or ' the secret things which do not belong to us, nor to 
 our children.' 
 
 When the apostle had described him as ' a man,' and 
 4 Son of man,' or second Adam, Heb. ii. 9, he adds : ' We 
 see Jesus, diminished for a little while below angels for 
 the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor.' 
 This descent from the glory which he had with the Fa- 
 ther before the world was, and this death, he sustain- 
 ed in obedience to his Father ; and in disinterested 
 kindness to men. He who did so, is entitled to the re- 
 compense.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 
 
 HIS HONORS. 
 
 Honors are paid to him in heaven, agreeably to his Fa- 
 ther's will. Not only men who are redeemed by his blood , 
 but angels round the throne, say with a loud voice, ' Wor- 
 thy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and rich- 
 es, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and 
 blessing.' Rev. v. And every creature in heaven, and 
 on earth, and in the sea, join their honors and blessing to 
 him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb forever. 
 The man, the Lamb, the victim, is assumed into union 
 with God : is on the right hand of the Majesty on high. 
 The whole complex person is jointly adored. 
 
 The soul of Jesus, which was not left in hell, (hades,) 
 is indeed highly exalted. He beholds all the knees bow- 
 ing to him j and hears all the tongues confessing him to be 
 Lord, to the glory of God the Father. How else do they 
 at all recompense his sufferings ? How else, surrounded 
 by millions of sinners redeemed by his blood, do their 
 thankful songs assure him that they are voluntarily at his 
 feet ? and effectually restored to the character and privi- 
 leges of faithful subjects ? 
 
 Has he who conquers earth and death and hell, sitting 
 with his Father in his throne ; has he none of the recom- 
 penses, and honors, and worship, ascribed by thankful 
 hearts to their Savior 7 Then are the scripture repre- 
 sentations fabulous. And theologians may represent God's 
 Anointed Son, as recompensed some other way, viz : by 
 making a luminous figure in heaven like an elevated bal- 
 loon : above the clouds or stars : but ignorant of the hon- 
 ors done him on earth, which he can neither rule nor judge. 
 
 Let those preachers pause, who winding themselves up 
 in mystery, neglect to study the things which are revealed, 
 as to the personal character of the Son of man who is ready
 
 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 to judge the quick and dead. . We are inexcusable, if we 
 remain ignorant of what is revealed concerning Christ: 
 whether as God with his unchangeable perfections ; or, as 
 man with his inferior characters : his Sonship ; his Messiah- 
 ship ; his Mediatorship ; as angel j as servant ; as prophet, 
 priest, king ; as anointed , receiving offices and gifts ; re- 
 ceiving law ; obeying ; dying ; reviving ; reigning. 
 
 Against what has been advanced under this Reason ; 
 some trinitarians will probably object, that The Man Jesus 
 is described as too ancient : and by far too great : and 
 worst of all, that he as a creature sitting on the throne in 
 conjunction with Divinity, is made an object of worship ; 
 contrary to the first command of the decalogue. [Ap- 
 pendix N.] 
 
 I answer in the words of Watts. ' If these two propo- 
 sitions are revealed in scripture, viz : Religious worship 
 belongs to God alone : and The man Jesus united to God 
 is exalted to some kind of partnership in this honor : I would 
 choose to believe them both. I do not see any evident 
 contradiction in them : though perhaps I may not have hit 
 upon the best way of reconciling them. 5 p. 270. 
 
 The objectors not satisfied, will further say : It results 
 from this theory, that the worship we render to God ' who 
 sitteth on the throne ' and unto ' the Lamb that was slain :' 
 is superior and inferior worship. 
 
 I answer : the difficulty hangs equally on every scheme 
 which trinitarians can adopt : unless they shall say that 
 the Man Christ Jesus is worthy of no thanks, or worship, 
 or doxology at all. Let them honestly and openly profess 
 this. They will then be sufficiently separated from those 
 who * cried hozanna to the Son of David' on earth ; and 
 from the elders in heaven ' who sung a new song, saying, 
 Thou art worthy to take the book, and open the seals :
 
 AND NOT THREE. 127 
 
 for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy 
 blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and nation j and 
 hast made us unto our God, kings, and priests.' Rev. iii. 8. 
 
 That the man Jesus will visibly preside on the great 
 day of Judgment, is exactly taught in Matt. xxv. * When 
 the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy 
 angels with him, he shall sit on the throne of his glory : 
 and before him shall be gathered all nations. And he 
 
 shall separate them Then shall the king say to 
 
 them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father 
 For I was an hungered Then shall the righ- 
 teous answer him, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered ? 
 
 And the king shall answer, Inasmuch as ye have 
 
 done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done 
 it unto me.' 
 
 The invisible GOD is not * the Son of Man :' nor has he 
 any ' Father :' nor are there any beings in the universe 
 whom he calls ' these my brethren.' 
 
 Yet in this account, there is a visible actor : and he is 
 4 the Son of Man j* ' sitting on the throne of his glory :' and 
 has a ' Father :' and poor * brethren :' and is^ddressed, by 
 the righteous, as * Lord :' and styles himself * King.' He 
 is ' the Man Christ Jesus.' 
 
 And now, To which of the Persons in the Godhead is 
 this Man united ? to the first, or second, or third ? In 
 which will he appear co-existing and co-acting as Judge ? 
 I answer : In God the Father. For he says, ' The Son of 
 Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his an- 
 gels : and then shall he reward every man according to his 
 works.' Matt. xvi. 27. Other Persons in the Godhead 
 make no figure in these great transactions. 
 
 To pretend that another divine person besides the Fa- 
 ther, is the Divinity of Christ ; amounts to a denial of his
 
 128 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 Divinity. Jesus never once mentioned that other and 
 second person as his Divinity. He always spoke of The 
 Father as the Divinity who was in him ; and in whom he 
 was.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 129 
 
 REASON XII. 
 
 The mysterious trinity of persons in the one essence of God, as some suppose ; or, 
 in the mode of his existence, as others say : The sacred three, equal, and one : 
 these interpose obstacles to any understanding of the Divinity of Christ : and I 
 think, dishonor him as GOD* This, I have in part anticipated under the last 
 Reason* 
 
 THAT this, and the last Reason, are not wholly without 
 weight, I suppose, others do sometimes feel. I repeat 
 from Professor Stewart. " It w<*jjd seem, if we are to 
 credit one mode of representation, that the greatest por- 
 tion of Christ's humiliation consisted in his having renoun- 
 ced and absolutely laid aside his Divinity, during the time 
 of his incarnation : and that as GOD, in this diminished con- 
 dition) he did actually expire on the cross. All the pow- 
 ers of language are exhausted in order to show how great 
 must be the sufferings and condescension of Christ, in un- 
 dergoing such a degradation." 
 
 " On the other hand, some who revolt from these rep- 
 resentations, verge to the other extreme. Lest they should 
 degrade the divine nature of Christ, they are so careful to 
 separate the human nature from it, that One is compelled 
 to suppose that the MAN Jesus had simply a higher degree 
 of inspiration and communion with GOD, than other pro- 
 phets. The new testament does not seem to me to justify 
 either of these extremes." p. 91. Neither the old or 
 new testament seems to me to justify either of them. And 
 I despair of their discontinuance ; till they who guide the 
 opinions of men, shall better study and better understand 
 and better explain the bible : and better define the tech- 
 nical terms of their creeds. 
 
 Q
 
 130 GOD is ONE; 
 
 If there are three persons in God who are all equal j 
 equally independent, eternal, and supreme : we must sup- 
 pose that each is equally ' jealous for his holy name.' Else 
 they must be persons of dissimilar feelings and character. 
 And who of poor sinful worms of the dust shall have the 
 boldness to rank them as first, second, and third ? and speak 
 of priority and posteriority among them ? 
 
 Does one of them fill heaven, and the heaven of heav- 
 ens ? and in his being and government extend from earth 
 to the milky way ; and from the milky way to space and 
 worlds infinitely beyond ? so the other two extend : and 
 fill the same boundless realms. 
 
 Each of the Three is the Maker and Sovereign of crea- 
 tion ; with equal rank, * equal in power and glory :' equal- 
 ly demanding obedience from the immensity of intelligent 
 beings : equally incapable of subordination or obedience ; 
 each creating, but uncreated : giving, but not receiving 
 gifts : worshipped, but not worshipping : unchangeable in 
 rights and in claims : equally bowing the whole creation to 
 his pleasure j and submitting his will to no one. 
 
 Such, we know, is the One God. And if there be Three, 
 * equal in power and glory,' such must be each of the 
 Three. 
 
 And who will -dare to say that concerning one, which he 
 will not say of the other two 1 all being equal. Who 
 will presume to say that one of them has taken all the 
 rights of Godhead into his own hands ? and that another, 
 viz : God the Everlasting Son, has become subordinate 1 
 or yields his own will that he may do the will of another *? 
 or receives an office and is sent? or that he can lay aside 
 his glory 1 or make himself of no reputation 7 or ' being in 
 the condition of God, take the condition of a servant T or 
 suffer any diminution of riches ? or make prayer or give
 
 AND NOT THREE. 131 
 
 thanks ? or waive his authority and honors ? Is he not 
 * jealous for his holy name ?' V 
 
 I hear such things attributed to the Divinity of Christ. 
 And I cannot but think any one of them would undeify 
 him. 
 
 And believing that the mediation, and atonement, and 
 intercession, and government and revelation of God's an- 
 ointed Son, are expressive of ' good will to men ;' and lay 
 a foundation for the consistent reign of grace unto the eter- 
 nal life of those who believe : and that the availableness 
 of that mediation, atonement, and intercession, depends on 
 the union of Divinity and Humanity in our Savior Christ ; 
 I dare not thus undeify him : especially as the bible teach- 
 es none of these absurdities. 
 
 * If ye had known me, said Jesus, ye would have known 
 my Father also : and from henceforth ye know him, and 
 have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Shew us the Fa- 
 ther, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I 
 been so long with you, and yet hast thou not known me, 
 Philip ? He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father. And 
 how sayest thou, Shew us the Father 1 Believest thou 
 not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me 1 The 
 words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself : but 
 the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Be- 
 lieve me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me.' 
 John, xiv. 
 
 Here are the Divinity and Humanity. Christ never intim- 
 ated that he had any other Divinity. He never ascribed his 
 divinest works to any other divine Person. * Our fellow- 
 ship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 
 He is antichrist that denieth the Father, sftid the Son.' 
 I. John, ii. Any supposed Divinity of Christ inferior to 
 the Father, is but a quasi Divinity. I dare not be res-
 
 132 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 ponsible for associating other Persons with God the Fa- 
 ther ; making them his equals. 
 
 * If the Divinity of Christ be another distinct principle 
 of consciousness ; this approaches so near to the doctrine 
 of another God, that it is very hard to distinguish it. So far 
 as our ideas of arithmetic and reason can reach, this seems 
 a plain truth : If one infinite Spirit be one God, two or 
 three infinite Spirits must be two or three Gods. And 
 though the patrons of this opinion suppose these Three so 
 nearly united as to be called One God, merely to avoid the 
 charge of polytheism ; yet this One God must be one com- 
 plex infinite Spirit made up of Three single Spirits. If 
 this were the true notion of the One God, it is very strange 
 the scripture does not reveal it,' Watts, p. 455. 
 
 Christ expresses his Divinity by declaring his oneness 
 with the Father. In no instance does he ascribe his works 
 to any other divine person who dwells in him. If the Fa- 
 ther was not his Divinity, and another person was ; he ne- 
 ver attributed his supernatural works to the person which 
 was his Divinity ; but always to a person which was not 
 his Divinity. * I am sure, says Watts, this sort of repre- 
 sentation leads our thoughts away from supposing Christ 
 to have any Divinity at all.' With such representations, I 
 am sure, that however we amuse our imaginations with our 
 triplex Godhead ; the man Jesus is a mere man, and very 
 fallible. 
 
 Passages from the old testament cited by writers of the 
 new, and applied to Christ ; refer to the One God, the God 
 of Israel, the Almighty, and Jehovah. If Christ as God be a 
 different person j these citations are out of place. But if, 
 as Paul affirm*, ' In him dwelleth all the fullness of the 
 Godhead bodily ;' they do indeed prove his grandeur and 
 dignity as * God over all.'
 
 
 AN1) NOT THREE. 133 
 
 They who judge otherwise speak of a divine nature of 
 Christ which ' thought it not robbery to be equal* with 
 God :' but by an arrangement among themselves, made 
 himself of no reputation; humbled himself and died. To 
 what lower degradation has pagan theology reduced their 
 Gods ? Good men cannot wish to lower the Divinity thus : 
 nor, when the subject is stripped of insidious disguises, do 
 they admit that they mean so. Nor are they to be anath- 
 ematized. Their mystical creeds lead men of uprightness 
 to this extremity, while they are not aware of it. How else 
 could one of the wisest of them say, * Being in the con- 
 dition of God, he did not regard his equality with God as 
 an object of his solicitous desire : but humbled himself, 
 (assumed an inferior or humble station,) taking the condi- 
 tion of a servant, being made after the similitude of men ; 
 and being found in fashion as a man, he exhibited his hu- 
 mility by obedience, even to the death of the cross ?' This 
 is not a translation of Phil. ii. 6, and on. Nor is there any 
 Greek word in that passage which means equal, or equali- 
 ty. And scripture teaches that God always magnifies him- 
 self; and denies that he has any equal: and on pain of his 
 eternal displeasure, he commands all creation to extol and 
 magnify him. His glory is ' an object of his solicitous de- 
 sire j' and of the * solicitous desire' of all who have bis 
 spirit. 
 
 No son of Adam can be forgiven or saved ; except on 
 terms which secure to God all his glory. Hence the me- 
 diation of the Son. Even temporary abasement, subordina- 
 tion, official inferiority, and subsequent exaltation ; are ne- 
 ver in scripture ascribed to the person of God. On such 
 terms, our salvation is impossible. Such terms are in di- 
 rect opposition to the whole design of the atonement. We 
 
 * The false translation of Phil. ii. 6, aids this delusion.
 
 134 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 are nvcr taught in scripture that God the Father has ex- 
 alted the Divinity of Christ from some lower station ; or 
 * given him all power in heaven and in earth :' or given 
 him any reward for any voluntary abasement : or given 
 him any office, high or low. Such representations lower 
 the Divinity of Christ too near to the ideas and characters 
 which heathens ascribed to their inferior Gods. 
 
 Divinity is never in scripture represented as sent down 
 from heaven to earth : as being rich and becoming poor : 
 as thinking it no robbery to be equal with Ged : as co-equal, 
 co-eternal, and consubstantial with some other Divinity or 
 Person : as veiling his glories ; or shrinking into narrow 
 dimensions. He will not have his station, or honor, or 
 character, questioned in any respect. Atonement, instead 
 of temporarily abasing the Divinity of Christ, was design- 
 ed unchangeably to maintain his integrity, and truth, and 
 justice, and unimpeachable majesty as Lawgiver : even 
 while he reverses the sentence of death against the par- 
 doned sinner. 
 
 We sometimes hear such expressions as these : Christ 
 is ' substantially divine :' of one substance with God : he 
 partakes of the divine nature. Such expressions denote 
 doubt; and lead us to imagine that the divine nature of 
 Christ is at best but a part of the Godhead : one third part. 
 We involuntarily think that some portion of the Divinity, 
 detached from the rest, adhered to the man Jesus. ' The 
 sentiments of the mystics originated in the doctrine of the 
 platonic school, which w ? as adopted by Origen and his fol- 
 lowers. It taught that the divine nature was diffused 
 through all human souls.' View of Rel. p. 192. 
 
 So the Artemonites in the second century taught that 
 at the birth of Christ, a certain portion of the divine nature 
 united itself to him.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 135 
 
 So also, in the fifth century, the Angelites held that the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not the same : that no 
 one of them exists of himself: that there is a common De- 
 ity existing in them all : and that each of the three is God 
 by a common participation of this common Deity. These 
 schemes, I suppose, would secure any man's character 
 from the blur of heresy. 
 
 More than one considerable writer has represented that 
 both the Son and Spirit have some real and proper com-' 
 munion in the divine nature : some participation or share 
 in the Godhead. This cautious language denotes a bewil- 
 dered feeling along, not knowing where to place the foot 
 firmly. A rank economically inferior to the Father is giv- 
 en to the Divinity of the Son. And the Holy Ghost the 
 third blessed person is economically postponed to both the 
 other two. For he is made to proceed from bo4h the Fa- 
 ther and the Son, by whom conjointly he is clothed with 
 an office, or sent on a mission. And these are economical 
 mysteries : unintelligible ; and therefore orthodox. 
 
 But in contradistinction from all quasi divinities, and in- 
 explicable persons; the scriptures teach us to believe that 
 the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ is ' Jehovah :' ' I 
 am that I am :' 'the Lord God of the holy prophets :' 'the 
 Father :' indivisible : with no equal ; with no one who may 
 be compared with him. He manages the universe, of 
 which the earth is comparatively an atom : unchangeable 
 in his decrees : unchangeable in his station and perfections : 
 as blessed since the reign of sin and death on earth, as 
 before : as blessed and exalted when his Logos was on 
 earth and on the cross, as from everlasting. 
 
 Such is the heresy for which we are buffeted on earth : 
 and the truth of God, as maintained by the heavenly mes- 
 sengers. If trinitarians claim to believe the Divinity of 
 
 * 

 
 136 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 Christ; ' I more.' I apprehend the bible teaches it in a 
 threefold higher sense than they : and that it exalts his 
 Humanity above their conceptions, in an equal proportion : 
 and further, that what it teaches is intelligible.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 137 
 
 REASON XIII. 
 
 Trinity : Three in One, and One in Three : Three equal persons in one es- 
 sence : these expressions, with the aid of transubstantiation, have obliterated 
 the scripture meaning of the word Mystery, \ 
 
 THE word Mystery in the preceding sentence, is a bible 
 word. Not one of the other technical words in the sen- 
 tence is found in the bible. Yet such has been their power 
 that they have changed the meaning of the word Mystery; 
 and obliterated the sense of the passages in which it occurs. 
 
 Mystery as now currently used, denotes some doctrine 
 incomprehensible to man : or something which, though 
 deemed to be true, no thought can reach : or something 
 having apparent contradictions and absurdities which can- 
 not be explained. In this sense, mystery is applicable to 
 many Articles in human creeds : but in this sense, it is used 
 in no passage of scripture. 
 
 Our catholic forefathers all believed that their priests 
 had the miraculous power of turning bread and wine into 
 the very flesh and blood of Jesus on the cross. This is the 
 Mystery of transubstantiation. And while priests are be- 
 lieved to possess this power ; they command the reverence 
 . and money of their flocks. To deny this sacred Mystery 
 in catholic countries, is heresy. For what is heresy in ec- 
 clesiastical parlance 1 What do we understand by it, when 
 we read history ? The answer is obvious. Any sentiment 
 which impedes the course of clerical avarice and ambition. 
 
 Two hundred and eighty years ago, Queen Mary mount- 
 ed the throne of England : and she determined that her 
 subjects should return to the church of Rome, from which 
 her father Henry VIII. had brought them off. In her 
 
 R 
 
 .* * 
 
 ;*,
 
 138 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 first convocation, the majority of the clergy were on her 
 side. And so undeniable did they deem transubstantiation, 
 that they offered the protestant members to argue the 
 point with them. The protestants, though browbeat, 
 pushed the dispute : and the catholics acknowledged that 
 Christ did, in his last supper, hold himself in his hand ; and 
 swallow and eat himself. Did this convince the catholics ? 
 By no means. They said, It was a Mystery. 
 
 To oppose a Mystery by such feeble arguments as these : 
 that a man cannot swallow and eat himself: or, that it is 
 impossible for the same thing to be, and not to be : or, that 
 the whole is greater than a part : or, that three are not 
 one : would be like " stopping the ocean with a bulrush." 
 
 So far from yielding their Mystery, they pronounced 
 the protestants heretics : that nothing but the most ex- 
 treme depravity of heart could induce men to contest such 
 self-evident truths. They let loose the laws in their rigor 
 against them ; and burned them at Smithfield and other 
 places. 
 
 The protestants, though they rejected the mystery of 
 transubstantiation ; yet most of them retained the mystery 
 of three persons in one essence. Philpot, at this time 
 Archdeacon of Winchester, being a protestant, disputed 
 with another protestant who denied the mystery of the 
 trinity. And Philpot spit in his face. He said, he did it 
 to relieve his soul of the sorrow he felt at such horrid 
 blasphemy ; and to signify how unworthy such a miscreant 
 was of being admitted into Christian society. Philpot, how- 
 ever, disbelieving the other mystery, that of transubstanti- 
 ation j was himself condemned to the flames, and burned 
 at Smithfield. Vid. Hume's Hist. Eng. 
 
 Protestant divines claim no miraculous power over bread 
 and wine. Yet some of them still call these elements
 
 AND NOT THREE. 139 
 
 " Holy Mysteries :" and make the sacraments nearly as 
 incomprehensible as the catholics. Any absurdity can be 
 called a mystery. Human ignorance is associated with a 
 credulity which can " swallow a camel, or be choked by 
 a gnat" 
 
 In the scriptures, Mystery (in almost all passages) 
 means something not revealed : something kept hid in God. 
 And that something is a mystery so long only as it remains 
 unrevealed. Revealing it, is making it known. Thus 
 Paul informs the Romans that Gentiles may be saved by 
 the gospel as well as Jews : " agreeably to the revelation 
 of the mystery which was kept secret since the world be- 
 gan : but now is made manifest : and by the scriptures 
 made known to all nations." Rom. xvi. 25. And to the 
 Ephesians he says, " By revelation, God made known unto 
 me the mystery, which in other ages was not made known 
 unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed; that the Gentiles 
 should be partakers of his promise in Christ." Eph. iii. 3. 
 It being now revealed that Gentiles can be saved, there is 
 no difficulty in understanding it. 
 
 If mystery mean something iu itself utterly unknowable, 
 because transcending the line of all human comprehen- 
 sion ; it cannot be revealed to us : for it is incommunica- 
 ble to beings with our faculties. Should some of us claim 
 supernatural powers of discernment j and pretend that we 
 have glimpses of things altogether beyond mortal ken ; as 
 did the shaking quakers at first ; we ought, as they did, to 
 express ourselves in inarticulate noises : not in articulate 
 sounds. Others cannot understand us. Why use language 
 which pretends to significance, to express what is utterly 
 unknowable and inexpressible ? 
 
 If a truth be unknown after its (alleged) revelation ; the 
 revelation is fictitious ; for it has failed to make it known.
 
 140 GOD is ONE; 
 
 Mysteries, in the bible sense, are " The secret things 
 which belong unto the Lord our God." And " those things 
 which are revealed (made known by revelation) belong 
 unto us and to our children forever." Deut. xxix. 29. 
 These we can understand. 
 
 Revelation and Mystery have the same relation, as Dis- 
 covery and Secret. The secret when discovered, is a se- 
 cret no longer. The mystery when revealed, is a myste- 
 ry no longer. 
 
 Dr. Campbell has set this matter in so plain a light in 
 his Dissertations, that preachers are inexcusable if they 
 permit themselves to be uninformed as to the scriptural 
 use of the word Mystery : and also if they contribute to 
 keep their hearers ignorant of its meaning : and also 
 if they do not mark the variation in the meaning of 
 words generally, which a long tract of time insensibly pro- 
 duces. 
 
 How faulty then, if they tell their hearers that the doc- 
 trine of the trinity is clearly revealed ; and that it is never- 
 theless a profound mystery ? This is like saying, The clear 
 sun now shines brilliantly in the zenith ; and profound dark- 
 ness nevertheless shrouds us, because the sun is directly 
 under our feet. Such a mystery renders revelation nu- 
 gatory, and reason mute. 
 
 They who maintain that a revealed truth is a mystery, 
 and as unknown as it was before revealed ; make this ob- 
 jection to what has now been stated. " There are truths in 
 theology and in every science, which though well known 
 to be truths, have relations with other truths on all sides 
 which are wholly unknown. Must we not believe in the 
 existence of things which are well known, because they 
 have relations and modes of which we know nothing ? 
 Must we not believe that soul and body exist, because we
 
 AND NOT THREE. 141 
 
 cannot know how they are united ? Must we not believe 
 that grass grows, because we cannot tell how ?" 
 
 Analyze this objection. " There are truths in theology 
 and in every science, w r ell known to be truths." Thus far- 
 then, we have knowledge and belief. We ourselves con- 
 ceive these truths clearly. We know what they are, and 
 can make others understand them. So far there is no 
 mystery. We neither grope in the dark ; nor ask others 
 to grope along in the dark after us. 
 
 " But these intelligible truths have unknown relations 
 with other truths on all sides which are unknowable." 
 
 Then we have nothing to believe about these mysterious 
 relations and unknowable truths. It would be both absurd 
 and impious to pretend to believe any thing concerning 
 them. They " belong unto the Lord our God j" and not 
 " unto us or to our children." 
 
 I understand that when my mind wills that my hand 
 shall rise or fall; it rises or falls. I know what I mean. 
 I make the reader understand me. Here is no mystery. 
 
 But of the manner in which my mind acts on my hand, 
 I know nothing at all: Have I then 'any thing to believe 
 about the manner, or the how ? Nothing : except that it is 
 unknowable. And if I do believe any thing 'about this 
 mystery , I believe in the dark. And if I make an Article 
 of faith about it ; still, I cannot explain the Article to ano- 
 ther. And if I anathematize him because he will not be- 
 lieve it ; I as really impose upon him, as Philpot imposed 
 on the Unitarian, when he spit in his face. And if I burn 
 him as an heretic ; I am a murderer j as were they who 
 burned Philpot. 
 
 I see the grass grow. I know what I mean. I convey 
 my meaning to others. Here is no mystery. Am I asked 
 how it grows ? and what are its relations with all the sur-
 
 142 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 rounding elements ? I do not know. These are mysteries. 
 They are among the secret things which do not yet belong 
 to us, but to the Lord our God. 
 
 After all, the objection is gratuitous. When I am told, 
 there are Three Persons in one essence ; I never ask how 
 they exist? or what unknowable relations they have with 
 other unknown persons or things. I ask only who or 
 what the three revealed persons are ? and what is the evi- 
 dence that their number is three ? and that they exist ? I 
 ask, what is the fact 1 not the how ? If any man know, he 
 can tell me: just as he tells me, volition of mind raises a 
 hand of flesh and bones: or as he makes me see that grass 
 grows. If he does not know, and talks without ideas , why 
 does he demand that I should believe ? If he has any 
 meaning ; he can impart that meaning : unless indeed my 
 understanding is inferior to his. If he will tell me what is 
 meant by the proposition, " There are three equal per- 
 sons in one essence ;" and will furnish me with evidence 
 of its truth : I will be docile, and will learn, and be thankful. 
 If the truth he presents to me be very great, and my un- 
 derstanding very shajlow ; so that I cannot seize the truth 
 which he presents : he will see and pity my weakness, and 
 treat me kindly : and I will still be thankful. 
 
