'j.^dja 
 
 
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 PROPER DEITY. 
 
 OISriNCT PEIiSONALITr\ WENCY, & WOHSUTP, 
 
 ii0t tisi xtttvd <^abil0 
 
 M^s^nEU'i^ ^-AiiisG. Bevan, Cowan, .6rc 
 
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 '/TE £GCiD;£RS FR. :! Utir^ 0? ENGLAND ; 
 
 TO WHICH I>T ApDE]>. 
 
 . rawEs or 
 
 ^ TIU: '.riNITY \ND INCA|lNATiON - 
 
 AND AL30, AS ■ - 
 
 tiLPHABETICAL LISI OF FIFTY Hl^lBHEW TITLFS 
 
 wi:th fexPLA>Arioys. 
 
 W-JT 
 
 i 
 
 ill 
 
 ii 
 
 [^1 
 
 BY ROBERT HARKNE8S CARNE, A R 
 
 SOLDB\ DYEK, tPIlAM, TRfc-W.VAXS, & EAL'.F '^latc r.nj.r.OV.O,, 
 
 Bi.i.TER; rrVTCHARD, SEELLV, RIV'vgTONS, WlLLlA S. 
 
 H Vi».LTt)N, & £UTTGx^,li)NDO> ; BLLGIN, Sc 
 
 RICHARDSON, BKi . lTtfc,rCNj 
 
 PLY5:ct. ii. 
 J/i-i aO oifcr Borkserurs. 
 
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 ^iir^r^r^ferir^r^^r^r^ir^,:'- 
 

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 OF THE 
 AT 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 i>oTw^'v-no:>j- of- 
 
 SAMUEL AGNEW, 
 
 or PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
 
 G4(} 
 
 
 >S3^"!r2^9'^ 
 
 I Case, _ Division... ..::v...| 
 
 % Shelf. Section^:: | 
 
 Booh., f^^ ,^ 
 
 ; sec 
 I y 30 
 
V 
 
 \ 
 
THE 
 
 PROPER DEITY, 
 
 AND 
 DISTINCT PERSONALITY, AGENCY, ^ WORSHIP, 
 
 OF 
 
 THE HOLY SPIRIT, 
 
 VINDICATED, 
 
 ^gain0t tfie recent CalJil^ 
 
 OF 
 
 Messieurs Baring, Bevak, Cowan, Sfc, 
 
 LATE SECEDERS FROM THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND J 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED, 
 
 JiH A IP IP IM ©a^» 
 
 ON 
 
 THE DOCTRINES OF 
 
 THE TRINITY AND INCARNATION; 
 
 AND ALSO, AN 
 ALPHABETICAL LIST OF FIFTY HEBREW TITLES 
 
 WITH EXPLANATIONS, 
 
 BY ROBERT HARKNESSXARNE, A. B. 
 
 " Fear this glorious and fearful name. Jehovah thy Alehim." 
 " The name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." 
 " For there are three, •who bear -witness m Heaven, the Father, the Word, and 
 the Holy Spirit, and tliese- three are one." 
 
 Peut. xxviii, 58. Matt. xx\'iii. ig. 1 John v, T* 
 
 SOLD BY DYER, UPHAM, TREW>IA|CS, & BALLE (late BRADFORD,) 
 
 EXETER; HATCHARU, SEELEY, RIVINGTONS, WILLIAMS,. 
 
 HAMILTON, & BUTTON, LONDON; BULGIN, 6c 
 
 RICHARDSON, ERISTOi; NETTLETON, 
 
 PLYMOUTH; 
 
 And ail otho' Booksellers, 
 
ENTERED AT STATIONERS* HALL. 
 
 PRINTED BY T. BESLEY, JUN, 
 62, Hiffh. Street, 
 
 1818. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGR 
 
 Preface 5 
 
 On the proper Deity, and distinct Personality , 
 Agency, and Worship, of the Holy Spirit, 1 
 
 On the Doctrine of a Trinity of co-essential 
 persons in the unity of the divine nature, and of 
 the Incarnation of the second mode of subsis- 
 tence, or the Son, in the fulness of time. 105 
 
 On the Titles of Deity occurring in the Hebrew 
 Scriptures, as demonstrative of a plun-person- 
 ality in the Godhead, and of that plurality of 
 persons being a Tnnity, 261 
 
IPIIEIPASIS 
 
 T 
 
 HE first part of the ensuing Treatise was 
 undertaken, upon the perusal of a Tract against the 
 personality of the Holy Spirit, published by a Mr. 
 John Marsom, a Bookseller in London. He tells us 
 ID his Preface, that *' although this piece has been 
 published near twenty years, there has not been any 
 attempt made to refute its doctrine ; nor has it been 
 noticed, except from the Pulpit.'^ Whoever will 
 trouble himself to go through the said unmolested 
 piece, may easily discover a reason for the alledged 
 neglect, namely, that it was by no means deserving of 
 any very particular notice, since it contains nothing 
 new on the subject of which it professes to treat, but 
 is chiefly made up of sundry stale objections to the 
 Truth, which have been satisfactorily answered by a 
 vast number of Christian Divines in the different ages 
 of the Church. Nor would this long neglected piece 
 Lave been noticed now, but for the revival of Unita- 
 rian sentiments by tl.e Reverend George Baring, who, 
 to support his cause, thought fit to order down some 
 eopies of it, for sale, and for distribution rm^ngst bis 
 friends. He was obliging enough to send me a copy 
 
Tl PREFACE 
 
 of the 2nd. and afterwards, a copy of the 3rd. edition, 
 through a mutual friend ; and having understood, from 
 a conversation %vithliim on the subject, that he thought 
 highly of this Socinian production on the whole as a 
 clever performance, it occurred to me as being 
 desirable that such an opportunity should be embraced, 
 of bringing Mr, Baring's opinions to the test of Scrip- 
 ture, considering them as pretty faithfully expressed 
 in the language of Mr. Marsom, The reader is there- 
 fore requested to regard the present attempt as intended 
 rather for a vindication of the honour due to the 
 eternal Spirit, against tlie awfully anti-scriptural ideas 
 of Mr. Baling and his friends, than for an answer to 
 Mr. Marsom, whose Tract, but for this, should have 
 still continued in the unenvied possession of its long 
 enjoyed repose. 
 
 The second division of this work, or the Appendix, 
 ■was occasioned by the adoption of Unitarianism by 
 the Keverend T. C. Cowan of Bristol, as avowed by 
 him in a published Sermon on the work of the Holy 
 Spirit, &c. This led to some remarks on Mr. John 
 Bellamy's Swedenborgianism, which is near akin to 
 the newly revived Sabellian-unitarian system; and 
 likewise to a few observations on a recent Pamphlet 
 by the Beverend Mr. Bevan, a convert to the senti- 
 ments of his friend Mr. Baring : little more is con- 
 tained in this last mentioned Pamphlet, than the 
 arguments and objections, &c. of Mr. Marsom, clothed 
 indeed in a new dress, though in several instances, we 
 have the identical expressions, as well as sentiments, 
 of this Unitarian writer, in Mr, Bevan's work. 
 
PREFACE' Vii 
 
 The list of Hebrew Titles, with explanations^ 
 which forms the third and last part, was added with 
 a view of giving the Christian reader some idea of the 
 proofs for the doctrine of the Trinity,* &c. which 
 
 * It has been remarked by a few individuals, to whose inspec- 
 tion some parts of this work have been submitted, that a 
 plurality indeed has been clearly established from the Hebrew, 
 bnttliat the grand point still remains, namely, to prove that 
 fhirality lO lie a Trmify. 'Sow 1st. it has been shewed, that the 
 plurals which occur ia the Hebrew, as tZ)»n/i^ Alehim, Sec. 
 cannot be so construed as to intend merely the Godhead and 
 the Manhood, or, what Sabelllans and others v/ould call, God the 
 Father, and the human soul or created Son in linion ; because 
 mn' Jehovah (or the essence self-subsisting) is declared to be 
 the Alehim^ {I Kings xviii. 39.) — "Jehovah, he is the Alehim; 
 Jehovah he is the Alehim." It is also solemnly pronounced, 
 that there are no Aleliim besides Jehovah ; and, witli respect to 
 the Manhood, it is distinguished /ro/» 'the Alehim Jehovah, "/ 
 Jehovah will be tlieir Alehim, and my servant David (the beloved,) 
 a prince among them." 2nd. This view agrees with the cheru- 
 bic figure, since it has /our CD'JS faces, and not two only; 
 three representing the divine persons, or Alehim, and the fourth 
 the face of a man, representing the Manhood united to the Son, 
 which exactly accords with what St. John declares, that, " the 
 word was God, and the word was made flesh," and that this 
 divine v ord is " the only-begoiten of the Father" 3rd. The 
 thrice holy (or triple ii^'inp kedo"!i>) of Isaiah, explains howmamj 
 are intended by *'the /Vle'iimthe holy cues'* (or CD'tt^Tp kedosh- 
 im,) of Joshua, and whom he asserts to be Jehor-'.h. And the 
 Nevr Testament expression of ayioa-, xyiotr, txyscr, "Holy, 
 Holy, Holy," corroborates this idea. 4th. And since we refer 
 to the Hebrew Scriptures, not to found upon them some point 
 unnoticed in the New Testament, but only in confirmation of a 
 fublimc doctrine clearly revealed to us there, Me have gained 
 our point in proviVig a plurality, inasmuch as the New Testament 
 kaows of «o other plurality than that of a Trinity, in the name of 
 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, v/itli tiie Manhood assumed by the 
 second of these sacred persons, who is therefore called vS^l-JDJ? 
 
▼iii PREFACB 
 
 exist in the Scriptures of the Old Testament. The 
 author does not pretend to have made any new dis- 
 coveries. Novelty, in religion, is but another name 
 for heresy. His sole endeavour has been to state to 
 
 Emanu-el, God with us. 5th. It has been shewed that the 
 plural CD^Dt!:^ shemim, the heavenly ones, is applied to tlie 
 Deity by Daniel, who says, " the Heavens are the ptD'7U? 
 rulers." Now the New Testament explains shemim by ovpocvot 
 oiiratioi, the Heavens ; and how many Heavens does it intimate ? 
 ThreCy and no more. Paul speaks of the ovptxvocr Ipfioar third 
 Heaven, v/hich implies two others ; and the Jews call the three 
 superior miSD sepJiiroth or numerations, " the three Heavens " 
 or heavenlies. If then the Heavens are representative of the 
 Deity, they declare a Trinity; and that they are so, is plain, 
 from the Hebrew shemim being used for the Deity, and from the 
 Greek ouranoi being so likewise ; for, in the New Testament, 
 *' the kingdom of God " and " the kingdom of the Heavens" are 
 used as synonymous expressions. Persons of Hutchinsoniari 
 sentiments would render shemim by names. But niDt^ shemoth 
 is the word for names, and shemhn mesns the Heavens ; it i» 
 therefore translated, in the scTcnty and in the New Testament, 
 by ouranoi, riOt by ovof/^jtloi onomatUy names. And they would 
 make shemim intend the three conditions of the heavenly fluid, 
 which they call fire, light, and spirit; and the$e they esteem the 
 types of the divine persons in Jehovah. Could their philosophy 
 be established, it would still demonstrate the. point of there 
 being hut three shemhn or celestial rulers. However, we have 
 surer ground to build upon than this ingenious Hypothesis ; it 
 being quite sufficient for our purpose, that shemim is applied to 
 Deity, that it is interpreted by ouranoi in the Greek, and that 
 the number of these heavenlies is restricted to three. 6th. Christ 
 as to his humanity, is called the C3't^»":p tt^lp kedosh kedoshitn, 
 the holy place cr lefnple of the holy ones. The Father, Son, and 
 Spirit, then, are those holies ; and these are the co-partakers of 
 vcx-v % TrXr.pcoixcc %cr @£0%%cr « all the fulness of the Godhead," 
 which is represented as dwelling in the man ; and this expression 
 is used in Matthew xxiii. 21, for the Deity dwelling in the 
 Temple at Jerusalem. In both passages it h the verb Kotloixw 
 
PREFACE i« 
 
 his readers what he could meet "V^'ith in the word of 
 God that might tend to confirm or illustrate the 
 doctrines contended for; and to produce the most 
 approved writers, such as Lowth, Horslej^, Schleusner, 
 Parkhnrst, Buxtorf, Taylor, Home, &c. as authori- 
 ties for what he might advance. What has been done, 
 was done in haste; the hist part, on Mr. Marsom's 
 Tract, being ready for the press before Mr. Cowan's 
 Sermon had appeared, the appearance of which gave 
 rise to the subsequent parts of this work. This, and 
 a want of the requisite health and strength to revise; 
 &c. will, it is hoped, be admitted as an excuse for 
 its crude unfinished stale. Important errors ought 
 not to be excused ; but should any unimportant inac- 
 curacies occur, in respect of these Xlie indulgence of the 
 Critic may be fairly expected. The Author has 
 discovered several literal and typcgraphical errors, 
 such as, in English, Anfetype for An/itjpe; in Latic, 
 diiiere for diiferre ; in Greek, ysyujiy.syov for yzwuiMvov ; and 
 in Hebrew, sometimes a d caph for a n beth, at other 
 times a j nun for a j gimel, and here and there a i 
 daleth for a n resh, a n he for a n heth, and a » jod for 
 a 1 van, or visa versa. Such blemishes will unavoid- 
 ably appear, more or less, in the generality of printed 
 books.* If it should prove *'in doctrine uncorrupt,' 
 all other things are trifles light as air. 
 
 Kntoikeoo, which properly intends a certain fixed and durable 
 dwelling, as opposed to Tnzpiytzu puroikeoo, to sojourn, &c. 
 Christ then is the true and everlasting QNI/i^ n*2 "ho'^.se of 
 the Alehim," or ocyicc {:rKnvr/) ocyiuv Tabernacle of the Holy ones. 
 • The note at page 206, belongs to page 207 ; the asterisk * 
 at the word stand in the former, should have been fiXed to the 
 
X PREPACE 
 
 There will be some, it is probable, who will object 
 to the work altogether, from its being of a coEtrover- 
 (sial nature. But does not this antipathy to discussion 
 often proceed from mental indolence? Sometime^ 
 indeed it may originate in an apprehension lest the 
 Truth itself should suffer from a too severe investiga- 
 tion; as if the pure gold could be injured by the 
 clement which purges away the dross! But it may in 
 other cases arise from a weakly faith, which dreads 
 the test of an explicit avowal of sentiment, founded 
 upon a decisive unambiguous statement of the naked 
 Truth. But the doctrine of the Trinity is not such an 
 insignificant point, as that it may or may not be 
 embraced; rather, a positive belief in this sublime 
 dogma of revealed religion is essential to true devotion, 
 since it immediately respects the nature of that glorious 
 Being, who is, confessedly, the sole legitimate object 
 of our adorations. I say, belief', since the error of the 
 many is, that they imagine that it devolves upon them 
 to comprehend this high mystery with the understan- 
 ding, which is more palpably irrational than if any 
 one should contend that a Nut-shell could become the 
 recipient of the Ocean; whereas, all that devolves 
 upon them is this, to ajiprehend it by faith, and to 
 fasten upon it as a substantial reality because revealed. 
 
 word quote in the latter page, and the Note placed accordingly. 
 In the Note at pa^e 103, Mr. Snow and Mr. Evans are excepted 
 from the charge of Sabellian Unitarianism ; but it appears, from 
 more correct information, that these Seceders are not, in thi$ 
 particular at least, separatist* from their friend*, Mr, Baring, 
 &c. 
 
