fince the advantages, that the Heathen would have taken ARt. from it, must be too vifible not to be soon obferved. The I. Heathens retorted upon them their doctrine of a man's being a God, and of God's having a Son: and every one who engaged in this controverfy framed fuch anfwers to thefe objections, as he thought he could beft maintain. This, as it gave the rife to the errors which fome brought into the church, fo it furnishes us with a copious proof of the common sense of the Chriftians of those ages, who all agreed in general to the doctrine, though they had many different, and fome very erroneous ways of explaining it among them.

I now come to the fpecial proofs concerning each of the Three Perfons: but there being other articles relating to the Son and the Holy Ghoft, the proofs of these two will belong more properly to the explanation of those articles : therefore all that belongs to this article is to prove that the Father is truly God; but that needs not be much infifted on, for there is no difpute about it: none deny that he is God; many think that he is fo truly God, that there is no other that can be called God befides him, unless it be in a larger sense of the word: and therefore I will here conclude all that feems neceffary to be faid on this first article; on which if I have dwelt the longer, it was because the ftating the idea of God right being the fundamental article of all religion, and the key into every part of it, this was to be done with all the fulness and clearness poffible.

In a word, to recapitulate a little what has been faid: the livelieft way of framing an idea of God, is to confider our own fouls, which are faid to be made after the image of God. An attentive reflection on what we perceive in ourfelves, will carry us further than any other thing whatfoever, to form juft and true thoughts of God. We perceive what thought is, but with that we do also perceive the advantage of fuch an eafy thought as arifes out of a fenfation, fuch as feeing or hearing, which gives us no trouble we think without any trouble of many of the objects that we fee all at once, or fo near all at once, that the progreffion from one object to another is fcarce perceptible but the labour of ftudy and of purfuing confequences wearies us; though the pleasure or the vanity of having found them out compenfates for the pain they gave us, and fets men on to new enquiries. We perceive in ourfelves a love of truth, and a vexation when we fee we are in error, or are in the dark and we feel that we act the most perfectly, when we act upon the cleareft views of truth, and in the ftriéteft purfuance of it; and the more

E 3

prefent

I.

ART. prefent and regular, the more calm and steady that our thoughts of all things are, that lie in our compass to know, prefent, paft, or to come, we do plainly perceive that we. do thereby become perfecter and happier beings. Now out of all this we can eafily rife up in our thoughts to an idea of a mind that fees all things by a clear and full intuition, without the poffibility of being miftaken; and that ever acts in that light, upon the fureft profpect, and with the perfecteft reafon; and that does therefore always rejoice in every thing it does, and has a conftant perception of all truth ever prefent to it. This idea does fo genuinely arife from what we perceive both of the perfections and the imperfections of our own minds, that a very little reflection will help us to form it to a very high de

gree.

The perception alfo that we have of goodnefs, of a defire to make others good, and of the pleasure of effecting it; of the joy of making any one wifer or better, of making any one's life eafy, and of raifing his mind higher, will alfo help us in the forming of our ideas of God. But in this we meet with much difficulty and difappointment. So this leads us to apprehend how diffufive of itself infinite goodness muft needs be; and what is the eternal joy that infinite love has, in bringing fo many to that exalted ftate of endless happiness. We do alfo feel a power iffuing from us by a thought, that fets our bodies in motion : the varieties in our thoughts create a vaft variety in the ftate of our bodies; but with this, as that power is limited to our own bodies, fo it is often checked by diforders in them, and the foul fuffers a great deal from thofe painful fenfations that its union with the body fubjects it to. From hence we can eafily apprehend how the Supreme Mind can by a thought fet matter into what motions it will, all matter being conftantly fubject to fuch impreffions as the acts of the Divine Mind give it. This abfolute dominion over all matter makes it to move, and fhapes it according to the acts of that Mind; and matter has no power, by any irregularity it falls into, to refift thofe impreffions which do immediately command and govern it; nor can it throw any uneafy fenfations into that perfect Being.