 If I think that in mathematical solutions, my intellect is 
 such that I can keep along with him ; and I yet cannot at 
 all understand \vhat he says of his three persons in one es- 
 sence ; I shall conclude that he is mistaken in thinking 
 that he knows \vhat that is, which he says he believes. 
 And if he proceed to anathematize me, because I do not 
 assent to that of which I perceive that he himself knows 
 nothing at all: I then determine to resist, as well as I can, 
 the temptation into which he leads me, to hold him in con- 
 tempt. For I utterly condemn myself, when I feel the
 
 AND NOT THREE. 1 4:3 
 
 least contempt for any one of my fellow servants. And I 
 desire to be sincere, while I pray, " Lord, lay not this sin 
 to their charge." 
 
 Christ informed a pharisee that " except a man be born 
 again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." The meaning 
 is intelligible, and is no mystery. But the pharisee asked 
 him, " How 1" Christ informed him that the manner was 
 not revealed. It was a mystery. The pharisee had no- 
 thing to do with the mode. " The wind bloweth." You 
 know this. You feel it. " Thou nearest the sound." So 
 far there is no mystery. But " whence it cometh, or 
 whither it goeth, thou canst not tell." Christ prescribed 
 no Article of faith to his hearer on any part of the subject 
 which was a mystery. 
 
 And Solomon had long before taught the folly of looking 
 to mysteries for rules of action. " He that observeth the 
 wind shall not sow : and he that regardeth the clouds shall 
 not reap. As thou knowest not what is the way of the 
 spirit (wind,) nor how the bones do grow in the womb of 
 her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the works 
 of God who maketh all." In contradistinction from the 
 folly of lanching out among mysteries, or making calcula- 
 tions from things unknowable, he subjoins : " In the mor- 
 ning sow thy seed ; and in the evening withhold not thine 
 hand: for thou knowest not which shall prosper; or 
 whether both shall be alike good." Eccl. xi. 4. Leave 
 mysteries with him to whom they belong. Learn arid do his 
 revealedw\\\. Whatever he commands us to do is practica- 
 ble. Whatever he commands us to believe, is intelligible. 
 
 He who would officiously intermeddle with that which 
 is known to be a mystery ; and he who would search out 
 the Almighty unto perfection j is the same character. 
 None but a rebel worm would presume upon either.
 
 144 GOD is ONE; 
 
 Let us not bewilder ourselves with mysteries ; and think, 
 like the heathens, that the gospel is to operate upon our 
 souls by charm or enchantment. It is time this magical 
 spell was broken. If the living God remove our selfish- 
 ness, and our blindness ; we shall read, understand, and 
 practice his revealed will. If he hath revealed Trinity of 
 equal persons ; we shall understand this. For it is now 
 no mystery. If he hath revealed something about the trin- 
 ity,; that something may be learned and understood; and 
 is no mystery. If it have unknowable modes and myste- 
 rious relations with other unknowable persons and things ; 
 with these we can have nothing to do. 
 
 Let those who say they have a revelation of Three Per- 
 sons in One essence, set them forth in clear light before 
 the minds of other men. As yet, so far as I know, this has 
 not been done. For myself, I say with Professor Stewart, 
 " My mind is absolutely unable to elicit any ideas from any 
 of the definitions of person in the Godhead which I have 
 ever examined." [Appendix 0.]
 
 AD NOT THREE. 145 
 
 ORIGIN 
 
 - ; .-,: , , : I**?' .'' 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MYSTERY OF THE TRINITY. 
 
 FAR back in pagan antiquity ; men " not retaining God 
 in their knowledge," and " vain in their own imaginations," 
 deified visible objects, and invisible phantasms. 
 
 The apostles preached to heathens who thought that 
 magical words, and magical numbers could put in action 
 unseen powers. They conversed with men and women, 
 who believed that Jupiter's thunderbolt had three forks : 
 that Neptune's trident had three prongs : that Cerberus 
 (the infernal dog who guarded the shades below) had three 
 heads : that the Pythian Priestess uttered predictions, 
 mounted on a stool of three legs* 
 
 The Goddess Diana, in heaven, was called fhrebe ; on 
 earth, Diana ; below the earth, Hecate. She was called 
 triceps, three headed. She had the head of a horse, of a 
 dog, and of a virgin. Three in one : somewhat like three 
 Gods in one person ; or, which is the same, three persons 
 in one God. Apollo was the God of physic, of divination, 
 and of poetry. He was called Sol in heaven, Bacchus on 
 earth, and Apollo below the earth. 
 
 The apostles taught their converts to explode such mys- 
 teries : and to worship the Holy One. We have an ex- 
 ample in Acts xiv.* 
 
 Barnabas and Paul preached at Lystra: and on account 
 
 of the miraculous cure of a cripple, the hearers thought 
 
 S
 
 146 GOD is ONE; 
 
 the apostles -were Gods come down. Barnabas they took 
 to be Jupiter. Jupiter was the supreme God of the hea- 
 then ; though he had a Father, viz : Saturn : as most trin- 
 itarians say that Christ's Divinity has a Father. Paul, they 
 supposed to be Mercurius. The God Mercurius was Son 
 of Jupiter by his wife Maia. 
 
 " Then the priest of Jupiter, who was before their city, 
 brought oxen and garlands, and would have done sacrifice 
 with the people. Which when Barnabas and Paul heard, 
 they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, cry- 
 ing out, Sirs, why do ye these things ? We also are men 
 of like passions with you, and preach unto you, that you 
 should turn from these vanities unto the living GOD, who 
 made heaven and earth and all things : who left not him- 
 self without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain 
 and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and glad- 
 ness. And with these sayings, scarce restrained they the 
 people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them." 
 
 The first Christians had seen Jesus, and conversed with 
 apostles. God was with them indeed. Their heavenly 
 spirit was transmitted through several generations. Hence 
 the wide spread of the gospel amidst trying persecutions. 
 Pagan Gods and pagan rites gave way. The glory of Je- 
 hovah was revealed ; and the victorious reign of his anoint- 
 ed Son diffused peace, humility, and joy ; such as suffering 
 humanity had not before witnessed. With manuscript 
 copies of the bible ; we are not to regard them as learned 
 expositors. But they were unincumbered with human 
 creeds. 
 
 The mystery of three persons in the God and Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ w r as quite irhknown to them. 
 Several centuries run out before this article gained an es- 
 tablishment.
 
 
 AND NOT THREE. 147 
 
 Previous to Constantino and his council at Nice, (anno 
 325 ,) preachers, superficially instructed, began to be be- 
 wildered in adjusting the meaning of the words The Fa- 
 ther, the Son, and The Holy Ghost. What the words in- 
 tended, they did not exactly know : and they fell into dis- 
 putes and unintelligible jargon. From this obscurity, emer- 
 ged thenystery of the trinity, and its first rude draughts, 
 among Christians. 
 
 " Turtullian (anno 200) was the earliest father who 
 presents us with the terms person and trinity." Stewart, 
 p. 26. These terms were used vaguely, and multiplied 
 disputes. Praxeas thought the words Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost, were all applied to God , and must therefore 
 have the same meaning. This was a mistake. Turtullian 
 attempted to correct it. But neither did he know the 
 sense of the words as used in various passages. His zeal 
 against Praxeas,. led him to expound them thus : " All 
 (i. e. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) are not one : while all 
 are of one ; that is, by a unity of substance. Still the mys- 
 terious economy which distributes unity into trinity is ob- 
 served : marking out Father, Son, and Ghost. There are 
 three : not in condition, but rank : not in essence, by form : 
 not in power, but kind : of one substance, one condition, 
 one power. For there is One God, from whom, all these 
 ranks and forms and kinds, by the names of Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghost, are reckoned." 
 
 " The third is the Spirit from God and the Son : as the 
 fruit from the stalk is the third from the root ; a stream 
 from the river from the fountain ; a sharp point from a ray 
 from the sun. So trinity proceeds by interlinked and con- 
 nected grades from the Father." One of our partly civilized 
 Indian sachems, being employed to settle the meaning of Fa- 
 ther, Son and Ghost; might elaborate a creed much like this.
 
 148 GOD is ONE; 
 
 At first, the fathers in general strongly objected to per- 
 sons. They thought this language implied (unaided by du- 
 plicity of signification, absurdity, and mystery, it did and 
 does imply) that there are three beings in God : which 
 they said was unscriptural. Thus Dionysius Romanus, 
 fifty years after Turtullian (anno 250,) reprobates those 
 who separate the divine unity into three different persons. 
 They preach, says he, as if there were three Gods 5 divi- 
 ding the sacred unity into three Hypostases or persons. 
 Stewart, p. 24. 
 
 In this century, arose Sabellius and his followers ; who, 
 to avoid absurdities now afloat, and which they could not 
 digest ; maintained that a certain portion only of the divine 
 nature was united to the man Jesus the Son of God : and 
 that the Holy Ghost was a portion of the Father. View 
 of Religions, p. 247. 
 
 Some of the ante-nicene fathers began to think there 
 were persons : and that the Father and Son were O/AOOUSIOI 
 consubstantial. But the council of Antioch (anno 273) 
 rejected consubstantial. 
 
 The famous council of Nice (anno 325) with the emperor 
 at their head, adopted o.aoousios, as a proper word to express 
 the " incomprehensible manner" of the Son's procreation 
 in his Father's substance. The meaning of parts of the 
 Nicene creed is as occult as the mystical rant of a necro- 
 mancer. I have heard a catholic priest read it to his illit- 
 erate congregation in Latin. They devoutly kneeled. 
 And it was as intelligible to them in Latin, as it is to any 
 body else, in English. 
 
 Arius, presbyter of Alexandria, a man of genius and elo- 
 quence, in the fourth century, maintained that the Son was 
 " the beginning of the creation of God :" but appears not 
 to have understood the senses in which the words Holv
 
 AND NOT THREE. 149 
 
 Ghost are used in the scriptures. He is said to have 
 taught that the Holy Ghost was created by the Son. 
 
 Athanasius bishop of Alexandria employed his talents 
 forty six years against the Arians. The creed which 
 bears his name, although probably composed about 200 
 years after his day, is as follows : 
 
 " Whoever would be saved, must above all things, pos- 
 " sess the catholic faith : which, unless he keep whole and 
 " inviolate ; he shall perish everlastingly, and that without 
 " doubt. The catholic faith is this. We worship One 
 " God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity-: neither confound- 
 " ing the persons, nor separating the substance. For there 
 " is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and an- 
 " other of the Holy Spirit. But the Divinity of the Father, 
 " and Son, and Holy Spirit is one ; the glory equal ; the 
 " majesty co-eternal. The Father is uncreated ; the Son 
 " uncreated , the Holy Spirit uncreated. The Father is 
 " infinite, the Son infinite, the Holy Spirit infinite. The 
 " Father is eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Spirit eter- 
 " nal. Nevertheless there are not three eternals, but one 
 " eternal. There are not three uncreateds, nor three in- 
 " finites ; but one uncreated, one infinite. The Father is 
 " not created nor begotten. The Son is from the Father 
 " alone ; not created, but begotten. The Holy Spirit is 
 " from the Father and Son ; not created, nor begotten, but 
 " proceeding." 
 
 The writer of this creed may have been in truth, what 
 the catholic church calls him, a " saint " " Saint Athana- 
 sius." Still the creed discovers the infirmities both of his 
 understanding, and heart. Of his understanding : for the 
 creed itself is gibberish. Of his heart : for when he pre- 
 sumed to deal damnation on those who could not reverence 
 the image which he had set up ; his humility and benevo-
 
 150 GOD is ONE; 
 
 lence had given place to a lofty arrogance. Watts ex- 
 pressed the opinion that he should better please his Lord 
 by meekness ; than by pretending with assumed authority 
 to " guard God's sacred truths, by scattering all the ter- 
 rors of hell around them." 
 
 The Nicene creed was sanctioned, with some additions, 
 by the second general council at Constantinople, anno 381. 
 One hundred and fifty bishops of this council, being the 
 majority, and consequently the orthodox party, aimed by 
 this to put down what their arrogance called " the pest" 
 and " the blasphemy" of the minority ; and to give unifor- 
 mity to the faith of the people who were unable to judge 
 for themselves. 
 
 These creeds passed down through successive councils 
 in the church of Rome. Their utter unintelligibility ren- 
 dered them convenient in that church, whose hierarchy 
 profited by the submission of the people to mysteries. 
 Their triple Divinity and Virgin and saints and images ; 
 their miracles and purgatory and mysteries,-, much re- 
 semble the ancient mythology of pagan Rome. 
 
 In that church was also made the scholastic scheme of 
 trinity ; our present orthodoxy : " a set of words, as Watts 
 observes, invented by subtle and metaphysical schoolmen j 
 and never intended to convey intelligible meaning to the 
 minds of Christians." 
 
 When Henry the Eighth revolted from the Pope, and 
 made the clergy and people of England profess that he, 
 instead of the Roman Pontiff, was head of the church of 
 England ; it became necessary to new-model their Liturgy. 
 His convocation of clergy, himself being Pontifex Maximus, 
 decided for our fathers, what should hereafter be the Rule 
 of Faith : viz. The old and new testament with the Apocry- 
 pha, the Apostolic, the Nicene, and the Athanasian creeds.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 151 
 
 Can we realise that such was the condition of our fa- 
 thers *? such their religion ? such their degradation, 297 
 years ago 1 Previous to this, they were papists : and their 
 religion consisted almost entifely of mysteries. And so 
 profound was their ignorance, that to mysteries imposed 
 upon them by their priests, they yielded a sincere and in- 
 dolent submission. [Appendix P.] 
 
 Our forefathers neither claimed the power, nor so much 
 as felt a desire to examine any matter and judge for them- 
 selves. They were sunk down under a spiritual despot- 
 ism. Protestants have yet retained a remnant of those 
 mysteries : and so far, the people still yield an uninquisi- 
 tive and reverential acquiescence. 
 
 Henry and his clergy admitted auricular confession, and 
 penance, and transubstantiation, as when under the Pope. 
 Praying to saints was admitted as expedient ; but less ri- 
 gidly enforced. They continued the former rites of the 
 church, the use of holy water, the observance of Ash 
 Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, &,c. : but with 
 some diminished sacredness. 
 
 The members of the convocation were divided on the 
 question of retaining purgatory. They therefore took a 
 middle course, and ordained as follows : " Since according 
 to due order of charity, and the book of Maccabees, it is a 
 good and charitable deed to pray for souls departed ; and 
 since such a practice has been maintained from the begin- 
 ning ; all bishops and teachers should instruct the people 
 not to be grieved for the continuance of the same. But 
 since the place where departed souls are retained be- 
 fore they reach paradise, as well as the nature of their 
 pains, is left uncertain ; it is meet and convenient to com- 
 mend the deceased to the mercy of God, trusting that he 
 accepteth our prayers for them." Hume's Hist. Eng.
 
 152 GODISOXE; 
 
 What our fathers were 300 years ago, we may learn 
 by looking at Spain at the present time. The profits of 
 mysteries may be estimated from the following schedule, 
 posted up on the churches tof Madrid, three or four years 
 ago, for the edification of the catholics of that capital : 
 
 " The sacred and royal Bank of Piety.has relieved from 
 Purgatory from 1721 to Nov. 1826, 
 
 1,030,395 souls, at an expense of 1,720,437 
 
 11,420 do. from Nov. 1826 to Nqv. 1827, 14,276" 
 
 [New York Observer, May 25, 1833.] 
 
 This is, one million, forty one thousand, eight hundred 
 and fifteen souls relieved from purgatory ; for one million, 
 seven hundred and thirty four thousand, seven hundred 
 and thirteen pounds. This gives the priest \ 13s. 4d. for 
 each soul delivered from purgatory, by his mysterious 
 mass. A more profitable mystery has not been imposed 
 on human ignorance. [Appendix Q.] 
 
 When popery was discontinued in England, our ances- 
 tors were exceedingly distressed for the souls of their de- 
 parted friends ; which they believed must now lie, during 
 many ages, in torments for want of masses to relieve them. 
 This" great revolution from popery to protestantism was 
 effected by the king, merely because the Pope would not 
 give him a bill of divorce from his queen, that he might 
 marry Anne Boley n. It is noticeable that the priests from 
 interest, and the people from ignorance, followed the va- 
 rying religten of the sovereigns ; while the sovereigns 
 controlled the livings. When queen Mary, Henry's daugh- 
 ter, took the sceptre, and ordered the clergy back to pope- 
 ry ; they took the people and went back. When her sis- 
 ter queen Elizabeth succeeded her, and ordered them again 
 to be protestants ; they were again protestants : she being 
 Sacerdos Maxima, Head of the church.
 
 AND NOT THREU. 158 
 
 It will be seen that the trinity was by Henry most thor- 
 oughly brought down into the English protestant church : 
 the ancient creeds, called Apostolic, Nicene, and Athana- 
 sian, being ranked with the bible as the Rule of Faith. 
 Whoever denied them, was doomed to the stake or scaf- 
 fold. 
 
 What is called the Apostles' creed, has meaning. The 
 Nicene, and Athanasian, as well as Turtullian's, would re- 
 quire a magician to elicit intelligible sense. Many schemes 
 of trinity have been made since those days : several, since 
 my remembrance. And to profess faith in any one of 
 them, if only it be so worded as to be inexplicably unintel- 
 ligible ; secures the character of any man or minister, as 
 sound and orthodox. 
 
 Notwithstanding all this, I know r that I have a right and 
 am bound to pass by them all, and go directly to the bible. 
 I examine for myself what I ought to believe as to the 
 meaning of the words Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, in 
 each passage where these words occur. If any man w^ould 
 restrict me in this right; he would divest me of my money, 
 and evefy other interest j if the state of society was such 
 that he could cloke his injustice under mysterious disgui- 
 ses ; so as to render his avarice sacred to the apprehen- 
 sions of the multitude. 
 
 " This I confess, that after the w r ay which they call he- 
 resy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all 
 things which are written in the law and in the prophets :" 
 Acts, xxiv. 14 : but not all things written in the creeds 
 delivered down by Henry from the church of Rome. And 
 I apprehend that whoever will take this course with an 
 humble and prayerful mind, will find the bible more in- 
 structive and intelligible than he had apprehended. But 
 
 let him count the cost. 
 
 T
 
 154 GOD IS ONE} 
 
 " If, says Watts, we labor in our zeal to proselyte the 
 Learned ; most of them are so rooted in their old opinions, 
 so immovably established in their particular forms, so self 
 satisfied, so prejudiced against further light ; that we shall 
 probably awaken their learned anger to fix the brand of 
 heresy upon us ; and overwhelm any brighter discoveries 
 with clamor and hard names, and extinguish them in noise 
 and darkness." 
 
 " If we are solicitous to persuade the Unlearned into 
 any better explanation than they learned in their younger 
 years ; we have the same huge prejudices to encounter. 
 Hard names and reproaches are weapons ev f er at hand, 
 and common both to the Greek and barbarian. The vul- 
 gar Christian is as expert at them as the scholar." 
 
 The times are milder than they were. Henry VIII. 
 died 286 years ago, having reigned over our forefathers 
 38 years nearly. " Besides executing 72,000 of his sub- 
 jects for other causes ; his religious murders amounted on 
 an average to six a day, Sundays included, during his 
 whole reign." Dick's Phil, of Rel. Such a phenomenon 
 could not consist with the present diffusion of knowledge ; 
 and consequent humanity. This is one illustration of Sol- 
 omon's proverb : " That the soul be without knowledge, 
 it is not good." 
 
 As far as consistent with a clear exhibition of the nature, 
 origin, and continuance of that blind ing mystery which I ex- 
 plode ; I have aimed to give no offence to Jew, or to Greek, 
 or to the church of God. My views of the unity and charac- 
 ter of God; and of the pre-existence and character of his 
 Son Jesus whom he hath made both Lord and Christ; are, in 
 my full conviction, clearly revealed in my creed The Holy 
 Scriptures. If I have ever unjustly encroached upon the 
 freedom of those who dissent from these views, I am not
 
 AND NOT THREE. 155 
 
 aware of it. So far as I know, I am not accused of it. If 
 I am thought to have done so in any part of this publica- 
 tion ; candor, I hope, will make some apology, when remin- 
 ded that very forbidding airs and menacing attitudes have 
 occasionally been assumed toward me. My aim has been 
 to be understood : and to exhibit facts and truths stripped 
 of disguise : facts and truths in which, I solemnly believe, 
 the Christian world has a deep interest. 
 
 QUESTION. 
 
 " JESUS asked the pharisees, saying, What think ye of 
 The Christ ? Whose Son is he ?" i. e. Whose Son do you 
 suppose your Messiah is, as you collect from your prophets ? 
 
 *' They say unto him, The Sorr of David. He saith un- 
 to them, How then doth David call him Lord, saying, The 
 LORD (Jehovah) said unto my Lord (Adonai,) Sit thou on 
 rny right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool ? 
 If David call him Lord, How is he his Son 1" 
 
 The question is no equivocation. The identical person, 
 (whether a created or uncreated person,) who was David's 
 Lord, was David's Son. The pharisees could not solve 
 the difficulty. 
 
 Trinitarians answer. God The Father the first person 
 in the essence, said to God The Son the second person in 
 the essence, " Sit thou on my right hand." This Son, equal 
 with the Father, was the person who created and governs 
 the world : and by his own consent was appointed by his 
 Father as the Redeemer of men, and Governor of Israel : 
 and so was Lord to king David. And though he thought
 
 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 it not robbery to be equal with his Father ; yet, by a mys- 
 terious economy, he consented to take the form of a ser- 
 vant ; and depend on the promised aid of his Father in 
 subduing his enemies. Jehovah the Son, David's LORD, 
 was also David's Son, as he was in the fullness of time be- 
 gotten by the Holy Ghost proceeding- from the Father and 
 the Son, in the virgin who was a descendant of David. 
 Thus God the Son, was David's Son. 
 
 All this vf as familiar to me from my childhood. Yet I 
 cannot believe it. ' What is said of The Son in all the scrip- 
 tures, expresses derivation and dependence. " This day" 
 doth not mean from all eternity. If the Father must sup- 
 port him, and subdue his enemies under him : then he tru- 
 ly said, " The Father is greater than I." He is the Man 
 Christ Jesus. As Son, his essence and perfections are not 
 identical with the essence and perfections of The LORD, by 
 whom he was begotten: and by whom he was addressed. 
 For if the essence and perfections of the LORD, and the 
 essence and perfections of his begotten Son are identical ; 
 then in Ps. ii. The LORD is talking to himself, and calling 
 himself his " Son" and " king" and "anointed :" and di- 
 recting himself to ask of himself the heathen for an inheri- 
 tance ; and promising himself that if he will so ask, he 
 will give himself the uttermost parts of the earth for his 
 possession. This is not analogous to any well signifying- 
 language among men. If an earthly king should so talk 
 to himself, we should think him a very indjfferent man. 
 
 When David says, " O give thanks unto The LORD of 
 Lords ;" he surely understood that LORD, and Lords were 
 not equals. We know that Lord does not denote God Su- 
 preme in the following passage : " Blessed be the God and 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Eph. i. 3. If in this 
 text, Lord means the Divinity of Christ who is God Su-
 
 AND NOT THREE. 157 
 
 preme ; then God Supreme has both a God and Father. 
 He has neither. 
 
 How then is this question to be answered 1 
 
 Thus. " The LORD" is, in Hebrew, Jehovah , and is 
 God Supreme. He is the speaker. . 
 
 " The Son" to whom he speaks is, in Hebrew, Adonai 
 Lord. Lord is sometimes used in scripture, where no 
 more respect is intended than when we say, Sir. It is used 
 for persons of worth and merit : Gen. xxiv. 8. For pro- 
 phets: I. Kings, xviii. 7. For a master : John, xv. 15. 
 For a husband: Gen. xviii. 12. For tyrants: Isa. xxvi. 13. 
 I. Pet. v. 3. For princes and nobles : Dan. iv. 36. For 
 kings: Gen. xl. 1. II. Sam. xix. 19. For The Son of 
 God: Ps. ex. 1. And for God himself. 
 
 He to whom Jehovah says, " This day have I begotten 
 thee," was the pre-existent soul of Christ, called " the first 
 begotten Son," and " the beginning of the creation of God." 
 This explains the doctrine of the most primitive Christians 
 concerning the ante-mundane generation of Christ : and 
 also accords with the bible account of his pre-existence, 
 and " the glory which he had with the Father before the 
 world was." 
 
 The things attributed to the unbegotten God and his be- 
 gotten Son ; sending and being sent , giving and receiving ; 
 and mutually loving : all have their foundation in the uni- 
 ted Divine and Human natures. Persons, personalities, 
 personal differences, and personal distinctions in the very 
 Divinity, essential to his being, and eternally inherent in 
 him , are all needless here. 
 
 The Son was " the Lord from Heaven." He " came 
 forth from the Father:" assumed "the body that was pre- 
 pared for him :" and sustained the offices to which he was 
 anointed. Hence the priesthood and kingdom of The Mes-
 
 158 GOD is ONE; 
 
 siah ; and the perfect satisfaction he offered to God for 
 the offences of men. Of old was the order given to him, 
 " Sit on my right hand, till I make thy foes thy footstool." 
 Of old he was " Archangel :" Prince of the kings of the 
 earth : and David's Adonai Lord. 
 
 He was David's Son : born of the virgin who was a de- 
 scendant of David. Hence God Supreme was not " Son 
 of David :" was not " Son of man :" was not " the seed of 
 the w r oman." "The first born of every creature" was 
 both Son of David, and Lord of David : and was " Son of 
 God," and the " seed of the woman." 
 
 The doctrine of a begotten God in the Godhead, equal 
 to the Father, and equally ancient, and equally the God- 
 head itself, sent down from heaven, born of Mary, crucified 
 under Pilate, is orthodox ; is untaught in the bible ; is an 
 impossibility. A reason in Latin was given for believing 
 it by ancient scholastic doctors. It was this : " Credo, 
 quia impossibile est." The meaning is, " I believe it, be- 
 cause it is impossible." They knew it was an impossibil- 
 ity. But calling it " a mystery," they could believe it as 
 easily as they could believe that Christ, in his last supper, 
 swallowed and ate himself: and as men believe that three 
 equal persons inhere in one essence. 
 
 Equally useless are these mysteries, in explaining the 
 forms of blessing to which appeals are made. As II. Cor. 
 xiii. 14 "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the 
 love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be 
 with you all." 
 
 We need grace from the Messiah, the Son, the Media- 
 tor. " The word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full 
 of grace." John, i. 14. We have kindred with his hu- 
 manity : and have part in his sufferings, his spirit and his
 
 AND NOT THREE. 159 
 
 joys. " He is touched with a feeling of our infirmities." 
 " He ever liveth to make intercession for us." 
 
 We enjoy through him the forgiving love of God. 
 
 That we sinners may rejoice in this salvation, God who 
 is Holy and Ghost spiritually assimilates us to himself. 
 With this Holy Ghost or Spirit, even the One God, we 
 have union and communion. " That they all may be one ; 
 as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they all may 
 be one in us ; that the world may believe that thou hast 
 sent me." 
 