PREFACE 3t| 
 
 " Our religion (says Bishop Home,) is founded upon 
 it." I rather incline therefore to the opinion of this 
 amiable prelate, who, in reference to this very subject 
 of the Trinity, observes, that *'no mischief will arise 
 from discussion. Truth always has been, and always 
 will be, a gainer by it. It is a whole«ome exercise 
 for us. It excites attention, and prevents indifference^ 
 the enemy of all others most to be dreaded." Nor is 
 that remark of Archdeacon Paley amiss which occurs 
 in his Natural Theology. *'By investigation, the 
 following points are always gained, in favour of doc- 
 trines even the most generally acknowledged (sup- 
 posing them to be true,) viz, stability and impression. 
 Occasions will arise, to try the firmness of our most 
 habitual opinions. And upon these occasions, it is a 
 matter of incalculable use to feel our foundation ; to 
 find a support in argument, for what we had taken up 
 upon authority." And to these testimonies may be 
 added that of Bishop Pearce, who tells us, that 
 *' disputes about the Christian religion seem to have as 
 much contributed to the preserving of it pure^ as the 
 constant motion of the waters does to the keeping of 
 them sweet.'* And upon this principle is founded the 
 sentiment of the Reverend Thomas Scott, namely, 
 that ''nothing is so unfavourable to the progress of 
 genuine Christianity, among mankind in general, nay, 
 among the bulk of nominal Christians, as a deadcalmJ'* 
 It is the motionless pool, not the running stream, nor 
 the undulating Ocean, which grows stagnant. 
 
 And in addition to the preservation of Truth in 
 it! native purity, this other advantage is gained by Uie 
 
Xii PREFACB 
 
 action of controversy; Truth becomes analyzed, or 
 resolved into its constituent parts, as mineral sub- 
 stances are by fire, and we are thus enabled to 
 discover the beauties which belong to its various 
 proportions, whereas, before, we could only perceive 
 fits general effect as a beautiful whole. Thus it has 
 been observed of the ray of light (that exquisite en> 
 blem of Truth,) that it is necessary for it to undergo 
 the action of the prism, in order that the diffei^nt 
 colours, which are combined together in the formation 
 of its inimitable whiteness, may, by being separated,, 
 or rather, severally exhibited in connexion, be the 
 more nicely distinguished, and duly appreciated. 
 JBut indeed it is to nature's " showery prism," m'c owe 
 that delightful analysis of light, which every eye 
 beholds, and beholding admires, in the variegated 
 Hainbow. If no one objects to this exhibition of 
 light in its distinct hues, which, on the contrary, 
 enraptures the spectator by -the disclosure of so many 
 latent charms, no one has reason to quarrel with the 
 distribution of Truth into its component parts, nor 
 with that jfree discussion Avhich is so essential in the 
 production of this effect. We are very deeply in- 
 debted to the Spirit of Truth, in many respects, for 
 the controversial writings of St, Paul, and particularly 
 for those portions of them in which he has been direct- 
 ed to contend for the Resurrection of the Dead, the 
 absolute Sovereignty of God, justification by faith 
 alone without the deeds of the law, and the superiority 
 of the Gospel of Christ to the abrogated dispensation 
 of Moses; because, who sees not, that, besides other 
 
PREFACE XIII 
 
 advantages resulting from the agitation of those points, 
 much additional light is elicited, and through its means 
 we become infinitely better acquainted with the most 
 important verities of our Holy Religion? It is well 
 observed by the Reverend Joseph Milner, in his 
 Church History, in allusion to the error of Pelagi.«- 
 that " his Heresy was eventually one grand means of 
 introducing juster views of Gospel Grace, than had 
 for a long time obtained in the Church, and of reviv- 
 ing Christian truth, "humility, and piety." But how 
 did it operate thus ? It originated a discussion, in 
 which Augustine sustained a prominent part, and 
 whose labours, besides being instrumental in illumina- 
 ting that particular age, have been of essential service 
 in the cause of truth from his own day, up to the mo- 
 ment in which we live, 'i he same may be said of 
 the controversy which arose at that period respecting 
 tJie Doctrine of the Trinity; it gave occasion to Au- 
 gustine's masterly work on that subject; "his trea- 
 tise on the Trinity* (says Milner,) is very elaborate; 
 
 * Augustine flourisbed about a. d. S98. What then becomes 
 of that jejune objection which Mr. Bevan borrows from Sociniau 
 writers, namely, that " we took this false doctrine from the 
 Papists?" (page 32.) Since the rise of the Papacy may be 
 dated at about a. d. 529, wiien the edict of Justinian was 
 established ; though, according to the learned Mede, it arose 
 in the Year 456. Besides; the doctrine did not originate with 
 Augustine, but, as Mr. Milner testifies of Ida treatise, "It is in 
 perfect unison with the expositions and sentiments of all the 
 pious men who preceded him, and particularly with the views of 
 l^'ovutiun in his treatise on the same subject Whether the 
 writers were of the general Church, or Dissenters, they are per- 
 fectly unanimous in confessing the Trinity in Unity, and iu 
 b 
 
XIV PREFACE 
 
 perhaps all that has ever been said in any age, in 
 vindication and explanation of that great mystery, is 
 contained in this Book." Nor is it possible to omit 
 the mention of Luther in later times, to whose exer- 
 tions, as directed by the invisible hand of Him who 
 ** worketh all things after the counsel of his own will," 
 we owe much on the score of that truly Protesta»t 
 Doctrine, justification before God by faith in the im- 
 maculate righteousness of Christ, which fundamen- 
 tal article of the evangelical system was never per- 
 haps so ably treated, or lucidly stated, by any Divine 
 since the days of St. Paul, as by the great Saxon 
 reformer in his celebrated commentary on the epistle 
 to the Galatians. And this precious fruit grew out 
 
 proving the doctrine from Scripture." This Novatian flourished 
 about a. d. 251, which, eren admitting Mede's calculation, is 
 more than 200 Years prior to the existence of the Pa^al See. 
 The famous Athanasius wrote in defence of the same Truth 
 about a. d. 320. And Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, in the 
 Year 169, adopted the word Trinity as a suitable term to express 
 hriQ^y the doctrine now intended by it ; whereas Christianity did 
 not begin to become the Religion of the Roman Empire until 
 t\\^ fourth Century, under Constantine the Great, who was the 
 first Roman Emperor that did not persecute the faithful. But 
 Mr. Bevan knew, that to excite such a suspicion in the public 
 mind would subserve his cause; though with equal fairness 
 might the Atheist object, that we took the idea of a supreme 
 Being from the Papists, — the Deist, that we took from thence 
 the notion of a Revelation, — and the Socinian, that the doctrines 
 of original Sin, the Incarnation, the Atonement, &c. See. sprung 
 from the same source. Such attempts to destroy the Truth can 
 only terminate in the exposure and confusion of their Author ; 
 whom it might be well to refer to John's description of those 
 who are without, since amongst others he mentions ''whosoever 
 loveth and inaketh a Lie." Revel. 26; 15. 
 
PREFACE XV 
 
 of his famous controA'crsy with the Papists, his 
 former associates, and who (hke loo many nominal 
 Protestants of the present day,} made the justificatiou 
 of a sinner to depend in part upon his own deservings; 
 and to oppose the progress of this fatal error amongst 
 ourselves the* eleventh article of the Church of Eng- 
 
 • It runs thus — '* of the justification of Man. We are 
 accounted righteous before God, only tor the merit of our Lord 
 and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works 
 or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only, 
 is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more 
 •largely is expressed in the homily of justification." This was 
 called by Luther, *' articulus stantis vel cadentis ecclesiae ; '* 
 that is to say, a Church will stand or fall, in proportion as this 
 doctrine prevails or declines in it. Yet Luther was no Jnti" 
 nomian ; but he protested vehemently against the Baptists of his 
 day, who, whilst they laid an undue stress on the necessity of 
 faith in order to Baptism, so as to exclude children from that 
 lite, at the same time " made void the law" even as a directory 
 in respect of moral conduct, and lan headlong into all iniquity. 
 ** For at this day (says Luther,) the Papists and Anabaptists con- 
 spire together against the Church in this one point, that the 
 work of God dependeth upon the worthiness of the person. For 
 thus do the Anabaptists teach, that Baptism is nothing, except 
 the person do believe. Out of this principle must needs follow, 
 that all the works of God are nothing if the iMan be nothing.'' 
 In allusion to these same persons, he adds, ** but Satan, the God 
 of all dissension, stirreth up daily new sects, and last of all, 
 which of all others I should never have forseen or once suspect- 
 ed, he hath raised up a sect of such, as teach that the Ten 
 Commandments ought to be taken out of the Church, and that 
 men should not be territied with the law, but gently exhorted 
 by the preaching of the Grace of Christ; as though we were 
 ignorant, or had never taught, that afflicted and broken spirit* 
 must be comforted by Christ, but the hard-hearted Pharisees, to 
 whom the Grace of God is preached in vain, must be terrified 
 by the law." Preface, upon Epistle to Galatians. Cahm 
 
VI PREFACE 
 
 land was framed, together with the homily od justi- 
 fication. But perhaps Luther's master-piece is his 
 Treatise De servo arbitrio, or, concerning the hondage 
 of the will ; and this came out in answer to a disser- 
 
 too, though admirably clear on the doctrines of Grace, yet was 
 no Antinomian ; " some unskilful men (says he,) rashly explode 
 Moses altogether, and discard the two tables of the law. Far 
 from us he this profane opinion; for Moses hath abundantly 
 taught us, that the law, which in sinners can only produce death, 
 ought to have a better and more excellent use in the saints." 
 Accordingly, he proceeds to give «' an exposition of the moral 
 law." See his Institutes, book 2, chapter 7 and 8.' «< We know 
 that the law is good (says Paul,) if a man use it lawfully, ^cw 
 the end of the Commandment is love out of a pure heart, and a 
 good conscience, and faith unfeigned, from which some having 
 swerved, have tunied aside unto vain jangling." 1 Tim. i. 5, 11. 
 Having stated tico uses of the law, Calvin says, " the third relates 
 to the faithful, in whose hearts the spirit of God already lives 
 and reigns. TJiey derive a twofold ad-antage from the Isiw. 
 For they find it an excellent instrument to give them from day to 
 day a better and more certain understanding of the divine will 
 to which they f jjjire, and to confirm them in the knowledge of 
 it; forno man' has already acquired so much wisdom, that he 
 could not by the daily instruction of the law make new advances 
 into a purer knowledge of the divine will. In the next place, as 
 we need, not only instruction but also exbortaticn, we derive 
 from it this further advantage; by frequent n)C(iiti>tion on it, 
 we are excited to obedience, are confirmed in it, and restrained 
 from the slippery path of ttansgression. For in this manner 
 should tiie sainis gtimnlate themselves, because, with vshatever 
 alacrity thoy labour for the righteousness of God according to 
 the spirit yet tiiey are always burdened with the indolence of 
 the flesh, which prevents their proceeding with due promptitude. 
 To thisfiesh the law serves as a whip, urging it like a dull and 
 t irdy animal forwards to its work ; and even to the spiritual 
 man, who is rot yet delivered from the burden of tiie fiesh, it 
 will be a peri:etu -1 spur, that will not permit him to loiter, 'io 
 this use of the lav/ David referred j 'the law of the Lord is 
 
PREFACE HVtl 
 
 tation of Erasmus, called the diatribe, on tlie freedom 
 of the will, into which its accomplished Author had 
 infused much of tlie Pelagian error, that leaven of 
 the Pharisees, which works so effectually in the cor- 
 rupt mass of our fallen humanity, and whose pro- 
 gress, as that of a pestilence, Luther was anxious to 
 arrest. Thus often have grapes been gathered from 
 thorns; and the bone of contention has yielded the 
 marrow of truth. 
 
 To conclude. The voice of infallibility announces 
 a necessity existing for the rise of heretical opinions ; 
 and it proclaims, at the same instant, another additional 
 advantage which ruay be expected to result from the 
 apparent evil; "it must needs be that offences come, 
 it is impossible but that they will come ; for there 
 
 perfect, converting the soul ; the statutes of the Lord are right, 
 rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, 
 enlightening the eyes.' Again, ' thy word is a lamp to my feet, 
 and alight to my path,' «Scc. Nor are these assertions repug- 
 na)it to those of Paul, in which he shews, not what service the 
 iaw renders to the regenerate, but what it can bestow upon man 
 n^^rely of itself ; whereas the Psalmist in these passages cele- 
 brates the great advaniage derived, tiirough the divine teaching, 
 from reading tiic law, by those whom God inspires with an 
 inward promptitude to obedience. And he adverts, not only to 
 the precepts, but to the promise of Grace annexed to their 
 performance, vshich alone causes that which is bitter to become 
 sweet. For wiiat would be less amiable than the law, if by 
 accusations and threats it only distressed the mind with fear 
 and haraised it with terror? But David shews tliat in the law 
 he discovered the Mediator, without whom nothing is pleasant 
 or delighlfii!." See 1 Corin. ix, 21 — "not without law to God, 
 but tmder the luic to Christ." Also. Rom. xiii, 8, 10. 1 Cor. ix, 8, 
 10. and 14, 34. Gaiat. v, 13, 14,22, 23. Ephes. vi. I, 3. James 
 . ii. 8, 14. et uliu. 
 
:XV111 PREFACE 
 
 must be heresies among you, that they which are 
 approved may be made manifest among you,'' And 
 this is the exact sentiment of St. John; for he says 
 that — " they went out from us, but they were not of 
 us, for if they had been of us, they would have con- 
 tinued with us, but, that they might be made mani- 
 fest that they were not all of us." This is peculiarly 
 to the point; since one of the Seceders, whom I need 
 not name, has lately acknowledged plainly and ex- 
 plicitly to a clerical friend in Bristol, that he not 
 only does not, but tli^t he never did, believe the doc- 
 trine of the Trinity, although he had officiated as a 
 Minister in the establishment for several years ! Still, 
 this needs be for the existence of error, as a necessary 
 test of faith, in no way annihilates the responsibility 
 of those who broach perverse things; but — ^' wo unto 
 that Man, by whom the offence cometh !" Nor are 
 we, as Stewards of the mysteries of God, on this 
 account liberated from our obligation to bear an 
 unequivocal testimony to the sacred realities of our 
 most holy faith. I'he charge of the Apostle Jude is 
 decisive to the contrary ; *' Beloved !" He says, " when 
 I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common 
 Salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, 
 and exhort you, that ye should earnestly contend for the 
 faith which was once delivered unto the saints." And 
 what eays St. Paul f — *'that ye stand fast, in one 
 spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith 
 of the Gospel, and in nothing terrified by your ad- 
 versaries." I add no more, but my heart's desire, 
 and prayer to God, that he would condescend to own 
 
PREFACE Xix 
 
 and bless what in these pages is accordant with the 
 lively Oracles of truth; or, to adopt the sentiment 
 of Augustine,— ''what is thine, in this book, may 
 thine, O Lord! acknowledge; if tliere be any thing 
 o^mine, may thou and thine forgive!" 
 Exeter, October, 1818. 
 