:

This conduces alfo to give us a diftinct idea of miracles. All matter is uniform and it is only the variety of its motions and texture, that makes all the variety that is in the world. Now as the acts of the Eternal Mind gave matter its first motion, and put it into that course that we do now call the courfe of nature; fo another act of the

fame

fame Mind can either fufpend, ftop, or change that courfe ART. at pleasure, as he who throws a bowl may ftop it in its courfe, or throw it back if he will; this being only the altering that impulfe which himself gave: fo if one act of the infinite Mind puts things in a regular course, another act interpofed may change that at pleasure. And thus with relation to God, miracles are no more difficult than any other act of Providence: they are only more amazing to us, because they are lefs ordinary, and go out of the common and regular courfe of things. By all this it appears how far the obfervation of what we perceive concerning ourselves may carry us to form livelier and clearer thoughts of God.

So much may fuffice upon the firft Article.

ARTICLE II.

Of the Word or Son of God, which was made very Man.

The Son which is the Word of the Father, begotten from Everlasting of the Fathez; the very and Eternal God, of one Substance with the Father, took Han's Nature in the Womb of the Blelled Uirgin of her Substance; so that two whole and perfec Natures, that is, the Godhead and Manhood, were joined together in one Person; never to be divided: whereof is one Chrift, very God and very Han: who truly fuffered, was dead and buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a Sacrifice not only for Driginal Guilt, but also for acual Sins of Men.

HERE are in this Article five heads to be ex

T plained:

I. That the Son or Word is of the fame fubftance with the Father, begotten of him from all eternity.

II. That he took man's nature upon him in the womb of the bleffed Virgin, and of her fubftance.

III. That the two natures of the Godhead and Manhood, both ftill perfect, were in him joined in one perfon never to be divided.

IV. That Chrift truly fuffered, was crucified, dead, and buried.

V. That he was our facrifice to reconcile the Father to us, and that not only for original guilt, but for actual fins.

The firft of thefe leads me to profecute what was begun in the former Article: and to prove, that the Son, or Word, was from all eternity begotten of the fame fubftance with the Father. It is here to be noted, that Chrift is in two refpects the Son, and the only begotten Son of God. The one is, as he was man; the miraculous overfhadowing of the bleffed Virgin by the Holy Ghoft, having, without the ordinary courfe of nature, formed the first beginnings of Christ's human body in the womb of the

Virgin.

II.

Virgin. Thus that miracle being instead of a natural be- ART. getting, he may in that refpect be called the begotten, and the only begotten Son of God. The other fenfe is, that the Word, or the divine Person, was in and of the substance of the Father, and fo was truly God. It is alfo to be confidered, that by the word one Subflance, is to be understood that this fecond Person is not a creature of a pure and excellent nature, like God, holy and perfect, as we are called to be; but is truly God as the Father is. Begetting is a term that naturally fignifies the relation between the Father and the Son; but what it ftrictly fignifies here is not poffible for us to understand till we comprehend this whole matter: nor can we be able to affign a reason why the emanation of the Son, and not that of the Holy Ghost likewise, is called begetting. In this we use the Scripture terms, but muft confefs we cannot frame a diftinct apprehenfion of that which is fo far above us. This begetting was from all Eternity: if it had been in time, the Son and Holy Ghost must have been creatures; but if they are truly God, they must be eternal, and not produced by having a being given them, but educed of a substance that was eternal, and from which they did eternally fpring. All these are the natural confequences of the main Article that is now to be proved; and when it is once proved clearly from Scripture, these do follow by a natural and neceffary

deduction.

The first and great proof of this is taken from the words with which St. John begins his Gofpel. In the beginning John i. 1, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word 2, 3. was God; the fame was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. Here it is to be observed, that these words are fet down here, before St. John comes to speak of Christ's being made in our nature: this paffage belongs to another precedent being that he had. The beginning. alfo here is fet to import, that it was before creation or time now a duration before time is eternal. So this beginning can be no other than that duration which was before all things that were made. It is alfo plainly faid over and over again, that all things were made by this Word. A power to create must be infinite; for it is certain, that a power which can give being is without bounds. And although the word make may feem capable of a larger fenfe, yet, as in other places of the New Teftament, the ftricter word create is ufed and applied to Chrift, as the Maker of all things in heaven and earth, vifible and invifible; fo the word make is used through the Old Teftament for create;