Mr. WHISTON's LETTER To the Right Honourable the Earl of Nottingham, Concerning the ETERNITY OF THE SON of GOD And of the HOLY SPIRIT.
Eſt Deus Pater omnium Inſtitutor & Creator, ſolus originem neſciens, inviſibilis, immenſus, immor⯑talis, aeternus, unus Deus: cujus neque magnitu⯑dini, neque majeſtati, neque virtuti quicquam non dixerim praeferri, ſed nec comparari poteſt. Ex quo, quando ipſe voluit, Sermo Filius natus eſt.—Accepit Paracletus a Chriſto quae nunciet: Major ergo jam Paracleto Chriſtus eſt: quoniam nec Pa⯑racletus a Chriſto acciperet, niſi minor Chriſto eſſet.
LONDON: Printed for J. SENEX at the Globe in Salisbury-Court, and W. TAYLOR at the Ship in Pater-noſter Row. 1719.
Mr. WHISTON's LETTER.
[1]SINCE your Lordſhip had ſo very con⯑ſiderable a Share in the late Debates in the Houſe of Peers, in Oppoſition to a Clauſe for the Toleration of the Chriſti⯑an Religion itſelf, or of all that believed the Holy Scrip⯑tures and the Common Creed; which I confeſs I had a great Hand in preparing and recommending, could it have been admitted; and in Behalf of a new Atha⯑naſian Teſt to be laid upon Chriſtians; whereby, with the People called Quakers, they were to pro⯑feſs Faith in God the Father, and in Jeſus Chriſt, his Eternal Son, the True God; and in the Holy Spirit; One God Bleſſed for evermore: Since your Lordſhip had alſo the like Share in a late heavy Imputation laid on Dr. C— in the ſame Houſe of Peers, for omitting the Holy Spirit in Doxologies; where yet that Imputation lay harder on my ſelf, nay indeed on St. Paul and all the Apoſtles themſelves than on Dr. C—: He having only omitted the Holy Spi⯑rit in his Doxologics ſometimes, but I, in Imitation of thoſe Apoſtles, never making him the direct Ob⯑ject of any Doxology at all. And ſince your Lord⯑ſhip's [2] Chaplain, Mr. Seaton, has lately publiſh'd an Eſſay on the Eternity of the Son of God, addreſs'd to the Laity of this City; and written, I muſt confeſs, in a cool and ſober Manner; but as it were in Vin⯑dication of ſuch your Lordſhip's Proceedings: I think it cannot, on all theſe Accounts, be impro⯑per for me, who ſo greatly diſſent from your Lord⯑ſhip and your Chaplain in theſe Matters, to addreſs this Paper to your Lordſhip, and therein to lay be⯑fore you and the Chriſtian World a fair Collection of the ſacred and primitive Teſtimonies concerning this important Point; I mean, whether God the Father be the only Eternal Being, the only Eternal God; or whether the Son and Holy Spirit be alſo Eternal Beings, or be Coeternal with the Father, as all the real Trinitarians aſſert. I ſay real Trinitarians only: for as for the nominal or modal Trinitarians, which alſo include the Sabellians and Socinians, and are now the moſt numerous, who ſay the Son and Spirit are not really different from, but are, or make up, together with the Father, the One Eter⯑nal God, there is no room for the Queſtion among them at all: It being the abſurdeſt Thing in the World to ſuppoſe that God is not coeternal to him⯑ſelf, tho' the Expreſſion be ſomewhat extraordinary. Now, in order to ſatisfy your Lordſhip and the World in this Matter, I ſhall beg Leave at preſent to wave the common Method of diſputing, and ar⯑guing, and pleading, and drawing uncertain Con⯑ſequences on either Side, and ſhall ſet down, inſtead thereof, a Collection of thoſe original Texts and Teſtimonies which relate to this important Do⯑ctrine; that ſo every one may, with his own natu⯑ral common Senſe and Judgment, and without Fear of being impos'd upon by modern Inferences, im⯑partially pronounce on which Side the ſuperior E⯑vidence lies. Your Lordſhip well knows that Truth is beſt diſcover'd by the open, fair, and ſolemn Way of Proceedings in Courts of Juſtice; where the Evidence for Facts is ſtill enquir'd into and ex⯑amin'd from Eye and Ear-Witneſſes, or from the authentick Records themſelves produc'd in Court; [3] where the Judges determine of thoſe Facts intirely by that original Evidence; and where all that the Pleaders allege about thoſe Facts goes for nothing, any farther than it is thus proved. Now, what was the Doctrine of our Bleſſed Saviour and his Apo⯑ſtles, or what was the Chriſtian Faith in this Mat⯑ter, is certainly at this Day an ancient Fact; and no otherwiſe to be now known but by ancient Evidence, primitive Witneſſes, and original Records ſtill re⯑maining. To theſe therefore do I ſolemnly Appeal in the preſent Queſtion; and by theſe and theſe only do I reſolve to be determin'd therein. And this Method is ſo evidently fair and reaſonable, that I cannot but hope that your Lordſhip and all equi⯑table Enquirers will alſo approve of it, and be willing to be determin'd by it. Nor do I mean this with Regard to the preſent Doctrine, or the real and ſtrict Coeternity of the Son and Holy Spirit to the Father only; but with Regard to all the like controverted Points in Chriſtianity alſo: which can, I think, be no other way ſo authentickly, ſo ſa⯑tisfactorily, and ſo peaceably determined among Chriſtians as by this Procedure; eſpecially while in this Method the Meaning of doubtful Words and Phraſes are to be ſtated no otherwiſe than by the ancient Uſe of the ſame; and no modern Diſtincti⯑ons or Evaſions unſupported by Antiquity, will be admitted: and where no later Tranſlations will be of Weight, any farther than they are ſupported by the primary Senſe of the Original, in the Ages wherein the Books themſelves were written.
I therefore, upon this Occaſion, in the moſt, pub⯑lick and open Manner, in the Behalf of my ſelf and of others of my Opinion, as to the Points now in Diſpute among us, do, before your Lordſhip, and before the Chriſtian World, invite all the ſo⯑ber and learned Athanaſians to come into this Propo⯑ſal; I mean, that omitting all the Paſſions, the Tricks, the Subtilties, the Diſtinctions and Evaſions of the Pleaders or Diſputers of this World, they will join with us in a calm, a fair, an authentick, a friendly, and a Chriſtian Examination of theſe Points in the [4] Bible and primitive Antiquity; and in drawing up, after ſuch an Examination, an upright, impartial, and full Collection of all the ancient Texts and Te⯑ſtimonies, before the Days of Athanaſius, which concern the ſame; to be by joint Conſent laid be⯑fore the World; with the bare ſumming up the E⯑vidence on both Sides, as the Judges themſelves do in their Courts, without any other Comments or Colours of our own whatſoever.
Thus, for Example, the whole Chriſtian Church, My Lord, did ever, and does ſtill unanimouſly own, that there is but One, Eternal, Omnipotent, Inviſible, and Almighty God; the original Cauſe and Creator of all other Beings: While many of the Trinitarians now affirm, that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, taken together, are that One God; and we, on the other Side, aſſert that God the Fa⯑ther, and He alone, is that One God. Here, My Lord, we inſiſt, that the preſent Trinitarians may produce all thoſe original Texts of Scripture, all thoſe ancient Creeds, and all thoſe primitive Teſti⯑monies, which affirm the former: and we will be oblig'd to produce, in the ſame Manner, all thoſe original Texts of Scripture, all thoſe ancient Creeds, and all thoſe primitive Teſtimonies which affirm the latter: And this is deſir'd as to both Sides, without the Admiſſion of any novel Diſtinctions, Evaſions, or Inferences whatſoever: that ſo Chriſtian People may have the Cauſe wholly before them, and may be enabled to determine ſairly and impartially on which Side the ſuperior Evidence appears to be; by which ſuperior Evidence all certainly ought to be guided in ſuch Matters. And the like Procedure I would recommend in all parallel Caſes whatſoe⯑ver.
And indeed, My Lord, this ſeems to me to be the only honeſt and Chriſtian Method of diſentang⯑ling theſe and the like Points from the Sophiſtry of captious Arguments, Replies, and Rejoinders, with which the Writers of Controverſy do on all Sides, more or leſs, perplex and puzzle, but not properly ſatisfy their Readers. And this Method, [5] I confeſs, My Lord, I have had principally in my Eye from the very Beginning of my Concern in the preſent Controverſy; tho' the Pamphlets written againſt me have ſometimes turn'd me from that my main Deſign, and, as it were, forc'd me, in ſome Degree, to comply with the common Method. I now therefore, My Lord, intend to reaſſume what I at firſt propos'd to my ſelf; and, as I have lately, which Your Lordſhip will ſee by the enclos'd, laid the State of the Old Chriſtian Doxologies before the World, exactly as I found it in the New Teſtament, and in the moſt early Antiquity; without pretend⯑ing, from any Reaſonings of my own, to introduce one ſingle Form, different from what I there found upon Record; So do I here deſign to lay before Your Lordſhip and the World, with equal Fair⯑neſs, what I meet with in the firſt Ages concerning this important Point of the ſtrict Coeternity of the Son and Holy Spirit to the Father. I ſay, the ſtrict Coeternity only; for as to the Preexiſtence of our Saviour before all Time, and all Ages, even thoſe the Antients called Eternal Times, with St. Paul, Tit. I. 2. or before the World with all its Creatures and Ages be⯑gan, as our Verſion well renders that Paſſage, this is not the Queſtion. Heb. I. 2. It being allowed on both Sides that this World, with all its Creatures and Ages whatſoever, were made, under the Father, by the Son; who muſt therefore, of Neceſſity, be before the ſame, without the leaſt Conſequence to be thence deduc'd that he was therefore really eternal, or truly coeternal with his Father.
N.B. I do not quote the ſmaller Epiſtles of Igna⯑tius, nor ſome pretended Paſſages out of Hippolytus, Dionyſius Alexandrinus, &c. they being liable to too many Objections as to their Genuineneſs, to bear any Weight in this or any ſuch Controverſy what⯑ſoever.
I begin with thoſe Texts of Scripture which Your Lordſhip's Chaplain, Mr. Seaton, has cited for the Eternity of the Son: and ſhall ſet them down both as they ſtand in our Engliſh Bible, and as they more authentickly appear in the Septuagint Ver⯑ſion, [6] which alone was made Use of by Chriſt and his Apoſtles. To which I ſhall add what other Paſ⯑ſages occur in the Bible or earlieſt Antiquity, that ſeem moſt to favour the ſame Eternity, till the very Days of Athanaſius.