OF 
 
 THE HOLY SPIRIT. 
 
 i'l-R. Marsom is one of those rational Clirislians 
 v.ho are very zealous for what he culls " the abso- 
 lute unity of the Divine Being ", and vv Iio are, con- 
 sequently, exceedingly averse to v»hat the author 
 denominates, " the erroneous and miscriptural notion 
 of a trinity of persons in the Godhead." These ex- 
 pressions of his are the current language of Deists, 
 Blafiometans, Jews, Socinians, Arians, Sabellians, 
 Swedenboigians, and othefs, who vainly imagine that 
 the absolute unity of. the Divine Nature, Essence, 
 or Godhead, is utterl}^ irreconcileable witli a three- 
 fold distinction of personal subsistence. This they 
 take for granted, as a point that is self-evident and 
 not to be controverted, although all scripture is against 
 them; as if they could possibly arrive at one single 
 correct idea of the particular mode of existence of 
 the Divine Being, but in so far as they derive it from 
 the page of inspiration. " The world by wisdom 
 kncv/ not God " of old, and noiv a man must become 
 
 B 
 
2 PERSONALITY OP 
 
 a fool ill Ills own estimation, in order that, by im- 
 bibing knowledge from a heavenly f-oi'irce, he may 
 be made wise through faith. The pride of reason 
 has ever been the bane of man. Our first parents ima- 
 gined a sornelliing of reasonableness in what was urged 
 by Satan, and following this, rather tlian adhering by 
 faitli to the naked asseveration of their Creator, they 
 transgressed, and fell. We " stand by faith " also. 
 Let us take heed, lest we fall through the vain ima- 
 ginations of our own hearts. 
 
 Truly, if the doctrine were unscriplural, it v/ould' 
 be erroneous; but this is assumed by Mr. Marsom, 
 not proved. And often, indeed, it is supposed to be 
 imscriptural from passages which establish its truth : 
 as of late it has been thought to be entirely disproved 
 by the text in Deuteronomy, " Hear O Israel! the 
 Lord, our God, (is) one Lord." It certainly con- 
 firms us in the absolute unity of the Deity, but not in 
 the Unitarian sense :• with this it is utterly at variance, 
 and demonstrates the pluri-personality of God. It 
 ought to strike even the mere English reader, tliat a 
 something is implied in the middle terra " our God," 
 different from whdt is implied in the first and third, 
 *' the Lord"; else it woidd be an unmeaning tauto- 
 logy. But this circumstance, so strongly expressed 
 in the Hebrew, is, of course, well known, as matter 
 of fact, to Messrs. Marsom and Baring. The term 
 ** Lord, one Lord " is a singular noun, viz. mn* Jc- 
 Jicvah; but '' our God " that is, our Aleliim, U»nV«, 
 Alehi-nn is plural ; both noun and pronoun are plu- 
 ral. If this is doubted by any, I will give thera scrip- 
 
TKE KOLY SPIRIT. 4 
 
 tural proof of it. In Hosea * the same cxpressicn pre- 
 cisely occurs: Ye are nm' Gods (Alcld-nu^ or Elohe- 
 nu); nor is it translated plurally in the Englif.h only, 
 hut ill the Gi-eek of the Septuagint also, and tliis by 
 Ic^arned men amongst the Jews, at least *2j0 years 
 before Christ. Tiie Greek of Alchimi is -Ssot 7?,ua;v, 
 thcoi cemoGu, " our Gods": the sense, then, of the 
 above text \^, thut Jehoval!, as to nature, e.-yence, and 
 godhead, is '•' one"; but that as to personality, or the 
 modes of subsistence in the divine nature, Jehovah is 
 '* our Aleliim ," our covenajiters, or our sv:ora ones, 
 Father, Son, and Spirit, voluntarily engaged by oath 
 for the eventual salvation of all the Israel of God. Mr. 
 Baring, and some of his followers, not able to deny 
 the plurality of the Hebrew Alehlm, would restiict it 
 to Jehovah and t'le man Christ:- but if God had in- 
 , tended to restrict it absolutely to tico^ it was pos>^ible for 
 expressions to have been employed significative of tv,o 
 and no more ; and in a case like this, where the nature 
 of Jehovah is concerned, on such an occasion it is likely 
 that such v/ould have been employed, if only two had 
 been intended. Besides, the AlcIiim are said to be Je- 
 hovah, and " thus saith Jehovah; besides we (there are) 
 no Alehim."t And, what is more, it is said of Israel, 
 on their return from their present infidel notions, that 
 ** they shall seek Jehovah, their Alehim, and David 
 their King ". X Xow the middle term, " tlieir Alehim " 
 is, in the Hebrew, czn'nV«, Alehi-em, in the plural, 
 both the noun and the pronoun ; and this exact phrase, 
 Alehi-em, is translated " their Gods " twice, in the 
 
 * Cli. xiv. 3. t lea. xliv. G, X Hos. iii. 5. 
 
4 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 xxxivth of Exodus, at the IStli verse; in wliicb placa 
 it is also plural in the Septuagint Greek — tmv .&€on/ 
 avTMV, toon theooti autoon — and tolq S'eoiq avrivv, tois 
 theols autoon, '* their Gods ". Now, observe, ** Jelio- 
 vah "is said to be " thdr Alehhn^\ and ** Messiah ", 
 or Christ (as man), their ** King ", who, becoming 
 united to the second ©f the Aleliun in Jehovah, or tlie 
 Son, is called Immanu-el, God with \is. 
 
 But, desirous of being brief on tliis head, it not 
 being my immediate purpose to discuss the doctrine 
 of iliQ Trinity, but rather to confine my remarks, 
 as much as possible, to the distinct person^dify 
 of the Holy Spirit, I shall content myself wilh 
 observing, that the Jehovah of the Hebrews says, 
 " Be still, and know that I am Alehim "; or rather, 
 f' that I, the Alehim, I will be exalted amoBg i\m 
 Heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.''* This 
 is in a measure verified already in the circumstances 
 of Europe, which, from a heathen waste, is now 
 become the garden of the Lord. Europe indeed, 
 by some is supposed to be what the Scriptv.re 
 calls '' the isles of the G^entiies ", and to have been, 
 as such, peopled by the dej-cendants of Japheth. 
 Tiither vv^ay v/e liave reason to adopt tlie language of 
 jS^oaf!, and say, '' Blessed be Jehovah, tlie Alehim of 
 81iem i The Alehim hatli enlarged (or persuaded^ Ja- 
 pheth, and he now dwelletli in the tents of Shem "t. 
 It is our happiness, and our mercy, to h.ave learnt in 
 the schools of the prophets, if not in the tents of Shem, 
 Iflie language of Canaan, and to sing with the saints of 
 
 * Psalm slvl- m tOea ix. 2G, %7. . 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 5 
 
 old, ♦' Jehovah Sabaotli is with U3, the Alehim of Ja- 
 cob (are) our refuge " *. Now Jacob speaks of his 
 Alehim in the plural number, according to the fol- 
 lowing examples : 
 
 *' Your father hath deceived me, and changed \\\j 
 wages ten times ; but the Alehim they suffered him 
 not to hurt me." t The verb as well as the sub- 
 stantive is plural--ZD»n/i^ ijnJ. 
 
 " Jacob built there an altar, and called the place 
 El-beth-el, because there the Alehim they appeared 
 unto him". X Here also Alehim governs a verb plural 
 in the Hebrew — CD'rr'pt^n \hn. 
 
 Laban also in his conversation with Jacob adopted 
 similar language : " The Alehim of Abraham, and 
 the Alehim of Nahor, the Alehim of their father, 
 they shall judge betwixt us." § 'The verb " judge'' 
 (itOE5U;') is plural, and it has Alehim for its nominatire 
 case. 
 
 Nor did Laban do other in this than follow the ex- 
 ample of Abraham himself, who says, " The Alehim 
 they caused me to wander from my father's house." |) 
 
 Now Laban's manner of speaking, as above, ©f 
 the Alehim, as judges betwixt him and Jacob, is 
 adopted by David, who says, " Verily the Alehim 
 are judges in the earth; " or *' Verily there is an 
 Alehim that are judges in the earth "^: D'nVx 
 
 Nor ouglit we to wonder at such instances as 
 
 ♦ Psalm xlvi. 11. t Gen. xxxi. 7. % lb. xxxv. 7. 
 
 ^Gen. xxxi. 53. i|Ib. xx. 13. % Vs. Iviii. 11. 
 
 B 2 
 
ff Personality op 
 
 these, "vihen Closes represents God himself in tlie 
 frequent use of this plural phraseology : — *^ And the 
 Alehim said, Let us ", or more properl3^ '' We 
 v/ill make man in our image, after our likeness." * : 
 
 Again : we read that '* the Serpent said, the Ale- 
 hhn doth know that ye shall be as the Alehim ";t 
 whicii word is preciselj^ the same as the former one, 
 and yet translated plurally, both in the English and 
 in the Greek, *' Ye shall be as (Qeoi, theoi) Gods ". 
 After this, it stands recorded, ** And Jehoval), the , 
 Alehim, said, Beliold the man is become as one ofusX'y^ 
 that is, as one of ths Alehim in Jehovah. 
 
 Jehovah said, " Come, let tis go down, and there 
 let us confound their language §". From this passage 
 it is plain that, as there is an unity of essence in the 
 plurality of persons, so there is a plurality of persons 
 in the unity of the divine essence ; *' Jehovah ", th» 
 singular noun, being here connected with plural verbs, 
 as elscwliere *•' Alehim", the plural noun, is con- 
 nected with verbs singular. 
 
 Such is the kind of evidence to be drawn from 
 tlje Hebrew Scriptures, in favour of what our author, 
 with singular boldness, is pleased to call " an erron- 
 eous and unscriptiiral notion of a tiinity of persons 
 in the Godhead ", and this without even an attempt 
 to substantiate his ipse dixit by decisive proofs. As 
 he writes for ** a class of christians " of his own mind, 
 it may pass very well with them ; but it is not to be 
 expected that any other classes of christians than 
 « Geo. i. 26. f lb. ili 5 . :|: lb. iii. 22. § lb. xi. 5, 7 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 7 
 
 Socinians and Arians, witli their Sabellian Friends, 
 will be convinced by such authority. I trust I havo 
 at least adduced some show of proof, in opposition to 
 Mr. Marsom's opinion, and tliat of our own reasoning 
 Unitarian unbelievers, who, ** not liaving the Spirit", 
 are led away from ** sound doctrine " by their vain 
 imaginations, and cannot, therefore, embrace the mys- 
 tery of ** this glorious and fearful name, the Lord, 
 thy God"*, which, m the new dispensation, is more 
 fully revealed and explained, ** in the name of the 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit ".t 
 As a concluding remark, I Avould observe that the 
 latter term " thy God ", or thy Alehim, is plural in 
 the Hebrew; it is *]>n^^^, Alehi-cha, and which exact 
 expression is twice translated plurally, both in the 
 English, and in the Septuagint Greek, in Jeremiah X, 
 " Where are thy Gods " {ot $col aov, oi ihsoi son)! and, 
 "According to the number of thy cities are tliy Gods, 
 O Judah ! " that is, thy Alehim, (^toi aov, theoi soii)^ 
 Now Judah's sin consisted in forsaking Jehovah, the 
 true Alehim, and going after ** strange Alehim" (trans- 
 lated gods) the mere idols of tlie heathen, wlio were in 
 fact " no Alehim" at all. Thus Jacob buries '* the 
 «?;\T?i^e Alehim "(translated gods), at the same time 
 that he acknowledges tlie true Alehim (of v»'hom lie 
 speaks in the plural number, as above) for his God ij^ 
 luLQi the reader consider attentively the Ibllowing quo- 
 tations from this one chapter. *' The Alehim said, 
 Arise, go to Beth-el. Then Jacob said, put away the 
 
 *Dcut. xxviii. 58. fMatt. xxviii. 19. 
 
 * Jer. ii. 28. 11 Gen xxxv. 1—7. 
 
8 PERSONALITY OF- 
 
 sirange Aleliim (translated Gods ; and which were re* 
 presentative i?nages, it is probable, ol the true). And 
 they gave to Jacob all the strange Alehini (translated 
 Gods). And they journeyed — and the terror of the 
 (true) Alehim M'as upon the cities, and they did not 
 pursue after the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to Luz, 
 and he built there an altar, and called the place El- 
 beth-el, because there the Alehim they appeared unto 
 him. " Hence it is undeniable that the title Alehim is 
 equally plural when applied to Jehovah, and when 
 applied to idols: the grand difference is, that the 
 heathen either fell into image worship, as we find 
 Jacob's family had begun to do — or else they had 
 their multitudes of Alehim, as it is . said of Judah, 
 and had forgotten that Jehovah, their Alehim, is " one 
 Jehovah", and "that there are no Alehim besides 
 him '^; w^iich is as much as saying, in New Testament 
 language, that there is but one God, and that there 
 is no other than He, who reveals himself in the name 
 of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which personal 
 distinctions are the Alehim of the Hebrew Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 Mr. Marsom's first attempt is to prove, that " God 
 and his Spirit " are not " two distinct intelligent 
 Beings ". In this of course, he is only opposing poly- 
 theism, since it has nothing in which it can in any 
 way militate against the phtri-personality of the Divine 
 Being. The question is, whether tiie Holy Spirit is 
 a mode of subsistence, in the Divine Being, distinct 
 from the Father ; whereas, losing , sight of what he- 
 undertakes to oppose, the personality of the Spirit,, 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 9 
 
 he proceeds to refute the idea, tliat God is oHe intel- 
 ligeut being, and his Spirit another intelligent being. 
 Now the Alehim of tlie Hebrews do not make Jeho- 
 vah to be more than one Divine Being; nor, if the 
 Father and the Spirit are distinct persons or sub- 
 sistences, does their personality destroy the nnity of 
 God in respect of his essence. When Christ is speak- 
 ing of himself as the Son, he says, ** I and the 
 Father are one *. " There is a duality, here, in an 
 unity ; the one is not destroyed by tlie otiier : yet 
 these are not two in the same sense in which tliey 
 are one, for this would be a contradiction. But the 
 Father and the Son are two in person ; and tlie 
 Father supposes a Son, and the Son supposes a Fa- 
 ther ; and these are one in imture. Not as it is with 
 men, who, although of one nature, are not only two 
 
 * Tertullian, a leanied christian in the year of our Lord 260, 
 observes nearly to this amount: — " Thus the connexion of the 
 Father in the Son, and of the Son in the Paraclete (John xvi. 
 15), makes three persons connected with each other; which 
 three are one substance, not one person (1 John v. 7). In like 
 manner it is said, I and the Falher are one (John x. 30) — refer- 
 ring to unity of substance, not to singularity of person. I and 
 the Father signify two persons. Next, the term are is a plural 
 verb, and cannot be spoken of one person. And in tine, the ex- 
 pression is, "are one (that is, f J', en er unum\ one thing, sifbstance, 
 nature, or being, in the neuter gender, but not f tc, eis., or Hnus, as 
 if it meant one person. V, hence the Son says, I am in the Father, 
 and the Father in me; he therefore shews an ufiicn of persons in 
 an wjjii'y of nature — or else, he would have said, J am the Father^ 
 and the Father is the Son." This may be sufficient to refute tho 
 opinion of Sir. John Bellamy, who says of Christ, — " This is he 
 who declares himself to l>€ the Father and the Son !" See h« 
 «Ophioa", p. 121. 
 