 The world will " believe that thou hast sent me ;" so 
 soon as they see all professed Christians united in disinter- 
 ested love. That happy period, however, hath no connec- 
 tion with a triplex Divinity. Had the rude Turtullian or 
 Athanasius maintained ten or twelve persons ; he might 
 have appealed to a form of blessing, and have rendered his 
 creed orthodox. As Rev. i. 4 " Grace be unto you, and 
 peace from him which is, and from him which was, and 
 from him which is to come, and from the seven spirits 
 which are before the throne, and from Jesus Christ the 
 faithful witness, the first begotten from the dead, and the 
 prince of the kings of the earth." They, however, re- 
 stricted the number to three. And to prevent all further 
 doubt ; some of the catholic saints placed the mystic three 
 in the bible. " But from the beginning it was not so." 
 [Appendix D.]
 
 160 COD is ONE; 
 
 BAPTISM. 
 
 CAJC we ascertain the meaning of the terms, The Fa- 
 ther, and The Son, and The Holy Ghost, in which we are 
 baptised ? 
 
 Accustomed from infancy to Three equal Persons in 
 God : and the creeds using the words Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost, as names of these identical Persons : the as- 
 sociation of ideas in our minds, suggests them when bap- 
 tism is mentioned. But as no such .persons occur in the 
 bible, we may waive them for the present ; as we would 
 take nothing for granted. We may go on surer ground 
 by taking up the twenty eighth chapter of Matthew, where 
 the words Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, first occur in con- 
 nection with baptism. 
 
 We have here account of the resurrection of Jesus 
 Christ. The two Marys went early to the sepulchre. 
 They saw an angel, who said, " Ye seek Jesus who was 
 crucified. He is not here. Come see the place where 
 the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell his disciples, He 
 is risen and goeth before you into Galilee : there ye shall 
 see him. Then the eleven went into Galilee ; and when 
 they saw him, they worshipped him : but some doubted." 
 
 " And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All 
 Power is given unto me, in heaven and earth. Go ye, 
 therefore, and teach all nations ; baptizing them in the 
 name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost." 
 
 What being is here intended by the Father ? 
 
 It is obvious that The Father is here correlative to him 
 who is joined with him in the passage as the Son. Hence
 
 AND NOT THREE. 161 
 
 it is the same being who'is so often called The Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. It therefore cannot be doubted 
 that The Father means the same being who speaks in Ps. 
 2 and 110, called Jehovah. 'The LORD (Jehovah) hath 
 said unto me, Thou art my Son : this day have I begotten 
 thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for 
 thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
 (' all nations') for thy possession. The LORD hath sworn, 
 and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the or- 
 der of Melchisedec. The LORD at thy right hand shall 
 strike through kings in the day of his wrath.' This must 
 be the invisible God. ' To us there is but One God, even 
 the Father. 7 
 
 Who then is The Son intended in this passage ? 
 
 Doubtless the same to whom The LORD declared, ' Thou 
 art my Son : to-day have I begotten thee.' And this was 
 the same Jesus of whose resurrection from the dead, we 
 have account in this twenty eighth chapter of Matthew. 
 ' The disciples worshipped Jiim whom they saw? ver. 17. 
 The angel who said, ' See the place where the Lord lay ;' 
 could not have meant that The LORD (Jehovah) had ' lain' 
 dead ' in that place.' Nor could they have said of him, 
 * He is not here.' ver. 6. 
 
 Verse 1 9. ' All power is GIVEN unto me in heaven and 
 earth. Go ye THEREFORE, and teach all nations : bapti- 
 zing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son.' 
 
 This teaches that ' all power in heaven and in earth,' 
 was not originally inherent in the Son. For then it could 
 not be given him. Moreover, the appellation Son is inap- 
 plicable to the unbegotten God. God Supreme is Son to 
 no God. But ' all power in heaven and in earth being 
 given' to the Son ; the Son had authority to make ' all na- 
 tions' his disciples ; and to order them to be baptized in
 
 162 GOD is ONE; 
 
 his name. ' He hath by inheritance obtained a more ex- 
 cellent name than that of angel,' (messenger,) viz: 'The 
 Son :' a name more excellent than that of Moses, (servant,) 
 unto whom the Israelites * were all baptized in the cloud 
 and in the sea :' a ' name to which every knee shall bow.' 
 ' The Son' then is he who ' was dead, and is alive.' 
 
 ' The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, The Father of glo- 
 ry, by the exceeding greatness of his power, wrought in 
 Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at 
 his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all 
 principality, and power, and might; and dominion, and 
 EVERY NAME that is named, not only in this world, but al- 
 so in that which is to come ; and hath put all things under 
 his feet : and gave him to be head over all things to the 
 church.' Eph. i. 17, and on. In his name we are bapti- 
 zed. 
 
 Human wisdom has objected that all this authority is in- 
 sufficient: that baptism cannot be administered in the 
 name of this Son, because he suffered and died ; because 
 he was capable of humiliation and exaltation : and because 
 he is a Son who hath no ' power in heaven and in earth' 
 except that which ' is given him.' 
 
 We answer : the objector is at issue with Christ him- 
 self. For, ' all power being given to him,' is the very rea- 
 son he has set forth why this baptism shall be administered. 
 > This objection can obtain no weight from the factj(if it 
 be a fact,) that there are three equal persons in God. For 
 to neither of these, could ' all power in heaven and in 
 earth' be given. For they are all equal in ' power and 
 glory.' They are incapable of receiving * power, 1 or any 
 thing else, as a gift. 
 
 Nor can the objection gain any strength from the fact, 
 (if it be a fact,) that there are two Sons of God combined ;
 
 AND NOT THREE. 163 
 
 the one infinite, and the other finite. The first is begotten 
 in the essence of the Father, and is equal to the Father ; 
 and equally independent, and incapable of receiving gifts. 
 The other is created ; is the man begotten in the virgin. 
 The created Son is not equal to the Father. For * he in- 
 creased in stature and in wisdom,' and * could of himself 
 do nothing.' * Though he were a Son, yet learned he obe- 
 dience by the things which he suffered : and being made 
 perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all 
 them that obey him.' Heb. v. 8, 9. This was the Son to 
 whom ' all power in heaven and in earth was given.' 
 
 Had it pleased infinite wisdom to have issued a commis- 
 sion to baptize in the name of the first of these Sons, who 
 is one in essence with the Father, and to whom no ' pow- 
 er in heaven and earth is given ,' this might better have 
 accorded with our sense of propriety. But the fact, as 
 stated in this chapter, is quite otherwise. The Son res- 
 pected in this commission to baptize, is the Son who had 
 been crucified and hung on a tree : and whose sonship 
 was now declared by his resurrection. He had long been 
 the Son of God : his first begotten Son : his ( only begotten 
 Son' in heaven : and now ' declared (determined in the 
 Greek) to be the Son of God, with power, by his resurrec- 
 tion from the dead.' Rom. i. 4. 
 
 The disciples had been members of his family. They 
 knew him as The Son announced by Gabriel, who said to 
 Mary ; ' Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and 
 bring forth a Son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He 
 shall be Great : and shall be called The Son of the High- 
 est. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne 
 of his father D'avid. And he shall reign over the house 
 of Jacob forever : and of his kingdom there shall be no 
 end.'
 
 164 GOD is ONE; 
 
 4 Then Mary said, How shall this be, seeing I know not 
 a man 1 And the angel answered, The Holy Ghost shall 
 come upon thee ; and the Power of the Highest shall over- 
 shadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall 
 be born of thee shall be called The Son of God.' Luke i. 
 
 We cannot believe that Jehovah the second person in 
 the trinity was in the womb of the virgin, so as to be brought 
 forth as her Son : or, that Mary was, as the catholics say, 
 * The Mother of God.' God Supreme is not a < thing :' ' that 
 holy thing which shall be born of thee, and called The Son 
 of God.' [Appendix Q.] 
 
 The Son of the Highest, born of Mary, is the man Jesus 
 united to God, and infinitely inferior to God dwelling in 
 him. Yet through him as a most suitable mirror, are dis- 
 played the divine perfections in their fairest and strongest 
 light. ' He is the image of the invisible God,' and the fit 
 instrument by which God acts in the redemption of the 
 church, and in the government and judgment of the world. 
 With * all power in heaven and in earth given to him/ he 
 has ' gone forth conquering and to conquer i 1 and ' must 
 reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. Then 
 shall the Son also be subject unto him that did put all 
 things under him, that God may be all in all/ I. Cor. xv. 
 
 He instructed his disciples in the days of his humilia- 
 tion : but gradually. And they received his instructions 
 still more gradually. They never learned his Divinity till 
 after his resurrection. They believed he was the long ex- 
 pected Messiah, i. e. The Christ, i. e. The Anointed, i. e. 
 the priest, prophet, and mighty king, whom God had ap- 
 pointed to bring salvation. ' We believe and are sure that 
 thou art The Christ.' John, vi. 69. They believed that 
 he had a peculiar and glorious relation to God ; that he 
 was his Son, referring to the dignity of his person and of-
 
 AND NOT THREE. 165 
 
 fice as the appointed Savior. Thus Nathaniel said, ' Rab- 
 bi, Thou art the Son of God : thou art the king of Israel.' 
 John, i. 49. This was Peter's confession : * Thou art 
 The Christ, The Son of the living God.' Matt. xvi. 16. 
 They believed that he had an existence before he came 
 into the world. ' We believe that thou earnest forth from 
 God.' John, xvi. 30. They had heard him say, * I came 
 forth from the Father, and am come into the world : again, 
 I leave the world, and go to the Father.' ver. 28. This 
 they understood literally. For they say, ' Now thou speak - 
 est plainly ; and speakest no parable :' no figure or meta- 
 phor. 
 
 Jesus himself testifies to their belief of these two arti- 
 cles, viz : his pre-existence ; and his mission. * They have 
 known surely that I came out from thee: and they have 
 believed that thou didst send me.' John, xvii. 8. From 
 the stores of knowledge which he so rapidly acquired, 
 they inferred his previous existence and correspondence 
 with his Father in heaven. ' Now we are sure that thou 
 knowest all things : by this we believe that thou earnest 
 forth from God.' John, xvi. 30. ' All things,' that is, in 
 a limited sense : as the woman of Tekoah said to David, 
 II. Sam. xiv. For the utmost the disciples inferred from 
 it was, * By this we believe that thou earnest forth from 
 God :' not that he was God. Christ had told them a very 
 little before, that he, even * The Son,' knew not the day 
 when the Judgment would be. 
 
 They believed that ' Jesus of Nazareth was a prophet 
 mighty in word and deed before God and all the people.' 
 Luke, xxiv. 1 9. But they wondered that the winds and seas 
 obeyed him. They wondered that the fig tree withered. 
 
 When he spake of his death and resurrection, ' Peter 
 took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, ' This shall 

 
 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 never be unto thee, Lord.' Matt. xv 7 i. 22. Peter had no 
 thought that he was rebuking the invisible God : nor that 
 Jesus whom he acknowledged as The Son of God, was 
 God : or that he was united to God ; as the whole scrip- 
 tures now completed, teach us that he is. 
 
 Mary and Martha ' believed him to be The Christ, The 
 Son of God, which should come into the world.' John, xi. 
 27. Yet neither of them profess the belief that he had 
 power in himself to raise the dead. They say, 'Ifthou 
 hadst been here, my brother had not died.' And, ' I know 
 that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will 
 give thee.' John xi. 
 
 There were passages in the old testament which might 
 have taught them, Deity and Humanity in the God of Is- 
 rael : and the sorrows, and death, and rising again, of The 
 Messiah. But we have the testimony of Christ himself, 
 even after his resurrection, that they were ' fools and slow 
 of heart to believe all that the prophets had spoken.' They 
 labored under the power of mighty prejudices. And chris- 
 tians now, with their ampler means, know little of the per- 
 sonal character of The Son ; by reason of similar preju- 
 dices. 
 
 More is required of us, and even made essential to our 
 salvation, than was required of them. Surely it was not 
 an essential article for Peter, to believe in the sufferings 
 and death of Christ as an expiation for sin ; at the time he 
 rebuked him because he spake of dying. Mark xvi. None 
 of the apostles then knew ' What that rising from the dead 
 should mean.' Mark ix. But we must know that If 
 Christ be not risen from the dead, then is our preaching 
 vain : and we are yet in our s*ins.' I. Cor. xv. The apos- 
 tles were in a state of grace and salvation. But we are 
 inexcusable if we remain ignorant of his Divinity ; of his
 
 AND NOT THREE. 167 
 
 Humanity ; of his personal character ; of his character as 
 Son ; as the Messiah or anointed king, priest, prophet, 
 judge : his ancient glories, and abasement, and present ex- 
 alted reign : and the honor and worship we are to present, 
 with heaven's hosts, unto him as ' The Lamb of God which 
 taketh away the sins of the world.' 
 
 My object is to show that The Son in whose name we 
 are baptized, in view of the inspired writers, is not a Per- 
 son intrinsic in the Godhead, equal in ' power' with cer- 
 tain other persons ; and to whom * power' could not be 
 1 given.' The Son is one to whom ' all power in heaven 
 and earth is given :' given as a reward of his meritorious 
 sufferings : given to a Son, whose body was crucified, and 
 whose soul descended into hades : a Son who was raised 
 from the dead by the never dying God : a Son, who in his 
 being and powers and offices, is derived and dependent : 
 a Son ' in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead 
 bodily.' 
 
 That such is Christ, as The Son, is evident from the 
 language and conduct of Peter and other disciples. They 
 had no apprehension that their Master was God, when they 
 rebuked him; when they questioned his knowledge in 
 some things ; when they wondered at his miracles. And 
 yet at that very time, they called him The Son of God. 
 This was made necessary to their salvation, even then. 
 And they professed roundly that he was The Son of God. 
 This title therefore does not declare his Divinity ; or equal- 
 ity with the Father. 
 
 The Father is represented as willing to do nothing of 
 himself; i. e. without a Mediator ; in the government, and 
 redemption, and judgment of men. He therefore doth all 
 things by The Son as his agent, his minister, speaker, an- 
 gel, Logos : himself maintaining his royal state. As Di-
 
 168 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 vinity, he never lets down his sovereign majesty. Where 
 Divinity is, there are all the prerogatives and uncompro- 
 mising claims of God. He never assumes or sustains oth- 
 er or lower characters. The whole scheme of salvation 
 is so constructed as to assert and maintain the authority, 
 and supreme elevation of God ; while man is pardoned 
 and saved. If we will not have salvation on these terms, 
 we can have no portion in Christ. Every inferior charac- 
 ter and office which belongs to Christ, belongs to him as 
 Son, and Messiah : belongs to his created nature ; that na- 
 ture in which he f increased in wisdom and stature ;' and 
 ' could of himself do nothing.' In this nature he could eat 
 and drink and sleep and weep and die. As to his Divinity, 
 he could suffer no diminution of majesty or splendor or 
 blessedness : could receive no * power,' no office, no gift ; 
 in heaven, or on earth. 
 
 If the Father has a Son different from this, eternally be- 
 gotten in his own essence, and equal to himself: he too 
 can never for a moment waive his supremacy ; nor do the 
 things ascribed to Jesus of Nazareth. Being God most 
 High, he could not be the suffering, dying, rising Lamb of 
 God. He could of himself do all things; unless obstruct- 
 ed by his two co-equals in the Godhead. And this would 
 be infinitely diverse from the claims every where set up 
 in favor of all that is the independent God. It would also 
 suppose God to be changeable, and weak, and void of dig- 
 nity. 
 
 If salvation could not be brought to us without such de- 
 gradation of Christ's Divinity 5 we had all perished in our 
 sins. A theory (like the Nicene and other creeds) of a 
 co-equal Son, of the essence of the Father and Holy Ghost ; 
 sent down from heaven ; placed in the condition of a ser- 
 vant ; diminished to the dimensions of a man : subverts the
 
 AND NOT THREE. 169 
 
 gospel. The gospel asserts the rights of all that is Divin- 
 ity ; maintains the claims of his law and justice, and pre- 
 serves their sway and truth; while sinners are saved. 
 Degradation of the Divinity that man may be saved, is the 
 very thing the gospel professes to prevent. If there are 
 ever so many equal persons in God j no 1 one of them can 
 divest himself of his va-stness, or lower his station, or veil 
 his glory for a moment, in our redemption. For our re- 
 demption, like God's other works, is expressly designed to 
 maintain and illustrate that glory. A Son equal to the Fath- 
 er in power and glory, could not have walked about in Ju- 
 dea ; and said, ' I came not to do my own will, but the will 
 of him that sent me :' or, * I speak not of myself: the Fath- 
 er that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.' John xiv. 
 
 We now fully believe that Jesus Christ is God: and as 
 fully that in an inferior nature, even in our own nature, 
 he is The Son of God. His Divinity appears from his di- 
 vine names and titles, and acts. But ' Son of God' is not 
 one of those titles which discover it. Even the learned 
 among the Jews who knew nothing of God himself in their 
 Messiah, distinctly acknowledged that their Messiah was 
 The Son of God. Thus the high priest, when Jesus was 
 arraigned before their council, * said unto him, I adjure 
 thee by the living God, that thou tell us, whether thou be 
 The Messiah, The Son of God.' Matt. xxvi. 63. 
 
 The Son of God being raised from the dead, and * by the 
 right hand of God exalted ;' extends his dominion over 
 heaven and earth. And not the less because * all power 
 in heaven and earth is given him.' But because it * is giv- 
 en him, therefore, says he, baptize in the name of the Fa- 
 ther, and of the Son.' 
 
 Philip so practiced in the case of the eunuch. Having 
 expounded the fifty third chapter of Isaiah, which foretold
 
 170 GOD is ONE; 
 
 the sufferings and meekness and resurrection and success- 
 ful reign of God's anointed Son ; he told the eunuch that 
 he* would immediately go down from the chariot and bap- 
 tize him ; if he believed what he had heard with all his 
 heart. And the eunuch said, ' I believe that Jesus is the 
 Son of God. 1 And Philip baptized him. 
 
 Philip required no belief of three persons in God. He 
 had never heard of them. The apostolic churches had no 
 such creed. 
 
 The bible being allowed an authoritative voice iff this 
 matter, I must believe with Professor Stewart, that ' the 
 term Son of God, does not appropriately designate Christ 
 as Divine : but as the incarnate mediator : as him whom 
 the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world. Did 
 The Father sanctify, and send into the world, his Son as 
 GOD, who is infinitely perfect and immutable T Most cer- 
 tainly not. ' As Son, he filled and acted in a subordinate 
 capacity. How then can his being Son, prove him Di- 
 vine ?' 
 
 So Watts says, ' The name Son, and Sons of God, is in 
 the bible applied to men and angels, as well as to Christ. 
 But it is never used in any one place to signify Godhead. 
 We have before proved that this name cannot signify his 
 co-essential, consubstantial Sonship. Therefore it cannot 
 signify his Godhead.' 
 
 Baptism is then administered in the name of The Son, 
 whose Sonship was declared by his resurrection from the 
 dead : who had so humbled himself as to die with malefac- 
 tors ; and was now so ' exalted as to be a Prince and Savior :' 
 who was so dependent as to receive gifts ; and so exalted as 
 to have ' all power in heaven and in earth given to him :' who 
 is worshipped by the elders in heaven as ' The Lamb that 
 was slain,' in conjunction with God on his eternal throne.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 171 
 
 Mere man says, this is incredible. What ! Baptize in 
 the name of a creature ! 
 
 With the same wisdom and the same humility, mere 
 man may say, it is incredible that a creature is united to 
 his Maker : that God could ' make him both Lord and 
 Christ' over us. Disregarding this wisdom and this hu- 
 mility, I enquire simply, What says the bible ? Marvellous 
 as it is, the bible represents the Man Christ Jesus as asso- 
 ciated with God : as sitting on his right hand ; and on his 
 throne : and with the Father, moving almighty power : 
 ruling over principalities in heaven : and judging the hu- 
 man race. 
 
 Dr. Dwight says, * Nothing but impiety can, so far as I 
 can see, be contained in a direction to baptize in the name 
 of God and a Creature. What creature would dare asso- 
 ciate himself with God in such an act of authority ; and 
 thus presume to ascend the throne of his Maker?' p. 13. 
 Had this been said by Voltaire, we should have thought 
 it infidel philosophy. The Doctor must, at times, make 
 something of the man Christ Jesus. Scripture is explicit 
 in assuring us that the man Jesus did and does associate 
 himself with God in such an act of authority ; and in far 
 greater acts of authority. He did * presume to ascend the 
 throne of his Maker,' and sit on his right hand.' * These 
 things saith the beginning of the creation of God, and 
 the first begotten from the dead : I also overcame, and am 
 set down with my Father in his throne.' Rev. i. 5, and iii. 
 14, 21. Son is the Humanity : not the Divinity of Christ. 
 
 Who then is The Holy Ghost ? 
 
 ' The Holy Ghost is God ; employed in his most benevo- 
 lent and wonderful work ; that of restoring holiness to the 
 soul of man : in his most glorious character ; that of the
 
 172 GOD is ONE; 
 
 . jt. JfjK*i f v?W \fr^ ft^, 
 
 Sanctifier : in a work demanding the supreme gratitude 
 of mankind : in a character demanding their supreme rev- 
 erence and love/ Dr. Dwight. 
 
 So the words Holy Ghost are used io sundry passages ; 
 and such is their import in the form of baptism. God by 
 his resistless influence, is the efficient agent on whom the 
 whole success of the gospel depends. ' Paul will plant, 
 and Apollos water' in vain ; unless ' God give the increase.' 
 I. Cor. iii. 6. The Holy Ghost is God, giving increase. 
 
 By the coming of the first begotten Son from heaven ; 
 and suffering in the body fitted for him $ as ' it is written 
 in the volume of the book :' all the preliminary steps have 
 been taken for restoring God's chosen people. The Son 
 from the beginning had security of success in his mediatorial 
 reign. Not the success which might be reasonably expect- 
 ed from the submission, love, and joy of all men spontane- 
 ously hailing him as their Lord ; so soon as he appeared a- 
 mong them. He knew before he came, that men would not 
 ' reverence the Son.' And we know that love did not kin- 
 dle in every heart as soon as they saw him. So totally self- 
 ish and rebellious were they, that they rose and killed him. 
 
 Mediating between the Omnipotent Majesty and us, he 
 cast all the blame of our apostacy on us : testified that our 
 deeds are evil : that his Father and his law and his gov- 
 ernment are good and that our damnation is just. He 
 taught the ruling powers, the scribes, and priests, that 
 they were God's rebels, and deserved hell ; notwithstand- 
 ing their hypocritical disguises. And they abhorred him. 
 They attempted to appropriate his vineyard and rights, 
 and all the government of heaven and earth, to themselves. 
 They and all the world practically allowed no interest to 
 exist, but the interest of monopolizing self. ' We will not 
 have this man to reign over us.' Luke, xix. 1 4.
 
 AXD NOT THREE. 173 
 
 Had the world been left thus, all would have been lost. 
 The Lamb of God would have been slain in vain. Grace 
 therefore has further displays. 
 
 The God of glory, promised his Son before the Son left 
 his bosom, that he would uphold him in his work : that he 
 would raise his body from the grave ; and bring his soul 
 from hades : that ' the pleasure of the LORD should prosper 
 in his hand :' that ' the crown should flourish on his (the 
 Son's) head :' that * he should see the travail of his soul 
 till he was satisfied.' The Father assured him that by his 
 power and grace, he would create anew as many as the 
 Son desired : that the disinterested kindness of the Son 
 who was to be the victim, should in nothing be defeated 
 by the obstinacy of sinners : that he would bring every 
 human being to his feet, to the praise of his glorious grace ; 
 or to the praise of his glorious justice : so as should per- 
 fectly please the Father ; and perfectly please the Son ; 
 and perfectly please all unfallen beings : and so that a work 
 of mercy should be accomplished by the Son, the fame and 
 glory of which should resound throughout the universe. 
 
 Those who will be saved were ' chosen in Christ before 
 the foundation of the world.' Eph. i. 4. They are, how- 
 ever, ' by nature the children of wrath, even as others.' 
 Eph. ii. 3. Not one of them can be persuaded to come 
 unto the Son ; ' except, says he, The Father which hath 
 sent me draw him.' John, vi. 44. The Father is that 
 Person ; that Sanctifier, that Regenerator, that Spirit, that 
 Holy Ghost; who draweth to the Son all who * come to 
 him.' They are ' born of God.' John, i. 13. Born of the 
 only One God. They are made to obtain that eternal 
 life which God that cannot lie, promised before the world 
 began.' Tit. i. 2. * Promised' to whom ? Not to them. 
 They did not exist. ' Promised' to The Son, while yet
 
 174 GOD IS ONE J 
 
 ' in the form of God ;' while yet in * the glory which, says 
 he, I had with thee before the world was.' Agreeably to 
 this promise, at the Son's intercession, all his elect are 
 * sanctified by God The Father ; and preserved by 
 Christ Jesus, and called.' Jude, 1. ' Ask of me, said 
 The Father, and I will give thee the uttermost parts of the 
 earth (all nations) for thy possession.' Ps. i. Hence the 
 Son knew, before he descended to his state of abasement, 
 the victories he would achieve. How ? By the saving 
 strength of that right hand' to which he was to be exalted, 
 after his deepest abasement : by the Holy Ghost : by God 
 the Sanctifier. ' Sit thou on my right hand till I,' I the 
 Father, I Jehovah, I the Omnipotent Spirit, ' make thy 
 foes thy footstool.' Accordingly, * This Man, after he had 
 offered one sacrifice for sin, forever sat down on the right 
 hand of God : from thenceforth expecting till his enemies 
 be made his footstool.' Heb. x. 12, 13. * Expecting,' as 
 the certain result, to see all his chosen ones voluntarily at 
 his feet : and to hear them * confess that he is Lord, to the 
 glory of God the Father.' For God worketh in them both 
 to will and to do. He hath given to the Son, to rule them 
 by his influence. At his wish, Omnipotence effects their 
 salvation. He accordingly says, ' My sheep hear my voice, 
 and I know them, and they follow me : and I give unto 
 them eternal life : and they shall never perish : neither 
 shall any pluck them out of my hand. My Father w^hich 
 gave them me, is greater than all : (* greater than I,' chap, 
 xiv. 28.) and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's 
 hand.' John, x. 27. 
 
 We then believe in God ; not only as Father, but as Ho- 
 ly : and not only as Holy, but as Spirit or Ghost : not only 
 as Creator and Lawgiver, but as Ghost imparting holiness 
 and peace to our guilty and wretched souls.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 175 
 
 * The Holy Ghost had said, This is the covenant that I 
 will make with them after those days, saith the Lord.' 
 Heb. x, 16. ' Holy Ghost' and ' Lord' arc here, One Per- 
 son. And what did he say he would do ? 'I will put my 
 laws into their hearts; and in their minds will I write 
 them : and their sins and iniquities will I remember no 
 more.' This is The Holy Ghost in whose name we are 
 baptized. This is no Third Person. We adore him as 
 the First Person in the Universe. 
 