Prov. viii 22-25. The Lord poſſeſſed me; [created me, LXXII.] the Beginning of his Ways, before his Works of Old. I was ſet up from everlaſting; [from the Age, or, Beginning of the World. LXXII.] from the Beginning, or ever the Earth was: When there were no Depths I was brought forth; when there were no Foun⯑tains abounding with Water: Before the Moun⯑tains were ſettled, before the Hills was I brought forth.
See Pſ. XC. 1, 2. of the God of Iſrael. Lord, thou haſt been our Dwelling-place in Generation and Ge⯑neration. Before the Mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadſt formed the Earth and the World, even from everlaſting to everlaſting, [from the Age to the Age; or from the Beginning of the World to the End of the World, LXXII.] thou art God.
Iſ. ix. 6. The everlaſting Father: [the Father of the fu⯑ture Age. LXXII.]
See Dan. vii. 9. of the God of Iſrael: The Anci⯑ent of Days.
Mic. V. 2 His Goings-forth have been from of Old, from the Days of Eternity, [from the Days of the Age, or of the Beginning of the World. LXXII.]
Joh. I. 12. In the Beginning was the Word—The ſame was in the Beginning with God.
XVII. 5. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own ſelf, with the Glory which I had with thee be⯑fore the World was.
Col. I. 15, 17. He is before all Things.
II. 9. In him dwelleth all the Fulneſs of the Godhead, [or divine Power, Rom. I. 20.] bodily.
Heb. I. 3. The Brightneſs of his Father's Glory; and the expreſs Image of his Perſon.
XIII. 8. Jeſus Chriſt, the ſame Yeſterday, and to Day, and for ever.
Apoc. I. 17. I am the firſt and the laſt: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold I am alive for ever⯑more.
[7] Apoc. I. 11. I am Alpha and Omega; the firſt and the laſt.
II. 8.11. Theſe Things ſaith the firſt and the laſt; which was dead and is alive.
[See Iſaiah xliv. 6. Of the God of Iſrael: Thus ſaith the Lord, the King of Iſrael; and his Re⯑deemer, the Lord of Hoſts: I am the firſt, and I am the laſt; and beſides me there is no God. xlviii. 12. Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Iſrael, my called, I am He. I am the firſt, I alſo am the laſt. Apoc. xi. 17. We give Thanks to thee, O Lord God Almighty, which was, and which is, and which is to come. And ſo Chap. i. 4.8.]
Heb. VI. 3. Without Father, without Mother, without Ge⯑nealogy, having neither Beginning of Days, nor End of Life; but being made like unto the Son of God, abideth a Prieſt continually.
1 John i. 1.2. That which was from the Beginning:—That eternal Life which was with the Father.
II. 13. I write unto you Fathers, becauſe ye have known him that is from the Beginning.—
v. 14. I wrote unto you Fathers, becauſe you have known him that is from the Beginning.
Martyr. Polycarp. §. 14. With the [...] eternal and heavenly Jeſus Chriſt. [In Euſebius's Copy, confirm'd by the old Latin Verſion, and the parallel Language of Poly⯑carp elſewhere, by the eternal High Prieſt, Jeſus Chriſt.]
Recogn. i. §. 24. There ever was, and is, and will be that Be⯑ing, from which the firſt begotten Will derives its Eternity.
§. 43. Who is the eternal Chriſt.
Juſt. Dial. p. 323. Chriſt is the eternal Prieſt of God. [ [...].]
Iren. ii. 18. Theſe Hereticks transfer the Manner of Emiſ⯑ſion of the Word of a Man, which he ſpeaks, un⯑to the eternal Word of God.
43. Thou art not unmade, O Man; nor didſt thou always co-exiſt with God, as did his own [or his neareſt] Word.
55. The Son, who ever co-exiſted with the Father, did always, in old Time, and from the Beginning, reveal his Father.
iii. 20. Being ever with the Father.
[8] Iren. iv. 37. His Word and his Wiſdom are ever with him, his Son, and his Spirit.—That the Word, that is the Son, was always with the Father we have largely demonſtrated.
Clem. Alex. Protrept. p. 74, 75. If thou wilt, be thou initiated: And thou ſhalt be of a Chorus with the Angels, about the un⯑begotten, and unperiſhable, and the only true God. While God the Word joins with us in our Hymns, [or, He joining with us in our Hymns, who is God the Word.] He is [...] eternal: The One Jeſus, the great High Prieſt of that One God, who is his Father, prays for Men, and ex⯑horts them.
Hymn. ad Calcem. P [...]d. iii. He is the perpetual Word, immenſe [...] eternal Light.
Council of Antioch. Bibl. P. P. Tom. ii. We believe the Son, who was ever with the Father, did fulfil his Father's Will, for the Cre⯑ation of the Univerſe.
The ſingular, and [...] eternal Generation of the only begotten Son.
Euſebius Eccleſ. Theolog. i. 12. ii. 12. 'Tis manifeſt that the only begotten Son was with God his Father; being preſent and together with him always, and at all Times.
Demonſt. Evang. iv. 1. He is elder than all Time, and all Ages.
C. 3. That the Son was begotten, not as having for certain Times not been, and then being made; but being before all Ages, and ſtill before them; and being always preſent, as a Son with his Fa⯑ther: But not being unbegotten, but begotten of the unbegotten Father: Being the only begotten, the Word, and God of God.
V. 1. The Son ſubſiſted from endleſs Ages, or rather before all Ages; being with, being always with his Father, as light with the luminous Body.
De laud. Conſtan⯑tin. C. 1. The Prae-exiſting only begotten Word, who is over all, and before all, and after all, the great High Prieſt of the Great God, the ancienteſt Be⯑ing of all Time, and of all Ages.
C. 2. The only begotten Word of God, who reigneth with his Father, from beginningleſs Ages, [from before the Beginning of the World] to endleſs and never ceaſing Ages.
[9] In Pſ. ii. 7. This Day have I begotten thee.] This is ſpo⯑ken of his temporary Generation; for as to his beginningleſs Generation, [his Generation before the Beginning of the World;] the ſame David ſays, I have begotten thee from the Womb, before the Morning Star.
Presbyters and Dea⯑cons of A⯑lexandria. Vid. infra. God begat his Son before eternal Times.
[N.B. Theſe Paſſages of Euſebius, and of the Alexandrian Preſbyters and Deacons, ſeem, in our modern Language, to bid the faireſt for a real E⯑ternity of the Son, of any in all Chriſtian Anti⯑quity: Yet is it very plain and evident, from ma⯑ny other Paſſages, that all of them were utterly againſt this proper Co-eternity of the Son with the Father; and even Euſebius only for the Metaphy⯑ſick or potential Eternity before the Son's Gene⯑ration, as we ſhall ſee hereafter.]
The Texts and Teſtimonies for the original voluntary Generation and Creation of the Son of God before the World began; and againſt his Co-eternity with the Fa⯑ther: Taken chiefly out of my Primitive Chriſtianity Reviv'd. Vol. iv. Artic. vi.
Solomon.] Prov. viii. 22. &c. THE Lord created me, the Beginning of his Ways, for his Works: Before the World he founded me: In the Beginning, before he made the Earth, before the Fountains of Waters came, before the Mountains were faſtened: He begat me before all the Hills.
Son of Si⯑rach.] Eccl. i. 4. Wiſdom hath been created before all Things; and the Underſtanding of Prudence from the Be⯑ginning of the World.—The Lord created her, &c.
v. 9. Then the Creator of all Things gave me a Com⯑mandment; and he that created me cauſed my [10] Tabernacle to reſt.—He created me before the World began, from the Beginning; and I ſhall not fail to the End of the World.
Philo] De temulent. p. 244. God created me the firſt of his Works; and be⯑fore the World began did he found me. [See what this Philo ſays of the firſt begotten Word of God more largely at the End of my Comment on the three Epiſtles of St. John.]
Paul.] Col. i. 15. Who is the Image of the inviſible God: The firſt born of the whole Creation. [i. e. the firſt Being which God created: As all the Parallels ſhew. Matth. i. 25. Luc. ii. 7. Rom. viii. 29. Col. i. 18. Heb. i. 6. xi. 28. xii. 23. Apoc. i. 5.]
Heb. iii. 2. Chriſt was faithful to him that made him.
John] Apoc. iii. 14. Theſe Things ſaith the Amen; the faithful and true Witneſs; the Beginning of the Creation of God. [With a plain Alluſion to Prov. viii. 22. The Lord created me the Beginning of his Ways. And note that [...], the Beginning, with a geni⯑tive Caſe, as here, is never uſed actively in the whole new Teſtament. See all the Places, Matth. xxiv. 8, 21. Mar. i. 1. x. 6. xiii. 8, 19, John ii. 11. Philip iv. 15. Heb. iii. 14. v. 12. vi. 1. vii. 3. 1 Pet. iii. 4.]
Peter] Praedicat. Petri. ap. Clem. Alex. Strom. VI. p. 635. p. 644. Peter, in his Preaching, ſays, Know ye, there⯑fore, that there is one God, who made the Be⯑ginning of all Things; and has the Power over their End.—Perpetual, incorruptible, unmade; who made all Things by the Word of his Power, in the myſtical Senſe, i. e. of his Son. There is one Unbegotten Being, the Almighty God; and one Being begotten before the reſt alſo; by whom all Things were made, and without whom was no⯑thing at all made. For there is, in reality, but One God, who made the Beginning, [or Prin⯑ciple] of all Things, intimating his firſt-born Son. Peter writes like one that perfectly well under⯑ctood that Expreſſion, In the Beginning [or by the Principle] God made the Heaven and the Earth. Now this Perſon is called Wiſdom by all the Prophets.
[11] Hermas] Simil. V. §. 6. To whom the Meſſenger reply'd, Hearken: That Holy Spirit which was firſt of all created did God place in a Body, wherein it ſhould inhabit; that is, in a choſen Body, which pleaſed him.
ix. 12. The Son of God is move ancient than any Crea⯑ture: Inſomuch that he was in Counſel with his Father at the Creation of the Creatures.
Apoſtles] Conſtitut. v. 20. Concerning him alſo ſpake Solomon, as in his Per⯑ſon, The Lord created me the Beginning of his Ways for his Works: Before the World he founded me; in the Beginning, before he made the Earth; be⯑fore the Fountains of Waters came; before the Mountains were faſtened: He begat me before all the Hills.
vi. 10. Some of the Hereticks ſay that there are three Gods, without Beginning; ſome, that there are two unbegotten Gods.