10 PERSONALITY OT 
 
 distinct persons, but distinct men, because tlieir per- 
 teonality is ad extra, or external ; but tlie personality 
 of the Fatlier and Son is ad infra, or internal ; so as, 
 that, althoiigli tliey are two distinct persons in one and 
 the same divine nature, they are not to be con.sidered 
 as tivo Gods, but one Divine Being. The same is 
 true oi' the Father and tlie Holy Spirit, and indeed 
 of all t'lree; for as St. John tells us, that the Father 
 and the Son •' are one ", so in re.rercnce to iili the 
 Three, he says, " and these three arc cue''*. Here 
 
 *1 John V. 7. The reader is referred to the concluglon of 
 the Appendix for some observations on the authenticity of this 
 celebrated passage, extracted from a recent publication by Dr. 
 Hales. Even Grieshach retained it in the text of his first edi- 
 tion ; and when induced by a certain great personage of the 
 Socinian order, his patron, to reject it in his second edition, he 
 conhl not be prevailed on to discard it aUogether,'but preserved 
 it in the margin, where it stands on record as a permanent inc- 
 morial of the iniirmity of the biassed editor. Bishop Hos-«lcy 
 defends it upon the firm ground of internal evidence, which can 
 never be frustrated through any seeming defect in point of mere 
 external proof. " Why inust I acknowledge ", he asks, " that 
 the passage is at all an interpolation? — Because Newton and 
 . others have clearly proved il. — To vis their proof is not clear. 
 Were the defect of positive proof much greater than Newton 
 and others have been able to make out, it would still be with 
 me an argument of its authenticity that the ojnission of it breaks 
 the connexion, and wonderfully heightens the obscra-ity of the 
 apostle's discourse." Tiie Rev. Mr. Jones takes Ms stand on the 
 $ame ground. " The sense ", he says, " is not perfect without 
 it, there being a contrast of three witnesses in heaven, to three 
 upon earth; the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, u-kose 
 tcst'wiGny is called the JVUness of God— and the spirit, the water, 
 and tlie blood, which being administered by the church upon 
 earth is called the witness of men." In this passage the Father, 
 the Word, and the Holy Ghost, are expret-sly declared to iici 
 
THE KOLY SPIRIT. 11 
 
 t]iere is a Iriiiity in unity, or three distinct persons in 
 one undivided essence. The expression *' tliese 
 three "' is in tlie mascidine gender, as denoting the 
 persons; but the " one " is neuter, as it is in tiic otiier 
 passage, in uhich tlie Son and Father are said to be 
 " one "; and this as denoting the essence. Tlie ori- 
 ginal \vord for one is, in both places, ev, en ; and it is 
 remarkable enough that Pythagoras, a Greek philoso- 
 pher, who lived in the sixth century before Christ, 
 styled tlie Deity -o ev, to en, tliat is, the one, or the 
 vnity. It was a riinduinental maxim m ith Parmenidcs, 
 a disciple of Pythagoras, that the Deity is at once ev 
 en, anti TvoWa, polla, that is, one and many. Aad 
 Plato, about 430 years before Christ, was accustomed 
 to call the Deity ro ^stoy, fofhcion: and this is the ex- 
 act expression cf St. Paul in the Acts, Avhere it is 
 translated the Godhead'^. The apostle's to thcion is 
 in the neuter gender. Now Plato lield for three dis- 
 tinctions in the Divinity ; nor diA it appear to that emi- 
 nent philosopher that a trinity of subsistences covJd \\\ 
 
 God, for their witness is called the witness of God ; and this is 
 contrasted with the more sensible and obvious testiaiony of the 
 means of grace in the church on earth, and the grace which 
 accompanies those means, here called the spirit, tlie water, and 
 the blood ; which being administered in baptism, in the supper 
 of our Lord, and indeed in all the ordinances of spiritual wor- 
 ship, through the instrumentality of human agents, therefore 
 the testimony of these is called the Vvitiicss .'/ men. Hence St. 
 Paul speaks of " ministering grace to tlie heavers " by a conver- 
 sation seasoned with the salt of heaven ; and Jesus intimated 
 that those who are themselves recipients of the Spirit, that is, 
 of his gracious influences, should be communicators of grace 
 to others. — ^ out of their belly shall flow rivers of living v»a- 
 te.r.*' ♦ActsxTii. 29. 
 
1-3 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 the least infringe the unity of the essence, or of what 
 the apostle Peter calls Beta <pv(nQi theiafusis, " the divine 
 nature * " It is yet to be proved, therefore, that the 
 doctrime of the Trinity in Unity is any more irrational 
 than it is unscriptural f. It is easy for Mr. Marsom 
 
 * 2 Pet. i. 4. 
 
 t If it should be deemed incredible, as well it may, that rea- 
 fon, in its utajost strength, should ever ascend so high as to at- 
 tain even to a distant glimpse of truths, which have ever been 
 esteemed the most mysterious discoveries of Revelation, it will 
 become a question of the highest curiosity and importance to 
 determine by what means the Platonic School came by those no- 
 tions of the Godhead wiiich, had they been of later date than 
 the commencement of Christianity, might have passed for a very 
 mild corruption of the christian faith — but being in truth much 
 older, have all the appearance of a near though very imperfect 
 view of the doctrine whicli was afterwards current in the chris- 
 tian church. 
 
 The enquiry becomes more important when it is discovered, 
 that these notions were by no means confined to the Platonic 
 school : tliat the Platonists pretended to be no more than the 
 expositors of a more ancient doctrine, which is traced from 
 Plato to Parmenides, from Parmenides to his masters of the 
 Pythagorean sect, from the Pythagoreans to Orpheus (the ear- 
 liest of the Grecian mystagogues) from Orpheus to the secret 
 lore of the Egyptian priests, in which the foundations of the 
 Orphic theology were laid. Similar notions of a triple prin- 
 <dple prevailed in the Persian and Chaldean theology : and ves- 
 tiges even of the worship of a trinity were discernible in the 
 Roman superstitions in a very late age. This the Romans had 
 received from their Trojan ancestors. The Trojans brought it 
 with them into Italy from Phrygia. In Phrygia it was intro- 
 duced by Dardanus, so early as in the ninth century after the 
 l''lood. Dardanus carried it with him from Samothrace, where 
 the personages that were the objects of it were worshipped 
 under the Hebrew name of the Cabiiim, the great or mighty ones*y 
 
 •Job xxxvi. 5.: " Behold, Al is mightp (^*— D> cabir) mighty (cabir) 
 
 in power of heart," that is, in wisdonj ai.d understanding. 
 Job sxxiv. 23, 31.: "Al (Go^-l.) shall bieuk ki t)iecc& the mfg/tti/ men," 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 1^ 
 
 and others to call it " erroneous ", and so on, but to 
 prove it to be so is beyond their power. 
 
 However, iojyrove it to be as he asserts, Mr. Mar- 
 som proceeds to personify the to theion, or godhead 
 itself, telling us, that " the spirit of God" cannot be a 
 person, *' because God, of whose spirit we speak, is a 
 proper person." To this we may reply, tliat he still 
 avoids a fair statement, in refusing to adopt the per- 
 sonal titles, as they occur in scripture; where, at one 
 
 for that is the import of the word. And of the like import is 
 their Latin appellation, Penates (their household gods). Thus 
 the joint worship of Jupiter, Juno, and IMinerva, the triad of the 
 Roman capitol, is traced to that of the Three Mighty Ones in 
 Samotinace, which was established in that island earlier, if Eu- 
 sebius may be credited, than the days of Abraliani. 
 
 1 he notion, therefore, of a Trinity more or less removed from 
 the purity of the christian faith, is found to have been a leading 
 principle in all the ancient schools of philosophy, and in the re- 
 ligions of aknost all nations. If reason was insutncient for this 
 great discovery, what could be the means of information but 
 what the Platonists themselvos assign, 0fo~apa?oroe0scXoyoc 
 a theology delivered froin the Gousj [. e. a revelation? This is the 
 account which Platonists, who were no christians, have given of 
 their master's doctrine. But from what revelation could they 
 have their information ? It could only be drawn from scattered 
 fragments of the ancient patriarelial creed — that creed which 
 was universal before the defection of the first idolaters, and 
 wiiich the corruptions of idolatry, gross and enormous as they 
 were, could never totaliy oblLtevatG. "^Vhat Socrates said of 
 him, what Plato writ, and the rest of the heathen philosophers 
 of several nations, is all no more tiian the tirilight of revelation, 
 af:er the sun of it was set in the race of >.oah.'' See Bishop 
 Horsley's Tracts. 
 
 i. e. cahiriyn, tliose great ones of the earth who fancy themselves omnipotent, 
 as ihi-'Ujrh tbey were tht Cabiiiiii of Lraven, o' , accoidinj; to S.itau's promise 
 lo Adam nnd Eve, " tike the Akhim ". *<jcn. iii. 5. coiiiparctl wiih Uie -.ad 
 verse : " /ind Jeiiovab tlie Alc/iini said, Echold the inau is become as one of us". 
 
14 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 time, v/e meet with the Oeiov or divinity; the Beionjc or 
 godhead; the Tray ro TrXfpw^ia or ail the falness of 
 the godhead, and the '%ia ^wctiq or divine nature; 
 whilst, at other times, we read of the Father, the Son, 
 and the Spirit, as distinct personal subsistences, who 
 alike participate tlie ttm^' to 7r\tpivi.La, or '* the whole 
 fulness of God." In this point of view the questioja is 
 set in a clear light, and the reader may judge for him- 
 self, whether there appears any thing of error or un- 
 scripturalness, in holding for the ere, or unity, of the 
 theion, or godhead, at the same time that wc contend 
 for a trinity of persons, " in the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the iicly Spirit ". 
 
 But inasmuch as Mr. Marsom asserts that God is 
 a person (by Avhicli he m.eans tlic Godhead itself, and 
 that tliis is the Father), he is evidently countenanced 
 by Mr. John Bellamy, who expressly asserts, tliat St. 
 Paul " understood that the Godhead was the Father, 
 who dwells in Christ' as the sord dwells in the body of 
 man : — so that tlie body of the Father is the Son; 
 the divine essence, or soul of the Son, is the Father; 
 and the holy proceeding from tlie Father and the Son 
 is the Holy Spirit ! " This is the doctrine of Ema- 
 nuel Svvedenborg, according to Mr. Bellamy's own 
 accoiKit, who says that *' his disciples believe that the 
 unity is only to be comprehended in the person of 
 Christ, in whom is a divine trinity, consisting of Fa- 
 ther, Son, and Holy Spirit ; that the Father dw ells in 
 him as the soul dwells in the body of man, and that 
 the proceeding from the Father and Son is the Holy 
 Spirit." Tliis is an author who pretends to bo a 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 15 
 
 churchman, and to believe the Athanasian creed ! — 
 who is employed in the fabrication of a new bible, 
 and this under the patronage of almost all, if not all 
 the Royal family ; besides some, if not many of the 
 prelates of the Established Church! See his '* Ophi- 
 on ", and his " History of all Religions". 
 
 Now in opposition to this sort of personification of 
 the divine essence, which it is vain to deny, if it be 
 said that the Godhead is the Father, it is fair to 
 adduce the concession of Mairaonides, whom Mr. 
 Marsom quotes afterwards with some commendation. 
 Maimonides frankly concedes, that " the opinion of an 
 unity of person has no foundation but in the tradition 
 of the Jewish church, and that it can neither be de- 
 monstrated on rational principles, nor plausibly vin- 
 dicated by the ablest metaphysicians, without denying 
 all the attributes of the Godhead, even its wisdom, 
 power, and goodness." See the Rev. John Oxlee on 
 the Trinity; who further remarks that unity o^ pet son 
 is but unity of numler. Now Rabbi Shabtai denies 
 that any thing less than trirdty constitutes number. 
 ** The unit of itself is not a number ; as the defnrition 
 cf number, or that which properly constitutes number, 
 is a trinity, which consists of equal and unequal, that 
 is, of tv.o and one." Thus is the trinity a perfect and 
 a necessary number ; it is perfect in that it requires 
 nothing to be understood for the support of its subsist- 
 ency — and necessary, in that unity itself cannot sub- 
 sist M ithout it. This is opposed to the advocates for 
 an unity of person, by showing it to be but unity of 
 number, which cannot subsist alone, but requires that 
 
16 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 other subsistences co-exist aiorg with it; thus obliging 
 them to profess either the pluri-penonality of the 
 Godhead, or poly-theism strictly so called. The Jews, 
 aware of this, deny that their idea of unity is tliat of 
 number, or any kind that the mind can comprehend. 
 Rabbi Judah Levita says, *' In this manner is God 
 affirmed to be one — to deny of him phiraUfy — and not 
 to affirm of him that unity which we ourselves compre- 
 hend; — the Divine Essence is called one, to the de- 
 negation of a plurality". So Rabbi Moses Ben Mai- 
 mon says," He is one icithout any unity. ^' Another 
 Rabbi says, *' He is one, but that oneness is not of 
 number." And another asserts, that " of the Supreme 
 Being we can affirm number of no sort — neither the 
 singular, nor yet the plural ". This, then, appears as 
 much for us as against us ; and we seem justified on 
 the whole, in adopting the sentiment of Bishop Hors^ 
 ley, who says, — " Concerning tlie metaphysical unity 
 of the divine nature the Scriptures are silent ; except 
 that, by discovering a trinity of persons, they teach 
 clearly what the unity is not, namely, that it is not 
 personal ". 
 
 The Rev. James Kidd has likewise pursued this 
 subject with great ability, but I must restrict myself to 
 one quotation: — '* There must be three, and there can 
 be neither more nor less than three distinct modes of 
 subsistence, or persons, in the divine essence. For here 
 we discover the Divine Being necessarily complete in 
 its own self-existence — necessarily perfect vvitiiiji its 
 own essence, necessarily adequate to its own happiness 
 and enjoyment, and altogether absolute, and entirely 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 17 
 
 independent in itself, from everlasting to everlasting, 
 without beginning and without end. And as at the 
 same time this Divine Being is absolutely perfect and 
 happy in itself, and this perfection and happiness con- 
 sisting of the divine nature, subsisting in three, and 
 neither more nor less than three, distinct, though not 
 separate, modes, or persons, — Revelation expresses 
 these three distinct modes by three distinct terms, Fa- 
 ther, Son and Holy Spirit, signifying thereby the or- 
 der of the subsistence of these distinct persons, as in 
 scripture the divine attributes and perfections are as- 
 cribed to each, without the least intimation of superi- 
 ority or inferiority, or the least pre-eminence in time, 
 in dignity, or in nature, but simply conveying the idea 
 of order." 
 