 I humbly ask the reader to run over the seventeenth 
 chapter of John. In it, The Son speaks no parables. In 
 reading it, his character as Son and Messiah and Interces- 
 sor, is seen. The Person with whom he intercedes, he 
 calls Father,' Holy Father,' ' O Father,' ' O righteous 
 Father.' He lets us know clearly what Person is his 
 Divinity. * Thou Father art in me, and I in thee.' He 
 reveals The Father whom the world knew not : whom 
 no man knoweth, except the Son, and those to whom the 
 Son reveals him. And he here reveals him as the Holy 
 Ghost, The Sanctifier. He intercedes for his disciples 
 that the Holy Father would ' sanctify them :' and not 
 them only, but all who should ' believe on him through 
 their word : that they all may be one : as Thou Father 
 art in rne, and I in thee ; that they also may be one in us : 
 that the world -may believe that thou didst send me. J The 
 importance of understanding this matter, now revealed, 
 and consequently intelligible, is set forth. ' This is Eter- 
 nal Life, that they may know thee the ONLY TRUE GOD, 
 and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.' 
 
 We are now through with the commission to baptize ; 
 and have found nothing of the Trinity of Persons, equal 
 in power and glory, to which we adverted in the begin- 
 ning of this article. In reading the bible, they no where
 
 176 GOD is ONE; 
 
 occur. A pious man may therefore be asked, By what 
 authority he gives these sacred names Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost, to ' persons' unknown to the bible ? Is there 
 not in this, an approach to profanity ? The kings of Eu- 
 rope have an order of nobility, called * the order of the 
 Holy Ghost' And it deserves serious enquiry, whether 
 men do not use equal boldness in applying these sacred 
 names to three unknown Persons in one unknown essence. 
 * Trinity :' ' Three equal persons :' arelio more mention- 
 in the bible, than the * Three faces of Brachma, Veeshnu, 
 and Seeva, formed on one body :' or, ' Three faces on 
 three distinct heads, united to one form.' They are hu- 
 man contrivances, like the mysteries of mythological di- 
 vinity in all pagan antiquity. 
 
 Dr. Dwight has characterized The Holy Ghost in an 
 intelligible and masterly manner. His definition would 
 have been complete, with the addition, Jls the words Holy 
 Ghost are used in sundry passages. This addition is ne- 
 cessary, because 
 
 The words Holy Ghost are used in scripture with diverse 
 
 meanings. 
 
 God is nveufxo, Ghost or Spirit. So Christ told a woman 
 of Samaria. She with the less enlightened Israelites resi- 
 ding in Samaria, thought that God ought to be worshipped 
 there only : and not at Jerusalem ; as the Jews believed. 
 When he said, * God is a Ghost, a Spirit ;' he meant to 
 teach that men might worship God either on mount Geriz- 
 rim, or at Jerusalem, or any \vhere : as God is every where. 
 The expression ' God is a Spirit,' teaches nothing of his mor- 
 moral character. When we read that * God is love,' we 
 have in amount his whole moral character. Put these two 
 together, and God is a Holy as well as Ghostly or Spiritual
 
 AND NOT THREE. 177 
 
 being. And when the work before him is that of changing 
 the hearts of sinners, or increasing holiness in the regene- 
 rated ; then * God is the Holy Ghost, employed in his most 
 benevolent and wonderful work, that of restoring holiness 
 to the soul of man ; in his most glorious character, that of 
 the Sanctifier ; in a work demanding the supreme grati- 
 tude of mankind.' Dr. Dwight. 
 
 But a man may say, My Spirit grieves, strives, resolves, 
 rejoices. In analogy with this, God says, ' My Spirit shall 
 not always strive with man.' I will not always put forth 
 my powerful influence to restrain from sin, and excite to 
 holiness. 
 
 ' God hath given unto us his Holy Spirit.' I. Thess. iv. 
 8. i. e. God hath given unto us his sanctifying influence ; 
 or imparted to us his disinterested temper 5 a heart of love ; 
 a godlike kindness: which are effects of that influence. 
 
 There are passages, therefore, where the Holy Ghost 
 means, not God an agent; but the agency itself j or the 
 effects of that agency in men. And sometimes that agen- 
 cy, called Holy Ghost, is not an imparting of holiness to 
 the heart ; but an imparting of prophetical knowledge to 
 the understanding ; or miraculous gifts. And sometimes, 
 that powerful influence is itself personified ; and is still call- 
 ed Holy Ghost. It is then a Comforter or Guide : and 
 then of course has the properties of a person ascribed to 
 it; such as change of place, knowledge, bodily organs, 
 and mental powers. For this is the effect of the figure of 
 personification. So the stones cry out : and the moun- 
 tains clap their hands. 
 
 * Holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy 
 Ghost.' If in this passage, we understand by ' Holy Ghost,' 
 the mighty influence which disclosed to them future e- 
 
 vents : or, God himself imparting that influence ; we can- 
 
 W
 
 178 GOD is ONE; 
 
 not much err. In either case, The Holy Ghost is not the 
 Sanctifier, but the Revealer of his counsels. 
 
 ' The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of 
 the Highest shall overshadow thee.' Luke, i. 35. ' Holy 
 Ghost,' and * power of the Highest,' here illustrate the 
 same thing. * Holy Ghost' is the effective * power of the 
 Highest,' producing the miraculous conception. 
 
 The Holy Ghost is promised to the disciples ' to teach 
 them all things, and to bring all things to their remem- 
 brance, whatsoever Christ had said unto them.' John, xiv. 
 * The Spirit of truth shall guide them into all truth.' John, 
 xvi. ' The anointing which ye have received teacheth 
 you of all things.' I. John, ii. ' The Holy Ghost,' < The 
 Spirit of truth,' and ' The anointing,' in these three passa- 
 ges, are all the same. They are God's influence with its 
 eff&cts in men's understandings and hearts. 
 
 Sometimes The Holy Ghost is shed forth, shed on us 
 abundantly, poured out or down. In such passages, Holy 
 Ghost never means God ; but his power exerted, with its 
 effects : his influence as a producing cause, *with the ef- 
 fects produced. So he is said to pour out his indignation 
 ... .his wrath. . . .when his power is displayed in inflict- 
 ing miseries upon us. 
 
 When God sends desolation and wild beasts into Ba- 
 bylon, it is said, 'His Spirit hath gathered them.' 
 Isa. xxxiv. 16. * His Spirit' is here his providential 
 agency. 
 
 John the Baptist said, I baptize you .with water : but 
 he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire/ 
 Matt. iii. 11. Neither the water, the Ffoly Ghost, nor 
 the fire were God in any sense : but figures setting forth 
 the purifying influences of Christ, and the holy and mira- 
 culous effects of his gospel and reign.
 
 AND NOT THREE. 179 
 
 When Jesus was baptized, and ' went up out of the wa- 
 ter, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw 
 the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon 
 him.V-Math. iii. 16. Here was a miraculous effect of 
 divine power, and it was visible ; and is called ' The Spirit 
 of God.' 
 
 Holy Ghost in some passages, means the power of 
 working miracles ; or the miracles which are wrought ; 
 or the power of God exerted in their production : and 
 sometimes in a comprehensive manner, the words em- 
 brace them all ; as on the day of pentecost. 
 
 At an interview with the disciples after his resurrec- 
 tion, Jesus said, ' Behold I send the promise of my Father 
 upon you : but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye 
 be endued with power from on high.' Luke, xxviii. 49. 
 By what appears when this was fulfilled ; ' The promise 
 of the Father,' and * the power from on high,' was the 
 power of working miracles, imparted by the exalted Son, 
 as he received it from the Father. And this is called the, 
 Holy Ghost : with which they were baptized. 
 
 Luke mentions the subject again in Acts, i. 4. ' And 
 being assembled with them, he commanded that they 
 should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the prom- 
 ise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 
 For John truly baptized with water : but ye shall be bap- 
 tized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence.' 
 
 Accordingly on the day of pentecost, ' They were all 
 with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came 
 a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind : and 
 it 'filled the place where they were sitting.' ' And there 
 appeared unto then* cloven tongues, like as of fire : and it 
 (the miraculous fire) sat upon each of them. And they 
 were filled with the Holy Ghost (an inspiring influence ,)
 
 180 GOD is 
 
 and they began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit 
 (supernatural power producing miraculous acquaintance 
 with languages) gave them utterance.' Which Peter 
 immediately explains. ' Therefore Jesus being by the 
 right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Fa- 
 ther, the promise of the Holy Ghost ; he hath shed forth 
 this which ye now see and hear.' 
 
 Here obviously The Father is the invisible God. Christ 
 1 shed forth' that which he ' had received of the Father,' 
 and which the Father had l promised him.' And that 
 which he ' shed forth' was the * Holy Ghost,' ' which, 
 saith Peter, ye how see and hear? He did not shed forth 
 any third person upon them, whom they ' saw and heard*' 
 
 He rendered the scene awakening to the multitude by the 
 supernatural wonders which he displayed ; by the rushing 
 wind, and the sound from heaven : by fiery cloven tongues 
 on the heads of the apostles : by the zeal and energy of 
 the speakers, uttering what was divinely imparted to them 
 in languages they had never learned ; by signs and won- 
 ders which were done by the apostles : by wonders in 
 heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath : by the 
 darkened sun : by blood and fire and vapor of smoke pass- 
 ing before the beholders : by prophetic dreams and vis- 
 ions. All things inspiring solemnity, * fear came upon 
 every soul.' 
 
 ' And Peter standing up with the eleven, lifted up his 
 voice and said ; This is that which was spoken by the 
 prophet Joel. Ye men of Israel, hear these words ; Je- 
 sus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, as 
 ye yourselves also know ; him being delivered by the de- 
 terminate counsel and foreknowledge o/*God, ye have ta- 
 ken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain : whom 
 God hath raised up. For David speaketh concerning
 
 AND NOT THREE. 181 
 
 him, Thou wilt not leave my SOUL in hades ; neither wilt 
 thou suffer thine holy one (as to his. flesh) to see putre- 
 faction. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all 
 are witnesses. For David saith, * The LORD said unto 
 my Lord, (David's Adonai,) Sit thou on my right hand, 
 until I make thy foes thy footstool.' 
 
 The inference from the whole is that which I have con- 
 stantly maintained. * Therefore let all the house of Israel 
 know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus 
 whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ.' Acts, ii. 36. 
 
 There were at this time distant disciples, * sanctified by 
 God the Father ;' who well knew that God is a Ghost ; 
 and that God is Holy ; and that he is the author of holi- 
 ness in all saints : who nevertheless had not yet heard of 
 that Holy Ghost which was shed forth at Jerusalem ; and 
 which they of the city ' saw and heard. Paul at Ephesus 
 found about twelve such disciples. These twelve were 
 apprised of Paul's meaning, when he asked them, ' Have 
 ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed ? And they 
 said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there 
 be any Holy Ghost ;' i. e. any such Holy Ghost as you speak 
 of: any such effusion of miraculous*gifts, sent down by 
 Christ, since he went up. 
 
 Paul informed them ; and baptized them ' in the name 
 of the Lord Jesus :' that is in the name of The Son. This 
 was sufficient. * He then laid his hands on them ; and 
 The Holy Ghost' (of which they had not before heard) 
 came upon them; and they spake with TONGUES, and 
 PROPHESIED.' Acts, xix. They, too, shared in the 
 miraculous influence and its miraculous effects, viz : 
 * Tongues,' and Prophecy :' called The Holy Ghost of 
 which they had not before heard. Such miraculous pow- 
 ers were plentifully * shed forth' by ' the Son of man stand-
 
 182 GOD IS ONE ; 
 
 ing on the right hand of God,' (Acts, vii. 56,) for the es- 
 tablishment of men's faith in the resurrection of him whom 
 
 * Gcd haJ made bjth Lord and Christ.' And these mira- 
 culous gifts and wonders shed forth, are called the Holy 
 Ghost shed forth : which Holy Ghost, Peter says, they 
 
 * saw and heard.' 
 
 Much the same meaning is to be attached to the words 
 Holy Ghost, in the passages which speak of the blasphe- 
 my, not to be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in the 
 world to come. The denunciation of damnation without 
 hope, was uttered against those who ascribed the miracles 
 of Jesus to Beel-zebub, the master of flies. Matt. xii. 24. 
 This unpardonable sin was committed by those who saw 
 the Holy Ghost, i. e. the miraculous wonders which dem- 
 onstrated the divine mission of the Son : they verbally as- 
 cribing the miracles to the Prince of demons. 
 
 Other bold blasphemers, however, have cause of t fearful 
 alarm, when they set their mouths against the Omnipo- 
 tent. 
 
 In my judgment, due honors are not rendered to the 
 Holy Ghost, as the words Holy Ghost are used in sundry 
 passages, unless we believe and acknowledge that he is 
 * God ; employed in his most benevolent and wonderful 
 work, that of restoring holiness to the soul of man ; in his 
 most glorious character, that of the Sanctifier :' And we 
 degrade him in our thoughts and language, when we 
 speak of him as a third person , sent down j or poured 
 forth ; or proceeding from the Father and the Son ; or 
 acting subordinately to other persons ; or waiving his su- 
 premacy; or accepting an office.
 
 AND JS'OT THREE. 183 
 
 He is The LORD God Almighty r has no equals ; no 
 peers ; no counsellors about his throne. He is One. In 
 his own right and majesty, and of his own will, and accor- 
 ding to his own independent purpose ; he rules the im- 
 mensity of intelligent beings. He hath mercy on whom he 
 will have mercy : converts them by his peerless influ- 
 ence : draws them to his Christ ; and makes them trophies 
 of his victorious grace. 
 
 This Holy Ghost is not to be approached by sinners, 
 however penitent ; regardless of the 'One Mediator, the 
 Man Christ Jesus.' 
 
 On the other hand, This Holy Ghost doth not even by a 
 Mediator return to sinners, and regenerate, and forgive 
 them ; by lowering his own rights and majesty : nor by 
 putting off the character of uncontrollable sovereign : nor 
 by accepting an inferior station : nor by being sent by oth- 
 er persons to perform ministerial work. Nor does he re- 
 sign his rank as first person, and take that of third : nor 
 admit any other person as his equal in power and glory. 
 Nor can he receive an office or gift or reward from anoth- 
 er. Such a gospel is another gospel. And should I, or 
 an angel from heaven, preach it (knowingly ;) there is 
 fearful reason to judge, from what Paul has said, that we 
 should be accursed. 
 
 Such theology is derogatory to * The Holy One :' be- 
 wilders our souls when we contemplate the * One Media- 
 tor between God and men, the man Christ Jesus :' and 
 dishonors The Holy Ghost the Sanctifier, making him an 
 office holder proceeding from The Father and The Son : 
 representing him as sent ; subordinate : performing * of- 
 fice work.' There is no end to the difficulties hanging 
 about the mystery, dark as Egypt, of three equal persons 
 in one substratum.
 
 COD is ONE; 
 
 Those who make little or nothing of the Humanity of 
 Christ, suppose that his Divinity was economically, though 
 not really, inferior to the Divinity of the Father : that the 
 Divinity of the Son was economically servant, messenger, 
 subordinate to the Divinity of the Father: that the Divin- 
 ity of the Father economically exalted the Divinity of the 
 Son: that the Divinity of the Father, was Father to the 
 Divinity of the Son : and that the Divinity of the Son, was 
 Son to the Divinity of the Father. This, I suppose, with one 
 more Div inity, that of the Holy Ghost, economically procee- 
 ding from the Divinity of the Father, and the Divinity of the 
 Son, is called The Holy and Indivisible Trinity.' It 
 seems to me to make Three Persons : Three Gods with 
 a little disguise. I cannot understand it, otherwise than 
 as ' The Unknown Darkness.' 
 
 Dr. Dvvight says, ' On all hands it is agreed, that the 
 Holy Ghost is acknowledged by trinitarians, to be a Divine 
 Person ; but by Unitarians, only a Divine Attribute, usual- 
 ly the Power of God.' p. 3. 
 
 If trinitarians do think that Holy Ghost, in all passages, 
 means a Person ; and Unitarians only an Attribute, or 
 Power ; they are on both sides totally mistaken. But it 
 is questionable whether any one trinitarian or Unitarian, 
 who has much studied the bible, will deliberately say that 
 Holy Ghost, in all passages, means either a Person or an 
 Attribute : or deny that in some passages, Holy Ghost 
 means the one ; and in others, the other. From over- 
 looking this, Dr. Dwight has employed many paragraphs 
 to little purpose. 
 
 There can be no difficulty, unless it be artificially crea- 
 ted, in knowing that the words ' Holy Ghost, in sundry 
 passages, intend the self-same Person as God Supreme. 
 Isa. vi. 8 ' I heard the voice of Jehovah, saying, G o ,
 
 AND JfOT THREE. 185 
 
 tell this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not.' Acts, 
 xxviii. 25 ' Well spake The Holy Ghost by Isaiah the 
 prophet, saying, Go, tell this people, hearing ye shall hear, 
 and not understand.' That must be a crafty contrivance 
 which can create a doubt, whether ' Jehovah' and ' Holy 
 Ghost', in these two passages, intend one and the self-same 
 Person. And just as artificial must be the darkness which 
 can create a doubt, whether this Person be identical with 
 the Divinity of Christ. John, xii. 39 ' Therefore, they 
 could not believe ; because Isaiah said, He hath blinded 
 their eyes, and hardened their heart ; that they should 
 not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart. 
 These things said Isaiah, when he saw his (Christ's) glory 
 and spake of him.' 
 
 The Divinity of Christ was, therefore, the * Jehovah,' 
 and the ' Holy Ghost,' of whom Isaiah spake : the self- 
 same person : so clearly the same, as absolutely to exclude 
 first, second, and third from the whole account.

 
 c #t ^ 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 [A.] 
 
 It is maintained by Dr. Watts, and by those who believe 
 with him ; and is the doctrine I advocate : that the God- 
 head of Christ, is the very same as the Godhead of the 
 Father. The Divinity of Christ is the Jehovah of the old 
 testament ; or, * I am that I am :' in sundry passages de- 
 nominated the Holy Ghost. 
 
 _ 
 
 The Greek word ngogx&vsw, to worship, signifies to kiss, 
 adore, or venerate. It is derived from KUWV a dog, and 
 up>s unto : to be a dog unto one. It denotes homage to a su- 
 perior. This homage is qualified by the object to whom it 
 is addressed. It is used in scripture to express customary 
 respect to great men ; to prophets, rulers, and learned doc- 
 tors. Our translators have sometimes in the old testament, 
 said, ' did obeisance,', and 'bowed himself:' but in the new 
 testament, they have uniformly said, ' worshipped.' When 
 the Supreme God is the object, the worship is supreme. 
 
 Our word adore, is, ad os manum admovere : to move 
 the hand to the mouth. Men confined to the earth, re- 
 garded the heavenly luminaries as Divinities. In adoring 
 them, they could not get near them. To remedy, as well 

 
 188 APPENDIX, 
 
 as they could, the inconvenience of their distance ; they 
 would kiss their hands, and stretch them up toward their 
 Gods, to testify their respect for them ; and that they would 
 come to them, if they could. Job did not adore these Divin- 
 ities. If, says he, I beheld the sun when it shined, or the 
 moon walking in brightness, and my mouth hath kissed my 
 hands ; I should have denied the God that is above.' Job, 
 xxxi. 26. 
 
 Paul directs that * men pray every where, lifting up holy 
 hands :' to ' One God and One Mediator.' I. Tim. ii. 5, 8. 
 
 [C-] .(,;; ; 
 
 Professor Stewart's views of the Sonship of Christ, cor- 
 respond in the main with those I deem scriptural. He 
 says, ' Jesus had called God his Father. And the Jews 
 seemed to suppose in a peculiar sense. But it did not fol- 
 low that he meant to assert his divine nature. Rather the 
 contrary appears. ' Say ye of him whom the Father hath 
 sanctified and sent into the world ?' If your ma- 
 gistrates are called Elohim, (Gods,) is it presumption in 
 me to call myself The Son of God ? This leaves the ques- 
 tion of his Divinity unagitated : but vindicates the language 
 he had used, against the malevolence of the Jews.' ' The 
 termTSon of God does not appropriately designate Christ 
 as Divine : but as the incarnate mediator ; as him whom 
 the ' Father had sanctified and sent into the world.' Did 
 the Father sanctify and send into the world, his Son as 
 God, who is infinitely perfect and immutable ?' 
 
 The Professor means that the Father did not sanctify 
 his Son as God Supreme ; nor send him into the world as 
 God Supreme. He has no Son who is God Supreme. 
 ' God Supreme is infinitely perfect and immutable -/and not 
 Son to any one.
 
 APPENDIX. 1 89 
 
 3 
 
 The Professor continues. ' As Mediator as Messiah, 
 Christ was sent : as Son, he filled and acted in a subordi- 
 nate capacity. How then can his being Son, prove him to 
 be Divine V ;./ 
 
 True indeed. As Divinity ; as Jehovah ; * infinitely per- 
 fect and immutable ;' he could be neither ' Son,' nor ' sent,' 
 nor act * in a subordinate capacity.' If we ascribe these 
 inferior characters, or offices, or missions, to Supreme Di- 
 vinity ; or to any second or third persons who are suppos- 
 ed to be Divinity ; we treat The Great Supreme with un- 
 authorized irreverence. Supreme Divitiity is Son to no 
 God ; is anointed to office by no God. He maintains his 
 royal state ; his peerless majesty. 
 
 Further from the Professor. * Commonly and appro- 
 priately, Son of God designates the incarnate Messiah, as 
 born in a manner supernatural (Luke i. 35. comp. iii. 
 38 ;) as the special object of divine love (Matt. xvii. 5. 
 Col. i. 13. John, iii. 35 ;) and as exhibiting the best and 
 highest resemblance of the Father (Col. i. 15. Heb. i. 3. 
 John, i. 14. and x. 38. and xiv. 10.) Would theologians 
 keep these ideas in view, I cannot help thinking they might 
 be able to understand each other better ; and to reason 
 more conclusively.' 
 
 I think so too. There would be a new era in religious 
 instruction. Ideas, as well as words, would be presented 
 to the people from sabbath to sabbath. 
 
 ' But, continues the Professor, as the view here giv- 
 en, of the appropriate signification of the phrase Son 
 of God, differs from that of most of the ancient fathers, 
 who maintained the doctrine of eternal generation, and 
 from that of many modern theologians, who have trod- 
 den in their steps ; I must dwell a moment longer on the 
 subject.'
 
 1 90 APPENDIX. 
 
 * The appellation Son of God, was, no doubt, derived 
 by the Jews, from Ps. ii. and II. Sam. vii. 14. In using 
 the appellation, I am inclined to think, they had reference 
 principally to the regal office and the splendor of their 
 expected Messiah.' . 
 
 ' In support of filiation, as to the Divinity of Christ ; 
 Hebrews 1st chapter is urged,' (meaning, I suppose, by 
 common trinitarians,) ' where the apostle contends for the 
 superiority of Christ over angels ; because ' he has by in- 
 heritance obtained a more excellent name than they,' i. e. 
 he is a Son. But does not this argument prove the reverse 
 of what it was intended to prove ? The divine nature is 
 self-existent and eternal. Could Christ, then, as divine, 
 obtain a name by inheritance 1 Could he become a Son, if 
 as Son he is divine V 
 
 I suppose not. In his created nature, he is Son both 
 to God and man. As God, he is Son neither to God cr 
 man. 
 
 ' The passage in II. Sam. vii. 14, presents the same dif- 
 ficulty. ' I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me 
 a Son.' How can eternal filiation be supported by this ? 
 Could there be a promise of being to him a Father, if he 
 had already been a Son from everlasting ?' 
 
 * Psalm ii. 7, so often used to prove the doctrine of eter- 
 nal generation, seems to me very injudiciously chosen for 
 this purpose. * Thou art my Son : this day have I be- 
 gotten thee.' This Psalm predicts the exaltation and the 
 glory of the Messiah : and Peter says, this had its accom- 
 plishment, when Christ was raised from the dead, by the 
 power of the Father Acts xiii. How can this day mean 
 from eternity ?' 
 
 ' Besides ; in I. Cor. xv. 28, it is affirmed that when all 
 the enemies of the church shall be. subdued, ' The Son
 
 APPENDIX. 191 
 
 himself shall be subject to the Father, that God may be 
 all in all.' As the eternal, self-existent God, can this be 
 said of him ? Most certainly not.' I add, Most certainly 
 not. If hereditary prejudice were not stronger than bible 
 authority, every man would say, Most certainly not. 
 
 ' In other cases, where Son of God designates a divine 
 nature, it does this only because it has come by usage to be 
 a proper name ; like the terms Christ or Messiah which 
 may designate either the human or divine nature of Christ, 
 or both of them.' 
 
 ' By usage.' Not, I am sure, by scripture ' usage* in any 
 one instance. Father and Son are correlates : stand in 
 opposite relation to each other. The bible never con- 
 founds them.* 
 
 * This simple view of the subject, it seems to me, might 
 disembarrass some theological discussions of many para- 
 graphs, which are now very obscure ; and, at least to me, 
 unprofitable, as well as unintelligible. The ancient fathers 
 involved themselves in more than a Cretan labyrinth, by 
 undertaking to defend the eternal generation of the Son. 
 If any one wishes to see how easy it is to accumulate 
 words without meaning ; and perplex common minds 
 with representations, which afford no instruction; let 
 
 * Should;! so depart from ' the appropriate meaning of Son,' as to say, ' Si- 
 mon Son of Jonas :' and by my ' usage,' mean by Son, sometimes Simon, and 
 sometimes Jonas, and sometimes both of them : I question whether men would 
 understand me. I doubt whether ' Son' ever has ' come by usage to be a pro- 
 per name :' any more than daughter. It would be more incongruous than 
 ' Praise-God Barebone,' ' Kill-Sin Pimple,' ' Fight-the-good-fight-of-Faith 
 White ;' or others of an English jury in the time of c the Commonwealth.' 
 [Hume's Hist.] Whereas Smith, Carpenter, Dyer, and Saddler, are ' by usage,' 
 familiar to us, as proper names. Yet those who have these names, derived 
 them down from ancestors who were of these respective trades. So Messiah 
 and Christ, from names of office, become by usage, proper names. Son, or 
 daughter are not proper names.
 
 192 
 
 him plunge into the abyss of the speculations of the fathers 
 on this subject.' 
 
 The foregoing extracts from Professor Stewart, are in 
 his Letters, third edition, pp. 129, 130, 131, 133. He saw 
 how * common minds are perplexed by wards without mean- 
 ing .-' by ' representations which afford no instruction :' by 
 an eternal generation of the Son in the essence of the God- 
 head, which is ' obscure,' ' unprofitable,' ' unintelligible :' 
 and I may add, unreal, unscriptural, and fabulous* The 
 question, therefore, whether ' Son of God,' be the Divinity 
 or Humanity of Christ, is momentous. It places us on 
 the dividing line between 'a Cretan labyrinth;' and a 
 scriptural platform. 
 