11. We [the Apoſtles] who are the Children of God, and the Sons of Peace, do preach the holy and right Word of Piety; and declare one on⯑ly God, the Lord of the Law and of the Prophets, the Maker of the World, the Father of Chriſt: Not a Being that cauſed himſelf, or begat him⯑ſelf, as the Hereticks ſuppoſe; but [...] eternal, and without Original, and inhabiting Light inacceſſible: Not two, or three, or mani⯑fold, but [...] eternally one only, [or, the only eternal Being.]—The God and Father of the only Begotten, and of the firſt-born of the whole Creation. One God, the Father of one Son, not of many.
vii. 36. That we might come into the Remembrance of that Wiſdom which was created by thee: How he ſubmitted to be made a Woman upon our Ac⯑count, &c.
41. His only begotten Son, the firſt-born of the whole Creation; who, before the Ages, was be⯑gotten by the good Pleaſure of the Father.
viii. 12. Thou didſt beget him before all Ages by thy Will, thy Power, and thy Goodneſs, without any Inſtrument: The only begotten Son; God the [12] Word; the living Wiſdom; the firſt-born of the whole Creation.
viii. 12. He that was begotten before Time, was born in Time. Vide Ignat. ad Polycarp. §. 3.
41. Let us dedicate our ſelves, and one another, [...], to the eternal God, through that Word which was in the Beginning.
Can. 49. If any Biſhop or Preſbyter baptizes into three Beings, without Beginning,—let him be de⯑priv'd.
Ignatius] ad Magneſ. §. 8. Who is his Word, not pronounced but ſubſtan⯑tial; for he is not the Voice of articulate Speech, but a Subſtance begotten by the divine Power.
Ad Anti⯑och. §. 14. He that is alone Unbegotten preſerve you ſtable in the Spirit, and in the Fleſh; through him who was begotten before the Ages.
Ad Tarſ. §. 6. And elſewhere [he ſpeaks by Solomon,] the Lord created me the Beginning of his Ways, for his Works; before the World did he found me, and before all the Mountains did he beget me.
Author of the Recog⯑nitions of Clement] iii. §. 8. He therefore who had no Beginning, that God I have been ſpeaking of, begat the firſt-born of the whole Creation.—God therefore begat that which we have learn'd to call the Workmanſhip of God; which we may therefore call a Being be⯑gotten, and a Being made, or by the parallel Names.—And therefore is it that he is truly and agreeably called a Being begotten, and a Being made, and a Being created; becauſe his Subſtance is not any thing Unbegotten.
§. 10. God therefore begat him, without any Change in himſelf, his Will going before.
§. 11. Whereas therefore there is but one Unbegotten Being, and one Begotten; the Holy Spirit cannot he called the Son of God, nor his firſt-born: For he was made by a Being which was himſelf made.
Juſtin Martyr] Apol. i. §. 28. §. 31. §. 61. §. 68. The Word, which is the firſt Production of God, without Mixture.
§. 31. Being his Word, and Firſt-born, and Power.
§. 61. We have been taught that [...]iſt is the firſt-born of God; as we have declared already.
68. He is the firſt-born to the Unbegotten God.
[13] §. 75. From God the Creator, and his firſt-begotten Chriſt.
Apol. ii. §. 6. But his Son, who alone is properly called his Son, the Word, who was with him, and was be⯑gotten by him before the Creatures.
Dialog. cum Tryp. p. 264. This Chriſt, the Son of God, who was before the Morning Star, and the Moon.
p. 267. That this Chriſt prae-exiſted, being God before the World began.
p. 276. Who was God before the World was made.
p. 284, 285. In the Beginning, before all Creatures, God be⯑gat of himſelf a certain rational Power, which is called, by the Holy Spirit, the Glory of the Lord; ſometimes the Son, ſometimes Wiſdom, ſome⯑times an Angel, ſometimes God, ſometimes the Lord, and the Word; ſometimes he calls himſelf the General of the Hoſt, when he appear'd in the Form of a Man to Joſhua the Son of Nun. And he is call'd by all theſe Names, becauſe of his mi⯑niſtring to his Father's Will; and becauſe he was begotten voluntarily of the Father.—But the Production, which really proceeded from the Fa⯑ther before all Creatures, was with the Father, and to him did the Father ſpeak, as the Word declares by Solomon: For in the Beginning, before all Creatures, this very Off-ſpring was produc'd by God; which, by Solomon, is ſtiled Wiſdom: [alluding to Prov. viii. 22, &c. where 'tis ſaid, God created Wiſdom, the Beginning [...] his Ways, for his Works.]
p. 287. Then ſaid Trypho, Let him be own'd, by you of the Gentiles, as Lord, and Chriſt, and God, as the Scriptures declare; by you, I ſay, who have all obtain'd the Name of Chriſtians from him. But for us, who are the Worſhippers of that God who made him, we ſtand in no need of ſuch a Confeſſion, nor of ſuch a Worſhip.
p. 288. And that he was before the Sun.
p. 310. The firſt-born of all the Creatures.
p. 323. He is one that exiſted before all Things.
p. 326. Knowing that he is the firſt-born of God, and before all Creatures.
[14] p. 327. When we ſay he is his Son, we underſtand that he really exiſted, and proceeded from the Father before all Creatures, by his Power and his Will.
p. 354. He is ſtiled God, becauſe he is the firſt-born Son of all creatures.
p. 358. I ſaid that this Power was begotten of the Fa⯑ther, by his Power and his Will.
p. 359. The Word declar'd, that this Production was begotten by the Father abſolutely before all Crea⯑tures.
p. 367. Melito] Chriſt is the firſt-born of the whole Creation.
He was a true God, [or truly God,] before the World began. [Apud Cave. Hiſtor. Literar. Part II. p. 33.
N.B. This Melito wrote a Book, now loſt, con⯑cerning the Creation and Generation of Chriſt.
Tatian] §. 7. God was in the Beginning. But we have re⯑ceiv'd this Notion, that this Beginning was the Power of the Word. For the Lord of the Uni⯑verſe, being he in from all Things ſubſiſt, was alone; if we regard the Creation which was not yet made: But if we regard this, that all the Power of viſible and inviſible Beings ſubſiſted in him, all Things were with him; for with him, in metaphyſick Exiſtence, the Word himſelf, which was in him, ſubſiſted. Now by his mere Will the Word came forth. But the Word pro⯑ceeding from him, who did not thereby become empty, became the firſt-born Work of the Father. Him we know to be the Beginning of the World.
§. 10. The heavenly Word was made a Spirit by the Father, and the Word from his rational Power, according to the Image of the Father that begat him.
Theophi⯑lus of An⯑tioch] Ad Autolyc. ii. p. 88. God therefore having his Word inſerted in his own Bowels, begat him, with his Wiſdom, by Emiſſion from him, before the Creation of the Univerſe.
p. 100. When it pleaſed God to make whatſoever he had determin'd, then he begat his Word, by ſend⯑ing him forth, the firſt-born of the whole Crea⯑tion, &c.
[15] Athenago⯑ras.] Legat. §. 38, 39, 40. If you have a Mind, out of your Depth of Un⯑derſtanding, to conſider what this Son means, I will briefly inform you. He is the firſt Production of the Father: Not as a Being made: [out of no⯑thing.] (For God, who from the Beginning was an eternal Mind, had in himſelf his Word or Reaſon, being eternally rational.) But in ſuch Manner as when all material Beings, of unform'd Matter, or Earth, as their Subſtratum, had lighter or heavier Parts mix'd together, he proceeded out to them, that they might exiſt both in Idea and Reality. The prophetick Spirit alſo agrees to this account; for, ſays he, the Lord created me the Be⯑ginning of his Ways, for his Works.
Irenaeus] v. 36. That his Production, his firſt-begotten Word, may deſcend upon his Workmanſhip.
Tertull.] Adv. Prax. §. 5. They ſay, indeed, that Geneſis, in the Hebrew, begins thus, In the Beginning God made himſelf a Son. But ſuppoſe that be not certain; yet other Arguments there are which ſupport my Opinion, taken from the Oeconomy of God, in which he was before the Conſtitution of the World, until the Generation of his Son. For before all Things God was alone, &c.
§. 6. Hearken therefore to Wiſdom, as to a ſecond Perſon created. Firſt, we have this, The Lord created me the Beginning of his Ways, for his Works; before he made the Earth, before the Mountains were faſtened, nay, he begat me before all the Hills.
§. 7. This is the compleat Nativity of the Word, in his Proceſſion from the Father; at firſt created by him, ſo far as thought, under the Name of Wiſdom: The Lord created me, the Beginning of his Ways.
Adv. Her⯑mog. §. 3. Becauſe God is both a Father and a Judge, yet was he not therefore always a Father and a Judge, becauſe he was always God. For he could not be a Father, before he had a Son; nor a Judge, be⯑fore there was any Sin. Now there was a Time when there was no Sin, and he had no Son. The [16] former made him a Judge, and the latter a Fa⯑ther.
Adv. Her⯑mog. §. 4. What other Characteriſtick is there of God, than Eternity? What other Meaning is there of Eterni⯑ty, than to have always been heretofore, and to continue always in Being hereafter, by that great Privilege of no Beginning and no End? If this be a Property of God, it muſt be peculiar to God alone, whoſe Property it is. For altho' there be that are call'd Gods, whether in Heaven or in Earth; ſo far as the Name extends; yet there is but One God the Father, of whom are all Things, &c.
§. 18. To conclude, Aſſoon as he perceiv'd Wiſdom was neceſſary for the making of the World, he pre⯑ſently creates her, and begets her in himſelf. The Lord ſays, Wiſdom created me, the Beginning of his Ways, for his Works; before the World he founded me; before he made the Earth, before the Mountains were faſten'd: He begat me before all the Hills.
Clemens Alexan.] ad Gent. p. 52. Why muſt I be oblig'd to declare to you the My⯑ſteries of Wiſdom, and the Words of that wiſe young Man among the Hebrews. The Lord created me the Beginning of his Ways for his Works.
Strom. V. p. 591. They did not perceive that theſe Things were ſpoken of the firſt created Wiſdom of God.
VII. p. 700 Among the Things we know by the Mind is what is ancienter in its Generation, before Time, and before the Beginning: the Beginning and Firſt-fruits of all Beings, the Son: from whom we are to learn the ſupreme Cauſe, the Father of the Univerſe, the moſt ancient and moſt beneficent of all Beings, &c.
Ibid. p. 703. The Son cannot be ever obſtructed, as being Lord of all: Eſpecially while he miniſters to the Will of his Good and Almighty Father. Nor can any En⯑vy affect the Lord, who was, [or was made,] before the Beginning of the World.
Origen.] cont. Celſ. p. 238. They are illuminated by that Wiſdom which is the Efflux, or Splendor, of the eternal Light.