 I beg to subjoin, in illustration, that it is a manifest 
 perfection attendant upon man, that he is not alone, 
 that he is not a solitary being; but that, on the con- 
 trary, a plurality of persons are participant of his, 
 that is to say, of the human nature. It is the same 
 with the angelic nature; it is not confined to one per- 
 son which would be a great imperfection, but it exists 
 in a plurality, and thus it has a sociality connected 
 with it. Now, in the case of the human, and the an- 
 gelic nature, the pluri-personality annexed to these is 
 without^ is ad-extra, or external, so as to constitute 
 several meii and several angels; — but, in the instance 
 of the divine nature, which cannot but possess in an 
 infinite degree, whatever of perfection exists finitely 
 ia any and all of the created natures, since, though 
 deity may have in itself what it does not confer on th« 
 c2 
 
18 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 creatures, yet we cannot imagine its conferring on the 
 creatures a perfection to which it has not a something 
 correspondent in itself, only in an infinitely superior 
 degree, — still in the instance of the divine nature, its 
 pluri-personality is not ivithout, but within ; ad intra, 
 or internal, so as that there are not three separate 
 Gods, as there are many separate men and angels, but, 
 what is a singular height of perfection, three co-eternal, 
 socially existing modes of subsistence or persons, in the 
 f V, en, or oneness of the Oetor, theion, or Divinity itself. 
 So that, although God is one, although there is but 
 one great Eternal, who fills immensity, yet he is not, 
 in himself solitary and alone, notwithstanding tliat, 
 externally and beyond himself there is no other but 
 He; for He is possessed everlastingly of society 
 within himself, and is indeed, strictly speaking, the 
 only being that is absolutely self-sufficient, and that, 
 therefore, can afTirm of itself with truth, *' Never less 
 alone than when alone* "; insomuch that the Deity, 
 
 * Niinquam minus solus, quam solm. Scipio, who made this mag- 
 niiiceat boast, never knew what absolute solitude was. His 
 life wag mostly passcil in the midst of myriads of his own spe- 
 cies ; and to retire at times fiom the din of men, to indulge in 
 the luxury of thought, this is not to be insulated, it is merely 
 a temporary abstraction. Such " Solitude sometimes is best so- 
 ciety, " — but then we generally find that " short retirement 
 urges sweet return ". And even supposing a person banished 
 from society, stdl, he had before tasted of its sweets ; and even 
 in his exiled state he can derive some pleasure from a retrospect 
 of past scenes, and can likewise solace himself in the anticipation 
 of the moment of departure from this world, when his disem- 
 bodied spirit will mingle with beings of a similar nature. But 
 with respect to Jehovah, the case is widely difi'erent. He says 
 «f himself—*^ I am, aad there is Done else ; I know not any. '* 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 19 
 
 at the instant when ** inhabiting eternity " by itself, had 
 and enjoyed a fellowship in itself, although, without it, 
 no being else existed. And except we acknowledge 
 this, the Deity could not have had in itself that kind 
 of perfection through all past eternity which in time it 
 has actually conferred upon the human and the angelie 
 nature, — I mean that of sociality, and fellowship, and 
 relationship, arising out of a pluri-personality in an 
 identity or a sameness of nature or essence. Time 
 was when man was single, when Adam alone, ' and 
 by himself, was a solitary partaker of humanity ; and 
 seeing him thus forlorn, and without a like, God de- 
 clared that it was not good that man should be alone. 
 For the universe of worlds would have been to him 
 a perfect desert, could he have had the unrestrained 
 range of them all, and had he found in them all an- 
 other and another paradise, except he could likewise 
 have found society congenial to him in individuals of 
 a kindred nature. One person, and one alone, of 
 whatever nature we can possibly imagine, from cre- 
 
 He necessarily and'sempiternally stands alone as God ; and ex- 
 cept the pluri-personality is acknowledged in the to theion itself, 
 the most absolute solitariness appears to be the inevitable lot of 
 the great Being of Beings from one eternity to another. But 
 admit this glorious truth, and then, to be " never lesi alone 
 than when alone " becomes verified in its fullest extent, not 
 in the experience of any creature, but in that of the Cr-^ator, 
 \»ho, from the immensity of his nature, which tills earth and 
 lieaven, but which neither earth nor heaven nor the heaven 
 of heavens can contain, is possessed of ubiquity. He is every 
 where at once ; and the obvious consequence of this omnipre- 
 sence is, that " the Alehim of eternity" (CSt'JJ; 'nVw) are 
 always immediately present to each other. 
 
20 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 ated to the increate, argiies the greatest of all con- 
 ceivable imperfections, as on other accounts, so, be- 
 cause attended necessarily by an incurable solitude. 
 Suppose a single individual existing, alone possessing 
 human nature, such as Adam was when first created 
 — he would be abandoned to himself, an unconnected 
 and in&ulated being, though placed in the midst of, and 
 surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand, and 
 thousands of thousands of individuals of other natures. 
 Or suppose but a single angel, and no second person, 
 but himself alone, possessing the same identical es- 
 sence or nature, — he also would pine for society and 
 fellowship, even in the midst of teeming worlds. Now 
 God can have no society, no fellowship, in a plurality 
 of separate existences, participant of the uncreated 
 nature, since this would argue more Gods than one, 
 as there are more men and more angels than one ; 
 but since He cannot be a solitary Being, — since He 
 must have had society .in all the past eternity, before 
 time and the universe of created natures began to be, 
 and this, in order to his own perfection, felicity, and 
 self-enjoyment — He must posiess, and must have pos- 
 sesr^ed eleniall;/, a society within Himself, in a plu- 
 rality of co-p^t^ential, and therefore co-eternal persons, 
 ftoi^ijilly e: ir^iis!g together in his own self-existent, un- 
 i-.::ri\ed, i;. c? 1;.: mortal essence. In a word — all cre- 
 laiou is a^;^air,£t tlie Unitarian notion of singleness of 
 persoi; ; it aflbrds no I.istance of the kind : but ** the 
 livicg rr;.?!; ?o " ofeiery description, from the lowe.st 
 aniiiJiiif ule i:p to the higiiest of the intellectual orders 
 of cieat^d lcii.?,\3 h blessed with fellows ** after his 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 21 
 
 kind ". And hence we appear to be justified in con- 
 cluding for a plurality of personal distinctions in the 
 Godhead itself, — and not, as Mr. Bellamy and others 
 assert, a made up trinity, of deity, a human body, 
 and an influence or energy ! We are justified, I say, 
 ** because that which may be known of God, is (hence) 
 manifested to us, for (thus) God hath sho\^ ed it unto 
 us; for the invisible things of Him from the creation 
 of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the 
 things that are made, even his eternal power, and 
 godhead ". Yet God's perfection, even here, is ini- 
 mitable, and unparallelled ; he is still without a like, 
 without an equal : in that, w hat the creatures have not 
 within themselves, but rauit look for, without, and 
 beyond themselves, that the Creatoj? has within himself, 
 naturally, necessarily, immutably, and eternally, even 
 a divine, uncreated, self-produced, everlasting society, 
 sociality, fellowship, and relatiouship, inhering in his 
 own nature and essence, in the sevev^il distinct (not 
 separate) persons or modes of subsistence, denomi- 
 nated in scripture. Father, and Son, and Holy Spi- 
 rit. Indeed, bnt for this peculiar constiaition of the 
 uncreated essence, God would be noWy and would 
 necessarily remain to all future eternity, as solitary, 
 and as much single and alone, in himself, and with 
 respect to himself, as before any beings sprang into 
 life by his creating power. For now that the untold 
 worlds are fraught with the living creature of every 
 kind and every species — what are all these to Godi 
 If Adam was declared to be alone in the midst of the 
 vast creation, and surrounded by unnumbered beings 
 
22 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 of other kinds, merely because another indi^ itlual of 
 Lis own identical nature did not as yet exist, — is not 
 God, ad extra, without and beyond liioiself, even now 
 alone, a single, solitary Being? For the umverse is no- 
 thing, in this respect to Jehovah, vvlio is '* liigh above 
 all nations, liis glory above the heavens: who is like 
 unto Jehovah, our Alehu?i,YA\o dv/elleth on high, who 
 hnmbleth himself to behold the tilings that are in hea- 
 ven and in the earth?" Even " all the nations before 
 him, are as nothing, and they are counted unto him 
 less than nothing and vanity.'' As for '* the heavens," 
 they are not ** clean in his sight," and " his angels he 
 charges with folly." But with this necessary deficiency 
 ad extra, or without himself, the Deity is, and must 
 be, in himself, the most perfect of beings, — and this 
 independent of all time, and all creation, and he must 
 therefore exist in a plurality of persons, and that pluri- 
 persoiiality the scriptures determine to be a trinity* 
 
 * See, for very copious proofs and illustrations of a trinity in 
 unity, Mr. Maurice's "Dissertation on the Oriental Trinities, 
 extracted from the 4tii and &th volumes of his Indian Antiqui- 
 ties". He observes, that there have been some pliil©sophers 
 who have " entertained such degrading conceptions concerning 
 the deity, as to imagine him to be a severe, unsocial, inaccessi- 
 ble being, existing through eternal ages in the centre of barren 
 and bonndiess solitude'. This he very truly calls an " unworthy 
 conception of the divine nature". But the more enlightened 
 of the Gentile Phdosophers, entertained a worthier idea of the 
 deity, ''and thi.s juster notion of his nature (observes ]Mr. 
 Maurice), doubtless originated from traditions delivered down, 
 durini- a long revolution of ages, from the ancient patriarchs, 
 dispersed in the earliest periods through the various empires of 
 Aiiia. That those venerable patriarchs were admitted by the 
 divine favour, to a ne.irer contemplation of the mysterioui 
 arcana of the celestial world than their feilow-mortals, w^e hav* 
 
tHE HOLY SFIPvIT. 23 
 
 Bnt it is time to produce some plain proofs of* a 
 personal distinction between the Father and the Holy 
 Spirit, the point denied by Mr. Marsom and Mr. 
 Baring. 
 
 The name of the Father, and of the Son and of the 
 
 the evidence of scripture to support our asserting ; and that 
 the great progenitor of niankind liimseif, rriight, in his state of 
 iimocence, be indulged in still higher privileges, even so far as 
 to have been allowed aa intimate knowledge of the nature of 
 that awful Being, in whose august ima,2e he is said to have 
 been formed, is a supposition at which neither piety nor reason 
 •will revolt. The supposition will possibly be sti'l more readily 
 "acquiesced in, when what I have elsewheie remarked shall have 
 been fully considered, that, in that pure primeval condition of 
 man, his faculties were better calculated than those of his fallen 
 posterity, to bear the intlux of great celestial truths, and that 
 profound meditation on the divine perfections at once formed 
 his constant employment, and constituted his subliraest delight. 
 
 It is a hypothesis in the highest decree probable, a hypothesis 
 w^hich has ever staggered the sceptic, that from vertain tradi- 
 tional precepts descending down (however, in their descent 
 corrupted and mutilated) trora that prime progenitor, relative 
 to a certain pZwra/ify, subsisting, after a method incomprehensi- 
 ble to human beings, in the nidfij of the divine esscjice, the 
 greatest part of the multifarious polytheism of the Pagan world 
 originated. One of the most prominent features in the Indian 
 theology fe the doctrine of a divine Triad governing all tlings. 
 That nearly ail the Pagan rations of antiquity, in their various 
 theological systems, acknowledged a kind of trinity in the 
 divine nature, has been the occasion of much needless alarm 
 and unfounded apprehensions, especially to those professors of 
 Christianity whose religious principles rest upon so slender a 
 basis thnt they waver with eveiy wind cf doatrine. The very 
 circumstance which has given rise to these apprehensions, the 
 universal prevalence of this doctrine in the gentile king loms, is, 
 in my opinion, so far from invalidating the divine authenticity 
 of it, that it appears to be an irrefragable argument in its 
 favour. It ought to confirm tlie piety of the wavering christian, 
 and build up the tottering fabric of his faith. The doctrine itself 
 
24 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 Ht^lj Spirit, Matt, xxviii. 19. — I will'pray the Father, 
 ami he shall give you another Comforter, that he may 
 abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of Truth, 
 John xiv. 10.; and at ver. 26, — The Comforter, the 
 Holy Spirit, vAiom the Father will send in my name, 
 Be shall teach you all things. John xv. 26. — When 
 the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from 
 the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, He shall tes- 
 tify of me. John xvi. 13—15. — When He the Spirit 
 of Truth is come, lie shall receive of mine and shew it 
 unto you ; ail that the Father hath ^re mine, — there- 
 fore said I, that He (the Spirit) shall take of mine. 
 John XX. 21. — As the Father hath sent me so send I 
 
 bears such strikmg internal marks of a divine original, and is so 
 very nnlikely to have been the invention of mere human reason, 
 that there is no way of accounting for the general adoption of 
 so singular a belief by most ancient nations, than by supposing 
 what I have in pretty strong terms intimated, that this doctrine 
 was neither the inv ntlon of Pythagoras, nor Plato, nor any 
 other philosopher in the ancient world, but a sublime mysterious 
 truth, one of those stupendous arcana of the invisible world, 
 which, through the condescending goodness of divine provi- 
 dence, was revealed to the ancient patriarchs of the faithful 
 line of Shem ; by them propagated to their Hebrew posterity ; 
 and, through that posterity, during their various migrations and 
 dispersion over the East, diffused through the Gentile nations 
 among which they sojourned. I must again take permission to 
 assert it as my solemn belief, a belief founded upon long and 
 ela])orate investigati m of this important subject, that the Indian, 
 as well as all other triads of deity, so universally adored through- 
 out the whole Asiatic world, and under every denomination, 
 whether they consist of persons, principles, or attributes, deified, 
 are only corruptions of the chrislian doctrine of the trinity. Phy- 
 sics and fai-:e philosophy have in every age combnied to daiken 
 this great truth ; but they have not availed wholly to extirpate 
 it fro)u the mmd of man ". 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 25 
 
 you — Receive ye the Holy Spirit. Acts i. 4, — Wait 
 for the promise of the Father — Ye shall be baptised 
 with the Holy Spirit. And at ver. 7, — The seasons 
 the Father hath put in his own power,— but y© shall 
 receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon 
 you. Ephes. ii. 18, — By one Spirit we have access 
 unto the Father. Ephes. i. 17,— The Father of glory ; 
 1 Pet. iv. 14, — The Spirit of glory. 1 John ii. 15, — 
 The love of the Father; Rom. xv. 30,— The love of 
 the Spirit. Jude i. — Sanctified by G od the Father ; 
 
 Rom. XV. 16, — Sanctified by the Holy Spirit. See 
 
 also Acts ii. 33., Ephes. iv. 4 — 6. 1 Pet. i. 2., Rev. 
 ii. 27 — 29., iii. 5, 6., and iii. 21, 22 : also Rom. i. 4,, 
 Heb. ix. 14., and x. 29., where He is called '* the 
 Spirit of holiness ", ** the eternal Spirit '\ and " the 
 Spirit of grace." 
 
 Next, Maimonides is introduced, fiom Lardnerj 
 to prove the proper acceptation of the term Spirit. 
 Of course, this is in reference to the term as it occurs 
 in the Hebrew of the Old Testament, and not in the 
 Greek of the New. It is nn ruaa/i in the Hebrev»% 
 and is said by this Jewish Rabbi to mean ** the di- 
 vine influence ", amongst other things ; which is as 
 much as could be expected from one whose views 
 were decidedly hostile to the Christian RevekticD, 
 which speaks of the Spirit as an agent, and not only 
 as the influence of Deity : " All these (operations, <fec,) 
 worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing unto 
 every man severally as He wills." This distinct 
 agency is opposed, because it does not suit certain 
 men's notions ; but we think with Sir Isaac Newton, 
 
26 FERSONALITY OF 
 
 that *' God exists and acts after a manner entirely 
 unknown ", except to Himself; and are therefore 
 fully persuaded that what God has been pleased to 
 reveal, both as to his existence and his agency, we 
 are bound to rely upon with the most implicit confi- 
 dence. The doctrine of the Spirit's agency pervades 
 the Scriptures. It is said of Christ, tliat he was led 
 up "by the Spirit ", to be tempted ** by the DeviJ ." 
 And in the foregoing chapter, whilst we hear the 
 Father's voice acknowledging his Son, we see the 
 Spirit ** descending like a dove ", or "in a bodily 
 shape like a dove ", to mark a distinction in his agen- 
 cy ; this circumstance is repeated no less than five 
 times; and it appears to be somewhat parallel with 
 the passage in St. Luke, where the Holy Spirit is 
 said to come upon the Virgin, and to "'overshadow'* 
 her : also with the saints being said to be " born of 
 the Spirit"; and with that in Genesis where the Spi- 
 rit is said to have " moved ", or to have brooded 
 * upon the face of the waters ". The idea of the 
 original word seems to be taken, says Serlc, both 
 fi'om motion by wings, and incubation with wings, and 
 has, consequently, an equal reference to pervading 
 iiiobilit}^ and generating influence. Indeed the dis- 
 tinction of office and agency between the Father and 
 the Spirit is plainly perceivable in the passages ad- 
 duced, and referred to before as proofs of their dis- 
 tinct personality ; to these I beg to direct the reader, 
 that I may not run into unnecessary repetition. 
 