 Watts also says, * The Sonship of Christ does not belong 
 to the divine nature ; but to his human nature, considered 
 in its original derivation from God ; and in its being ap- 
 pointed to the sacred office of Messiah. Then have we 
 an obvious interpretation of those scriptures which have 
 given so much pains to our divines, viz : John, v. 19 
 * The Son can do nothing of himself.' Mark, xiii. 32 ' Of 
 that day, knoweth not the Son, but the Father.' Heb. v. 
 8 ' Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by 
 the things which he suffered.' Now this Sonship refers 
 to verse 5 * Thou art my Son : to-day have I begotten 
 thee.' 
 
 If these passages do not show that the Son spoke literal 
 truth, when he said, ' The Father is greater than I ;' the 
 bible is incapable of an honest defence. But if The Son is 
 the Humanity of Christ j all the passages wherein the 
 Son is represented as invested with sublime powers by 
 God, or bearing characters inferior to God ; have an easy 
 explanation. They are applicable to The Son as distin- 
 guished from the Unchangeable God; though existing
 
 APPENDIX. 1 93 
 
 and acting in conjunction with him. And some of the pas- 
 sages discover him as Son in his existence before his in- 
 carnation ; some, in his incarnate state ; and some, in the 
 state in which he is now { glorified with the glory which 
 he had with the Father before the world was.' Vid. Watts, 
 vol. 6, p. 615. 
 
 ' Is God ever called Father, in scripture, as giving ori- 
 gin or birth to the Divinity of Christ ?' Not once. * Is 
 the Son, or the Word, or the Spirit, or any Person as Di- 
 vinity, represented as derived from God The Father!' 
 Not once, 
 
 * The title Son of God hath been supposed to be given 
 to Christ on account of an eternal generation of the Son, in 
 the divine essence, consubstantial, co-eternal, and co-equal 
 with The Father. But I am persuaded it can never be ne- 
 cessary to salvation to believe Christ to~be the Eternal Son 
 of God, as a distinct person in the divine nature. This is 
 inconceivable. Nor is this consubstantial Sonship clearly 
 enough revealed in scripture, to make it a fundamental ar- 
 ticle j and damn all who do not receive it. And I will ne- 
 ver pronounce an anathema upon them.' Watts, p. 395. 
 
 ' We know from scripture, that The Son hath a nature 
 inferior to Godhead.' Ibid. p. 377* 
 
 1 Son of God,' in scripture, most generally (not always) 
 denotes that eminent, that peculiar person, derived from 
 God , who was the Messiah, Mediator, and Savior. And 
 1 Son of Man,' generally (not always) denotes that emi- 
 nent, that peculiar Son, who was * the seed of the woman :' 
 the same Messiah, Mediator, and Savior. 
 
 It is a great truth that the object of the Christian's love, 
 and trust, and worship, hath two distinct natures. He is 
 true God ; and true Man. But when Christ calls himself 
 
 * The Son of God,' and * Son of Man ;' an eternal Sonship 
 
 Y
 
 194 APPENDIX. 
 
 in God's essence, (a fable,) or even his Divinity, (a truth,) 
 is more than Christ ever designed by these words. 
 
 ' 
 
 [D.] 
 
 In I. John, v. we read : ver. 1 ' Whosoever believeth 
 that Jesus is The Christ, is born of God :' ver. 5 ' "Who 
 is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that 
 Jesus is The Son of God r ver. 6, 7, 8 ' This is he that 
 came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ : not by water 
 only, but by water and blood: and it is the spirit that bear- 
 eth witness, because the spirit is truth. For there are three 
 
 f Viat V*nr rf>nrrr1 f in heaven, The Father, The Word, and TheHoly Ghost : and these -| *V|> 
 Uid.1 UCttl 1CCUIU, L three are one. And there are three that bear record in earth, J lllt; 
 
 spirit, and the water > and the blood : and these three agree 
 in one.' 
 
 The words in brackets are supposed to be an interpola- 
 tion ; foisted into the sacred text, by some trinitarians, 
 who boldly added to the word of God, what they thought 
 a useful improvement : probably after the Arian contro- 
 versy. For during that controversy, (fourth century,) 
 though the bible was ransacked for passages against Arius ; 
 and texts brought against him which were totally irrele- 
 vant ; this passage was not used. I however stay not to 
 give my reasons for regarding the words as no part of 
 God's inspired scriptures. I appeal to the most learned 
 divines in Europe and America, both trinitarians and uni- 
 tarians. 
 
 As Scott's Family Bible is accessible to all, I refer the 
 common reader to what he has written on the passage. 
 He manifestly wished to retain it, if honestly he could. 
 But he was too honest a man to pretend that it is entitled 
 to our confidence. 
 
 The words which do belong to the bible are these : 
 ' there are three that bear record, the spirit, and the water,
 
 APPENDIX. 1 9t5 
 
 and the blood : and these three agree in one ;' i. e. in one 
 testimony that Jesus is The Messiah, or The Christ ; The 
 Son of God. Without the interpolation, the thread of the 
 discourse is clear and unbroken. The spurious words in 
 the brackets, if thought genuine, decide nothing against 
 the doctrine I advocate : as others have sufficiently shown. 
 
 [E.] 
 
 Dr. Brownlee, in his Letters, (Roman Catholic Contro- 
 versy,) says, ' All false religions lodge power with the 
 priests, to rule over and dictate to the conscience.' 
 
 ' God is exclusively Lord of conscience. He will not 
 share his throne with any miserable and arrogant tyrant. 
 The catholic church permits no right of private judgment. 
 The priests wield a system which converts man into a me- 
 chanical engine ; in order that he may think, and dispose 
 of his soul and body and property, just as the holy priests 
 prescribe.' 
 
 ' Will any man put his conscience in the keeping of pope 
 or priest 1 God alone can prescribe our Creed, and Form 
 of Worship. If the proudest pope that ever set foot on 
 the neck of king or emperor should rise up and dictate 
 these ; he would be that man of sin, sitting in the temple 
 of God, doing God's work by a shocking usurpation. Be 
 he pope, priest, or protestant who would do this, he usurps 
 the throne of God : he sits in the temple of God, showing 
 that he is God. If this be not blasphemous daring, I know 
 not what is.' 
 
 1 The human mind ventures to propose a bedlam for the 
 man who would enact the scenes of former days ; pass 
 gag-laws against freedom of speech and the press ; forge 
 chains for conscience ; and prevent the progress of glori- 
 ous liberty. This is Protestantism.'
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ' The spirit of true religion is the unsubduable spirit of 
 Liberty. Wherever the worship of The Holy One has 
 been established by the gospel, liberty has reigned. And 
 just in proportion as the gospel is left unshackled by the 
 traditions, and interested schemes of men ; has liberty had 
 her splendid triumphs.' 
 
 ' Pagan and Roman religion, and those which are only 
 half-reformed, have ever permitted Lords temporal and 
 spiritual to tyrannize over the church : to make a mere 
 tool of her : until they have made her a hacknied vile 
 thing; and lothsomely impure. They have converted 
 her into the Mother of harlots, and abominations of the 
 earth.' 
 
 The man who would hold the balance even between the 
 catholic and protestant, must say : * As in water face an- 
 swers to face ; so the heart of man to man :' of catholic to 
 protestant. Whether protestants, either in theory or 
 practice, respected ' the rights of private judgment,' any 
 more than catholics, during the early ages of their Protest : 
 Neal's History of the Puritans may render problematical. 
 In the times reviewed by him, whoever acquired the pow- 
 er, swayed it to their own emolument ; regardless of the 
 tears and sufferings of all others. And so it has been, 
 with rare exceptions, ever since. 
 
 Yet there were Protestant Dissenters in those early 
 days, who maintained ' the natural right which every man 
 has to judge for himself, and profess that religion he ap- 
 prehends most agreeable to truth ; without being deter- 
 mined by the prejudices of education, the laws of the ma- 
 gistrate, or the decrees of synods. This principle effectu- 
 ally puts an end to all impositions. And unless it be al- 
 lowed, I am afraid our separation from the church of Rome 
 can hardly be justified. The Bible, and that only, is the
 
 APPENDIX. 197 
 
 religion of protestants. And every one making use of the 
 helps that God has put into his hands, must learn and 
 understand it for himself as well as he can.' Neal. 
 
 This being admitted as the present protestant profession, 
 gives the protestant a distinguished pre-eminence above 
 the catholic. And whenever the protestant departs from 
 it, and the catholic practices it ; the catholic in practice 
 has a similar pre-eminence. And that this is possible, we 
 have only to remember that knowledge may be amply dif- 
 fused in a branch of the catholic church ; while ignorance 
 prevails in a branch of the protestant church. In that 
 case, the protestant may be duped ; and the catholic free. 
 Knowledge is power. And in proportion as knowledge 
 is diffused among the lower classes ; in that proportion they 
 are able to right themselves : and whether catholic or 
 protestant, they will defend themselves. 
 
 In view of human depravity, just as history and the bible 
 describe it ; we will not take our doctrines, or ruletf of 
 discipline, or forms of worship, from the Pope, any more 
 than from Black Hawk ; or from ancient councils ; or 
 from present assemblies of legislative ecclesiastics : but 
 from the Bible. At the same time, we remember that we 
 are sharers in that depravity. We will therefore let down 
 the hand of persecution ; and allow him who differs from 
 us, to stand or fall before his own Master. 
 
 We invite every man to enlighten our understanding : 
 but allow no man's right to control it. We would pre- 
 sent light and truth to the understanding of our fellow 
 servants, as far as we can : but would control no man's 
 understanding or conscience. The LORD is Judge.
 
 198 APPENDIX. 
 
 . * 
 
 [F.-p.23.] 
 LOGOS, THE WORD. 
 
 Logos, as used in the bible, sometimes (not always) de- 
 notes a personal agent : a being who re veals God's wisdom : 
 and by whom God accomplishes the things his wisdom has 
 designed, It then intends the Son of God. It is the hu- 
 manity of Christ ; and never his Divinity. 
 
 If there is a single exception to this, it is John, i. 1 . 
 And the adjuncts are averse to the supposition even here. 
 ' The Logos was made flesh, and dwelt among us, frill of 
 grace and truth. And we beheld his glory, the glory as 
 of the only begotten of the Father.' John, i. 14. If he 
 was the only begotten of the Father ; then he was not the 
 Father who begat him. And if he dwelt among us, and 
 we saw him j then he was not the invisible God. 
 
 ' No man hath seen God at any time. The only begot- 
 ten Son who was (i uv, imp. tense) in the bosom of the 
 Father, he hath declared him.' ver. 18. Hence the Lo- 
 gos, called the only begotten Son, was not the Father : but 
 was in the Father's bosom. He was not the Father : but 
 declared or revealed him. The Logos or Son was visi- 
 ble, God Supreme is invisible. This same John who 
 says, ' No man hath seen God at any time,' speaking of the 
 Logos * which was in the beginning,' says ; * which we 
 have seen with our eyes ; which we have looked upon ; 
 and our hands have handled.' I. John, i. 1,2. Hence 
 with certainty, the Logos, if called God, is not the God 
 who is invisible. He is the Man Jesus, who is visible. 
 
 And this is further manifest from John, i. 1. where he 
 is called God. For there are adjuncts which forbid the 
 supposition that Logos was Supreme Divinity ; and no ad- 
 juncts which require it. ' The Logos was with God.' If 
 the Logos was the invisible God, what God was he with?
 
 APPENDIX. 19f> 
 
 And what can John mean when he says, ' We have seen 
 him with our eyes? and have looked upon him? am,l our 
 hands have handled him ?' And he ' was the only beurot- 
 
 / o 
 
 ten Son ?' and ' was in the bosom of the Father V 
 
 With such adjuncts, must we say, the Logos is God 
 ' whom no man hath seen at any time ?' The Logos had 
 a different opinion of himself. For he told the high priest 
 that hereafter, he should see him coming in the clouds. 
 Yea, he knew that the priest and Pilate and his enemies 
 saw him then ; and handled him, and buffeted him, and 
 spit Upon him j and were about to crucify him., 
 
 God Supreme is unbegotten, and invisible, and untangi- 
 ble. John informs us that the Logos was begotten, and 
 visible, and tangible : and that ' The Logos was with God : 
 and The Logos w r as God.' 
 
 Here is a difficulty. Professor Stewart comes directly 
 up to the passage, and attempts a solution. Others com- 
 monly talk round about it, till meaning is lost in empty 
 words. 
 
 The Professor says, * The Logos was with God : i. e. 
 with God the Father. This is capable of no tolerable in- 
 terpretation, without supposing that The Logos who was 
 with God, was in some respect or other, different or di- 
 verse from the God with whom he was : and therefore by 
 no means to be confounded with him.' I, too, cannot 
 think the Logos was the God with whom he was. To say 
 God was with himself, is too trifling. 
 
 Logos does indeed sometimes mean the wisdom, and 
 the power of God. But to say, God's wisdom, or his pow- 
 er, is with God; though less trifling than to say, God is- 
 with himself; seems not satisfactory. For as the Profes- 
 sor says, ' If a man should gravely assert that the wisdom 
 or power of Peter is with Peter : and add, the wisdom
 
 200 
 
 and power of Peter are Peter : with what class of mystics 
 should we rank him ?' Clearly then, to say Peter is with 
 Peter, and Peter is Peter, would be frivolous. 
 
 The supposition of two equal persons in God, will not 
 touch the difficulty. For the passage says nothing more 
 of two persons in God, than of two rivers, or two 
 mountains in him. Had it mentioned such persons, diffi- 
 culties would have thickened around us. If nny plurality 
 is expressed in the passage, it is plurality of Gods : not of 
 persons. ' The Logos was with God ; and the Logos was 
 God.' Not The Logos was one person : and The Logos 
 was with another person, in one essence. 
 
 If other passages teach that there are several infinite 
 persons in one essence ; it would seem as trifling to say 
 they were with one another, as to say, the wisdom and 
 pow r er of God are with God. Where else could they be ? 
 
 * What, says the Professor, could be the object of John 
 in asserting that the Logos was with God ? I answer : to 
 be with one, indicates conjunction, communion, familiari- 
 ty, society. The only begotten Son is said to be in the 
 bosom of the Father ;' which is a phrase of similar import. 
 Christians are promised, as the summit of their felicity, 
 that they shall be with God.' 
 
 This we heartily approve. For when Jesus foretold 
 that the disciples would leave him alone, he adds, ' And 
 yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.' John, 
 xvi. 32. 
 
 How then are we to understand, * The Logos was with 
 God, and the Logos was God V 
 
 The Professor's solution is this. ' God as Father is 
 meant in the first instance : and the Divinity without 
 reference to the distinction of Father in the second.' 
 p. 65.
 
 APPENDIX. 20 1 
 
 All I can make of this, is, God simply as God, was with 
 God as Father. I would think it a favor to accord with 
 the Professor. But on this point, I see not that I can. 
 Should another man say, Peter merely as Peter, was with 
 Peter the Apostle : it would seem flat and insipid. 
 
 I know but one solution which seems more likely to be 
 true than all others. It follows. 
 
 Seeing, That the Logos is here used as a personal agent : 
 
 That ' the Logos was in the beginning' (beginning of the 
 world, as Stewart has justly explained :) 
 
 That * the Logos was with God :' (meaning as Stewart says, 
 
 * conjunctissimus I)eo? most intimately connected with 
 God the Father :) 
 
 That the Logos is I* diverse from that God with whom he 
 was , and therefore by no means to be confounded with 
 him: (as Stewart says:) 
 
 That * the Logos was the only begotten of the Father :' 
 (as John sajfs :) 
 
 That 'the Logos was in the bosom of the Father:' (which 
 
 * indicates conjunction, communion, familiarity, society :' 
 as Stewart says t) 
 
 That ' the Logos tabernacled in flesh, and dwelt among 
 us:' 
 
 That 'the Logos declared (revealed) God the FatJer, 
 whom no man hath seen at any time :' 
 
 That the Logos was he ' whom we have seen with our 
 eyes ; whom we'have looked upon ; and our hands have 
 
 handled :' 
 
 Z
 
 202 APPENDIX 
 
 That John saw the Logos on the isle of Patmos : 
 
 That when the Jews malignantly accused him of blasphe- 
 my /or calling himself the Son of God, he defended him- 
 self by the plea that it would have been no blasphemy, 
 had he assumed the higher title God ; as * those were 
 called Gods whom Jehovah had sanctified and sent into 
 the world :' 
 
 That in his Humanity, ' he must in all things have the pre- 
 eminence' among those who are, in the scriptures, styled 
 
 Gods: 
 
 
 
 That * when God is said to descend from heaven, or to as- 
 cend thither, in the ancient scriptures ; this God is the 
 pre-existent soul of Christ in his union with God :' (as 
 Watts says :)* 
 
 That Christ's Divinity could not be ascertained from the 
 title God, unless the adjuncts show that the Supreme 
 God is intended : (as Stewart justly admits :) 
 
 That in John i. 1. the adjuncts show that the invisible, un- 
 tangible, unbegotten God cannot be intended : but 
 
 That the visible, tangible, begotten Son was intended : 
 
 Hence, the derived nature is the true Logos in both 
 the expressions ; ' The Logos was with God : and The Lo- 
 gos was God.' 
 
 * Illustration. When Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses, ' The LORD 
 came down in the pillar of the cloud ; and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and 
 salL With Moses will I speak, mouth to mouth, even apparently (visibly:) and 
 the similitude of the LORD shall he behold.' Numb. xii. Moses literally saw 
 ' the similitude ;' ' the image of the invisible God;' his first begotten Son; in a 
 body with his radiance, in the midst of the pillar of the cloud. He ' spake to 
 Moses mouth to mouth;' ' face to face as a man speaketh to his friend.' This 
 was ' the angel of God's presence.' He came dowh. He went up. He was 
 sent . He ' stood in the door of the tabernacle.' He walked in the camp of Israel. 
 And, says God Supreme, 'My NAME is in him:' and 'He shall go before thee.'
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 203 
 
 The Humanity * was with God :' ' conjunetissimus DeoJ 
 most intimately associated with God the Father : and he 
 was God ; in the inferior, but strictly scriptural sense. 
 For Moses and the seventy elders saw him on the mount : 
 and it is written, ' They saw the God of Israel.' And 
 Jacob wrestled with him : and it is written, ' He saw God 
 face to face.' 
 
 And this interpretation can neither contravene the first 
 command in the decalogue ; nor be offensive to reason ; 
 nor appear strange to those who recollect that God the 
 Father ' sanctified and' sent into the world' his Son Jesus, 
 whose history John was now* commencing : a personage 
 incomparably superior to others whom God had ' sanctifi- 
 ed and sent ;' and whom Jesus himself affirmed, were call- 
 ed Gods in the scriptures. 
 
 And as so superior a man as Stewart has attempted a 
 solution of this difficulty ; and has, as I think, failed : I beg 
 to be understood as expressing the above opinion with 
 great diffidence and humility. 
 
 If the opinion now expressed be correct ; then Logos, 
 used as a personal agent, is never a title of the invisible 
 God. And John i. 1, harmonizes with the ancient scrip- 
 tures to which Christ always appealed. The ' Logos was 
 in the beginning.' ' God created all things by Jesus Christ.' 
 He was ' sent into the world,' and w 7 as God according to 
 the scriptures ; and according to his own declaration to 
 the accusing Jews. He was pre-eminently entitled to the 
 appellation God, beyond all others who were ' sanctified, 
 and sent,' and denominated ' Gods.' And there was sin- 
 gular propriety in John's stating this, in the introductory 
 sentence of his gospel ; in which he was about to set forth 
 the incarnate Son who had come from * the bosom of his 
 Father.'
 
 204 APPENDIX. 
 
 Moreover, to say, The Logos was the God, with whom 
 he was : or, The Word of God, is the God whose Word he 
 is : or, The Son of God is the God, whose Son he is : or, 
 The Messenger sent, is the God who sent him : or that 
 He * who was in the bosom' of God was the God in whose 
 bosom he was : this is not the language of men : this is not 
 * the plain artless language of nature :' is analogous to no- 
 thing known to mortals : and has no meaning which any 
 mortal can understand. 
 
 * When Joshua was by Jerieho, he lifted up his eyes, 
 and behold there stood a man over against him with his 
 sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua said unto him, Art 
 thou for us or for our adversaries 1 And he said, nay, 
 but as Captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. 
 And Joshua fell on his face, and did worship, and said, 
 What saith my Lord 1 And the Captain of the Lord's 
 host said, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot : for the place 
 whereon thou standest is holy. And the LORD said, See, 
 I have given Jericho into thine hand.' Josh, v, vi. 
 
 Here the Man and the LORD speak and act together : 
 in a manner like a literal person. Joshua saw the Man j the 
 Humanity ; the Captain,' [' Prince' in the margin.] He 
 saw the Logos, the visible actor and speaker : and he wor- 
 sliipped, and said ' My Lord.' And had he said, My God, 
 or God ; it would have been like other bible language. 
 This will seem strange only to those who are unacquaint- 
 ed with the changes which a course of time produces in 
 the import of words. And yet, if we forget those changes, 
 we shall find in all ancient writings, paradoxes which defy 
 elucidation. 
 
 Dr. Campbell's translation of John x. 3336.' For a 
 good work, we do not stone thee , but for blasphemy : 
 because thou, being Man, makest thyself God. Jesus
 
 APPENDIX. 205 
 
 replied, Is it not written in your law, I said ye are 
 Gods? 1 
 
 4 If the law styled them Gods, to whom the word of God 
 was addressed, and if the language of scripture is unexcep- 
 tionable ; do you charge him with blasphemy, whom The 
 Father hath constituted his Apostle to the world, for call- 
 ing himself his Son 1* 
 
 Surely, if* scripture language is unexceptionable,' Logos 
 was Gud inferior to God Supreme. And Logos was with 
 God who is Supreme. But if Logos is God Supreme, he 
 is the only being who is so. And what God he was with 
 it would be hard to divine. 
 
 If the reader can bear it, he may make it a question, 
 whether the title God is not given to the Man Christ Jesus, 
 in the two following passages'? and whether the adjuncts 
 do not oblige him to think so? 
 
 Acts xx. 28. ' Feed the church of God* which he hath 
 purchased with His OWN BLOOD.' Heb. i. 8 'But unto 
 the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God,f is forever and ever. 
 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity. There- 
 fore God, even THY GOD hath anointed thee with the oil 
 of gladness above thy fellows.' 
 
 If this construction is fair, we are relieved from the diffi- 
 culty of supposing that one of the Infinite Three, shed his 
 blood ; and was afterwards made more ' glad' than ' his 
 fellows' the other two Infinite Persons. 
 
 Moreover, it cannot surprise those who know that of 
 old, the title God was not restricted as now to the One Su- 
 preme. The junction of * the Lamb that was slain' with 
 * God on the throne,' distinguishes him from every other 
 
 * This God has ' blood :' strictly ' his own blood.' 
 
 t This God has a ' God.' He is Son;' and has a Father and ' fellows.' He 
 was ' anointed' with exuberant ' gladness' by ' Jehovah his God.'
 
 20 G APPENDIX. 
 
 created being : and entitles him to the heavenly doxolo- 
 gies : and entitles him, in the language of scripture, to 
 the appellation God. 
 
 Compare two more passages. Isa. xlii. 8 I am Jeho- 
 vah. That is my name. And my glory I will not give 
 unto another ; (to a false God ;) neither my praise unto 
 graven images.' This does not mean that he will not give 
 unto the Man Jesus, any degrees of honor, glory, and ma- 
 jesty, which he please: and which redound to hisowti glo- 
 ry. To this ' Image of the invisible God,' l every knee 
 shall bow : and every tongue confess that he is Lord, to 
 the glory of God the Father.' 
 
 Micah, v. 2, 4 ' But thou Bethlehem of Ephratah, 
 though thou be little among the thousands of Judah : yet 
 out of thee shall he come that is to be Ruler in Israel : 
 [his Mother was Mary. See Matt, ii.] whose goings forth 
 have been from of old, from everlasting.' [Heb. from the 
 days of eternity. Here is his pre-existence.] Now see his 
 union with Divinity, his greatness, his majesty. And he 
 shall stand, and rule in the strength of Jehovah : in the 
 majesty of the name of Jehovah his God. For now shall 
 he be great unto the ends of the earth.' 
 
 Here we ' see the attributes of human nature in intimate 
 conjunction with those of the divine:' or the Logos ' con- 
 jiuictissimus Deo,' most intimately joined with God : as it 
 is expressed by Stewart. We see the Virgin's 'Son, 
 GREAT unto the ends of the earth :' ' ruling in the strength 
 of Jehovah : in the majesty of the name of Jehovah his 
 God. 
 
 This is he whom ' some have been so careful to separate 
 from the divine nature, that one is compelled to suppose 
 he had simply a higher degree of inspiration and commun- 
 ion with God than other prophets.' This is he of whom
 
 APPENDIX. 20? 
 
 it is boldly asked, * what creature would dare associate 
 himself with God in such an act of authority ; and thus 
 presume to ascend the throne of his Maker ?' Dr. D wight. 
 The prophet was not so careful to lower him. 
 
 Paul's inspiration was obviously by the same spirit as the 
 prophet's. He says, ' The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 the God of glory, by the exceeding greatness of his pow- 
 er, wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, 
 and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places ; 
 far a.bove all principality and power and might and domin- 
 ion and every name that is named ; not only in this world, 
 but also in that which is to come : and hath put all things 
 under his feet.' Eph. i. 
 
 How can we take part with redeemed sinners in their 
 heavenly doxologies ; if we degrade our Savior's Human- 
 ity, or his Divinity ? His Divinity was never raised from 
 tl\e dead. Nor did he shed his blood. Nor had he ' fel- 
 lows ;' or a Father, or Mother ; or a Superior whom he 
 called ' Jehovah, his God.' Yet he who did shed his blood j 
 whose Father was ' Jehovah his God ;' and who has ' fel- 
 lows ,' whom we * have seen with our eyes ;' who was 
 raised from the dead ;' who was with God ; who was 
 ' sanctified and sent into the world :' He is repeatedly 
 called God in the bible. He is The I!ogos. ' Nothing 
 but impiety can, so far as I can see, be contained in a di- 
 rection' to strip him of his ' authority,' his titles, and dox- 
 ologies : or to question his right * to ascend the throne of 
 his Maker,' and to ' rule in the strength of Jehovah his 
 God.'
 
 208 APPENDIX. 
 
 [F. p. 38.] 
 
 In all the bible, the adjective equal occurs but once, 
 where it can be pretended that there is any comparison be- 
 tween persons in the Godhead. And in that one passage, 
 there can be pretense of comparison only between two of 
 the persons. The word equal, in that one passage was 
 u'sed by the wicked Jews. It is John v. 18. Jesus having 
 said, ' Sly Father worketh, and I work ; the Jews sought 
 the more to kill him : because he had not only broken the 
 sabbath ; but said also that God was his Father : majdng 
 himself equal (igov) with God.' 
 
 I have heard preachers, in their sermons, mention this 
 charge as conclusive evidence that the Son is equal with 
 the Father. And it just as conclusively proves that the 
 Son was a sabbath breaker. 
 