[17] Phot. Bib⯑liothec. Cod. 10. Origen] cont. Celſ. V. p. 257. Clement alſo in his Hypotypoſeis depreſſes the Son into the Rank of a Creature, as Photius witneſſes.
The Son of God, the Firſt-born of the whole Cre⯑ation, altho' he ſeems to have been incarnate but very lately, yet is he not therefore a late Being: for the ſacred Oracles own him to be the ancienteſt of all Creatures.
Comment. in Pſal. I. Tom. I. p. 38. Pray to the Father, the God of the Univerſe, through our Saviour as High Prieſt, who is the made God.
In Pſal. I. Edit. Huet. p. 31. Thou art my Son, this Day have I begotten thee. This is ſaid to the Son by God; with whom it is always to Day; for there is no Evening with God. I do alſo ſuppoſe that neither is there any Morning with him: but that a Time coextended with his unmade and eternal Life, is, if I may ſo ſay, that Day, or to Day with him, in which the Son was made, the Beginning of his Origin being thus not found, as neither of this Day.
Peri Arch. V. apud Origenian 58. He is the Firſt-born of the whole Creation, a Crea⯑ture, Wiſdom: for Wiſdom herſelf ſays, God cre⯑ated me, the Beginning of his own Ways, for his Works.
Ibid. The Son and Holy Ghoſt are Creatures.
Cod. p. 42. Photius aſſures us, that Origen's Opinion was, that the Son was made by the Father, and the Spi⯑rit by the Son.
Haereſ. 64. § 4, 5, 8. Epiphanius ſays of Origen, that he ſuppoſes the Son deriv'd from the Subſtance of the Father, but to have been created by him: And again, That it was moſt plainly his Doctrine, that the Son of God is a Creature; and that from this bold Attempt a⯑bout God it is to be ſuppoſed it was, that he de⯑clared the Holy Spirit to be created alſo: And a⯑gain, That when Origen ſays the Son is a made God, he plainly determines that he is but a Created Be⯑ing.
Gregory of Neocaeſ.] Baſ. Ep. 64 Baſil informs us, that we ſhall indeed find in Gregory of Naeocaeſarea many Expreſſions which did then afford the greateſt Strength to the Hereticks; ſuch as the Word Creature, and that of a Being, made by God, and the like.
[18] Novatian] de Trin. C. 31. Before the Son there was nothing but the Father.—God the Father was therefore the Ordainer of all Things, and their Creator. He alone is with⯑out original, inviſible, immenſe, immortal, eter⯑nal, the One God; to whoſe Greatneſs, or Maje⯑ſty, or Power, nothing can, I don't ſay be preferr'd, but ſo much as compar'd. Of whom, when it pleas'd the Father, the Word, which is his Son, was begotten.—Since therefore he was begotten by the Father, he is always in the Father: I ſay always, in ſuch a Senſe only, which ſuppoſes him not unbe⯑gotten but begotten. But I reckon he who was before all Time, is ſaid to have been always in the Father; leaſt the Father ſhould not be always a Father. For the Father is prior to him; ſince it muſt needs be, that as he is his Father, he muſt be prior to him; becauſe it muſt needs be, that he who has no Ori⯑gin muſt be before him who has one.—He proceed⯑ed from the Father when the Father pleaſed.—He is certainly before all Things, but after his Father: mak⯑ing a ſecond Perſon after his Father, as being his Son.
Cyprian.] Teſtimon. ad Quirin. I. 1. In the Proverbs of Solomon, The Lord created me the Beginning of his Ways, for his Works; be⯑fore the World he founded me; in the Beginning, before he made the Earth, and before he appointed the Deeps; before the Mountains were plac'd; the Lord begat me before all the Hills.—Paul alſo ſays to the Colloſſians, Who is the Image of the inviſible God; the Firſt-born of the whole Creation.
Dionyſius Alexand.] Ep. 41. ad Max. Baſil owns that he had ſeen a great Number of the Books of Dionyſius of Alexandria, and adds,—We don't admire every thing he ſays; nay, ſome things we intirely diſapprove. For this very Man is the firſt, as far as we have diſcover'd, who laid the Seeds of this preſent noted Impiety of the Anomaeans.—He does not only ſuppoſe a Difference as to their Sub⯑ſiſtences, but a Diverſity of Subſtance, an Inferiori⯑ty of Power, and a Difference of Glory.
Athanaſ. de Senten. Dionyſii Tom. 1 § 4 Athanaſius alſo ſpeaks of the ſame Perſon thus: The Arians affirm, that the Bleſſed Dionyſius ſaid the Son of God was a Creature, and a Being made. Yes; he did write ſo: We ourſelves alſo do own that there is ſuch an Epiſtle of his.
[19] Theogno⯑ſtus.] Phot. Cod. 106. Photius ſays Theognoſtus affirm'd that the Father was to have a Son; but that when he ſpake of that Son, he declar'd that he was a Creature.
Methodi⯑us.] de Creat. p. 345. The Lord created me, the Beginning of his Ways, for his Works: Before the World he found⯑ed me.—Wherefore He is the the Origin of other Beings, after the Father; who is his own unorigi⯑nated Origin.
Lactanti⯑us.] II §. 8. God,—before he ſet about the making this World,—produc'd a Spirit like unto himſelf, who ſhould be endued with the Powers of God the Fa⯑ther. Now after what Manner he did this, we will endeavour to ſhew in the fourth Book.
IV: §. 6. God therefore, the Contriver and Framer of the World, as we obſerv'd in the ſecond Book, before he ſet about this great Work of making the World, begat an holy and incorruptible Spirit, which he called his Son.—He, I mean, is the Son of God, who ſpake by Solomon, the wiſeſt of Kings, and one full of the Divine Spirit, as follows: God created me in the Beginning of his Ways, for his Works; before the World he founded me; in the Beginning, before he made the Earth, before he appointed the Deeps, before the Fountains of Water came: The Lord begat me before all the Hills.
Euſebius Caeſar] ap. Cave Hiſt. Literar. P. II. p. 64, 65. Euſebius had a Chapter concerning God the Word, as concerning that Wiſdom which does ſubſtantial⯑ly ſubſiſt, and was created by God before the World began, &c.
Praep. Ev. XI. 14. v. Hiſt. Eccl. I. 2. Solomon, ſays he elſewhere, gives us the ſame Senſe in other Language; and uſing the Name of Wiſdom inſtead of the Word, makes this Declara⯑tion, as in her Perſon—Then he ſubjoins after⯑wards, The Lord created me, the Beginning of his Ways, for his Works; before the World he found⯑ed me; in the Beginning, before he made the Earth, before the Mountains were faſten'd: He begat me before all the Hills.
Demonſt. Evang. IV. 3. The Light does not ſhine forth by the Will of the luminous Body, but by a neceſſary Property of Nature. But the Son, by the Intention and Will [20] of the Father, receiv'd his Subſiſtence, ſo as to be the Image of the Father. For by his Will did God become the Father of his Son, and cauſed to ſubſiſt a ſecond Light, in all Things like unto himſelf—Receiving before all Ages a real Subſiſtence, by the inexpreſſible and inconceivable Will and Power of the Father. See Dr. Clarke's Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity, Edit. 2. p. 252, 253, 254.
Hiſt. Eccl. V. 1. He is named the Firſt-born of the whole Creati⯑on; according to that Text, The Lord created me, the Beginning of his Ways; for his Works.
Ibid. The Divine Scripture ſometimes calls the Son the Firſt-born of the whole Creation; as in his own Perſon, in that Text; The Lord created me, the Beginning of his Ways.
Contra Marcell. II. 7. The ſame Euſebius, who by Direction from the Council of Conſtantinople wrote againſt Athanaſius's great Friend, the Heretick Marcellus, charges his affirming the Son to be [...], unbegotten, as a grand Branch of his Hereſy; and to be [...], eter⯑nal, as another Branch of the ſame Hereſy, and di⯑rectly implying the ſame with unbegotten.
Ibid. The ſame Euſebius ſays: But perhaps thou art afraid that if thou alloweſt the Father and Son to be two Subſtances, thou ſhouldſt introduce two Principles, and ſhouldſt deny the Divine Mo⯑narchy. Learn therefore, that ſince there is but one God, without any Origin, and without Ge⯑neration; and that the Son is begotten of him; there is but one Principle, and one Monarchy, and one Kingdom: Since the Son himſelf reckons the Father to be his Origin. For God is the Head of Chriſt, as the Apoſtle ſays.
Demonſt. Evang. IV 3. The Father exiſted before the Son, and had a Subſiſtence before his Generation; as being alone unbegotten.
Cap. 15. God the Word was alone begotten of him, by a Communication from him that begat him; who was the unbegotten, [...] firſt, and the greater Be⯑ing; and he was declar'd God of God, and cal⯑led the Chriſt and the Anointed.
[21] C. 15. Therefore, O God, He has anointed thee, who is the ſupreme, and greater Being, and alſo thy God; ſo that he who anointed is a great deal Prior to him that was anointed; being the God of the Univerſe, and eſpecially of him who was anoint⯑ed. See Maufaucon Praeliminar. in Pſalm. p. 19.
V. 1. The Son had not a Co-exiſtence with the Fa⯑ther, without Beginning; the one being unbegot⯑ten, the other begotten: And the one being the Father, the other the Son. And every Body will confeſs that a Father does pre-exiſt, and has an earlier Subſiſtence than a Son.
Vid. Mau⯑faucon. Praelimin. Euſeb. in Pſal. p. 27. The Son is the perfect Creature of him that is perfect, the wiſe Building of him that is wiſe.
He is a Being made.
Ap. Epi⯑phan. Hae⯑reſ. 69. Arius, in his private Letter to his great Patron Euſebius of Nicomedia, before the Council of Nice, affirms, that this Euſebius of Caeſarea, and Theodoſi⯑us, and Paulinus, and Athanaſius, and Gregorius, and Aetius, and all the Eaſtern Biſhops, ſay, that God exiſted before his Son; without any Begin⯑ning: Excepting Philogonius, and Hellanicus, and Macarius, who were no better than uncatechiz'd Hereticks.
Athanaſ.] Orat. II. contr. A⯑rian. Let them learn to read, after a due Manner alſo, what is ſaid in the Proverbs, which it ſelf has a right Meaning: For 'tis written, The Lord created me, the Beginning of his Ways, for his Works.