 Another argument for the imper^ionality of the 
 Spirit is attempted from 1 Cor. ii. 11. " In this text", 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 27 
 
 says Mr. Marsora, " by the spirit of a man is meant 
 the man himself, and by the Spirit of God, God him- 
 self." Before, the Spirit was made to mean the di- 
 vine influence, but now it is allowed to be God him- 
 self. ^ And truly the Spirit of God is God himself, 
 whence the apostle calls him ** God the Spirit ", and 
 " the Lord the Spirit ", as each of these places should 
 be rendered*. So God the Father is God himself; 
 and that the Son of God is God himself, the Father 
 himself is witness, in that '* unto the Son He saith, 
 Thy throne, O God, is for ev«r and ever*'. These 
 three are personally distinct, but essentially one. 
 Now a man affords a sort of shadov/ of this, inasmuch 
 as St. Paul distinguishes between his '* body, soul, 
 and spirit t ". That the spirit of a man is the man him- 
 self, Mr. Marsom concedes; and is not the body of 
 a man as trah' the man, since when it dies we say 
 that the man is dead? Not to urge that man is some- 
 thsies called *' flesh "; and indeed his original name, 
 what is it but Adam? — ** And Jehovah, the Alehim, 
 formed the csnL^ AikfiJi out of the dust of the nm« 
 adamahy or ground". And at death he was to " re- 
 turn unto the ground, (adamah), for out of it was he 
 taken." The soul also is the man, so that he some- 
 times goes by this name : " Abram took the souls 
 that they had gotten in Haran " ; and this is a common 
 expression in Scripture for men. Supposing the 
 apostle to mean, then, by the expression bodu, the 
 corporeal part — by the soul, the will and affections — 
 and by the spirit, the mind or understanding — in this 
 ♦Phil. 3, 3. 2 Cov. 3, 18. + 1 Thess. v, 23. 
 
28 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 triple enumeration he does not go to make three sepa- 
 rate men, but only to distinguish between what may 
 be called the animal man, the sensitive man, and the 
 rational or intellectual man. Hence, it is true, that 
 the spirit of a man is the man, but it is not his body, 
 nor yet his soul; — and so the Spirit of God is truly 
 God himself, but then he is not the Son of God, nor 
 yet God the Father. Whence we have that admirable 
 distinction of personal subsistences, '* in the name of 
 the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit," — 
 which no more makes three Gods, than the Apostle's < 
 ** body and soul and spirit, " would argue three men. 
 Another *' strong evidence, " says Mr. Marsom, 
 of the impersonality of the Spirit, is, that the Greek 
 word TTVEVfxa pneuma is in the neuter gender; *' and a 
 neuter noun is never used to express the proper name 
 of a person ". Does Mr. Marsom knov/, that the 
 "Wford for spirit in the Old Testament Hebrew, is ruach, 
 which is not neuter, but of the masculine or feminine 
 gender, — and that, in Latin, it is spiritus, whence our 
 English word spirit, and which is neither feminine nor 
 neuter, but of the masculine gender ? If he will refer 
 to Rom. viii. 16, 26, in the Latin version, he will find it 
 written ''ipse spiritus, " or ** the spirit himself". 'N ow 
 it is contended for, by some ofthe learned, that the New 
 Testament was written originally in Hebrew ; if so, the 
 Greek is but a translation from it, as the Latin is : and 
 what strength of evidence then, in any view of it, is 
 to be derived from the gender of the Greek pneuma ? 
 But at all events, if originally written in Greek, no 
 doubt at Rome, aud other parts of Italy, the scriptures 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 29 
 
 were read in Latin, in which language as well as in 
 some others, Mr. Marsom's argument becomes neu- 
 tralized. Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, were three very 
 principal languages in the christian era, whence Pi- 
 late's superscription was in each of these, in which 
 we find the term for spirit, having a triple diversity 
 of gender. Besides. Mr. Marsom, like Mr. Bel- 
 lamy, and most other Unitarians, personifies the divine 
 essence ; and we have seen already that the Greek 
 Scriptures do not confine themselves to the o Otoc o 
 theoSy in the masculine, in speaking of God, but like- 
 wise use 77 QgoTYiQ ee tkeotees in the feminine, and 
 also TO Gstou to theioHf in the neuter gender; upon 
 his own principles, then, what becomes of the perso- 
 nality of the godhead ? But, to coine still closer to 
 the point — Is it indeed true, as asserted, that " a neu- 
 ter noun is never used to express the proper name of 
 a person"? Those celestial beings called angels, 
 from their ofiice as God*s messengers and ministering 
 servants are denominated *' spirits, " — they are pro- 
 perly pneumafa ; this is their proper title as incorpo- 
 real beings, yet this in no way militates against their 
 personality. Should any one ask you what Gabrielis, 
 who is said to stand in the presence of God ? — would 
 you not say he is an angel? To this, if it were an- 
 swered, but the ministers of the churches are called an- 
 gels in the Revelation by John ; — would you not say 
 that Gabriel is ** a ministering spin^ " or pneuma't The 
 angels too ** that fell, " are called spirits, — evil, foul, 
 lying, unclean spirits, or pneumatay — yet they are not 
 impersonal because of this circumstance. Eliphaz, ii? 
 D 2 
 
80 PERSONALITY GF 
 
 his account of a vision, tells us, — ** then a spirit 
 passed before my face, it stood still, but 1 could not 
 discern the form thereof, — yet an image was before 
 mine eyes ; there was silence, and I heard a voice ", &c. 
 Now there is no reason for denying the personality of 
 this mack, this pneuma, this spiritus or spirit. Indeed, 
 Mr. Locke, in his definition of a person, says, — " a 
 person, is a thinking intelligent being, that has reason 
 and reflection, and can consider itslf as itself, the 
 same thinking thing in different times and places." 
 Thus " God is a spirit " (John iv. 24.). And it is 
 remarkable enough, that the ** sons of God " are, in 
 the Greek of John i. 12. called Tei:ra tekna, which is 
 a noun of the neuter gender ; but if tekna does not im- 
 personify the sows of God, why should pneuma be 
 hostile to the personality of the Spirit of God? The 
 word for " little children " rsKria teknia, is also 
 neuter. The word pneuma, or spirit, is likewise used 
 for men, as intelligeiit beings : " Beloved, believe 
 not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they 
 are of God, lor many false prophets are gone out 
 into the world. Hereby know ye the spirit of God", 
 or by this ye may recognise those who are influenced 
 by the Spirit of God: "every spirit that confes- 
 seth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God; 
 and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ 
 is come in the flesh, is not of God ". The apostle 
 afterw/irds contrasts the '' spirit of truth " with the 
 " spirit of error ", meaning Satan and the Holy Spi- 
 rit. For the spirit of truth is the common title of 
 the Holy Spirit, as given to him by Christ in the 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 81 
 
 Gospel of St. John; and that Satan is the spirit of 
 error is plain, since Christ calls him <* a liar, and the 
 father of lies " ; and this is confirmed by the context, 
 because the apostle had just before said, '* Ye are of 
 God, little children ! and have overcome them (these 
 spirits, the false prophets) because greater is lie that 
 is in you, than he that is in the world ! " But who 
 is ** he that is in the world ", unless the spirit of er- 
 ror, who is called ** the prince of this world '*, and 
 its " God" ? And who is " He that is in " the saints, 
 unless He, whose tem^ple they are? Now they are 
 ** the temple of the Holy Spirit ". 
 
 Another argument may be formed, so Mr. Mar- 
 som tells us " from the import of the word, which pro- 
 perly signifies breath, air, wind, " &c. He is betrayed 
 into this egregious blunder from not consulting the 
 Greek Testament, whether from carelessness or ina- 
 bility is best known to himself; but if from the first, 
 it is inexcusable — and if from the latter, he should 
 have been aware of his incompetency to give an opi- 
 nion at all. Because Trvevfxa pneuma is derived from 
 7rv£w pneoo, to breathe or blow, and spiritus from 
 ipiro, which is of the same signification, therefore 
 he concludes that these words must properly mean 
 *' breath, air, wind ", in the scriptures. This is an 
 enormous error ; pneuma never, in a single in- 
 stance, throughout the New Testament, signifies 
 breath, or air, or even wind.* It is once, and but 
 
 * See the Rev. Edward Nares's Remarks, and Dr. Laurence's 
 Critical Reflexions, on the Socinian New Version of the New 
 Testament. Schleumer indeed thinks th-it pneuma does some- 
 times signify wind, 6ic. in the New Testament, but the •-' 
 
82 PERSONALITY OF 
 once, translated wind, yet improperly even tliere, as 
 we shall see hereafter. The word for breath is ttioj^ 
 pnceCy as in Acts xvii. 25. The word for air is some- 
 times ovpavog ouranos, as in Mat. viii. 20., xiii, 32. 
 Mark iv. 32., Luke ix. 58., but, more generally, it is 
 ar,o aeer, whence our word air — see Acts xxii. 23., 
 1 Cor. ix. 26., xiv. 9., Ephes. ii. 2., 1 Thess. iv. 17., 
 Rev. ix, 2., xvi. 17. And the word for wind is ttvoyi 
 pnoee (the same as for breathy as above), as in Acts 
 ii. 2.; but more generally it is avefiog anemos, as in 
 Matt, xi.7., xiv. 24, 32., Mark iv. 39., vi. 48, 51., Acts 
 xxvii. 4., Ephes. iv. 14., James i. 6., Rev. vi. 13., vii. 1. 
 Indeed, with respect to Mr. Marsom's attempt at 
 a critical examination of the term pneuma, it may be 
 remarked, that the learned have expressed their opi- 
 nion upon the subject to the following amount. 
 
 The word pneuma occurs in the New Testament 
 more than 350 times, and yet is capable only in one 
 instance (John iii. 8) of being translated wind, — an 
 instance however this, disputed by Wakefield himself! 
 
 specified by him do not seem to bear him out. However, the 
 higher senses of the term are fully admitted by him — the soul 
 or spirit, the mind, the inclination, sentiment, feeling, mode of 
 thinking, &c. of the mind ; good and bad angels, who are so 
 called on account of their mcorpGreal nature; God, — and also, 
 he adds — " de Deo, Patve, Filio, et Spiritu Sancto, baud raro 
 ita adhibetur, ut non solum invisibiUs, vel incorporea natura, 
 sed etiam ipsadivina Majestas,/iis*n7>M« co??.m«nis,significetur," 
 — where he contends, that pneuma sometimes stands for " the 
 divine Majesty, common to thtse tiiree perscns!* He likewise calls 
 the Spirit " teitium illud subjectum, quod praeter Patrera et 
 Filium, in Deo existit." And he particularly refers to Matt, 
 xxviii. 19., as an invincible proof in favour of a tlueefold per- 
 sonal distiuctlou iu the Godhead. 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 33 
 
 The term generally used for wind is anemos. The 
 Septuagint use these terms in a striking waj in the 
 104th Psalm. Having in the 3d verse represented 
 God ** walking on the wings of the winds " (ayefxujv 
 anemoon) in the next verse the Psalmist sajs, — * who 
 maketh his angels spirits (pneumata) ; where observe, 
 the impersonal winds are in the masculine gender, 
 whilst the personal angels are in the neuter ! But 
 we need not go from the New Testament for exam- 
 ples of this. In Acts ii. we read of '* a mighty 
 wind " (pnoee), and then of " the Holy Spirit " 
 (pneuma), and the disciples began to speak as the Spi- 
 rit (not as the wind) gave them utterance. In Eph. 
 ii. 2., Satan is called " the prince of the power of 
 the air (aeer), and the Sjiirit (pneuma) that now 
 worketh in the hearts of the children of disobedience "; 
 now the word aeer is masculine, for the air, but pnen- 
 ma, which intends Satan, is neuter. And in the 4th of 
 Ephesians we meet Avith anemos for the wind (ver. 14.), 
 and pneuma for the Holy Spirit three times (verses 3, 
 4, 30); which passages are directly opposed, in point 
 of gender, to Mr Marsom's rule. 
 
 But a little before, Mr. ?*Iarsom had told us that 
 the spirit is '* God himself, " — and now, he reduces 
 Tzyevfia pneuma to wind, or air in motion ! If then 
 ** God is a spirit, " or, »' is spirit, " that is, pneuma, 
 and this pneuma or spirit is only vt'iLi J, the poet's poor 
 Indian is right, 
 
 Whose iintutov'd mind, 
 
 .Sees God ia clouds and htais him in the wind ! 
 But, as opposed to sucli sensiess criticisms, let it be 
 
34 PERSONALITY OP 
 
 remembered, that when Stephen was ahant to expire, 
 he said, — ** Lord Jesus receive my spirit: " to this spi- 
 rit, received into paradise, is Stephen*s personality now 
 confined. As in the case of the repentant thief, whose 
 body was about to be .".onsigned to the dust of death, 
 but whose immortal spirit was soon to mount to glory, 
 Jesus said to him, in answer to his prayer of faith, 
 "To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." The 
 disembodied spirit now in heaven is that very iden- 
 tical thief; according indeed to that of St. Paul, *' I 
 knew a man fourteen years ago, whether in or out of 
 the body, I cannot tell." So again he says, " We are 
 confident and willing, rather to be absent from the body, 
 and to be present icith the Lord ; " that is, to be pre- 
 sent with Hiiii in respect of their disembodied spiiits, 
 in agreem^ent with that of Solomon, — ** then shall the 
 dtist return Lo the earth as it was, a/id the spirit (rtiach, 
 spiritusy or pncunia) shall return unto God who gave 
 it". Now God is not so properly the God of the 
 dead as of " the living, " — death then does not divest 
 the saints of their personality although it does of their 
 foodies. When Jesus observed, that '* a spirit hath not 
 ilesh arid blood, as ye see me have, " he did not intend 
 that we should infer from this, that no spirit, divine, 
 human, angelic, or infernal, is a person; or, that all 
 spirits ars merely mattery that is, breath, wind, or air. 
 However, Mr. Marsom quotes high authority : — 
 *^ Parkhurst says pnemna means the material spirit, — 
 wind, or air in motion ; in support of which he cites 
 majij/ passages, both m the sacred mi^ profane writers." 
 Leaviji^^the profane writers out oftLe question^ many 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 55 
 
 of whom were ignorant of the immortality and imma- 
 teriality of the soul or spirit of man, and whose very 
 Gods were either stocks, and stones, and graven 
 images, or el^e, the elements, and the heavens, and 
 80 forth, — and hence St. PauFs reproof to those at 
 Athens (Acts 17. 22. — 30. j ; leaving these, how many 
 passages would the reader suppose cited by Parkhurst 
 from the new testament? For our enquiry is about 
 the sense of pneuma there. Parkhurst cites one 
 solitary passage ! This is all : ai^d this all is nothing. 
 It is the disputed passage in John iii. 8, — which means, 
 undoubtedly, '* the spirit breathes where he will, and 
 thou hearest his voice" — at least so it is with respect 
 to " every one that is bom ofXhe spirit." And hence 
 the repetition of that saying of Christ, — ** he that hath 
 an ear, let him hear ichat the spirit saith," which oc- 
 curs no less than seven times in the course of the 2nd 
 and 3rd chapter of the Revelation. To hear what the 
 spirit saith, is, to ** hear his voice," which is the 
 literal translation. Besides : take the whole conver- 
 sation between Christ and the Jewish ruler, and see if 
 there is any possibility of finding wind or air in any 
 part of it. Jcwsus saith, " except a man be born again, 
 &c. This word again (avco'^ev) is translated from, 
 above, in the 31st verse of this very chapter, " He that 
 Cometh from above (avw-^fr) is above all ; " and this 
 is its more literal meaning, as it is compounded of 
 arw above, and ^fj^ denoting y?o/rt. Thus Jesus said, 
 *' except a man be born from above, he caanot see the 
 kingdom of God. " In explanation, Jesus adds, — 
 ''except a man be bona of water and the spirit," not 
 
36 t>ERSONALITY OF 
 
 ** and the air," — this would only make a bubble; but 
 ** and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
 God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and 
 that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not, 
 that ye must be born again (i. e. from above,) — the 
 spirit breathes where he will, and thou hearest his 
 voice, but canst not tell whence he cometh, or whither 
 he goeth. So is every one that is born of the spii'it" 
 — he has an ear, to hear his voice, or, what the spirit 
 saith, although his motions are beyond his ken ; when, 
 how, whence, or where, he conies and goes, is incom* 
 prehensible to him. Now, from the 5th to the 8th 
 verse, inclusive, the word pneuma occurs ^ve times ; 
 in the first three instances it is translated spiiit, — and 
 what good reason can be given, for varying the 
 translation in either of the two remaining instance?, 
 when there is no variation in the Greek, and they re- 
 cur in the compass of one and the same verse ? 
 