 But Christ's answer implies that the charge was false : 
 which answer was this : * Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
 The Son can do nothing of himself.' God could do all 
 things of himself. 
 
 But had the charge been true j still the pretense that it 
 implies equality of persons in God, is groundless. The 
 Jews did not accuse him of making himself an equal person 
 with another person in One God: but of making himself 
 a God equal to ttfe Father the Supreme God : thus making 
 two Supreme Gods. They wanted * to kill him.' 
 
 If any man say that Christ as to his Divinity is equal to 
 the Father ; his language is not countenanced by any 
 thing in the bible. His language clearly imports (whatev- 
 er he may mean,) that there are two equal Supreme Gods. 
 
 Had Jesus Christ claimed to be the Supreme God, his 
 claim would have been well founded. For, as to his Divini- 
 ty, he is (not equal to, but) the Supreme God. This we 
 learn from other passages : not from this.
 
 APPENDIX. 209 
 
 And, as to his created nature or as Son ; he truly said, 
 1 My Father is greater than I.' 
 
 If any one choose to say ; The Man Christ Jesus is 
 equal to God the Father in power and glory : he contra- 
 dicts the testimony of Christ concerning himself. He also 
 adopts the absurd opinion, that a man, a begotten God, is 
 equal to his unbegotten Father. 
 
 If we choose to say, (the orthodox doctrine,) there is a 
 begotten Son in the essence of God, uncreated, eternal, 
 consubstantial, and co-equal with the Father : still, this is 
 not the Son who had a Mother : who was born of Mary : 
 who was seen of the Jews: and who said, * My Father is 
 greater than I ,' and ' I can of mine own self do nothing :* 
 and ' of that day, knoweth not the Son, but the Father.' 
 
 And if there are two Sons, both begotten ; the one, crea- 
 ted and finite j and the other, uncreated and infinite : the one 
 begotten in the substance of the Godhead, by the Father 
 the first person in the trinity, and having no Mother ; the 
 other begotten by the Holy Ghost the third person, in the 
 womb of the Virgin ; and consequently having a Mother : 
 and if these united, constitute the Divinity and Humanity 
 of Christ: I have as yet found no account of this in the bi- 
 ble. 
 
 And if we say, * The Third Person in the trinity is equal 
 to God The Father, and God The Son : this, as it seems 
 to me, is objectionable language. For I know not how 
 the adjective * equal' can be applied to them, without ma- 
 king Three Supreme Gods* But if it can; and it is true 
 that they are ' equal :' it cannot be pretended that the term 
 ' equal,' is once applied to them in the bible ; either by 
 God himself, or by any other speaker. 
 
 That there are sundry passages in the bible, in which, 
 
 God is called The Holy Ghost ; is perfectly clear. And 
 
 A 2
 
 210 APPENDIX. 
 
 this God is the Divinity of Christ. And in sundry passa- 
 ges, he repels the thought, that any other person is his 
 equal. 
 
 [G.] 
 
 THE COVENANT OF REDEMPTION, AS SET FORTH BY GOOD 
 
 MR. FLAVEL. 
 
 ' 1. Consider the persons transacting. These were God 
 the Father, and God the Son. 
 
 ' 2. Consider the business transacted between them : 
 the Redemption of all God's elect. 
 
 ' 3. Consider the quality of the transaction. It was by 
 mutual stipulation. 
 
 1 4. Consider the Articles to which they both agree. 
 God the Father promiseth to invest God the Son with a 
 three fold office : to make him a priest, a prophet, a king : 
 that he will assist and strengthen him : that he will crown 
 his work with success : and reward him with great exalta- 
 tion. God the Son stipulates that he will divest himself 
 of his glory, and not refuse any the hardest sufferings it 
 should please the Father to inflict upon him. 
 
 ' 5. These articles were by both parties performed pre- 
 cisely and punctually. 
 
 1 6. This compact between God the Father and God the 
 Son, bears date from ETERNITY.' 
 
 This is still orthodox. It is still set forth by common 
 preachers. The more intelligent preachers would them-- 
 selves think it might need qualifying. But they let it pass. 
 To explain, is not profitable, while dealing in mysteries. 
 
 A man who deals'in ideas as well as words, with the bi- 
 ble before him, can say, as Watts says : .' If we conceive 
 of i he human soul of Christ, in its pre-existent state, as
 
 APPENDIX. 211 
 
 * the first born of every creature* Col. i. 18 : as ' the be- 
 ginning of the creation of God' Rev. iii. 14: ' in the bo- 
 som of the Father' John i. 18: then, here are proper 
 subjects for this covenant, before the foundation of the 
 world. And a glorious covenant it was between God the 
 Father and his Son, respecting the salvation of ruined man. 
 The blessed soul of the Son was immediately united to 
 the Father: and the Father might part with it out of his 
 bosom: i. e. divest it of joys and. glory, with its own con- 
 sent, without a dissolution of the union. God might 
 prepare a body for it, and send it to dwell in flesh and blood. 
 The Father might subject the blessed soul of Christ incar- 
 nate to pains and anguish : and afterward give it a high 
 exaltation ; not only to the glory which he had with the Fa- 
 ther before the world was, but to surpassing joys in his glo- 
 rified body, as a reward of his sufferings. And scripture 
 teacheth this. Phil. ii. 9.' 
 
 ' And this Son accepted the terms of this covenant. 
 ' Lo, I come,' &,c. Ps. xl. ' He came forth from the Fa- 
 ther.' John xvi. 28. He laid aside ' the form of God ;' 
 ' the glory which he had with the Father before the world 
 was.' John, xvii. 5. And though ' he was rich, yet for 
 our sake he became poor ;' and took ' the form of a ser- 
 vant;' and ' made himself of no reputation.' II. Cor. 
 viii. 9.' 
 
 c And thus the Father and Son manifest their transcen- 
 dant love to poor rebel sinners in this early covenant. 
 And this is the foundation of all that was ever done for the 
 salvation of men. Everything coincides admirably with 
 the expressions of scripture on this subject. And we need 
 not strain the words of scripture. It is made so plain, 
 that he may run that readeth. And private Christians may 
 understand the early foundation of their hopes.' p. 453.
 
 212 APPENDIX. 
 
 Thus it was the Man, gloriously related to God : and 
 not the Eternal God the second person in the essence ; 
 which was ' born of a woman ;' came ' under the law,' and 
 was * made a curse for us' by hanging on a tree. Gal. iii. 
 and iv. It was the Man, raised from the dead, ' who is 
 gone into heaven ; and is on the right hand of God ; angels, 
 and authorities, and powers being made subject to him.' 
 I. Pet. iii. 22. 
 
 An uncreated but begotten Son, equal with the Father : 
 a Son who knew the day of judgment; and could of him- 
 self do all things ; and could learn no obedience by the 
 things which he suffered : God of God ; light of light ; ve- 
 ry God of very God, crucified under Pontius Pilate ; is 
 unknown to the bible. And as a mystery, it equals any 
 of the arcana of popery and paganism. 
 
 [H.] 
 
 When we speak of two distinct natures united in one 
 person, we use person, not literally, but analogically. Were 
 I asked, whether I can explain in what analogical sense 
 they are one person ? I would answer, certainly I can. 
 Otherwise, I too, am in the fault of using language which 
 means only Ab-ra-ca-da-bra 5 which I disapprove in oth- 
 ers. Professor Stewart indeed says, ' I admit that it is an 
 apparent inconsistency in the use of language : and I can- 
 not but wish it had not been originally adopted.' p. 55. 
 Still, I think, it is not like 4 three equal persons in God,* 
 which admits no explanation ; verbal personages which 
 mean nothing. 
 
 The Professor justly remarks, ' We see the attributes 
 of human nature in such intimate conjunction with those 
 of the divine, that we cannot separate the agents. We do 
 not know the manner in which the union is effected or
 
 APPENDIX. 213 
 
 continued. We therefore speak of one person ; i. e. one 
 agent.' This, in general terms, expresses the amount of 
 what we mean. 
 
 * One person in the sense in which each of us is one, 
 Christ could not be. God cannot divest himself of his es- 
 sential perfections : i. e. he is immutably perfect. Nor 
 could the human. nature of Christ have continued human 
 nature, if it had ceased to be subject of the infirmities and 
 affections of this nature, while he dwelt among men. In 
 whatever way the union of the two natures was effected, 
 it neither destroyed nor essentially changed either the di- 
 vine or human nature.' p. 53. 
 
 Dr. Watts says, ' The doctrine of unions is one of un- 
 searchable difficulties in philosophy. Our understandings 
 are nonplussed when we consider the union of the parts 
 of matter : much more when we think of the union of 
 matter and mind in every human person. But when we 
 attempt to conceive of the most perfect union into which 
 the blessed God may assume a creature and join it to him- 
 self, our thoughts are overwhelmed. The mode is un- 
 searchable.' 
 
 Now then, notwithstanding the unknowable mysteries 
 connected with the facts that the parts of matter are uni- 
 ted : that soul and body are united : that God and man are 
 united : yet each of these facts is intelligible. In the lan- 
 guage ot the civil law, husband and wife are one : and in 
 the language of Christ, they are one flesh : and in the lan- 
 guage of Paul, * the head of the woman is the man : and 
 the head of Christ is God.' 
 
 We do not speak without ideas when we say, the infi- 
 nite uncreated nature, and a finite created nature, are uni- 
 ted as one complex agent. They are * one person' in a 
 sense akin to the literal sense : resembling the literal sense.
 
 214 APPENDIX. 
 
 They appear and speak and act, united as one. From the 
 same mouth issue words, which suggest as concomitant, 
 Divinity and Humanity. When God and Man conjoined, 
 speaking through the same lips, uses the personal pronoun 
 1 : here is something analogous to a literal person. And 
 this mode of speaking is common in the old testament and 
 the new. Judges ii. 1 ' And an ANQEL of the LORD 
 came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said : I made you go 
 up out of Egypt, and brought you into this land which I 
 sware unto your fathers. And 1 said, Ye shall make no 
 league with the inhabitants : ye shall break down their 
 aitars. Why have ye not obeyed my voice?' 
 
 Who is the speaker using the personal pronoun 'I?' 
 'An ANGEL.' The pre-existent soul of Christ. ' My name 
 is in him,' said Jehovah. God, and the ' Angel of his pres- 
 ence,' speak as one literal person speaks, saying, ' I made 
 you go up out of Egypt.' * 
 
 So of the pronoun He. * And Jehovah, whom ye seek, 
 shall suddenly come to his temple ; even the Messenger of 
 the covenant whom ye delight in : behold, HE shall come.' 
 Mai. iii. 1. 
 
 The co-operation of ' Jehovah' and * the Messenger' is 
 such that they appear to us to act as one. ' The Father 
 worketh and J work :' yet the effect produced is one. Je- 
 hovah is Judge. The Man is Judge : for every eye shall 
 see him as Judge. This does not mislead us. For we 
 understand that ' God will judge the world in righteous- 
 ness by that man whom he hath ordained.' Who will 
 raise the dead ? God will. ' I, said the man Jesus, will 
 raise him up at the last day.' We are not misled. ' He 
 that raised up the Lord Jesus, will raise up us also by Je- 
 sus.' II. Cor. iv. 14. The Archangel* co-existing and 
 
 * The bible knows no Archangel but the created man Jesus.
 
 APPENDIX. 2 1 5 
 
 co-acting with God, having the trump *of God, will pro- 
 claim with effect, Arise ye dead, and come to judgment. 
 This sounds like * God manifest in the flesh.' 
 
 Who was the speaker who in addressing the leper, said, 
 * I will ; be thou clean V Clearly the Man Jesus. Other- 
 wise the hearers were deceived. And clearly the Father 
 who dwelt in him, spake with him, and efficiently impart- 
 ed the healing. God speaks through the mouth of the 
 man : makes the man his organ of speech : and therefore 
 calls the man his Logos Word. In the same sense, God 
 created all things. And the Logos created all things, 
 ' God created all things by Jesus Christ.' Eph. iii. 9* 
 The Logos was the speaker w r ho said, ' Let there be light.' 
 ' Let us make man.' Yet he notifies us, ' The words that 
 I speak, I speak not of myself. The Father that dwelleth 
 in me, he doeth the works.' 
 
 He who is Man, is our Intercessor. Saints pray sub- 
 missively for undeserved favors. And God is moved to 
 acts of mercy. Our Intercessor says, ' I will that they be 
 with me :' that the spirit be poured out at Jerusalem : that 
 the dead be raised : that the world be burned. And when 
 he speaks ; Omnipotence effectuates. His will and the 
 effect are as connected, as a literal person's will and the 
 actions of his limbs. 
 
 Pure Divinity is not changed into Man. Man is not 
 changed into Divinity. The Man Jesus is * the image of 
 the invisible God :' speaks forth his wisdom, his will, his 
 excellent greatness : is ' with God :' is * in him, and he in 
 him.' They will, and speak, and act together. There is 
 a declared union ; and an apparent union. And this we call 
 a personal union ; because, speaking and acting in unison, 
 they bear a striking analogy to one literal acting person. 
 This is what I mean. And if this be understood : and it
 
 216 APPENDIX 
 
 still be objected that this is not well expressed by the 
 words ' personal union,' and ' one person :' I agree at once 
 to surrender the words. I only say that if I use them,! 
 am responsible for an explanation of my meaning. 
 
 The bible every where presents the Son as revealing 
 the Father. The reader to whom the bible is familiar, no 
 sooner thinks of the man Jesus ; than God presents himself 
 to view. Their union is the most perfect revealed to us - y 
 and is made the pattern of that union among saints j and 
 between saints and God ; in which they will be blessed for- 
 ever. ' That they all may be one ; as thou, Father, art 
 in me j and I in thee.' 
 
 Two distinct natures : (' thou in me and I in thee :') are 
 concomitant in their being ; and concurrent in action. 
 We see them so inseparably, that we worship them togeth- 
 er. Each of them is in the bible called God ; although the 
 one is infinite, the other finite. The one is Jehovah on the 
 throne : the other the Lamb that was slain. Heaven's 
 hosts praise and bless them together : their supreme love 
 and worship extending to Supreme Divinity. 
 
 Derivative characters when ascribed to Supreme Di- 
 vinity, degrade Div inity. All men, and angels, and heav- 
 en's hosts are under him, below him, beneath him, subject 
 to him, dependent on him. He who but wills to rise to 5 
 his exalted station, presently finds himself borne down by 
 a hand which nothing can withstand. Yet so is his will, 
 that one in our own nature is received into union with this 
 peerless superior : and has authority and rule and judg- 
 ment and qualifications committed to him : such as can 
 symbolize with nothing else. For ' to which of the angels 
 said he at any time, Thou art my Son ? Sit on my right 
 hand V Of whom else has he said, ' Worship him all ye 
 Gods V ' To him every knee shall bow V And, * He shall
 
 217 
 
 Stand and rule in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty 
 of the name of Jehovah his God I 9 And who of creatures 
 besides, could say, ' All power is given unto me in heaven 
 and in earth ?' Yet were all these things said of him that 
 ' died, and rose, and revived.' 
 
 The two natures presenting themselves to our view in 
 conjunction ; we view them as one complex object, having 
 the characters and titles of Divinity : and also inferior 
 characters and titles ; such as Son begotten, child born, 
 messenger, man, anointed, priest, prophet, king on my 
 right hand, and Logos the word of God. Not one of 
 these last are titles of pure divinity. Even Son, and Lo- 
 gos Word are not I mean when Logos is used for a per- 
 cipient agent. 
 
 This being understood, we can clear our theological 
 path from much mystery and confusion. We can account 
 for and in part reconcile the seemingly inconsistent ex- 
 pressions of Philo and other ancient Jews; and of the pri- 
 mitive Christians before the trinity of equal persons was 
 invented'^ And What is better, we can understand the bible. 
 
 Is not this complex being (God-Man) a proper subject 
 to receive either the divine of inferior ascriptions given to 
 Christ in the bible ? He was the ' Jehovah whom ye seek, 
 even the Messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in.' 
 "Mai. iii. 1 . He was the ' Jehovah who led Israel through 
 the red sea in the pillar of a cloud and fire,' and the * Christ 
 Whom they tempted in the wilderness :' the ' child born, 
 and the everlasting Father :' the God that fed me all my 
 life long, and the angel that redeemed me from all evil.' 
 Not one of these is literal individuality. Nor are husband 
 and wife literally one. God and Man united are not lite- 
 rally one person : but figuratively one ; one in a sense re* 
 
 sembling a literal person. <fr . ' 
 
 B 2
 
 218 APPENDIX. 
 
 This explains Gen. xxxii. and Hosea xii. ' Jacob was 
 left alone : and there wrestled a man with him until the 
 breaking of the day. And Jacob called the place Peniel 
 (face or vision of God.) For I have seen God face to face.' 
 This shows that Christ's pre-existent soul assumed, for the 
 occasion, a human body : as he often did from the begin- 
 ning. Hosea calls this Man an Angel or Messenger. 
 * Jacob took his brother by the heel in the womb, and had 
 power with God : yea, he had power with the Angel and 
 prevailed : he wept and made supplication unto him : he 
 found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us ; even 
 the Lord God of hosts : Jehovah is his memorial.' 
 
 Here is the Man ; who is Angel or Sent : who ascends 
 to heaven, and descends : the visible and tangible actor : 
 the Logos or speaker. But with him and in him is * the 
 Lord God of hosts.' They are discovered conjointly. 
 Literally they were two, God and Man. Analogically 
 they were one. 
 
 But if any one will say that in these passages, Man' 
 and ' Angel' and ' Lord God of hosts,' are all Divipity ; be- 
 ing two or three of the persons in the blessed trinity deal- 
 ing with Jacob : and having said this, flee from the re- 
 proofs of conscience to the word ' Mystery :' what can we 
 do ? He may say that mind is mud ; and that this is a 
 Mystery. Revelation is degraded to trifling riddles , and 
 language loses its relation to ideas. 
 
 Mr. Baxter says, * Some of the writers of the primitive 
 ages seem to think there were two natures in Christ before 
 his incarnation : the first divine ; the second, a super-an- 
 gelic created nature, first tyorn of creatures, ministering 
 to God.' This first born of creatures was the soul of 
 Christ in * the glory which he had with the Father before 
 the world was.' He walked in Eden and conversed with
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 219 
 
 Adam : sat with Abraham under an oak : ' talked with 
 Moses mouth to mouth :' walked unhurt with Shadrach, 
 Meshach and Abed-nego in the burning fiery furnace. 
 And even Nebuchadnezzar was moved to say, '"We cast 
 three men bound into the midst of the fire. And, lo, I see 
 four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire : and the 
 form of the fourth is like the Son of God.' Dan. iii. Who 
 an doubt but the three saints perceived GOD in and with 
 their Deliverer with whom they walked. They were cast 
 into the furnace because they said, ' Be it. known unto 
 thee, O king, that we will not worship thy Gods.' And 
 ' our God will deliver us out of thy hand, O king.' 
 
 After the resurrection of Jesus, he said to unbelieving 
 Thomas, ' Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands : 
 and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side. And 
 Thomas answered and said, My Lord and my God.' John 
 xx. 
 
 Thomas did not believe that the c hands' and the ' side,' 
 with the impress of the nails and spear, were the invisible 
 God : nor that the arisen body was a part of the Godhead : 
 nor that the soul now returned from hades and re-united 
 with the body, was God Supreme. 
 
 But Thomas unexpectedly found his late Master trium- 
 phant from the hands of men ; from the cross, the nails, 
 and the spear ; triumphant over death and the grave. 
 The conviction was irresistible that the man Jesus bore a 
 relation to God the Father more surprising than the dis- 
 ciple had before imagined. He may have been impressed 
 with the same conviction of his union with Divinity, which 
 Moses and the elders had, when seeing him on the mount, 
 * they saw the God of Israel :' which the three Jews had, 
 when they walked with him in the flames of the furnace : 
 which John had, when he saw him on Patmos : and which
 
 220 APPENDIX, 
 
 all men will have, when he shall come in the glory of 'his 
 Father, with his holy angels, to judge the world. 
 
 If the address of Thomas, My Lord, and my God,' was 
 made both to the sufferer now triumphant and to the Di- 
 vinity whom he perceived to dwell in him : then his faith 
 was such as Jesus enjoined on Philip : and such as the 
 scriptures, now complete, teach all Christians to imitate. 
 He addressed God and Man in one view ; one analogical 
 (not literal) person. In the correct and intelligible lan- 
 guage of the .learned Professor, he * saw the attributes of 
 human nature in such intimate conjunction with those of 
 the divine, that he could not separate the agents.' He 
 therefore addressed them as 'one person; i. e. one 
 agent.' 
 
 What connection the man Jesus had with a second per- 
 son in the Godhead, the bible saith not. They who would 
 ascertain, must consult the creeds of men. 
 
 'In the avowed declarations of the Athanasian trinitari- 
 ans, Christ (the second person) derived his existence and 
 Godhead, his power and glory, from the Father. Now 
 derivation diminishes the lustre of the Divinity of Christ.' 
 
 ' The human nature of Christ, in my explanation, is al- 
 so gloriously exalted above the idea of a human soul which 
 began its existence when Jesus was born of Mary. The 
 human soul of Christ is a sublime spirit ; superior to an- 
 gels. He was the first born of creatures : possessed of 
 such capacious powers as, by virtue of the indwelling God- 
 head, might be employed in the wondrous transactions of 
 creation and providence. To what a superior height this 
 doctrine advances the whole person of Christ, as God and 
 Man ! Nor let those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in 
 sincerity, be afraid to hear of his various glories.' "Watts , 
 p. 328.
 
 APPENDIX. 22 1 
 
 Before his crucifixion, he said to his divine Father, 
 ' Thou has given him (the Son) power over all flesh/ 
 John, xvii. 2. After his resurrection, he said, ' All power 
 is given unto me in heaven and earth.' In swaying this 
 power, the Man is the visible Actor. We, however, in- 
 stantly recognise the indwelling God. The perfect image 
 presents to the mind the divine Original. Hence Christ 
 says, * He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father.' So 
 when Moses and the seventy elders saw him on the mount, 
 it is said, ' They saw the God of Israel. And there was 
 under his feet a paved work of a sapphire $tone. And up- 
 on the nobles of Israel he laid not his hand. Also they 
 saw God ; and did eat and drink.' Exod. xxiv. 
 
 Jacob wrestled with the ' man ;' * the angel :' and it is 
 said, * He saw God face to face.' 
 
 Isaiah saw the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and 
 lifted up. Isa. vi. John however says that Isaiah saw 
 the Christ who wrought so many miracles in Judea. 
 
 Stephen saw the glory, i. e. the effulgence in which the 
 Man is shrouded : and God who is * with him' and * in 
 him.' 
 
 They all saw God, as John saw him on Patmos. Rev. 1. 
 He saw the Man in his ancient 'form of God.' He saw 
 him * clothed with a garment down to the foot ; and girt 
 about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his 
 hairs were white like wool : and his eyes as a flame of fire : 
 and his feet like unto fine brass, as it they burned in a fur- 
 nace. And his voice was as the sound of many waters. 
 And he had in his right hand seven stars. And out of his 
 mouth went a sharp two edged sword. And his counte- 
 nance was as the sun when he shineth in his strength.' 
 Awfully splendid ! John says, * When I saw him, I fell at 
 his feet as dead.' Still he saw the Man. For, * He laid
 
 222 APPENDIX. 
 
 his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not : I am he that 
 liveth, and was DEAD : and behold, I am alive forevermore, 
 Amen ; and have the keys of hell and death.' I , 
 
 With GOD he is worshipped by ' ten thousand times ten 
 thousand, and thousands of thousands.' Rev. v. ' Every 
 knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that he is Lord, 
 to the glory of God the Father.' Phil. ii. 11. All re- 
 dounds to the glory of God. Divinity is the ultimate ob- 
 ject of all : the only ground of all. 
 
 If these views are thought too highly to exalt the cre- 
 ated Man Christ Jesus ; even the Son who 'was wound- 
 ed for our transgressions :' and who * was dead :' if it be 
 thought that since the sufferer was worshipped, there 
 must have been a higher sufferer than the Man : let him 
 who thinks so, furnish a substitute. In vain will a suppo- 
 sed uncreated Son in the essence of God, united to the 
 Man Jesus, be substituted. That supposed Son and Sec- 
 ond Person, is not that Sufferer ' by whose stripes we are 
 healed.' That was not ' the Son who learned obedience 
 by the things which he suffered.' Nor did that infinite 
 Son humble himself to the death of the cross. Nor did 
 his Father exalt him from such abasement. Nor was he 
 ' the Lamb that was slain.' Nor do we owe him any 
 thanks or doxology for any suffering on our account. Trin- 
 itarians shift their position j step backward and forward, 
 rather than admit that their second person suffered. 
 
 When the trinitarian has told us what duty we owe to 
 that infinite Son who is immutably blessed : (of him, the 
 bible says nothing :) and also what duty we owe to other 
 two infinite and blessed persons : (of them the bible says 
 nothing :) let him then point out, and from the scriptures 
 too, what thanks or worship we owe to the Son of man 
 who was the suffering victim whom God so ' highly exalt-
 
 APPfiNDIX. 23 
 
 ed.' And if what he offers, better accords with the first 
 command in the decalogue ; and also with the numerous 
 passages in which his exaltation to God's throne and wor- 
 ship is set forth : we will thankfully accept such substitute, 
 It equally concerns the trinitarian and the Unitarian fairly 
 to meet this subject. Yet it is by.trinitarians, so far as I 
 am informed, ' rendered obscure; and not only obscure, 
 but unintelligible ; and not only unintelligible ; but utterly 
 lost in the strangeness of the phraseology.' We are con- 
 fidently asked, * What creature would dare associate him- 
 self with God in such an act of authority ? and thus pre- 
 sume to ascend the throne of his Maker T Dwight. So 
 he is reduced from the rank in which John saw him, when 
 he ' fell at his feet as dead :' and heard the doxologies, 
 which principalities ascribe to him, associated with the 
 Father on the throne. Till better informed, I must con- 
 tinue to say, * Blessing and honor and glory be unto him 
 that sittethon the throne , and unto the Lamb that was 
 slain.' 
 
 . [I.] i- *:'-,-, ; 
 
 Paul said, ' Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach 
 any other gospel unto you, let him be accursed.' Gal. i. 9. 
 Paul knew it was impossible an angel from heaven should 
 do this. And with this impossible supposition, he well 
 illustrated the necessity of adhering to the gospel as de- 
 livered by Christ ; regardless of the creeds and traditions 
 of men. 
 
 Of the Father the first person in the trinity ; I ask the 
 honest trinitarian, Is he a person of infinite natural and mo- 
 ral perfections 1 Without guile, he says, Yes. 
 
 Of the Eternal Son, the second person ; Is he a person 
 of infinite perfections 1 Yes.
 
 224 APPENDll. 
 
 Of the Holy Ghost, the third person j Is he a person of 
 infinite perfections 1 Yes. The three sacred persons are 
 equal in power and glorious perfections. 
 