N.B. There is one Record, ancienter than the Council of Nice, ſo very remarkable in this Caſe, that I cannot forbear to ſet it down intirely: 'Tis a publick Letter from the Preſbyters and Deacons of Alexandria, ſent on the Behalf of the Arians to their Patriarch Alexander, who afterward con⯑demn'd them, in theſe Words;
The Preſbyters and Deacons to the Bleſſed Fa⯑ther, our Biſhop Alexander, ſend greeting in the Lord.
Apud A⯑thanaſ. De Synod. A⯑rim & Se⯑leuc. Op. Vol. I. p. 885, 886. & Epiphan. Haereſ. LXIX. §. 7. p. 732, 733. Our Faith, which we have receiv'd from our Fore-fathers, and which, Bleſſed Father, we have [22] learn'd from you alſo, is this. We own but One God, who is alone Unbegotten, who is alone E⯑ternal, who is alone without Beginning, who is alone the true God, who alone has Immortality, who alone is Wiſe, who alone is Good, who alone is the Potentate, who is the Judge, the Orderer and Diſpoſer of all Things: Immutable and Unal⯑terable, Righteous and Good, the God of the Law and the Prophets, and of the new Covenant; who begat his only begotten Son before the World be⯑gan: By whom he made the Ages and the Uni⯑verſe. Begat him, we mean, not in Appearance only, but Reality; giving him his Subſiſtence by his own Will; the Immutable, and Unalterable, and Perfect Creature of God, but not as one of the ordinary Creatures: A Being begotten by him, but not as one of the ordinary Beings which were begotten. Not that this Being begotten was an Emanation, as was the Doctrine of Valentinus; nor, as Manichaeus ſuppos'd, is the Being begotten a Conſubſtantial Part of the Father: Nor, as Sabel⯑lius, who divided the Unity, and call'd him both Son and Father: Nor, as Hieraeas, Light from a Light, or as one Lamp divided into two: Nor, as one that before was, yet afterward was begotten, or created into a Son. As even you your ſelf, Bleſſed Father, in the midſt of the Church, and in the Aſſembly of the Clergy, have frequently re⯑jected thoſe who introduc'd theſe Opinions. But, as we ſay, that he was Created by the Will of God before Time, and before the World began; and that he receiv'd his Life, and his Being, and all his Glory from the Father. For the Father, when he made him Heir of all Things, did not deprive himſelf of any Thing which he has in himſelf, without being begotten. For He is the Fountain of all Things. Wherefore there are three Subſtan⯑ces, and God himſelf, who is the Cauſe of all Things, is alone without Beginning. But the Son being begotten by the Father before Time, and created and founded before the World began, was not before he was begotten; but he alone, as [23] begotten before Time by the Father, did really ſubſiſt; for he is not eternal, or co-eternal, or unbegotten as the Father is; nor has he his Ex⯑iſtence together with the Father, as ſome ſay; who after a ſort introduce two unbegotten Principles; but God is ſo before all Things as the only Being, and the Beginning of all Things. Wherefore he is before his Son, as we have learn'd from you, when you have preach'd in the midſt of the Church. In as much, therefore, as he has his Being, and all his Glory, and his Life from God; and all Things are deliver'd to him, thence is God his Origin and Governor; for he governs him as his God, and as being Prior to him. But if that Expreſſion, From him; and that, From the Womb; and that, I came out from the Father, and come; are underſtood as implying his being a con⯑ſubſtantial Part of him, as an Emanation; the Fa⯑ther is a compound Being, capable of Diviſion, and Mutable; and, indeed, according to them, a Body: And ſo, as far as their Notions extend, the Incorporeal God is liable to Corporeal Af⯑fections.
Hiſt. Eccl. I. 15. Sozomen alſo relates, that when this Diſpute was ſtarted at Alexandria, this Alexander knew not, at firſt, which Side to take; and that it was a good while before he yielded to thoſe that ſaid our Sa⯑viour was [...], Conſubſtantial and Co-eternal with the Father.
Theodor. Hiſt. Eccl. I. 12. The Council of Nice it ſelf were ſo far from denying the Creation of the Son, that the Words of St. Paul, who ſtiles him the Firſt-born of the whole Creation, were, by Euſebius, at firſt, inſert⯑ed into that Creed which he brought into the Council; and which he informs us the Emperor and the whole Council agreed to be right; tho' that Clauſe was afterwards omitted, as not ſufficiently favourable to the Deſigns againſt the Arians at that Time. They were alſo ſo far from affirming the real Co-eternity, or proper eternal Generation of the Son, that they only aſſerted the metaphyſick Exiſtence of the Word, before his Generation; as [24] Euſebius ſhews, in the only Original Account we have of that Matter, in theſe Words: And far⯑ther, ſays Euſebius there, The Anathema denounc'd a⯑gainſt ſuch as ſay, He was not before he was begotten, did not appear unreaſonable; ſince tis confeſs'd by all that he was the Son of God, even before his Generation, according to the Fleſh. Nay, beſides this, our Emperor, beloved of God, confirm'd by Reaſon, that even as to his Divine Generation he was before all Ages; ſeeing that before he was actually begotten, he was potentially in his Father, when not yet begotten. The Father being always a Father; as he was always a King, and a Sa⯑viour, and every Thing potentially; being always thus invariably and unalterably the ſame.
Theſe, my Lord, are the principal original Texts and Teſtimonies which concern the important Sub⯑ject before us, till the very Days of Athanaſius himſelf.
And now, to ſum up the Evidence on both Sides, with what Clearneſs I can, the Evidence for the Co-eternity of the Son to the Father, which has been above alledg'd; I mean, if, as we ought to do, we take the Septuagint Verſion, whence Chriſt, and his Apoſtles, and the ancient Fathers, always quoted the Old Teſtament, to be of more Authority than our own, or any modern ones, in ſuch Matters, comes to no more than this: Viz. That our Saviour was created or begotten by his Father in or before the Beginning of the World; before all the Ages, Heb. i. 2. or that firſt Conſtitution of Things which was made or ordain'd by him under the Father: That he was to be the Father of the future Age, or World to come, Heb. ii. 5. which we call the laſt Age, or Days of the Meſſiah: That his Origin was of Old, from the Beginning of the World: That he was in Be⯑ing, and was with God his Father in the very Be⯑ginning of Things; nay, had Glory with his Father before the World was: That he was before all Things; that he was the firſt, and will be the laſt: That he was Alpha, and will be Omega: And that ſome of theſe Expreſſions are the ſame, or very like to [25] thoſe, by which the abſolute Eternity of the Fa⯑ther is in other Places ſuppos'd to be expreſs'd; which laſt Obſervation, however, is only here taken for granted, without Proof: It no Way ap⯑pearing that the ſacred Writers meddle, beyond our Faculties, with any ſuch abſolute Eternity, ei⯑ther a parte ante, or a parte poſt, as the School-men have ſince done; and yet without the Proof of that Point all this Evidence is very inconſiderable.
It muſt alſo be remembred, that the ancient Chriſtians ever allow'd that the Expreſſions in the Old Teſtament, concerning the inviſible Father, whenever there was a viſible Perſon appear'd, were ſpoken by the Son, as the Image of that inviſible God, or as repreſenting and perſonating the Father, as his Miniſter and Vicegerent among Men: and that they never look'd on them as true, in the high⯑eſt Senſe, of the Son himſelf, but of the Father only: Nor did they ever draw ſuch Conſequences from thoſe Texts as do the Moderns.
Melchiſedek is, indeed, ſaid to have neither Be⯑ginning of Days, nor End of Life, when he is repre⯑ſented as a Type of Chriſt's earlieſt Origin and lateſt Duration; but this certainly without the leaſt Pretence to any proper Eternity of his at all. So that the known Books of the Old and New Teſtament, as underſtood before the Days of Atha⯑naſius, ſeem to have no proper Evidence at all for the real Eternity of the Son of God. As for Po⯑lycarp's and Juſtin's Expreſſions of Chriſt, that he is the [...], the eternal Prieſt, or High Prieſt, no wiſe Man will thence gather any Thing about the real Eternity of the Son, before he was an High Prieſt. The Author of the Recognitions also ſpeaks of the Eternity of the Son, and calls him the eternal Chriſt: But then, it is well known, that he did not thereby mean his real Co-eterni⯑ty, a parte ante, with his Father: Nay, it has ap⯑pear'd already, that of all the Ancients he is the moſt expreſs for his being a Creature; and he therefore hereby rather gives us a Rule how we ought to explain ſuch Words in other ancient Au⯑thors, [26] while they ſeldom or never mean, by ſuch Expreſſions, more than from the Beginning of the World, or to the End of it. Irenaeus does, in⯑deed, ſay not only that Chriſt was God's eternal Word, but that he was unmade, or, as I ſuppoſe he means, not made out of nothing, as he ſuppoſed Men to be; that he did always co-exiſt with God, and was ever with him; and avoided ſaying that God created him, which the reſt uſed freely to ſay in thoſe A⯑ges: All this makes it very probable that this Fa⯑ther did believe the Eternity of the Son, in ſome Sort or other. But then, it muſt not be diſſem⯑bled, that even Irenaeus, as we have ſeen, owns him a derived Being, produc'd by his Father be⯑fore all other Beings: Which ſeems hardly recon⯑cilable to an abſolute Co-eternity: And that this Sort of Eternity of the Word, which we meet with in ſome ſuch Philoſophers of the ſecond, third, and fourth Century, is quite another Thing from the real Co-eternity of the Son under our preſent Conſideration: As is moſt obvious in the ancient Accounts of that Matter. Their Notion was plain⯑ly this; that all other Beings were made out of nothing; but that the Son was in a ſubtile man⯑ner in his Father, virtually, potentially, or, as his internal Word and Wiſdom from all Eternity; and that a little before the Creation, and not ſooner, this Word was, in an ineffable manner, begotten or created, out of his Subſtance, into a real ſubſiſting Being, or Perſon: So that the Te⯑ſtimonies for this Sort of Eternity, which alone we find even till a good while after the Council of Nice it ſelf, are a Demonſtration that the real Co-eternity of the Son with the Father, or his pro⯑per eternal Generation, was then utterly unknown among Chriſtians. Nor does even this metaphy⯑ſick, this virtual, or potential, or internal Eter⯑nity of the Son ever appear in the ſacred Writings; in the ancient Creeds or Liturgies; or in any of the Apoſtolical Fathers. Whereby 'tis plain, that it is no Part of the Sacred, the Apoſtolical, or the Chriſtian Doctrine; and no more than a Conje⯑cture [27] or Hypotheſis of ſome ancient Chriſtian Phi⯑loſopers. Whether Clement of Alexandria ever be⯑liev'd, even in his younger Years, before he was throughly inſtructed in Chriſtianity, that Chriſt was really eternal, it is not certain: Becauſe the Epithet eternal in the former Paſſage cited from him does not always denote a real Eternity, and may belong to the Father and not to the Son; and if Clement did once call him the eternal Light in a Poem, the Latitude of ſuch Writings, eſpe⯑cially of that romantick Piece aſcrib'd to him, in⯑to which this Phraſe is inſerted, ſtill more plain⯑ly forbids us to draw any ſuch ſettled Concluſion from it: Eſpecially when he elſewhere moſt plain⯑ly ſaid, he was the firſt created Wiſdom of God; and in another Work, directly depreſs'd him into the Rank of a Creature; as we have already ſeen. So that unleſs we believe ſuch Authors had a Fancy that a common Creature, or the World it ſelf, might be co-eternal to its Creator, we muſt not quote them for the Son's proper Co-eternity to his Fa⯑ther. And as to the ſeemingly moſt expreſs Te⯑ſtimonies of Euſebius, who calls the Generation of the Son [...] eternal, and ſays the Son was always, and [...] beginningleſs, and at all Times, with the Father; that he was elder than all Time, and all Ages; before, and ſtill before all Ages; that he ſubſiſted from endleſs Ages, or rather before all Ages; that he was before all; was the ancienteſt Being of all Time and of all Ages; that he reign'd with his Fa⯑ther from beginningleſs Ages; and that of the P [...]eſ⯑byters and Deacons of Alexandria, that God begat him before eternal Times; they here, according to the ancient Stile, denote no more than that he was be⯑fore the World began; as we are fully aſſured by ma⯑ny other clearer and plainer Paſſages of the ſame Authors, wherein they directly and abſolutely de⯑ny the Son's Co-eternity with the Father notwith⯑ſtanding; as we ſhall ſee hereafter.