 But as a reference is made to Parkhurst, it seems 
 but fair to state that very learned divine's opinion in 
 his own terms. Having said that pneuma means, 
 sometimes, the human spirit, as distinct from the body, 
 and from the animal soul, he says, it is also applied to 
 Christ's human soul or spirit, — to an incorporeal 
 demon, or ghost, or spirit, — to an evil spirit, or devil, 
 — to a spiritual or incorporeal substance or being, — 
 and likewise to ** the third person of the ever blessed 
 Trinity, as distinguished from the Father and the Son ; 
 whose agency in the spiritual world is described to us 
 in scripture, by that of the air in the natural ", (p. 
 646.) See also his Hebrew Lexicon, pp. 342, & 680, 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 37 
 
 where, in tlie last of these, he allows mach to signify 
 the spirit or soul of man, — an incorporeal substance, 
 — an evil spirit, — and " the Holy Spirit, or Spirit of 
 God ": and in the first of the above cited places, he 
 observes, that the material trinity of nature, fire, 
 light, and spirit (or air in motion), are representative 
 of the Alehim in Jehovah, and are, like their divine 
 Antetype, of one substance; and hence he deduces the 
 propriety of the cherubic figures, or *' cherubim of glory '' 
 (Heb. ix. 5.), being considered as scripture emblems 
 of " the God of Glory " (Acts, vii. 8.), in the persons 
 of " the Father of Glory " (Ephes. i. 17.), " the Lord 
 of Glory" (1 Cor. ii. 8.),— and '' the Spirit of Glory " 
 (1 Petvi. 14.). 
 
 Notwithstanding the authority of.Parkhurst, whick 
 the reader will see is directly against Mr. Marsom's 
 notions, our author proceeds to strive liard for the spirit 
 being really no other than a wafe/7*«/ substance, fluid air, 
 air m motion, breath, or v.ind. "By many commen- 
 tators," he tells us, *' the Spirit of God (in Gen. i. 2.) 
 is supposed to be a mighty ivijid I " ^Vhy the Saddu- 
 cees supposed this, long ago ; since they'acknowledged 
 " no resurrection, neither angel, iioi- spirit " of any 
 kind (Acts, xxiii. 8.), Our Unitarians pretty generally 
 follow Priestley in his opinion of this sort of material- 
 ism ; and both he and they are countenanced by most 
 of the heathen of other days, who were so absorbed 
 in matter that it became their God : they " became 
 vain in their imagmations, and their foolish heart was 
 darkened, — professing themselves to be wise they be- 
 came fools, and cha'iged the glory of the incorrup- 
 
80 l^ERSONALITY OF 
 
 tible (tli8 spiritual, immaterial) God, into an image 
 
 made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four 
 
 footed beasts, and creeping tilings." But what 
 
 sounds much in Mr. Marsom's favour, is, that ** the 
 
 Seventy understood it so ! " That is, it is translated 
 
 wind in the Greek. But this is no such thing^ It 
 
 is translated by those Jews, TuevfiaQeov pneuma theoii, 
 
 ** the Spirit of God ". The Jews, generally, were not 
 
 the disciples of Sadoc, they v/ere not materialists. 
 
 Rabbi Isaac Abarbanel, in his Commentary on the 
 
 Pentateuch, observes, that ruach, spirit, is used as a 
 
 common term for all abstract intelligences ; and, in 
 
 elucidating a text of Plabakkuk, he says, that " God 
 
 lias his splendour and effulgency from himself, and 
 
 not from any other cause, — like the rest of spiritual 
 
 beings". And Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel says, th^t 
 
 *' man does not resemble God in respect of his body, 
 
 because God has no body, — but; in respect of his soul, 
 
 for this is (spiritus) spirit, and so is God spirit ". The 
 
 famous Caiasio, in his Lexicon, gives, as the higher 
 
 sense of ruach, " anima hominis (the soul or spirit 
 
 of man), et angelus (and an angel), et Deus (and 
 
 God).'' Indeed I need but quote a single scripture to 
 
 determine this point: " The Egyptians are man and. 
 
 not God, and their horses flesh and not spirit (ruach), 
 
 Isa. xxxi. 3. " This is just as if the prophet had 
 
 said," observes Mr. Oxlee, " Egypt, which has horses 
 
 in war, is only man, that is, flesh, and not God, Vv ho 
 
 is spirit." 
 
 But if God is indeed spirit, then spirit, as applied 
 to Him, cannot signify '' breath, air, wind", Jtis 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 39 
 
 true that tlie hreatk and the spirit of Jehovah are, in 
 some respects, one and the same, as Mr. Marsom 
 states,— but then his Spirit is not mere breath or air, 
 but rather his breath is spirit. The contrary, as held 
 by our author, reduces the Deity to mere corporeity. 
 And he adduces Psahn xxxiii. 6. as an apposite pas- 
 sage; " by tiie word of the Lord v/ere the heavens 
 mp,de, and all the host of them by the breath of his 
 mouth ", — that is, the heavens v/ere made by the i^n 
 dabar, the 'Xoyoc logos or uord (as St. Jolm calls tf<e 
 Son), said hy the ruach, ihepncuma, or Holy Spirit: 
 tl^ese are the terms in the above passage, according to , 
 the Hebrew, and to the Septuagint, and they convey _, 
 a correct idea. For the breath of Jehovah is no more 
 a ^ ind, than his mouth is Jlesh, or his word a mere 
 articulate sound. The fact is, Jehovah the Father 
 creates all things, not so much by himself personal!}^ 
 considered, as through the agency of the word and . 
 the Spirit. Now the Word, St. John tells us, is God 
 —God with God, as " the Son of the Father ". The 
 Word of Jehovah, then, is not a verbal utterance 
 merely, a'-' vox etprceterea nihir\ — but, as with man, 
 a word is the fruii of his lips or mouth, so with Jeho- 
 vah, ^^ ho is a spirit (not air, remember). His Word 
 is an offspring worthy of Himself, i^piiiiual, immate- 
 rial, and eternal, even *' the only begotten Son who 
 is in the bosom of the Father ''. And so the breath 
 of Jehovah, that is, his rimck, pneuma, er spirit, is 
 truly spirit, not an airy bla^~t — which goes to corporify 
 the Deity — but an energetic agent, of whom Elihu 
 says, the Spirit of God hath made me (or created 
 
40 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 nie), and " the breath (nj^mi neshemahf or pnose) of 
 the Almighty hath given me Ufe ". Here the creation 
 of Elihu is referred to the Spirit of God as the divine 
 agent, — and then the infusion of the vital principle is 
 called the inbreatJiing or inspiration, which is Jiesh- 
 email in the Hebrew, and pnoee in the Greek, but 
 not ruach and pneutrta, tlie terms employed for the 
 Holy Spirit. This of Eiihn agrees with that of Moses, 
 — '* the Lord God formed (or created^ man, of the dust 
 of the ground ", — and then it follows, " and breathed 
 (or inspired) into his nostrils the j— i»U^J neskematkf 
 or pnoee, or ** breath of life, and man became a living 
 soul ". The reader will perceive that Elihu's expres- 
 sion, the Spirit of God, is the same with that of 
 Moses in the 1st of Gen. and which Mr. Marsom 
 would translate, after certain commentators, a mighty 
 wind ; but this of course could not, in either of the 
 cases stated, have done much in the affair of creating. 
 After what has been produced, we shall not be at a 
 loss for the meaning of Job xxvi. 13 — '* by His Spirit 
 he hath garnished the heavens ". Nor yet of Psaha 
 civ. 29, 30. — " Thou takest away their (ruach) spi- 
 rit, they die, and return to their dast ", — as in the 
 parable of the rich man, it is said to him, *' this night 
 thy soul shall be required of thee ". Then it follows, 
 in the Psalm referred to above, "Thou sendc-st forth 
 thy Spirit, they are created, and thou renewest the 
 face of the earth ". Now the Spirit's being sent to 
 create, is no more than the Son's being sent to redeem : 
 " and we have seen and do testify, that the Father 
 sent the ^Son to be the Saviour of the world ", (1 Joha 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 4i. 
 
 ir, 14.) In fine : we have the terms breath and spirit 
 finely contrasted in Job xxxiv. 14 : " If he gather to 
 Himself his (man's^ spirit and his breatii (ruach and 
 neshemath), all flesh shall perish, and man turn again 
 to dust ". And in Job xxxii. 8., we have the 'Spirit 
 and his influence both specified : " There is a spirit in 
 man (ruach) '', or more properly, perhaps, — " the Spi- 
 rit himself (is) in man, and the inspiration of the Al- 
 mighty {neshemath) giveth them understanding". The 
 system of materialism but ill accords with Zechariah 
 xii. 1. — " Jehovah, that formeth the spiritj ruach, of 
 man within him ; '* — or with Numb. xvi. •22., xxvii. 16. : 
 *' The God of the spirits [ruachoth] of all flesh " ; which 
 passages from the Old Testament are in exact agree* 
 ment with that of St. Paul in the New : " the Fa- 
 ther of spirits " [pneumatoon] , as opposed to fathers of 
 our flesh, Heb. xii. 0. And here it may be observed* 
 that the breath of life in Gen. ii. 7. is the neshemath 
 hayim, "the breath or inspiration of lives'*, whence 
 Adam became, not only a breathing animal, as Mr. 
 Marsom insinuates, but also a living soul, nephish hayah. 
 Hence Christ intim.ates, that the animal life may be 
 taken from us, but not that of the soul, i/vx^y psukee, 
 V, hich is the word used by Moses, \pvxn^ ^iocray, " a 
 living soul ". " Fear not them who kill the body, but 
 are not able to kill the soul;'" whence we conclude that 
 man possesses a life which he may be deprived of, 
 and a life which cannot be taken from him. 
 
 Mr. Marsom tells u»#next, *' that the personal agency 
 in the miracles of Jesus, was not that of the Holy 
 Spirit, but of God the Father," which is, like most 
 E 2 
 
43 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 of his other assertions, directly the reverse of the 
 truth : for althono-h the Father is said to have done 
 the works, yet He did them through the agency of 
 the Holy Spirit, to whom they are therefore attri- 
 buted, and of whom Christ therefore declares, " who- 
 soever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it 
 shall be forgiven him, but whosoever speaketh against 
 the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither 
 in this world, nor in that which is to come ". The 
 same may be observed of teaching : " He that hath 
 karned (or been taught) of the Father, cometh unto 
 me ", says Clirist : but elsewhere we find, that the 
 Father instructs the children of his love, grace, 
 ehoice, and adoption, by the agency of the Holy 
 Spirit, who teaches us *• all things ", and is said to 
 *■* lead " and to ** guide " us into '* all truth '*; so that 
 *' no one can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the 
 Holy Spirit, " of whom Jesus says, that '* He shall 
 testify of me." The distinction is most palpable, — 
 *■' I will pray tlie Father, '* says Christ, " and He 
 shall give you another comforter Cor instructor ,j that 
 He may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of 
 truth, " This title of the Paraclete is official, and 
 supposes the proper personality of the Being who 
 sustains the office, since He is said to instruct and con- 
 sole us, and to intercede for us, or advocate our cause. 
 Mr, Campbell, and others, consider parakleetos as 
 denoting a minister, instructor, or guide; which suits 
 very well with the title of " the Spirit of truth, '* and 
 with his convincing and reproving of sin, of righteous- 
 ness, ai^ of judgment, and with his other name of 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 4^ 
 
 tlie spirit of Wisdom, and of understanding, and 
 f o on. But, as the Paraclete, the Spirit may be like- 
 wise considered as our pleader, advocate, patron, or 
 intercessor, since in the only instance of the appli- 
 cation of this term to Christ, it has this meaning — 
 ** If any one sin, we have an advocate fparakleetos,) 
 with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the 
 propitiation for our sins," 1 John, 2, 1. His pro- 
 pitation for sins, is the ground of His advocacy for 
 sinners : except He had atoned for us. He could not 
 have advocated our cause ; but the merits of His pro- 
 pitiatory sufferings are the most cogent arguments 
 that could be pleaded in favour of transgressors. Now 
 the Sjnrit is our advocate and intercessor, in that h« 
 incites our souls to prayer, and not only disposes us 
 to this spiritual exercise, but also directs us in it. He 
 leads us to the father through Christ (Ephes. ii. 18,) 
 and instructs us to rest our cause, and all our hopes 
 of favour, pardon, and acceptance, as sinners, upon 
 the merit of his obedience and his sufferings, and in- 
 deed of his whole mediatory work: we go to court, 
 under his influence, and plead with the Pather accord- 
 ing to his secret instructions, who, shewing us where 
 the weakness of our ca^^J^e lies, and in what is the 
 strength of it, enables us to prefer *' the effectual, 
 as well as the •'* fervent prayer ", and it " availeth 
 much '*. This is admirably pointed out in these me 
 morable words of St. Paul : " Likewise the ""pirit 
 also helpelh our infirmities. Tor we know not what 
 we should pray for, as we ought. But the Spirit him- 
 self {ipse spiritus) maketh intercession for us, with 
 
44 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 groanlngs wliicli cannot be mtered. And he tliat 
 searclieth tlie heart, knoweth what is the mi nd of the 
 Spirit fas expressed in the prayers, aad even in the 
 silent, unutterable emotions of the saints), becaus©. 
 He (the Spirit) maketh intercession for the saints, ac- 
 cording to the will of God.'* 
 
 However, the blessed Spirit is not only an In- 
 structor and an Advocate, but a comforter also. " It 
 is well known, " says Doddridge, '* that the word 
 Paraclete may signify a comforter, an advocate, or a 
 monitor, and it is evident the blessed spirit sustained 
 each of these characters ; but this being a consolatory 
 discourse [namely, in John] I choose to use the former, 
 as our translators have done \ To which I would add, 
 that the verb it is derived from often means to comfort 
 and console, as in Mat. v. 4., Luke xvi. 25., Acts xvi. 
 40., XX. 12. 1 Cor. xvi. 31., 2 Cor. i. 4., ii. 7. The sub- 
 stantive too, TrapaKXrjaLQ parakleesis, intends consolation, 
 as in Luke vi. 24., Actsiv SG., Kom. xv., 4. 2 Cor. 1., 
 3, 4. ; and indeed we read in Acts ix. 31., ** the churches 
 had rest and were edified, and walking in the fear of 
 the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, were 
 multiplied. '* And what is more, in the Old Testament 
 •TrapaKXijTOjp pctrakleetoorhas the sense of a comforter ^^lC' 
 cording to the Greek of the seventy, as in Job xvi. 2. 
 So parakleesis stands for comfort or consolation in Na- 
 hum. iii. 7., in Jeremiah xvi. 7., twice; and Isaiah Ivii. 
 18. Bui in truth the Holy * pirit is a comforter, both 
 ■when he instructs us and when he a^ssists us in prayer. 
 ** Light Is sweet, " says ^olomon, but there is no light 
 so sweet as that of truth — *' the light of the knowledge 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 45 
 
 of the glory of God in the face of Jesns Christ ". The 
 wise kJDg adds, that ** a pleasant thing it is to behold 
 the sun ", but there is no pleasantness like tbat which 
 the soul experiences in a view of the '* Sun of Right- 
 eousness. " So that tlje Spirit, in testifying of Christ, 
 is a comforter indeed, since Christ is " the consolation 
 of Israel " (parnkleesis), Luke ii. 25. That the Spirit 
 is a comforter in prayer, is equally manifest, since h« 
 bears witness v, ith our spirits that we are the children 
 of God, emboldening us to " cry, Abba Father," and 
 brings the promises to our remembrance, and instructs 
 US to urge them in our supplication that they may be 
 fulfilled, and gives us assurance that our God will 
 supply all our need, " according to Plis riches in glory 
 by Christ Jesus ". In a word : are we made to 
 ** abound in hope, through the power of the Holy 
 Spirit? " Is the fruit of the Spirit *' lore, joy, peace ? '* 
 And the kingdom of God witliin u?, is it not only 
 righteousness, but also peace and joy in {or by) the 
 Holy Spirit? If so, then the Spirit is ti'uly the Coin- 
 forter that should relieve our souls. 
 