 If the third of these persons were subtracted from the 
 sacred three ; would all the Godhead remaininthe two first? 
 That, says he, is impossible. 
 
 Agreed. We only propound an impossible supposition. 
 In mathematical science, the whole is greater than a part. 
 We do not believe the bible and Euclid disagree. Turtul- 
 lian against Praxeas maintained, ' The Father is the whole 
 substance ; and the Son & portion of the whole.' 
 
 The bible teaches the Divinity of Christ in a three fold 
 higher sense, than those who only extract the second per- 
 son from three persons ; and contemplate this second per- 
 son as united to the Humanity. 
 
 To avoid this conclusion, it is said, The Son is equal to 
 himself and the Father both. And adding the other per- 
 son, The Son is equal to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost : 
 equal to the whole Godhead ; and so he is absolutely Jeho- 
 vah. Hence says the trinitarian, I believe in the Divinity 
 of Christ in as unqualified a manner as you do. 
 
 Be it even so. We are then inclined to think the whole 
 arrangement into persons, loses its importance. * If the 
 existence and attributes which constitute one person, be 
 not increased by the addition of two other persons j the 
 two additional persons must be nihilities.' 
 
 Professor Stewart apologizes for the language which 
 seems so sorrowfully misleading. ' We profess to use 
 the word person merely from the poverty of language : to 
 designate a real distinction in the Godhead : not indepen- 
 dent, conscious beings, possessing separate and equal es- 
 sences and perfections ; not equal, but numerically the same. 
 Is there any more difficulty here, than when you say, God
 
 APPENDIX. 225 
 
 is angry with the wicked every day ? You say, this is in- 
 tended to describe that in the mind of the Deity, or in his 
 actions, which corresponds in some respect to anger in 
 ;men. We speak of person in the Godhead to express that 
 which in some respect corresponds to persons as applied 
 to men ; i. e. some distinction. Why should we be obliged 
 so often to explain ourselves on this point V p. 34 and 20. 
 On which we remark : 
 
 1, * The poverty of language' is far less than the poverty 
 of ideas to be expressed. If the bible has given us clear 
 ideas of persons, or distinctions in God-, it has probably 
 furnished appropriate words in which we can express the 
 ideas. If the sacred writers have expressed the ideas with 
 much circumlocution ; yet actually expressed them ; so as 
 to have conveyed the ideas to our minds; it is incredible 
 that we have yet in our improved language, no words ac- 
 curately expressive of the ideas. 
 
 If it be really revealed that there are persons, or philo- 
 sophical distinctions in God ; and that their number is 
 three ; and neither more nor less than three : and that we 
 have no means of knowing what they are : useless as this 
 unintelligible information would seem to my reason ; I still 
 would bow submissive. After all, we have on this subject 
 an inundation of words ; but an absolute barrenness of ideas. 
 
 2. ' We profess to use the word person to designate 
 
 not conscious beings, possessing equal essences and 
 
 perfections' -The Professor in this extract rejects persons 
 of equal perfections. He departs from the professions made 
 in probably every orthodox church in the land. He there- 
 fore shuns one of their grand absurdities. They profess to 
 believe in three persons possessing equal perfections : not 
 * equal essences and perfections / but three persons with 
 
 ' equal perfections 1 in one essence. When they say, ' Three 
 
 C 2
 
 226 APPENDIX. 
 
 persons equal in power and glory ;' they mean equal in 
 the perfection of power, and in all other divine perfections. 
 When they shall adopt the language of the Professor, 
 they will not ' be obliged so often to explain themselves on 
 this point.' 
 
 3. * Is there any more difficulty here, than when you 
 say, ' God is angry with the wicked every day,' &,c. ? 
 
 If the two cases are parallel ; we shall soon be able to 
 clear away both absurdity and mystery. For we can in- 
 telligibly show what that is in the mind of God, and in his 
 acts, which is called anger. And we can, with clear ideas, 
 point out those ' respects in which it corresponds with an- 
 ger in men.' We can understandingly describe the justice 
 of God ; or his universal benevolence, operating against 
 the selfish who oppose the general good. And we can 
 point to the judgments with which he daily smites the 
 earth. As injured men who are angry ; resist, and inflict 
 
 evils on their assailants. 
 
 i 
 
 Now if we can understand what theologians mean by 
 three persons, or distinctions in God ; and if we can point 
 out wherein they correspond with persons among men : 
 we shall be in the region of ideas. And this ' will tend to 
 the quieting of disputes.' Let him who feels able to fur- 
 nish the ideas, make the attempt. The problem of three 
 equal persons in one essence is unknown to the bible. And 
 it has hitherto been without solution : because void of 
 meaning. If we have nothing to express, the fault is not 
 in our language. If we have meaning, we can express it.
 
 APPENDIX. 227 
 
 [K.] 
 
 In reviewing ' the scholastic scheme invented by subtle 
 schoolmen, derived down to us from the popish church ;' 
 and considering that ' it was never designed to convey a 
 clear conception to the minds of Christians :' we flre natu- 
 rally asked, Why it was made ? 
 
 We answer by asking the parallel questions. Why do 
 popish priests show some of the blood of Christ in a phial 1 
 or, pieces of the wood of the cross 1 or, relics of saints with 
 their miraculous qualities ? Why were ancient magic, and 
 witchcraft, and evoking spirits from the earth, and exorcisms ? 
 Why did the Ephesian priests tell the people that the image 
 which they had fabricated, 'fell down from Jupiter? 9 These 
 are mysteries only while we forget that ignorance is cred- 
 ulous ; and that men are selfish. Knowledge has been 
 with the few : and the more so, the further we go back in- 
 to antiquity. And knowledge, without holiness, or recti- 
 tude, is crafty. 
 
 Men are fond of the marvellous. Nonentities assume 
 consequence, by pretences of occult powers. They ac- 
 quire a local habitation, and a name. Magical words and 
 gesticulations ; the wand of the necromancer ; pomp, and 
 mystical rites j are means by which the few have ruled the 
 many ; and rendered themselves sacred in the eyes of their 
 retainers. A priesthood which is selfish, w r ith an impro- 
 ved address, easily governs the minds of the uninformed : ea- 
 sily confines them Avithin its own sect and interest : and easi- 
 ly imparts to them a due abhorrence of those without their 
 enclosure. The certain advantages are reverence, power, 
 immunities, revenues. ' Verily they have their reward.' 
 
 But why, we may be asked, should any of the mystical cor- 
 ruptions of antiquity continue their sway into our improved 
 times ?
 
 228 APPENDIX. 
 
 / 
 
 We answer. Just as the ancient dynasties ol kings, 
 claiming under divine right and immemorial prescription. 
 Just as negro slavery continues in families professing god- 
 l^ness. 
 
 And wfiat is the remedy 1 
 
 Not force : but the press : civilization: study of the bi- 
 ble : the broad light of general knowledge diffusing itself 
 among the lower classes : and not one, nor all of these, 
 unless the blessing and the spirit of God be poured upon 
 us abundantly through Jesus Christ. The signs of the 
 times inspire us with hope that ' the night is far spent ; 
 the day at hand.' Another half century may loosen the 
 yet remaining fetters, forged in dark ages for human 
 minds. Free enquiry ; review of the past ; relief from 
 human impositions and mysteries : looking to the future 
 with its improvements already advancing : clear ideas of 
 subjects within the reach of our understanding : the spirit 
 of piety and of God : these combined are gradually evolv- 
 ing truths and blessings for the coming generations. Min- 
 isters of rectitude, disinterested and heaven born, are co- 
 workers with God in unfolding those truths ; and widely 
 spreading those blessings. 
 
 We are pressed for money with which to evangelize all 
 the world. As to appropriate means, we should think 
 Apostolical ministers are the real desideratum. When 
 God's converts shall be the ' great company that shall pub- 
 lish the word ;' * many will run to and fro ; and knowl- 
 edge,' not mysteries, ' shall be increased.' Such ministers 
 will move with zeal in the sphere of peaceful, unarmed, un- 
 earthly influence :. presenting the truths and precepts of 
 the inspired word : the spirit of Christ beaming forth in 
 their lives, as in the primitive times. To such, bread will 
 not be wanting.
 
 APPENDIX. 529 
 
 [L.] 
 
 ' I could heartily wish that the word person had never 
 come into the symbols (creeds) of the churches : because 
 it has been the occasion of so much unnecessary dispute 
 and difficulty.' Stewart, p. 34. 
 
 1 You may perhaps find fault with us, that we speak of 
 three persons in the Godhead, where there is but one na- 
 ture ; and of one person in Christ where there are two na- 
 tures. I admit that it is an apparent inconsistency in 
 the use of language : and cannot but wish it had not origi- 
 nally been adopted.' 
 
 ' The present generation of trinitarians do not feel res- 
 ponsible for the introduction of such technical terms, in 
 senses so diverse from the common ideas attached to them. 
 For my own part, I have no attachment to them. I think 
 them injudiciously chosen ; and heartily wish they \vere 
 by general consent exploded. They serve principally 
 to keep up the form of words, without definite ideas.' 
 p. 55. 
 
 This is the language of a man who has his own scheme 
 of trinity : who adopts the protestant maxim that ' The bi- 
 ble is the only rule of faith and practice :' and who by his 
 honesty, talents, and learning, is at the head of his profes- 
 sion. 
 
 Admitting, as the Professor does, that * three persons in 
 the Godhead, where there is but one nature, is an appa- 
 rent inconsistency in the use of language :' that ' such 
 technical terms are injudiciously chosen:' that ' they serve 
 principally to keep up a form of words, without distinct 
 ideas :' and that he ' wishes they were by general consent 
 EXPLODED :' I ask, What should hinder the clergy, by 
 general consent, from EXPLODING them ? They cannot 
 much longer hinder the people from exploding them. An 
 
 '
 
 230 APPENDIX. 
 
 enlightened people will sweep them away with the detect- 
 ed delusions, and rejected follies of other times. 
 
 When thirty five years ago, I was called to organize a 
 church in Cazenovia, and I became its pastor; I was aware 
 of the solid reasons for exploding such deluding language. 
 And in the Confession of Faith which I prepared, and 
 which that church adopted ; no such language was used. 
 During my ministry there, that church did not distribute 
 the Godhead into persons. So long, that church was like 
 the primitive apostolical churches, individual, independent, 
 and congregational. 
 
 It was then known that with the orthodox article in our 
 creed ; such a man as Watts could not honestly join our 
 church : nor we receive him. Because of his superior 
 light and grace ; he must stand at a distance from us : and 
 for the same reason, we must reject him. I then suppos- 
 ed, and still suppose, that with ' three equal persons' in 
 our creed ; we must, if the twelve apostles had asked ad- 
 mission, have rejected them. For they could not assent 
 to words, which, literally understood, contained tritheism. 
 And if we had set up the common pretense that we did not 
 mean literal persons ; they could not, with their honesty, 
 bow assent j till we informed them what we did mean. And 
 this would have been quite impossible. We could never 
 have satisfied them that literal and figurative persons 
 * jumbled together,' were * equal in power and glory.' 
 
 In the impossible case supposed; how could Professor 
 Stewart have helped us out of our difficulty ? He must 
 have told the apostles, as he has honestly told us: ' My 
 mind is absolutely unable to elicit any distinct ideas from 
 any of the definitions of person in the Godhead which I 
 have ever examined.' p. 38. No honest minister on 
 earth could have furnished any aid. An honest minister
 
 APPENDIX. 23 1 
 
 would by no means tell the apostles, that it was a very 
 venerable mystery ; and that it went very well over the 
 heads of the people. Nor could a minister of the most 
 finished guile, have furnished any aid. For the honest 
 apostles would not have allowed him to talk them out of 
 their senses ; nor to have smothered up the subject in mys- 
 tery. I therefore ' exploded' such language. 
 
 Ministers speaking in the name of God one thing, and 
 meaning another j speaking of three persons, and not mean- 
 ing persons : * dissemble.' They are like those dissem- 
 blers whom Paul * withstood to the face :' because ' they 
 walked not uprightly, according to the truth of the gos- 
 pel.' Gal. ii. 
 
 [M.] 
 
 * There is One God : and One Mediator between God 
 and men, the Man Christ Jesus.' I. Tim. ii. 5. 
 
 If l there is One God' only ; then there are not three. 
 If there is ' One Mediator' only ; and that * One' is * the 
 Man Christ Jesus :' then, besides that ' Man,' there is not 
 another. Yet I apprehend, it is the opinion of the ortho- 
 dox, that the Mediator is the Second Person in God * in a 
 diminished condition ;' rather than the l Man Christ Jesus.' 
 Is this a less remove from the text, than the opinion of the 
 catholics that their saints are mediators? and that the bles- 
 sed virgin above them all, is Mediatrix ? To her they 
 offer prayers : and are said to believe that she, in her 
 rights as Mother, commands her Almighty Son to hear us. 
 
 Indeed the Blessed Virgin has been called ' the Com- 
 plement of the trinity :' as if the Godhead was not fully 
 rounded out by three persons without her. These corrup- 
 tions of Christianity have great antiquity. The Collyridi- 
 ans in the fourth century, taught that the Virgin Mother
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 was a Goddess, and worshipped her as such ; offering her 
 a sort of twisted cake. The notion of her Divinity, it is 
 said, was entertained by some of the council of Nice. 
 Vid. Sale's Koran. 
 
 Hear an inspired apostle. ' It is not possible that the 
 blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Where- 
 fore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice 
 and offering thou wouldst not : but a, body hast thou pre- 
 pared me [fitted me, in the margin.] In burnt offerings 
 for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I 
 come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do 
 thy will, O God.' 
 
 * Above, when he said, Sacrifice and burnt offerings thou 
 wouldst not (which are offered by the law ;) then said I, 
 Lo, I come to do thy will, O God : he taketh away the 
 first' (burnt offerings) ' that he may establish the second' 
 (God's will that the pre-existent soul of Christ should 
 come and take the body which God had fitted for it.) ' By 
 which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the 
 BODY of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest offer- 
 eth often times the same sacrifices, which can never take 
 away sins : but this MAN after he had offered one sacrifice 
 for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God : from 
 thenceforth expecting till his enemies be made his foot- 
 stool.' Heb. x. 5, and on. 
 
 This passage does not look much like the catholic priest, 
 in the sacrifice of the mass; offering the body and blood, 
 the soul and Divinity of Christ, for the living and the dead : 
 nor much like his protestant imitator ; who supposes that 
 the Divinity of Christ begotten in the virgin, in a * dimin- 
 ished condition expired on the cross.' Yet here is the 
 apostle's account of the atonement. Here is the pre-ex- 
 istent soul of the Mediator, and the body prepared for him.
 
 APPENDIX! 233 
 
 Here * this Man offered one sacrifice for sins.' Here is 
 the * One Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ 
 Jesus.' He is neither first, second, rtor third person in an 
 obscure mystery. He is ' the Son of man who shall come 
 in the glory of his Father ; and reward every man accor- 
 ding to his works/ 
 
 The Humanity of Christ is also ' the image of the invis- 
 ible God.' Col. i. 15.* 
 
 There is something in man that inclines him to rever- 
 ence the Image of the being whom he worships. Images 
 graven with hands, withdraw the attention from God Su- 
 preme. They are forbid. God himself has presented us 
 with 'an express Image' of himself. In this Image, his 
 perfections gleam with brilliance. This living image is 
 made the medium of our worship. ' By him we have ac- 
 cess unto the Father.' Eph. ii. 18. ' Give thanks to God 
 even the Father by him.' Col. iii; 17; 
 
 Is this ' Image' the second person in God 1 Impossible. 
 For then the Image is necessarily invisible ; non-appearing ; 
 inconceivable ; no exhibiter of the original ; no image ; 
 certainly no { express image. 9 
 
 Is the Essenc^ of Christ's Divinity the Image of the Fa- 
 ther's Essence 1 Impossible. For then there are two Es- 
 sences as well as two Persons in God Supreme. 
 
 Is God as Son an Image of God as Father ? Impossible. 
 Sonship is so far from being Image of Paternity, that it is 
 correlative : stands in the opposite relation. Moreover 
 if God the Son equal to the Father, walked about in Judea, 
 and said, ' Of myself I can do nothing:' he practiced a 
 
 * See Stewart's opinion, already quoted on p. 100. 
 
 D 2
 
 234 APPENDIX. 
 
 weakness, and an apparent want of truth, illy calculated to 
 reflect the glories of ' the invisible God. ? 
 
 Since therefore Christ's Divinity is neither the Image 
 of the Father's essence, nor of his paternity : the words 
 ' Image,' * dear Son,' and ' express Image,' intend his Hu- 
 manity. His created nature is ' the Image of the invisible 
 God.' For, 
 
 1. His soul is a creature having the nearest likeness to 
 the Creator in intellectual powers : nearer than the soul 
 of the first ' Adam which was the Son of God :' nearer 
 than angels who are * Sons of God.' 
 
 2. He often assumed a visible form in the early ages : 
 and appeared and acted in a visible glory : God speaking 
 and acting in him. 
 
 3. In the fullness of time he took upon him * the body 
 prepared for him :' and tabernacled among us, as one 
 whom ' we have seen with our eyes :' and * in whom dwelt 
 all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.' 
 
 Finally, every word and act of his life was expressive 
 of the disinterested kindness of the invisible God. 
 
 Paul, in calling * his dear Son the express image of his 
 person' (person in the singular number,) sufficiently shows 
 that Paul was unaware of there being three persons in 
 
 * the invisible God.' Otherwise he would have called him 
 
 * the express image of his persons.' lt>r if there are 
 three ; he was in the same sense ' the express image' of 
 each of them. Paul believed in the unity of ' person,' as 
 well as in the unity of * God.' He had read of ' the Holy 
 One' in the scriptures. The Sacred Three in Christian 
 theology, are new :' came up,' ages after Paul's death.
 
 APPENDIX. 235 
 
 [N.] 
 
 Christians love, and trust, and worship Jesus Christ. 
 This implies that we love, and trust, and worship GOD the 
 Father united with the Man, the Mediator, the Son, who 
 * died and arose and revived :' both in one view. For if 
 we dismiss from our thoughts the Man (' him whom thou 
 hast sent ;') and in our worship address ourselves to pure 
 Divinity only; we do not love and trust and worship Jesus 
 Christ. No man calls pure Divinity, irrespective of the 
 Man who was crucified, by the name Jesus Christ. The 
 Humanity as distinguished from the Divinity, is often call- 
 ed Jesus Christ in scripture : the Divinity as distinct from 
 the Man, never. 
 
 Lose sight of the Man. Love, and trust, and worship 
 the invisible God merely. This is deis/n ; or the worship 
 of pure Deity only. This may be the worship of sinless 
 beings on worlds where we and our redemption are yet 
 unknown. 
 
 Lose sight of the Man. Love, and trust, and worship 
 Divinity only ; and this Divinity, Three equal Persons. 
 This is Paganism. This cannot be the worship of sinless 
 beings on any world. . 
 
 Neither this Deism, nor this Paganism, will answer for 
 us : or render us, bible Christians. We have sinned. And 
 it is too late for us to think of escaping condemnation by 
 any righteousness we now have, or ever shall have. * The 
 gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.' 
 Rdm. vi. 
 
 The Gospel of Grace, addressed to us, is plain. ' Be it 
 known unto you all, that by the nam6 of Jesus Christ of 
 Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the 
 dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you 
 whole. Neither is there salvation in any other. For
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 there is none other name under heaven given among men, 
 whereby we must be saved.' Acts, iv. 
 
 The Grace of God which bringeth salvation to the lost, 
 appears to us then only, when we ' believe in him that 
 was to come ;' and who has come from heaven to earth ; 
 and whom God has raised from the dead. 
 
 In the very faith by which we are justified, there is in- 
 volved a concession on our part, that we deserve damna- 
 tion. We sue for pardon. We then admit our guilt. 
 Faith is pleasedness with the Mediator who justifies all 
 that his Father has done ; and condemns us. God in his 
 good pleasure has prescribed this condition of forgiveness 
 to those who are justly heirs of wrath. Those wedded to 
 their sins, and enemies to God, cannot be pleased. Those 
 whom regenerating grace has changed, are pleased with 
 the ' one Mediator the Man Christ Jesus.' ' Sanctified by 
 God the Father,' Ihey believe God. And believing him, 
 they believe his ^estimony. They therefore believe that 
 Jesus is the Son .of God. And ' whosoever believeth that 
 Jesus is The Christ, is born of God.' They ' confess that 
 Jesus Christ is come in the flesh ; ; even him ' in whom 
 dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.' Aside 
 from this, we sinners have no hope. 
 
 Divinity shines forth in all his works. But to us sinners, 
 mercy and salvation from the Divinity shine forth only in 
 and through the Lamb that was slain : the Man whom he 
 has exalted to his throne : and to whom he has committed 
 the mediatorial government, and the final judgment. " Di- 
 vinity and Humanity, in one view, is the object of the love, 
 and trust, and worship of regenerated sinners. If not ; let 
 him who is able, detect and point out the error. To him, 
 I will be a thankful debtor. He who is able to do this, will 
 not be likely to fancy himself an holy Inquisitor. Those
 
 APPENDIX. 237 
 
 * ; 
 
 who intrench themselves in the * Unknown Darkness,' 
 may * Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war." 1 
 
 * I certainly do not feel myself bound to vindicate any of 
 the definitions of person, or distinction in the Godhead, 
 which I have ever seen : because I do not adopt them. I 
 do not, and cannot understand them. And to a definition 
 I cannot assent, still less defend it ; until I do understand 
 what it signifies. I have no hesitation in saying, that my 
 mind is absolutely unable to elicit any distinct and certain 
 ideas, from any of the definitions of person in the Godhead, 
 which I have ever examined.' Stewart, p. 38: 
 
 Such, too, is my experience. Searching through a for- 
 midable array of words ; all ideas evaporate in an uncol- 
 lectable inane. And why ? Plainly because the writers 
 and speakers have no ideas to express ; and therefore can 
 express none. 
 
 And shall it still be said, The doctrine of three persons in 
 God, is as intelligible as the infinity or eternity of God ? 
 An honest man cannot say this. I know what I mean 
 when I say, God is infinite and eternal. Whether my de- 
 finition of eternity be affirmative or negative, I can express 
 my meaning. I therefore have a meaning. I go out and 
 ask questions on the subject among illiterate persons : and 
 I know from their answers, that they understand me -, and 
 I understand them. We have ideas, knowledge, under- 
 standing. ' And this serves much to the quieting of dis- 
 putes.' Locke. 
 
 In Geometry, it is said, that strait lines in the same 
 plane, which being infinitely extended both ways, will never 
 meet ; are parallel lines. I'he young Tyro in Geometry 
 understands this. He is as fairly within the field of sci-
 
 238 APPENDIX 
 
 ence, when he reads of two lines infinitely extended ; as 
 when he reads of two lines extended three feet. No quib- 
 bler can beat him out of it. A priest only, threatening 
 him with damnation, and putting screws on his thumbs, 
 can make him admit that this is as unintelligible as three 
 co-equal persons in one essence, t 
 
 [p.] . ".** 
 
 This ignorance will surprise us the less, when we re- 
 member that more than one hundred years later, ministers 
 and kings and judges believed in the supernatural power 
 of witches. 
 
 About one hundred and forty years ago, the Minister of 
 Salem in Massachusetts supposed his two daughters were 
 * under an evil hand :' and he accused a young squaw who 
 lived in the house as being the witch : and by harsh treat- 
 ment compelled her to confess it. The mystery spread 
 like wildfire. Three others were accused and hanged. 
 Shortly after, * sixteen others ; together with a lawyer, 
 because he would not plead against them ; and was sup- 
 posed a partaker of the mysterious power. Torments 
 were employed to extort confessions. If magistrates, tired 
 of executions, refused to punish ; they were themselves 
 accused. The ministers of religion raised false witnesses 
 against them ; and made their lives the forfeit of their hu- 
 manity.' 
 
 1 An old wrinkled woman, it was supposed, could met- 
 amorphose herself into a cat ; or pass through the key- 
 hole of a door; or transport herself on a broom-stick 
 through the air. Such hallucinations of the human intel- 
 lect still prevail : and are proof that we are, as yet, but 
 just emerging from the gloom of intellectual darkness.' 
 
 [Dick'* ' Improvement of Society by the Diffusion of Knowledge']
 
 APPENDIX. 239 
 
 o The popular writings of Dr. Dick will do much toward 
 elevating the public mind. He too adopts the bible as his 
 religious creed. The religion to whose characteristics 
 I advert, says he, is not that form of Christianity establish- 
 ed in Italy, in Germany, in Russia, or in Great Britain : 
 or \vhichis professed by Episcopalians, Presbyterians, or 
 any other sect : or which is expounded in the catechisms, 
 confessions, or systems of divinity which have been pub- 
 lished. In all these, its glory has been obscured, and its 
 purity contaminated, by passing through the atmosphere 
 of human folly and corruption. It is to the Christianity of 
 the bible alone to which I refer. 9 
 
 The same author says, ' A sectarian spirit has infused 
 jealousies ; fanned the flame of discord ; and has led men 
 to violate humanity and natural justice. It has corrupted 
 our prayers ; and infused into them human passions and 
 party spirit : as if the Omnipotent were biased by the same 
 prejudices as ours ; and dispensed his favors according to 
 our contracted views.' 
 
 * Could we fly, swift as an angel, through the assemblies 
 convened on the sabbath, where men are offering up their 
 prayers j what a repulsive scene would present itself? We 
 should hear the leaders of sects imploring special blessings 
 on themselves as the chief favorites of heaven ; throwing 
 out inuendoes against others ; taking credit to themselves 
 as the chief depositories of the truth ; and thanking God 
 for their superior purity.' 
 
 * In our present mode of propagating the gospel among 
 the heathen, we are sowing the seeds of the dissentions 
 which prevail among ourselves. And, therefore, till the 
 religious denominations act in more harmonious union, we 
 cannot expect an extensive propagation of Christianity. 
 While professors are fired with zeal about phrases, and
 
 240 APPENDIX. 
 
 forms ; and lest ordinances should be tainted with unwash- 
 en hands : we sometimes find them immersed in sensuali- 
 ties : and so fraudulent in business, that we feel less de- 
 pendence on their promises, than on those of men who 
 make no profession of religion.' 
 
 ' And what are the remedies ? In the first place we 
 must discard the greater part of those human systems of 
 divinity which have been substituted for The Oracles of 
 God. We must revert to the Scriptures, as the sole stan- 
 dard. We must discard the refinements of the schools, 
 and the technical terms ol polemical theology.' 
 
 ' It is remarkable, that the chief points about which 
 Christians are divided, are points on which the scriptures 
 are SILENT.' 
 
 I hope the reader is apprised that ' the mystery of the 
 trinity ;' ' three equal persons in one essence ;' ' The Su- 
 preme God being a Son and second Person, having a Fa- 
 ther ;' and ' The Holy Ghost a third Person, a ' percipi- 
 ent agent,' proceeding from the Father and the Son ;' ' are 
 points on which the word of God is SILENT.' Yes, pro- 
 foundly SILENT. 
 
 [Q.-p. 152.] 
 