And as to ſome other of the Teſtimonies, omit⯑ted in this Sum of the Evidence, they are ſo lit⯑tle [28] to the Purpoſe, that the inſiſting on them ſhews how ſcarce the Proofs are on that Side.
Vid. Jud. v. 6. To conclude this Head: As the Greek Language has three Ways of Speaking, which are ſometimes rendred eternal; the firſt [...], or [...], or [...], or [...] The ſecond, [...] And the third, [...] The firſt of which does ſeldom or never ſignify a proper Eternity; the ſecond not always; and the third, and that alone, always does ſo; 'tis very remarkable that the Bi⯑ble and Apoſtolical Fathers never, in this Caſe of the Antiquity of the Son, uſe any but the firſt; none of thoſe before the Council of Nice more than the firſt, and very rarely the ſecond; while Athanaſius and his Followers, and none before them, directly ventur'd on the third Way of Speak⯑ing, and called the Son Co-eternal. Which how it cou'd happen, if the proper Co eternity of the Son to the Father were then all along the known Do⯑ctrine of Chriſtianity, I do by no Means under⯑ſtand. Briefly, in the fourth Century we find this Co-eternity plainly aſſerted; we find obſcure In⯑timations about a ſubtile Sort of Eternity in the third and latter Part of the ſecond; but in the former Part of the ſecond, and the firſt Century we loſe all certain Footſteps of any Eternity whatſoever: Which Obſervation renders this E⯑vidence for the Co-eternity, even tho' we had no oppoſite Evidence to weigh on the other Side, ex⯑ceeding weak and precarious.
But then, as to the original Evidence againſt this Co-eternity of the Son, and for his voluntary Genera⯑tion or Creation by the Power of the Father, before the World began, the Sum of it is as follows.
That the Son was not an underiv'd, unorigina⯑ted, independent and, in that Senſe, an Eternal Be⯑ing, but truly derived from, and produced, or be⯑gotten by the Father, is the unanimous Voice of all Chriſtian Antiquity, both in and after the Apoſto⯑lical Age; and is not directly deny'd by any Atha⯑naſian at this Day. Now, how a confeſſedly deriv'd, produc'd, and begotten Being; an Only-begotten [29] Son, ſhould be really coeternal with his underiv'd, unbegotten, and neceſſarily-exiſting Author, Pro⯑ducer, and Father, I cannot poſſibly underſtand.
That the Son was alſo voluntarily begotten by the Power of the Father, we have the plain and nu⯑merous Teſtimonies of the Apoſtles themſelves in their Conſtitutions, of Ignatius, of the Author of the Recognitions of Clement, of Juſtin Martyr, of Tatian, of Tertullian, of Novatian, of Lactantius, of Euſebius, and of the Presbyters and Deacons of Alex⯑andria; without the leaſt Syllable, that any one Chriſtian thought of his being deriv'd from the Fa⯑ther, as the Moderns pretend, by Neceſſity of Nature.
That he was alſo created by God the Father, is alſo moſt evident in all Sacred and Chriſtian Anti⯑quity. This Doctrine begins from Solomon in the Old Teſtament, as explain'd by the Chriſtian Re⯑velation; and is continued by the Son of Sirach, and Philo the Jew, to the Writers of the New Te⯑ſtament, Peter, Paul, John, Hermas; the Apoſtles in general, in their Conſtitutions; all theſe in the firſt Century: Thence it paſſes down to Ignatius, to the Author of the Recognitions of Clement, to Ju⯑ſtin Martyr, Melito, Tatian, and Athenagoras, in the ſecon'd Century: And from all theſe it comes down to Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, Gregory of Neocoeſarea, Novatian, Cyprian, Dionyſius of Alex⯑andria, Theognoſtus, and Methodius, in the 3d Cen⯑tury; to Lactantius and Euſebius, and to the Alexan⯑drian Presbyters and Deacons, nay, even to Athanaſius himſelf in the fourth Century; and this, ſo far as we know, without any one Perſon's excepting againſt the Word Created, as improper, 'till Athanaſius: without any one's aſſerting that the Son was uncreated, till he did it: and with the direct Aſſertion of ſeveral, that he was a Creature, a Being made by the Father; tho' vaſtly ſuperior to all other Creatures or Beings made by him.
That the voluntary Generation or Creation of the Son, (for I take them to mean the ſame Thing) was a little before the Creation of the World alſo, is the only natural Import of almoſt all, and the direct Aſſertion of ſome of the Teſtimonies; with⯑out the Contradiction of any one Chriſtian Writer [30] alſo, that I know of, till the fourth Century, or the Days of Athanaſius.
That the Body of the Church, even in the Be⯑ginning of the fourth Century, nay, even at and ſome Years after the Council of Nice it ſelf, knew nothing of any real Eternity of the Son; nor de⯑ny'd that he was a Being begotten or created by the Will and Power of God, a little before the Begin⯑ning of the World, is very plain from the Teſtimo⯑nies here produc'd. So that 'tis hard to ſay what ori⯑ginal Evidence the real Trinitarians have gone up⯑on, when they have ſo long made the World believe that the Son is truly Coeternal with the Father; and this as a prime Article eſtabliſh'd at the Council of Nice, nay, as a fundamental Doctrine of Chriſtia⯑nity it ſelf; ſince, whatever Authority there may be for the potential or metaphyſick, there ſeems to be directly none at all for this real Coeternity, or pro⯑per eternal Generation, 'till a good while after the Council of Nice. Nor would the great and learned Euſebius, when he wrote by the Direction of the Council of Conſtantinople, and ſeveral Years after that of Nice, have ventur'd openly to charge Mar⯑cellus with Hereſy, for ſaying that Chriſt was [...] eternal, if that his Eternity had been the known De⯑termination of the Council of Nice, or indeed the known Doctrine of the Church, either in that or in the foregoing Ages of the Goſpel.
That this Coeternity of the Son is a very ſtrange Doctrine to ſuch as have the Unity of God for the Foundation of their Religion; ſuch as all the Pa⯑triarchs, the Jews, and the Chriſtians ever had, will be granted by all. That therefore there was a great Occaſion for a clear and expreſs Declaration of this Eternity of the Son, if it were true, is very evident: while yet neither the Scriptures, nor the Apoſtolical Conſtitutions, nor any ancient Creeds whatſoever, have any one ſuch clear Declaration; nay, have many ſuch clear Declarations concerning One only true or eternal God, Rom. I. 20 1 Tim. 1.17. One only eternal Power and Godhead, One only King of Ages, or eter⯑nal, immortal, inviſible, the only wiſe God, as ſuppoſes [31] the contrary; eſpecially while they add to thoſe De⯑clarations, that this One God is no other than the Father of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt.
Thus all the old Creeds or Confeſſions of Faith do begin with this as the firſt Doctrine of Chriſtianity, I believe in One God the Father; or as the Baptiſmal Creed itſelf expreſſes it, Conſtitut. 7.41. I believe in One unbegotten Being, the only true God Almighty, the Father of Christ; while what they ſay of the Son has not the leaſt In⯑timation of either his Coequality or Coeternity, but the contrary; which is particularly the Caſe of the original Creed beforemention'd, where the Ar⯑ticle concerning the Son begins thus: I believe in the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, the only begotten Son of God, the Firſt-born of the whole Creation; who, before the Ages, was begotten by the good Pleaſure of the Father; which ſeems to me an authentick, a ſacred, and an undeni⯑able Teſtimony againſt any real Coeternity of the Son to the Father.
Nor indeed, My Lord, are the Expreſſions all along uſed in the foregoing Collection of Texts and Teſtimonies capable of any fair Senſe, con⯑ſiſtent with this Coeternity, ſince many of them directly confute the ſame. Thus the Apoſtolical Conſtitutions affirm, That God the Father is eter⯑nally One only; or, The Only Eternal Being: That thoſe are Hereticks who ſay [as do the Trinitarians in Effect] that God is three, or manifold; or that there are three Gods, coeternal with one another. The Apoſtles Paul and John, by calling Chriſt the Firſt-born of the whole Creation, and the Beginning of the Creation of God, do in the moſt plain, uſual, and ob⯑vious Senſe of the Words, and as they were under⯑ſtood in the firſt Ages; [eſpecially, if we conſider the Alluſion theſe Paſſages bear to the Text in the Proverbs, as then underſtood by all, The Lord crea⯑ted me, the Beginning of his Ways] directly affirm that Chriſt was the firſt Being God created. The Author to the Hebrews directly affirms, that God made Chriſt; which in the fourth Century was reckon'd ſo hete⯑rodox, that this Epiſtle was in ſome Places ſeldom read in publick, and that partly out of the Dread of ſuch an Expreſſion; as Philaſtrius aſſures us.De Haeret. C. 41.
[32]St. Peter is alſo introduc'd in that very ancient Book called The Preaching of Peter, as declaring that God made his firſt-born Son. St. Hermas directly aſſerts, that the Holy Spirit, which was placed in a Body, or the Word of God incarnate, was created the firſt of all Beings. The Apoſtolical Conſtituti⯑ons enjoin us to dedicate our ſelves to the eternal God, not through his coeternal Word, as the Athanaſi⯑ans would certainly have ſaid; but through that Word which was in the Beginning; as the greateſt An⯑tiquity of the Son then known in the Church. Ig⯑natius, and the Author of the Recognitions of Cle⯑ment, aſſure us, that the very Subſtance of our Savi⯑our was not the unbegotten Subſtance of the Father, but was it ſelf begotten by the Divine Power. The Author of the Recognitions affirms, that Chriſt was himſelf a made Being; and that the Will of God preceded his Generation. Juſtin Martyr, who al⯑ways indeed avoided thoſe Expreſſions himſelf, of a Creature and a made Being, did not yet in the leaſt find Fault with Trypho the Jew, when he declar'd that he underſtood that both he, and the Scriptures quoted by him, meant that the God of the Jews made our Lord and God Chriſt Jeſus. Nor does this Juſtin, among his numerous Expreſſions con⯑cerning the Son's praeexiſting State, of which he is ſo very full, ever venture to ſay any thing that looks like his real Coeternity with the Father. Ter⯑tullian, who yet favour'd the Son's metapyhyſick Eternity as much as any, directly affirms there was a Time when God was not a Father, and had not a Son. Clement of Alexandria, whatever he had ſaid in his younger Years, did at laſt own that Chriſt was the firſt created Wiſdom of God; and was to be reckon'd as a Creature. Origen did alſo plainly and clearly own, that he was one of the Creatures of God, tho' the ancienteſt of 'em all; even ſo ancient, that he cared not to aſſign the Date of his firſt Generation or Creation; and the Reaſon ſeems to have been, that he had a Fancy that the World it ſelf, though created by God, might poſſibly be coeternal with its Creator. Gregory of Naeocaeſarea did alſo directly [33] profeſs that Chriſt was a Creature, or a Being made by God. Novatian alſo, or the acute but unknown Author of the Book concerning the Trinity, affirms that God the Father is the only eternal God, to whom no other Being can be ſo much as compar'd; that the Son was then begotten when it pleaſed the Father; who, and who alone, was prior to him; and that as a neceſſary Conſequence from his being his Fa⯑ther. Dionyſius of Alexandria directly affirms Chriſt to have been a Creature; and ſuppoſes not only a Dif⯑ference of the Subſiſtences of the Father and Son, but a Diverſity of Subſtance, an Inferiority of Power, and a Difference of Glory; ſo that he, as well as many others, ſeems not to have had ſo much as a Notion of a metaphyſick Eternity. Theognoſtus alſo declar'd, that the Son was a Creature. Lactan⯑tius is expreſs for the Generation or Creation of the Son, a little before the World was made.
The great Euſebius, whom the Athanaſians uſed ſometimes to hale over to their Party, as if he be⯑liev'd the Coeternity of the Son, is ſo fully underſtood, ſince the later Publication of ſome of his Works long loſt, that he is now generally allowed, as he was in his own Age, to be clearly againſt it. Nor is there Room for any Diſpute, ſince he directly ſays, the Father was prior, nay, a great deal prior to the Son; and charg'd Marcellus, as introducing an Heretical Notion, when he aſſerted that the Son was [...], Eternal, which Aſſertion he directly took to be the ſame as Unbegotten; of all which O⯑pinions of Euſebius the very learned Monfaucon has given ſo full an Account, in his Preliminaries to Euſebius's Pſalms, that I reckon none of the truly Learned will any more pretend he was an Athanaſi⯑an. Nor will any one doubt of the Opinion of many of the Biſhops in the Eaſt and in Egypt; hardly indeed of Alexander of Alexandria, and of the Council of Nice's own Opinion againſt the pro⯑per Coeternity, Collection of ancient Monuments by me. who carefully peruſes the original Records here and elſewhere publiſh'd relating to that Age; which yet was generally diſpos'd to ad⯑vance [34] the Dignity and Antiquity of the Son as much as poſſible. I now proceed to the other Point, the Coeternity of the Holy Spirit.
The Texts and Teſtimonies which prove that the Holy Spirit was created or made, under the Father, by the Son, before the World began; and againſt his Coeter⯑nity.
Paul] CHRIST, through [...] the eternal [or Ho⯑ly] Spirit, [ſo twelve or thirteen of the Copies read of the Text] offer'd himſelf, without Spot, to God.
Peter] 1. Pet. 1.11. The Spirit of Chriſt.
Apoſtles.] Conſtitut. vi. 11. One God, the Father of One Son, not of ma⯑ny; the Maker of One Comforter by Chriſt.
vii. 41. I am alſo to be baptized unto the Holy Ghoſt, that is the Comforter; who wrought in all the Saints from the Beginning of the World.
Juſtin] Apol. i §. 46. The Spirit ſpake in the Prophets, as from the Divine Word that moved them.
Ibid. §. 77. Plato read, that it was ſaid by Moſes, that the Spirit of God moved on the Face of the Waters. He aſſigns the third Place to the Spirit that is ſaid to have moved on the Water, when he ſays, But the third Sort of Offices belong to the third Per⯑ſon.
Athenago⯑ras] Legat. §. 6. All Things are held together by that Spirit, which is derived from him.
Theophi⯑lus of An⯑tioch] Ad Antotyc. i. p. 72. He begat him, together with his Wiſdom, and ſent him out before the Beginning of the World.—This Perſon then, being the Spirit of God, and the Origin of Things, and Wiſdom, and the Power of the Moſt High, deſcended upon the Pro⯑phets, and by them ſpake what concern'd the making of the World, and all other Things. For the Prophets were not in Being when the World [35] was made; but that Wiſdom which was in him, which was the Wiſdom of God, and his Holy Word, which is always preſent with him, &c.
Irenaeus] i. 19. By his Word and Spirit he makes, and orders, and governs all Things.
iv. 17. There do miniſter to the Father his own Off⯑ſpring, and his own Figuration; that is, the Son, and Holy Spirit; his Word, and Wiſdom.
37. There are ever preſent with God his Word and Wiſdom, the Son and Spirit; by whom, and in whom he made all Things, freely and ſpontane⯑ouſly; to whom alſo he ſpake, ſaying, Let us make Man after our Image, and after our Like⯑neſs.
Ibid, And that Wiſdom, which is the Spirit, was with God before the intire Conſtitution of Things, he ſays by Solomon: God, by Wiſdom, hath found⯑ed the Earth, by Prudence hath he prepared the Heaven. By his underſtanding the Abyſſes brake forth, and the Clouds dropped down Dew. And again, the Lord Created me the Beginning of his Ways, for his Works; before the World he found⯑ed me: In the Beginning, before he made the Earth; before the Fountains of Waters came, be⯑fore the Mountains were faſtened: He begat me before all the Hills, &c.
v. 6. Man was made by the Hands of the Father; i. e. by the Son, and Holy Spirit, after the Likeneſs of God.
Author of the Recog⯑nations] 1. §. 69. We ſay the Son of God is the only begotten Be⯑ing, derived from no other Origin; but begotten or born of Him after an ineffable Manner. In like Manner do we ſpeak of the Comforter.
iii. 11. Whereas then there is one Unbegotten Being, and one Begotten, the Holy Spirit cannot be cal⯑led a Son, nor the Firſt-begotten: For he was made by a Being that was himſelf made. But he is recounted in Subordination to the Father and the Son, as the firſt perfect Effect of the Power of the ſecond Being.
Tertull.] Adv. Prax. I ſuppoſe the Spirit is deriv'd from no other Origin than from the Father, by the Son.
[36] Origen.] Comment. in Joan. p. 56, 57, 58. We muſt enquire whether it follows from this Place, which affirms, that all Things were made by the Word, that the Holy Spirit was made by him alſo. For I ſuppoſe he that ſays, The Holy Spirit is a Being made, and admits of this Aſſertion, that all Things were made by the Word, muſt of Ne⯑ceſſity grant, that the Holy Spirit was made by him; and that, by Conſequence, [N.B.] the Word was more ancient than he. But he that will not admit that the Holy Spirit was made by Chriſt, muſt, by Conſequence, ſay he is Unbe⯑gotten; if he, withal, judges what is ſaid in the Goſpel to be true.—We who are perſwaded that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three Subſtances, and do believe there is nothing Un⯑begotten but the Father, do admit this Notion as moſt agreeable to Piety and Truth; that when all Things are ſaid to be made by the Word, the Holy Spirit is the moſt honourable, and firſt in Order of thoſe Beings which the Father made by Chriſt, &c.
Euſebius] De Eccleſ. Theolog. iii. 6. Now the Son alone is honour'd with the Pater⯑nal Divinity, and has the Power of making, and creating, all Things that are made, viſible and inviſible, and even is the Producer of the Ex⯑iſtence of the Spirit, the Comforter himſelf. For all Things were made by him; and without him not one Thing was made. And by him were all Things created, both thoſe in Heaven, and thoſe on Earth; whether they be viſible, or inviſible.—Now the Son is the only begotten God, who is in the Boſom of the Father. But the Spi⯑rit, the Comforter, is neither God, nor the Son [of God] becauſe he did not receive his Genera⯑tion from the Father, in the ſame Manner as did the Son; but is one of thoſe Beings which were made by the Son. For all Things were made by him; and without him not one Thing was made. Theſe are then the Myſteries of the Catholick and Holy Church, deliver'd by the Divine Oracles; while Marcelius, confounding all Things,—in⯑troduces one Subſtance, with three Perſons, and [37] three Names therein; ſaying, that God, and the Word, which is in him, and the Holy Spirit are all one.
Theſe, my Lord, are the chief among the Pri⯑mitive Texts and Teſtimonies concerning the O⯑rigin of the Holy Spirit, which are ſo much on one Side, even till long after the Council of Nice, that I have not found it neceſſary to divide them under two Heads, as I did thoſe of the Son. Since the only valuable Teſtimony that may ſeem to fa⯑vour the real Eternity of the Holy Spirit, which is that in the Epiſtle to the Hebrews, of the eter⯑nal Spirit, uſes only the Word [...], which ſel⯑dom or never ſignifies a proper Eternity; ſince ſo many of the Copies have not there even that Epithet, but the uſual one of Holy inſtead of Eter⯑nal Spirit; and ſince 'tis not certain that this Place belongs to the third Perſon at all, but perhaps, to the Divine Nature or Word it ſelf in Chriſt; Bull. De⯑fenſ. Fid. Nicaen. Sect. i. §. 5. which Grotius and Biſhop Bull have ſhewed ſeveral Times to have the Character of an Holy Spirit. So that I have no Occaſion here to ſum up the Evidence on both Sides at all, as to the Co-eterni⯑ty of the Holy Spirit to the Father, or even as to his equal Antiquity with the Son; for either of which there is not, that I know of, one proper or direct Teſtimony ſacred or primitive, now extant, in the Records of the Chriſtian Church, till long after the Council of Nice, in the latter Days of Atha⯑naſius himſelf.