 1 Purgatory has been a terrific screw in sacerdotal hands, 
 to extract from trembling mortals, more money than, per- 
 haps, all the African slave trade ever accumulated. The 
 one dealt in human bones and sinews and blood : the other 
 traded, as John saw in vision, in human souls. The lust 
 of gold, is the object of both.' Dr. Brownlee. 
 
 Hence, in a world so depraved ; self-interest mingles its 
 influence in the policy of all orders of men ; and exerts its 
 sophistry on their understandings. Individuals are honest. 
 There is ' a narrow way with here and there a traveler.'
 
 APPENDIX 241 
 
 [Q.-p. 164.] 
 
 The orthodox usually say, * The Son of God' is the se- 
 cond person in the trinity, and equal to the Father the 
 first person, and to the Holy Ghost the third person. Thus 
 in Luke, i. 35 ' The Holy Ghost' (the third person) 
 ' shall come upon thee. Therefore that holy thing which 
 shall be born of thee shall be called The Son of God' (the 
 second person.) The second person was begotten by the 
 third person : and his Father was the first person. And 
 the virgin was the Mother of the second person, the Eter- 
 nal God. This is one of the phases which the mystery 
 presents in creeds and sermons. The more intelligent, as 
 soon as its deformities are disclosed, object : and then slide 
 back into language that implies all this. 
 
 The catholics pray thus :.'O holy Mary! obtain for us 
 by thy intercession, light to know the great benefit which 
 Christ has bestowed on us.' ' O most pure Mother of 
 God !' 
 
 ' What revolting blasphemy /' says Dr. Brownlee. ' God's 
 Mother ! And her mother, St. Anna, the Grand Mother 
 of God ! The infinite invisible Being God, has no Mother. 
 What a brutish mind conceived this idea! Christ our Me- 
 diator, as Man, had a Mother. As God, he had no Mother.' 
 
 Orthodox protestants may thrnk Dr. Brownlee has gone 
 rather too far in saying, * God has no Mother.' I, howev- 
 er, go one step further. I maintain that ' The infinite in- 
 visible being God ; has no Mother, nor Father, nor Wife, 
 nor Brethren, nor Sisters. All these are ascribed by hea- 
 thens to their Gods. 
 
 Whoever will go this length with me, is just as hetera- 
 dox as I am. And I am as orthodox as he can be in any 
 honest sense. For he who says, God has no Father, de- 
 nies that Jesus as Son having a Father, is any part or par- 
 
 E 2*
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 eel of the Godhead. There can be nothing in pure Divin- 
 ity, which has a Father ; if the whole Divinity has no Fa- 
 ther nor Mother. To pray to the Father of Gx>d Supreme, 
 is as brutish, as to pray to the Mother of God Supreme. 
 
 'Son of God,' born of Mary, is the Humanity of Christ. 
 So thought Drs. "Watts, and Stewart, and Brownlee, and 
 Adam Clarke, and hundreds of others, who have been zeal- 
 ous defenders of the doctrines of Grace. And the belief of 
 this is the grand discriminating point between me and the 
 orthodox. And I never expect to hear a man who believes 
 with me on this point, say in his prayers: ' O most pure 
 Mother of God :' O Father of Jehovah the Son / < O 
 Trinity, three persons and one God :' ' O God the Holy 
 Ghost proceeding from the Father and the Son ;' * O Tri- 
 une God, three in one and one in three.' 
 
 The God of the bible is never spoken of, in the bible it- 
 self, under any one of these appellations. Nor does the 
 bible contain an example of any prophet or apostle or saint 
 or angel, addressing God in such language. And I appre- 
 hend that the man who trembles at God's word,' will pre- 
 fer to address him by the names and titles by which he 
 has been pleased to characterize himself, in his sacred 
 word. 
 
 That person, who was David's Son ; was David's Lordc 
 Was David's Lord the second person in the trinity ? Then 
 the second person in the trinity was David's Son. David 
 was Father to the Divinity. Dust and ashes, Father to 
 God ! and Jesse, Grand Father to God Almighty ! This 
 in the protestant church, is like Dr. Brownlee's account of 
 Mary ' the Mother of God : and Anna, Grand Mother to 
 God Almighty,' in the catholic church. If the Humanity 
 was David's Son j the Humanity was David's Adonai Lord. 
 And consequently pre-existed.
 
 APPENDIX. 243 
 
 Dr. Brownlee notices the popish catechism which de- 
 clares : ' To represent the persons of the trinity by certain 
 forms, under which they deigned to appear, is not contra- 
 ry to the law of God.' He then observes : ' On the stain- 
 ed glass in Cathedrals, God the Father is figured out as 
 an old venerable man. On his right hand stands Christ 
 as a pretty young man. Above, is the Holy Ghost in the 
 shape of a dove. Nearby, stands The Mother of God !' 
 
 Now this triune imagery was transferred from the po- 
 pish to the English protestant church. For as late as the 
 time of Charles I. (anno 1632,) one of the windows of St. 
 Edmond's church in Salisbury, had a picture -of the first 
 person in the trinity, in the form of a little old man, in a 
 blue and red coat ; with a pouch by his side ; having a pair 
 of compasses, to signify his compassing the heavens and 
 earth. Mr. Neal in his History of the Puritans, says, 
 ' Many simple people, going in and out of church, did rev- 
 erence to this window ; because, as they said, their God 
 was there.' 
 
 * This gave such offence to Henry Sherfield, Esq. re- 
 corder of the city of Sarum, that he moved the vestry of 
 the parish for leave to take it down, and set up white glass 
 in its place. This was granted, six justices of the peace 
 being present.' 
 
 * Some time after, Mr. Sherfield broke with his staff the 
 picture of the first person in the trinity, in order to new 
 glaze the window. For this, an information was exhibited 
 against him in the Star-chamber. Archbishop Laud stood 
 up, and spoke in excuse of the painter, saying, God the 
 Father is called the Ancient of days. And he insisted 
 that Mr. Sherfield had done this in contempt of the epis- 
 copal authority.' [' Contempt of priestly authority :' not 
 contempt of God's authority, is the heresy in all such cas-
 
 244 APPENDIX, 
 
 es.] ' Mr. Sherfield was fined <500, a*nd removed from 
 his recordership, and committed close prisoner to the 
 fleet till his fine was paid ; and then bound to his good be- 
 havior.' 
 
 This was two hundred years ago. About eight years 
 after, the long parliament commenced the work of reform- 
 ing the national religion : and the house of commons or- 
 dered that all images of the trinity and the virgin Mary * 
 should be abolished. 
 
 After all : figuring out three persons by this imagery, 
 would have lost its chief impropriety j had it not been an 
 unhallowed misnomer : had they not impiously called the 
 three persons or pictures, The Father, and The Son, and 
 The Holy Ghost. 

 
 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 WHILE this Work was in the press, an event transpired, 
 which will be sufficiently understood, by the following 
 Letter, to which it gave rise. 
 
 TO THE CORTLAND PRESBYTERY. 
 
 CAZEWOVIA, Feb. 14, 18S4. 
 
 MR. MILLS called on me as your agent, on his return from Presbytery, the 
 last evening; to notify me, in the first stage of your discipline, of your dissatis- 
 faction with me in two respects : 
 
 1. As disbelieving the doctrine of the trinity as set forth in the presbyterian 
 church. 
 
 2. As having said light things of the clergy, tending to bring them into 
 contempt. 
 
 I was here, superintending the publication of a theological work, of which 
 you probaU'y had information from Messrs. BARROWS and MUNSON. When 
 you shall have j-ead that publication (if you shall condescend to read it,) you 
 will be able to form a correct judgment of the whole subject of your complaint. 
 
 I infer from what Mr. Mills said, that you will probably make some decision 
 before my work will be published. It is known to presbytery from declarations 
 I made the last time I was with you, that I suppose no member can be called to 
 account by the church, without the two first steps mentioned in Matt, xviii. 15, 
 16: commencing with an individual; and then, with one or two others whom 
 he has selected. You having commenced as a presbytery, by two agents whom 
 you have appointed ; I judge you mean. to proceed by the Directory, rather 
 than by Christ's Rule in Matt, xviif. 
 
 I do not feel competent to engage in any defence by the complex rules and 
 ecclesiastical law of the presbyterian judicatories. 
 
 When, many years ago, las agent of The Middle Association negotiated 
 a connection with the synod of Albany and with the presbyterian church ; I re- 
 served to myself and every minister and church composing that Association, 
 all our congregational rights and privileges, as we had been accustomed to 
 them. And having witnessed, since that time, several trials in presbytery, by
 
 11 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 other rules, with little satisfaction ; I long ago resolved never to be harrassed 
 with such a trial. Advanced in years as I now am, I am still less inclined to 
 such a toil. 
 
 I therefore notify you that I now secede from your body : and no longer 
 consider myself as a member. And I acknowledge no longer any responsibility 
 to the Courts of the presbyterian church. I take my original stand as a con- 
 gregational minister. I do this with the less regret, from not being able, as 
 your own records testify, to engage in public speaking. And as this course is 
 most in accordance with my own repose and duty ; I hope you also will d^em 
 it peaceable and just toward yourselves. 
 
 Wishing you the guidance and blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ, I am 
 Your fellow-servant 
 
 JOSHUA LEONARD.
 
 LATER POSTSCRIPT, 
 
 WHEN Morgan's book was in the press ; his brethren 
 seized, and gagged, and drowned him. And to make their 
 conduct seem excusable, they represented him as a vile 
 person. 
 
 Ministers do not approve of this example. And I regret 
 that it should be suggested to my mind, by their haste in 
 issuing several of their bulls from the Vatican ; before I 
 could present them with this volume. 
 
 A few individuals move all political and ecclesiastical 
 bodies. Many acting together in an evil work, feel but 
 little responsibility. They do things together, especially 
 when moved by artful leaders ; which they would be asha- 
 med to do alone. Charity says that many of Morgan's 
 persecuters were amiable men, moved on by bad leaders. 
 No individual among them, acting on his own impulse 
 alone, would have gone further than to have gagged him. 
 Nor do I believe there are many individuals in Cortland 
 presbytery, who, acting on their own impulse, would so 
 much as have attempted to gag me. 
 
 Acting as a presbytery, the foregoing Letter, instead of 
 being received as ( peaceable and just;' is made a new of- 
 fence : and the Articles of complaint now assume this 
 form,* viz : 
 
 * In one of the communications contumaciously sent to me by presbytery 
 since my secession.
 
 1? 
 
 ' 1. Common Fame charges you with denying the doc- 
 trine of the Trinity as set forth in the standards of the pres- 
 byterian church in the United States : declaring, that the 
 doctrine of the Trinity as held by our standards is nonsen- 
 sical, without meaning, and unscriptural.' 
 
 ' 2. Common Fame charges you with disrespectful and 
 contemptuous treatment of your brethren in the ministry, 
 by your manner of speaking respecting them.' 
 
 * 3. You are also charged with a public offence against 
 your co-presbyters, and against this presbytery, in deny- 
 ing their ecclesiastical authority over you, by speaking 
 against it, and by your written communication to this body, 
 of Feb. 14,1834.' 
 
 Haviqg seceded from the Cortland presbytery ; and as- 
 sumed my original stand as a congregational minister : I 
 am no more responsible to that presbytery than to the Di- 
 van at Constantinople. And making my appeal to the 
 public, I submit the following remarks on the above char- 
 ges. 
 
 As to what I am charged with declaring in the First 
 Article : I apprehend that I have, in this book, proved it 
 to be true. 
 
 If the doctrine of three equal persons in the Godhead is 
 not void of sense 5 why did not my co-presbyters aid a 
 brother laboring in vain to ascertain that sense 1 Would 
 this have been too charitable and condescending among 
 brethren? Or did they feel incompetent? Should either 
 of them, or their whole collective wisdom, now or here- 
 after, set forth that sense ; so that others can understand 
 it : they will discover an ingenuity which will surpass the 
 estimate in which I have been accustomed to hold their 
 powers.
 
 POSTSCRIPT V 
 
 As to their Second Article : I choose to speak with 
 more caution. For while I see the wickedness of others, 
 I am also conscious of my own. 
 
 During a considerable part of my life, I have been in what 
 I may call the cabinet of the clergy. I marvel the less 
 that Christ should have said, ' Beware :' 'be ware of wolves 
 in sheep's clothing.' And that Paul should have said, 
 ' Many :' ' many false prophets have gone out into the 
 world.' And, ( If it were possible, they would deceive 
 even the elect.' 
 
 The ministry with its honors and emoluments, attracts 
 not only the renewed, the humble, and the disinterested ; 
 but the selfish, the ambitious, and the unholy. It is to be 
 feared, tfee majority of the order are of the latter class. 
 Hence, as history shows them ; they have, through succes- 
 sive ages, combined their influence 5 and trampled on the 
 necks of those who have refused to reverence their dog- 
 mas and decrees. 
 
 I have often pitied hearers : sometimes, because I thought 
 their ministers incapable of teaching : and sometimes, be- 
 cause, though they were capable, I have thought them 
 * such as serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own 
 belly ; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the 
 hearts of the simple.' Rom. xvL 1& I have felt indig- 
 nant, when I have seen the people duped : and have spo- 
 ken perhaps too severely of those who were religious by 
 trade. I have suggested, in this book, that laics will best 
 judge of clerics, by reading history. 
 
 It was knowledge furnished by history which led the 
 patriot John Jay, to introduce into the original Constitution 
 of this State, the following enactments. Whereas we 
 are required to guard against that spiritual oppression and 
 intolerance, wherewith the bigotry and ambition of weak
 
 VI POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 and wicked priests and princes have scourged mankind : 
 This convention doth ordain, That the free exercise and 
 enjoyment of religious profession and worship, shall forever 
 be allowed within this State to all mankind.' And, * No 
 minister of the gospel or priest of any denomination, shall, 
 under any pretense, be capable of holding any civil or mil- 
 itary office, within this State.' 
 
 He knew that it is no slander to say, that in past times, 
 ministers and priests, as an order of men, have generally 
 been intolerant, ambitious, and wicked : and that rational 
 liberty would be endangered in future, unless their lofty 
 aspirings were curbed by the constitution. This is no de- 
 nial of the humility and disinterestedness of individuals. 
 
 If I have represented the living clergy as more depraved 
 than those who have passed away ; I have injured them. 
 The clergy who are now endeavoring to weaken me in 
 the public confidence, because I explode the mystic three ; 
 are mild in their measures ; compared with the ruling ec- 
 clesiastics who persecuted our puritan forefathers. Mod- 
 ern legislators have clipped their wings. And had they 
 the power of the ancient ecclesiastics, I do not believe they 
 would treat me worse than those ecclesiastics treated the 
 puritan reformers. 
 
 As to the Third Charge : it is an offence against me ; 
 against my undoubted rights 5 and against all such church- 
 es and individuals in this section of our country, as have 
 not voluntarily surrendered their congregational rights. 
 
 These charges against me, set up other standards than 
 the bible, viz : ' the standards of the presbyterian church 
 in the United States.' They do not allude to the bible at 
 all : or contemplate proceeding with me by any standard 
 which Christ our only Lawgiver has set up in his word. 
 They accuse me of departing from standards which I ne-
 
 POSTSCRIPT. Vll 
 
 ver recognized : and assume to try me by Rules purely 
 human : against which I always protested. 
 
 In aid of the future historian : and in defence of those 
 congregational churches, or congregational individuals 
 who may be subjected to human l standards' against their 
 will: I add what I should otherwise deem too egotistical. 
 
 I was the first pastor who settled in this wide region of 
 country. My church was a single, apostolical, congrega- 
 tional church. I was a single, independent, congregational 
 minister. From Cazenovia to the Pacific ocean, there was 
 not one congregational or presbyterian pastor : not one in 
 this state to the north or south of me : not one to the east, 
 nearer than Mr. Steele of Paris in Oneida county. 
 
 In a few years, there were congregational ministers 
 enough on the Military Tract and its vicinities to constitute 
 an Association. Another Association arose in the Gene- 
 see country. And there was one in Oneida county. Of 
 the Middle Association I was a member. 
 
 In our Association, we conferred at times on the subject 
 of a General Association ; similar to that in Connecticut 
 from whence we came. The question at length arose 
 whether we might not form a general and friendly con- 
 nection with the Synod of Albany ; we still retaining our 
 name, (Association,) our congregational principles, liber- 
 ties, and customs. 
 
 Our churches and their Delegates in Association, were 
 very jealous of this project, as tending to a concentration 
 of all ecclesiastical authority in presbyteries, and higher 
 ecclesiastical courts. The ministers were not without 
 some apprehension as to the result. 
 
 At length, Deacon Levi Jerome who is still alive, and 
 myself, were deputed to the Synod of Albany, to ascertain 
 whether such a correspondence could be formed. In sun-
 
 Vlll POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 dry conversations with Deacon Jerome, I labored to per- 
 suade him that the presbyterians would be liberal ; and 
 that our congregational rights would be undisturbed. He 
 could not be persuaded that we the ministers had not, even 
 then, some concealed policy : or, if not ; he feared that 
 those who would follow us, would forget the assurances 
 we were now making to the churches : and finally pursue 
 measures which would subvert their congregational rights. 
 Conscious of the rectitude of my own intentions ; and with 
 very charitable apprehensions of what would be the result ; 
 I thought the Deacon was mistaken. What has since 
 transpired, has shown that he judged the most correctly. 
 
 The Deacon declining to act; I went alone to the Synod 
 at Cooperstown. I proposed to Synod to 'receive us into 
 a general connection : that our Association should meet 
 with their presbyteries in Synod : that we would act togeth- 
 er in missionary and other general measures in which we 
 thought alike : that we would retain our independent con- 
 gregational character, and usages, and name : that we 
 should have assurance that presbyterians (the stronger 
 party) should bring us under no subjection to their stand- 
 ards of doctrine or government or discipline : and that we 
 and the delegates of our congregational churches would 
 meet with their ministers and ruling elders in the General 
 Assembly. 
 
 This, it was supposed, would form a liberal and Christian 
 correspondence : furnishing all the advantages of a Gene- 
 ral Association. That the means were not adapted to the 
 end in view, events have shown. 
 
 The Synod acceded to the terms proposed : on condi- 
 tion that the General Assembly of the presbyterian church 
 would permit them to form such a connection : and deliv- 
 ered to me a Letter to my Association, recognizing, and
 
 POSTSCRIPT. IX 
 
 as I supposed, securing our rights as ministers, and 
 churches, and individuals. At the next meeting of the 
 General Assembly, the doings of the Synod of Albany 
 we.re sanctioned. The Middle Association sanctioned 
 what I had done. And we became connected, as I 
 thought, with silken cords of love ; and by united aims in 
 converting and saving men. This was towards thirty 
 years ago. 
 
 The future ecclesiastical historian will trace out these our 
 early doings on this fairest portion of our country. And he 
 will narrate that as the country rapidly increased in settlers 
 and wealth ; multitudes of ministers, presbyterian and con- 
 gregational, settled among us : and that a clerical influence, 
 ever active, speedily operated in drawing closer the bands 
 which connected us with the presbyterian church : and that 
 the congregational churches, they not knowing how, were 
 progressively bound by ligaments of coarser texture than 
 at first : and that presbyterian enactments, rather than the 
 inspired book of God, were made their standards. 
 
 The right of delegates from congregational churches to 
 seats in the General Assembly, has already been question- 
 ed. The churches are now enjoined to elect ruling el- 
 ders. It is pretended that the churches will crumble to 
 pieces ; if held together only by Christian affection , and 
 governed by a few laws of Christ found in the bible : and 
 that the higher judicatories of ' Our Church,' in their Le- 
 gislative Authority, must supply the defect which Christ 
 has left in his code. 
 
 This statement is made for the information of those 
 churches and individuals in this part of the country, who 
 find themselves, they know not how, under ' standards of the 
 presb}fterian church in the United States.* They ought 
 to know that if they choose to be apostolic, independent,
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 congregational churches ; their right to be so, is perfect. 
 If an invisible clerical influence has placed them under 
 standards foreign to their wishes ; they may, of right, se- 
 cede. And if right and truth and Christian benevolence 
 remain behind : those from whom they secede, will cheer 
 them with their blessing and good wishes : and not threat- 
 en them with censures ; and tell them, If you go, we, like 
 the church of Rome, will anathematize you. 
 
 Illustration. The church in Cazenovia has changed its 
 Confession of Faith. They have recently yielded a part 
 of their duty and all their authority to a bench of Ruling 
 Elders and higher Judicatories. A part of the mem- 
 bers, for reasons that seemed good to them, have left the 
 church, and * the standards of the presbyterian church in 
 the United States :' and formed a new church under their 
 ancient standard, the word of Christ. This they have done 
 in hope of bringing to pass a purer order and better state 
 of things: a more spiritual church; and a more decidedly 
 pious ministry. 
 
 The church from which they have seceded, follow them 
 with no cheering expressions of good will ; but denounce 
 them as covenant-breakers. 
 
 How are they covenant-breakers ? When they cove- 
 nanted to walk with the original church, was this covenant 
 unconditional 1 Did they as individuals mean to promise , 
 and did the church mean they should promise, to remain 
 with the church, however spiritually dead it might be- 
 come ? however the church might refuse to move for- 
 ward in reformation ? however it might move back toward 
 Rome, with its forms and canons, its courts and legislative 
 authorities ? Did they promise to remain with the church, 
 however satisfied they as individuals might be that its 
 ministry was graceless and inefficient 1 When they join-
 
 POSTSCRIPT. X! 
 
 ed the church, it was in hope of enjoying means of spiritu- 
 al improvement and consolation : not that they might be 
 fastened to a lifeless body. They also then engaged to 
 make the scriptures their standard of faith and rule of life. 
 Nor did they as individuals constitute the church the in- 
 terpreter of the scriptures. The catholic church does 
 this. Every protestant member covenants to be guided 
 by the bible : he himself, (not the church,) being his own 
 judge of its meaning. If he judge that the state of the 
 church is such, that the bible leads him to come out of it j 
 he is bound by his covenant to come out. He is no cove- 
 nant breaker. Otherwise ; if he be papist, he must remain 
 papist : if an episcopalian, he must remain episcopalian. 
 He must adhere to the church in an absolute apostacy. 
 Did our puritan forefathers so believe ? By no means. If 
 we abide by human standards, when we judge the word 
 of God leads another way ; we are unworthy sons of the 
 puritans: and we are unworthy of the Christian name. 
 
 I now ask whence Cortland Presbytery derived ' their 
 ecclesiastical authority over me 7' ' authority' to bow me 
 under * standards' purely human 7 I have acknowledged 
 the binding force of no ecclesiastical laws but those of 
 Christ our King. Whence have presbytery ' authority* 
 to constitute ' Common Fame' a criminal Prosecutor in 
 my case 7 ' Common Fame' is a notorious liar, whose au- 
 thority I have not acknowledged. 
 
 Cortland Presbytery says, ' Common Fame charges you 
 with denying the doctrine of the trinity as set forth in the 
 standards of the presbyterian church in the United States.' 
 And what then 7 I now deny, and always denied several 
 other things set forth m those standards. I have uniform- 
 ly acknowledged the word oi God as the only ' standard* 
 of faith, and practice, and discipline.
 
 Xll POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 Just after our first connection with the presbyterian 
 church, I was a Commissioner from the Middle Associa- 
 tion to the General Assembly. An appeal from a sentence 
 of deposition, pronounced in a presbytery against a minis- 
 ter in one of the middle States, was brought up to that As- 
 sembly. When the Moderator (Dr. Romeyne of N. Y.) 
 put the question to the members of the Assembly, wheth- 
 er the sentence of their lower courts should be sustained : 
 the question was directed to me, as to others. I rose in 
 my place, and assured the Assembly that I could not act 
 in the case as a Judge : because the accused had not been 
 proceeded with by the rules Christ had laid down : and 
 that I acknowledged no other authority. The Moderator 
 with great politeness acquiesced in my decision against 
 acting in the case. My rights, and the rights of the As- 
 sociation whose Commissioner I was, were then well 
 known in the Assembly. For our connection, and the 
 terms on which it was formed, were then of recent occur- 
 rence. 
 
 I was subsequently a member of the Synod of Albany. 
 The question was discussed in Synod, whether children are 
 baptized, because they are born members of 'the church* In 
 the course of the discussion, a minister said ; 'I have per- 
 ceived a degree of impropriety in this whole discussion ; 
 the General Assembly having decided on the relation of 
 children to the church.' This saying was indeed remote 
 from my mode of thinking. I declared that no decision 
 of the Assembly was to hinder us from examining the bi- 
 ble on the subject : and that what we found Christ had de- 
 cided, would bind us conclusively : whatever the Assem- 
 bly might say to the contrary. 
 
 Just before I removed from Lincklaen, (three or four 
 years ago,) I met with Cortland Presbytery in that place.
 
 POSTSCRIPT. xiii 
 
 1 was on a committee to examine the Records of the 
 church at Smithfield. And I announced, in making our 
 report, that the doings of that church, for the year past, 
 were correct and in order according to the standards of 
 the presbyterian church : and in one important case, di- 
 rectly against the bible. I found they had excommunica- 
 ted a brolher, without proceeding according to Matt, xviii. 
 or any other rule laid down by Christ our Lawgiver. 
 This lejd to a discussion ; in which, my congregational 
 sentiments and adherence to the bible, were asserted. 
 
 What ' authority' then has presbytery to demand of me 
 to believe whatever is set forth in human standards 1 and 
 to submit to their decisions made by rules of human legis- 
 lation 1 
 
 In the time of Charles I., or two hundred years ago ; 
 our forefathers had plentiful experience of ' ecclesiastical 
 authority' swayed by the Star-chamber as a ' Judicatory 
 of Chirst.' That ' Judicatory' compelled the civil Judges 
 of the land to make their decisions as they prescribed. 
 Archbishop Laud resolved to bring part of the business of 
 Westminster-Hall into the ecclesiastical courts. Civilians 
 and the Gentlemen of the bar were offended at his ambi- 
 tious projects. And Clarendon the Historian, though the 
 friend of Charles and of Laud, condemns this clerical 
 usurpation. He says, ' I have never yet spoken with one 
 clergyman who hath had experience of both litigations, 
 that has not confessed, that he had rather, in respect to his 
 trouble, charge, and satisfaction to his understanding, have 
 three suits in Westminster-Hall, than one in any ecclesias- 
 tical court.' Neal, vol. 1, p. 481. 
 
 The love of power in the human heart is indeed ineradi- 
 cable. Cortland presbytery is very sensitive when its ec- 
 clesiastical authority over me, is questioned. They have 
 
 G 2
 
 XIV POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 derived that authority from no conventional compact; 
 from no covenant which I have ever made with them, or 
 with others. * Their ecclesiastical authority' to bind me 
 under ' the standards,' and to try me by the rules which 
 uninspired men have set forth ; is an authority * not from 
 above.' It is an authority * of false brethren unaivares 
 brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which 
 we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bond? 
 age : to whom we give place by subjection, no, noi for an 
 hour.' Gal. ii. 4, 5, Such was the decision of inspired 
 Paul,



 
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