And now, My Lord, I beg that your Lordſhip will pleaſe ſoberly to review the Evidence that is here produc'd before you and the World; and will ſuppoſe your ſelf in the High Court of Chancery, in the ſame Capacity as your Noble Father formerly preſided there; and will put the Caſe, that your Lordſhip had an exactly paral⯑lel Cauſe before you; that the Witneſſes were as numerous and as plain on each Side as theſe here produc'd appear to be, and no otherwiſe; and that your Lordſhip were oblig'd to proceed exact⯑ly, [38] ſecundum allegata & probata, which is the known Rule of that and all other like Courts of Juſtice and Equity among us: And I thereupon Appeal to Your Lordſhip, ſuppoſing you had no Byaſs on either Side, as no upright Judge ought to have, whether you could poſſibly, with a ſafe Conſci⯑ence, determine on the Side repreſenting the Atha⯑naſians? Whether, in a Point where the general Light of Nature and common Senſe is ſo ſtrong againſt the Athanaſian Doctrine; the Teſtimonies for it comparatively ſo few, and ſo uncertain; and thoſe againſt it ſo very many and ſo very preg⯑nant; whether, I ſay, your Lordſhip could poſſi⯑bly, with a ſafe Conſcience, pronounce from this Evidence, that the Son of God and his Holy Spi⯑rit are ſtrictly Co-eternal to the Supreme God the Father, as the Athanaſians affirm? Or whether you would not be forced to declare, in Agreement with the Voice of Natural, the Patriarchal, the Jewiſh, and the original Chriſtian Religion, that there is but one eternal Being, one eternal God; and that he is no other than the Father of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt.
And here, My Lord, give me Leave to wiſh, heartily to wiſh, that theſe ancient Texts and Teſtimonies, thus plainly produc'd before you in this one important Article, might ſo far influence Your Lordſhip, as to engage you to endeavour that the ſame Method might be taken in the other Branches of this and all other the like Controver⯑sies among Chriſtians: That Your Lordſhip, who has had long ſo conſiderable a Hand in the pub⯑lick Management of Affairs, Sacred and Eccleſia⯑ſtical, as well as Temporal and Civil, in this Na⯑tion; might be a happy Means of bringing all the Parts of our old genuine Chriſtianity to ſuch a fair, open, and impartial Examination, as I have here propos'd, and endeavour'd to exempli⯑fy in theſe Papers; that ſo, Party, Faction, and Prejudice laid aſide, all honeſt and ſober Chri⯑ſtians might, in a peaceable Manner, unite toge⯑ther into ſuch Societies, for promoting Primitive Chri⯑ſtianity, [39] as has been formerly exemplify'd at my Houſe; or, however, might jointly proſecute the ſame pious Deſigns for the Diſcovery and Reſto⯑ration of the Pure and Holy Religion of our Sa⯑viour Chriſt, as it was once deliver'd to the Saints, by ſuch other Chriſtian Methods as they ſhould judge might better tend to the ſame excellent End.
It has hitherto been Your Lordſhip's great Glory to have ſupported and encourag'd that Church of England in which you was educated; and the World has great Reaſon to believe, by your dai⯑ly religious Attendance on the Church's Liturgy at Home; as well as by your alike devout week⯑ly Attendance on the ſame publick Service at Church; either of which, in our Age, I am ſorry to ſay it, is but too uncommon in Perſons of your Lordſhip's Quality; that you are in earneſt in ſuch your Support and Encouragement thereof; or that you do it becauſe you believe this Church to be truly agreeable to the Primitive State of the Goſ⯑pel. Would it not therefore, My Lord, be ſtill more highly honourable for your Lordſhip, to be a Means of making a more careful Review of our Doctrine, Worſhip, Practice, and Diſcipline? That ſo the ſame Church, which has long been the Glory and Bulwark of the Proteſtant Religion, even in it's preſent imperfect State, may firſt of all the reſt be exactly conform'd to the Perfection of the Chriſtian Settlement; and ſo may be the great Exemplar and Pattern of all the other Churches, as they become gradually ſenſible of the Neceſſity of ſuch a farther Reformation? All the modern Churches, and among them our own, are, to be ſure, very unwilling to allow that they ſtand in any great Need of a farther Reformation. But as your Lordſhip will eaſily obſerve, that the learn⯑ed Members of every one of theſe Modern Churches declare ſuch a farther Reformation to be neceſſary in all other Churches but their own; ſo am I ve⯑ry ſure that the truly Learned and Impartial of e⯑very one of them, who have carefully compar'd [40] the preſent Settlements with that of the firſt three Centuries of Chriſtianity, do privately know, how little ſoever they may publickly confeſs that every one of the preſent Churches, without Exception, do ſtand in no ſmall Need of ſuch a farther Re⯑formation. I beg Leave, my Lord, to conclude here very nearly in the Words with which I for⯑merly ended my fourth Volume of Primitive Chri⯑ſtianity Reviv'd.
I do here ſolemnly appeal, as to the Truth and Fairneſs of my Quotations and Aſſertions, here and elſewhere, to Archbiſhop Wake, Biſhop Hooper, Biſhop Smalridge, Biſhop Potter, Biſhop Chandler, L. C. J. King, Sir Iſaac Newton, Dr. Bentley, Dr. Whit⯑by, Dr. Clarke, Dr. Hare, Dr. Marſhal, Dr. Water⯑land, Mr. Wall, Mr. Gale, Mr. Reeves, and the other great Maſters of Primitive Antiquity; and claim it as the Right of Truth and Religion, that they ſpeak their Minds fairly and fully, as they will an⯑ſwer it to our common Lord another Day, when no po⯑litical, prudential, or temporal Regards, will be admitted againſt the plain Demands of Conſcience and Sincerity. And I humbly move thoſe in Authority, that they procure this whole Matter to be impar⯑tially and publickly examin'd, as the other Popiſh Doctrines were at the Beginning of the Reforma⯑tion; and, if the common Opinions appear not on⯑ly deſtitute of, but contrary to the Evidence of Scripture and the firſt Centuries, as I am fully per⯑ſwaded they will, that then Care be taken to caſt them out of the Church; and to amend and re⯑form all our publick Offices, Creeds, and Articles, and reduce them all to the Primitive Standards. I alſo humbly move that, in Order to theſe and the like Amendments and Improvements in our Eccle⯑ſiaſtical Eſtabliſhment, the Pretenſions of that wonderful Book ſtill extant, the Apoſtolical Conſti⯑tutions, be examin'd, with the like Care, and in the ſame publick Manner: And, ſo far as it ſhall appear to be a genuine, uncorrupted, Apoſtolical Work by Clemens Romanus, with the Addition of the moſt authentick original Jewiſh and Gentile [41] publick Liturgies; as I am fully perſwaded it will; it may then be allow'd its due Weight in the Amend⯑ment of the Doctrine, Diſcipline, Government, Worſhip, and Canons of the Church; or rather, that it may intirely be admitted as an original Rule and Standard in thoſe Matters; as all Chri⯑ſtians, who believe them genuine, and, [for the Main] uncorrupt, are immediately oblig'd to do: eſpecially ſince the leaving theſe Conſtitutions, and ſetting up other Doctrines and Orders in their ſtead, ſeem to have been the very Cauſes of almoſt all the Anti-chriſtian Corruptions of theſe laſt 1200 or 1300 Years together. But if all theſe my honeſt and well-meant Endeavours and Deſires be rejected; and inſtead of any Reformation, I my ſelf be traduc'd, and abus'd, and perſecuted, I can only acquieſce in the Senſe of having ſincerely, with ſome Trouble and Hazard to my ſelf in this World, diſcharg'd my Duty; and patiently wait for my Reward in that which is to come. For as to thoſe Anathema's, or Names of Diſtinction and Reproach, which in this Caſe I muſt expect, I va⯑lue them not at all: As having long accuſtom'd my ſelf to govern both my Belief and my Life by the original Standards of Chriſtianity, without Regard to the contrary Opinions and Practices of theſe later and corrupter Ages: And ſo, LIBERAVI ANI⯑MAM MEAM.
I am, My Lord, with great Reſpect,
Appendix A BOOKS printed for J. Senex in Saliſ⯑bury-Court, and W. Taylor at the Ship in Pater-noſter-Row.
[]- I. AN humble and ſerious Addreſs to the Princes and States of Europe, to admit, or at leaſt o⯑penly to tolerate the Chriſtian Religion in their Do⯑minions. Containing, 1. A Demonſtration that none of them do, properly ſpeaking, admit or o⯑penly tolerate the Chriſtian Religion in their Do⯑minions at this Day. 2. The true Occaſions why it is not admitted or openly tolerated by them. 3. Some Reaſons why they ought to admit, or at leaſt openly tolerate this Religion. 4. An earneſt Addreſs to the ſeveral European Princes and States, grounded upon the Premiſes, for the Admiſſion, or at leaſt the open Toleration of the ſame Chriſtian Religion in their Dominions.
- II. A Letter of Thanks to the Right Reverend the Lord Biſhop of London, for his late Letter to his Clergy, againſt the Uſe of new Forms of Dox⯑ology, &c.
- III. A ſecond Letter to the Right Reverend the Lord Biſhip of London, concerning the Pimitive Doxologies, wherein the Seaſonable Review of his Account of them is conſider'd.
- IV. Scripture Politicks: Or, an impartial Ac⯑count of the Origin and Meaſures of Government Eccleſiaſtical and Civil; taken out of the Books of the Old and New Teſtament: With a Poſt⯑ſcript relating to the Report of the Committee of Convocation, about the Biſhop of Bangor's Pre⯑ſervative and Sermon before the King; to which is ſubjoin'd, The Suppoſal: Or a new Scheme of Government, firſt publiſh'd, A.D. 1712, and now re-printed.
All by the Reverend Mr. William Whiſton, M.A. ſome⯑time Profeſſor of the Mathematicks in the Univerſity of Cambridge.
- Zitationsvorschlag für dieses Objekt
- TextGrid Repository (2020). TEI. 4785 Mr Whiston s letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of Nottingham concerning the eternity of the Son of God and of the Holy Spirit. University of Oxford Text Archive. . https://hdl.handle.net/21.T11991/0000-001A-5E62-D