 Eut, lastly, the impersonality of the Spirit is in- 
 ferred by Mr. Marsom, from sundry particulars de- 
 clared concerning Him. The first is, its being said 
 that he is imparted to Christ " without measure ", and 
 to others " in measure "; where, of course, it imports 
 more or less of his gifts, graces and influence; as, 
 elsewhere it is said of God, that " God is in you of a 
 truth ", and also " that ye might he filled with all tht 
 fulness of God " ; which last expression seems to in- 
 tend the highest possible degree of the divine presence* 
 
46 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 favour, grace, and influence, without any detriment 
 to the personality of God. In all such instances, 
 therefore, as also when it is said of the FoJher and 
 the Son, that *" we v/ill come unto Inin, and make our 
 abode with him ", it intends, if I may so express it, 
 the comnmnicahle presence, or grace, blessing, and 
 favour of tlie Holy Spirit, just as of the other sacred 
 persons, according to that remarkable declaration of 
 Christ: " My Father willlove hirn, and ive will come 
 unto him, and make onr abode with him." 
 
 The other parlicnlars are, that the spirit is repre- 
 sented as a spirit of life, and spoken of as water, — 
 oil, — seal, — and earnest; — "all which appear to be ", 
 says Mr. Marsom, " totally inconsi^itenf with the idea 
 of personality '*. It may certainly appear so, especi- 
 ally at first siglit, or to blind unbelief, which sees as 
 though it saw not, and perceive? but does notunderstand. 
 Christ is a door, a tree, a vine, a fountain, a stone, 
 a lamb, and bread ;.but what has all thio to do 
 wqth His personality ? even in the commencement of 
 John's gospel where His personality is so manifest, 
 Christ is called by no less than three impersonal titles, 
 — " the word " (logos), in the masculine, — *' the life '* 
 ( ^(i}i] zoo(c) in the feminine, — " ilie light '* ((pojg foos) 
 m the neuter gender. God is called a fire, a rock, a 
 sini, a shield. Now all this is no way incon?istent 
 with personality. The fact is, that the Spirit is called 
 " the Spirit of life ", as being the agent that quickens 
 us to newness of hfe when dead in trespasses and sin : 
 " that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit ", — " so is 
 every one tliat is bGm of the, Spirit '\ Then, liis grace 
 
Ta,E HOLY SPIRIT. 47 
 
 is within us as *' a well of water ", to sustain, nourish, 
 and refresh, the " new born soul *', and henee he is 
 intitled " the Spirit />/" grace ", a» well as the Spirit 
 of life. And as oil readily insinuates itself, and sup- 
 ples what is stiff, and softens what is hard, so the Spi- 
 rit, elsewhere called " the a«om;irt(/ that teacheth all 
 things ", finds his way into the inner man, bends our 
 stubborn necks to the cross of Christ, brings every 
 thought into obedience to Hiai, and dissolving our 
 stony heart that resisted the will, word, and provi- 
 dence of God, causes us to be possessed of a suscep- 
 tible, impressive heart of flesh. As to his being a 
 seal, we know that this is our security. Of old the 
 Church was called "a garden inclosed, a spring shut up, 
 and a fountain sealed'. " now if our hearts are sealed Mith 
 the Spirit, it at once marks us for God, and secures 
 us to God. And hence the reason of the admonitioa 
 — ^* grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby (or hy 
 whom per quern) ye are sealed unto the clay of redemp- 
 tioji ". Gratitude therefore constrains us, not to resist 
 his sacred motions, nor to quench the holy fire he kin- 
 dles within us, much less, by denying his personal ex- 
 istence and agency, to " do despite to the Spirit of 
 grace '*, — which, by the way, is generally leagued with 
 that other offence, of " trampling under foot the So)i 
 of God ". It is upon the same ground of our obli- 
 gations to him, as well as to Christ, and of his kindness 
 tovrards us, that the apostle implores us, as by Christ, 
 so by the spirit, — " nov/ I beseech you, brethren, 
 for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of 
 
48 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 the Spirit that ye strive together with me in praj^ers 
 to God for me.' * 
 
 With respect to the Spirit being an earnest y " the 
 earnest of the spirit in our hearts " is a token of the 
 Father's love, and the Son's grace, and is a pledge of 
 the continuance of their regards ; He assures us of our 
 sonship and heirsliip, and of our future inheritance in 
 glory, so that we are " always confident". Pie bears 
 witness with our own spirit that we are the children of 
 God, — and v/hilst He divinely persuades us of our fdi- 
 ation, He, as " the Spirit of adoption ", causes us to 
 cry " Abba Father '\ Hence it is recorded of certain 
 believers, that — " after ye believed, ye were sealed 
 with that Holy Spirit of promise, who (for it is og os, 
 in the masculine)^ who is the earnest of our inheri- 
 tance ! ** 
 
 Having, as briefly as possible, answered the argu- 
 ments, proposed by Mr. Marsom, for the impersonality 
 of the Holy Spirit,. I proceed to a review of his con- 
 sideration of *' the arguments which are generally ad- 
 duced in proof of the personality of the Holy Spirit". 
 
 Aware, that considerable stress is laid upon the 
 frequent use of personal pronouns in reference to the 
 Holy Spirit, Mr. Marsom attempts to neutralise this 
 ^ort of proof by the application of the figure prosopo- 
 poeia; so that tl'C amount of his argument is this: — 
 It is common, both in sacred and profane writings, to 
 personify a variety of things which in themselves have 
 no proper personality, — *' and so personal actions may 
 he ascribed to the Holy Spirit^ and pergonal pronouns 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 4S 
 
 he used to represent them, Avithout afTording any sub- 
 staiicial proof of absolute personality !" Now all this 
 just amounts to notliing, or, at most, to a inai/ be. 
 For let us only enumerate the instances of personi- 
 fication adduced on this occasion, — the mountains, 
 the deep, a sword, destruction and death, the law, 
 and the scriptures — and then propose this question, 
 *' who ever imagined any of these to be persons ?" 
 Every body sees, at the first glance, that nothing of 
 absolute personality was intended in sucli instances. 
 But of the Spirit the case is very different. He is, 
 without a figure, represented as tlie great agent in the 
 church of Christ throughout the New Testament scrip- 
 tures, particularly in the Acts of the Apostles, which 
 might rather be entitled the book of the Acts of the 
 Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament He is " the Spi- 
 rit of prophecy "; and indeed of inspiration in general, 
 since not only the prophets spoke, as '' moved by the 
 Holy Spirit ", but men were gifted by Him with ex- 
 traordinary endowments suited to the employments as- 
 signed them. Some, as Bezaleel, with skill in all 
 manner of workmanship ; others, as hampson, witli 
 martial courage ; others again, as Said, with such re- 
 quisites for government as he luid not previon.-ly de- 
 rived from nature or educalion ; and others, in a 
 word, as David, whh an exquisite turn for sacred 
 poetr}^ whence he became famous, and continues to 
 be so, as " the sweet Psalmist of Israel": " Thf> 
 Spirit of the Lord ', he says, '•' spake l>y me, ai.d 
 His word was in my mouth ". And hence- Peter, ia 
 allusion to one of his .-piritual song?, observes, " This 
 
50 l^ERSONALITY OF 
 
 scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the 
 Holy Spirit, by tlie mouth of David, spake before con- 
 eerning Judas.'* 
 
 But the fact is, Mr. Marsom was conscious of the 
 weakness of this remark at the instant of making it, 
 and accordingly he abandons it with the utmost preci- 
 pitation : admitting that, possibly, these personal actions 
 and pronouns may ** necessarily convey the idea of 
 proper personality *\ But then this admission is not 
 without some reservation ; " yet ", it is added, " that 
 personality must certainly be referred, not to the 
 spirit itself, but to the being or person v/ho performs 
 those actions, by or under its influence ". This how- 
 ever is a mere fancy of Mr. Marsom, since, in the 
 passage quoted above, David's prophecy respecting 
 Judas is expressly attributed to the Holy Spirit as 
 the author, — ** which the Holy Spirit spake before, by 
 the mouth of David ". In other places, the "^'pirit is 
 introduced alone without even mention being made 
 of the instrument employed by Him ; as, in respect 
 of Paul's Epistles, we refer them to Hin), and speak 
 of them as his, because he was the luithor, although 
 some other individual was instrumental in tl;e writing 
 of tliem. Tims, in reference to the second fabernacle, 
 into which the high priest alone e juid enter, f*aul ob- 
 i^erves, — " the Holy Spirit signifying this (by it,) that 
 the way into the holiest was not yet m:>de mnnifest." 
 And in allu-ion to the perfection of onr saHation by 
 Christ, he says, *' whereof the ii' !y Spi it also is a 
 witness to us, for that he Jiad said before, this is the 
 covenant that 1 v» ill miike with them, s^ith the Lci d ". 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 51 
 
 And to bring this sage remark to one test more ; Aihen 
 it is said tli:\t Jesus was ' * led up by the Spirit, to be 
 tempted by the devil ", how is per?onaiitv attributable 
 to the evil Spi- it, il" it is in i^ plicabie to the Holj 
 Spirit ? But this persona] agenej is coii: [icuous in the 
 affair of Mary ; she '' was fou;id with child of the 
 Holy Spirit ', so that it was declared that, " that 
 wliicii is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit", 
 Now the angel's answer to Mary's enquiry, as to 
 w^ho \vas to be ihe agent in this miraculous transaction, 
 corroborates this; *' Mary said. How shall this be, 
 seeing I know not a man ? The Angel answered. The 
 Holy Spirit shall (or will) come upon thee, and the 
 power of the Highest overshadow thee'*, — that is, the 
 powerful influence of this sacred agent; for " th« 
 power of the Ploly Spirit " is a scripture phrase, as 
 intending that which, as v/ell as the agent who, effects 
 the thing recorded. Thus hope is, in one place, called 
 a fruit of the Spirit ; and elsewhere we are represented 
 as abounding in hope, " through the p>oiver of the 
 Holy Spirit ". 
 
 But Mr. Marsom adds, that *♦ the Holy Spirit is 
 never represented as an individual being, having a dis- 
 tinct subsistence, and performing actions exclusively 
 its own*'. To this, suffer me to answer, first, that 
 Jehovah, considered in the unity of the divine essence, 
 is indeed the only individual self-existent being : but, 
 next, that the Holy Alehim, cu'irnp D»n'?« Alehim 
 kedoshim, the " Alehim the holy ones " (Joshua 
 xxiv. 19.), have a co-existence in that essence; tliej 
 are socially existent, as mutually participating tbf 
 
53 PERSONALITY OP 
 
 perfections of deity ; and tliey are therefore, each of 
 them, severally represented in scripture as Jeliovah. 
 Hence those triple repetitions of this incommunicable 
 name in the Hebrew writings, *' Jeljovah is our 
 judge, Jehovah is our lawgiver, Jehovah is our king ; 
 He will save us " ; wliere you may remark a trinity in 
 Mnity, and an unity in trinity. So also in Numbers, 
 *' On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, 
 saying unto them, Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee; 
 Jehovah make his face shine upon thee, and be 
 gracious unto thee ; Jeliovah lift up the light of his 
 countenance upon thee, and give thee peace ". 
 This, taken in connexion with the triple benedic- 
 tion adopted by St. Paul in the New Testament, 
 is exceedingly strong; *• the grace of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and the love of God the Father (for so it 
 stands in some copies, according to Griesbach's notes), 
 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you 
 all ". It does appear, therefore, that the Spirit has a 
 distinct subsistence, just as the Father has, and also 
 the Son; but not a separate existence. If this had 
 not been the case, Jesus woukl not have commissioned 
 the disciples to teach and baptize " in the name of tlie 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit '*. 
 Nor would St. John have declared, that *' there are 
 three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, tlie 
 Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one"; 
 cvToi 01 TpELQ ojitoi oi freis, tliese three persons are, ev 
 TO ^uoi' en to iheion, one di\inity.* Taking the mat- 
 
 ♦ The Rev. Daniel Wilson observes : " I am well aware of the 
 controversy q\\ this text, and have attentively weighed, so far 
 
THE HOLY STIKVT. 58 
 
 ter in this plain scriptural view, we see a propriety 
 and beauty in such passages as these : '* through 
 Christ we have access Oy one Spirit unto the Father " ; 
 and " there is one Spirit, one Lord, one God and 
 Father of all ". 
 
 But we are told, that the spirit is never repre- 
 sented as •' performing actions exclusively its own ". 
 If it be meant, exclusively of the Godhead, we an- 
 swer, tliis is true : for every act of the Father, is the 
 act of God; and so is every act of the Son and 
 Spirit. Nor is any act of one person exchmve of the 
 other persons ; whence the Son asserts, '* my Father 
 worketli, and I work " ; " for what things soever 
 He doelh, these also doeth the Son likewise " ; '' for 
 as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth 
 them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will". 
 Elsewhere, " it is the Spirit that quickeneth ", whence 
 He is called the Spirit of life, and we are said to be 
 " born of the Spirit ". But although no act of any one 
 person of tlie sacred three, is either exclusive of the 
 Godhead, or even of the otlier persons ; yet there is 
 9l distiiiti'wn in their operations, and a certain peculi- 
 arity m some of their actions. For after Christ had 
 asserted his co-operation with the Father, as stated 
 
 as I have been aMe, the arguments on either side. I incline, 
 howevei , to the eoiiclnsion of Dv. Hey, the htte Noi risian pro- 
 fe*:.>(>r, that the text is genuine ; and with this impression, do not 
 scruple to adduce it in thiS place. I observe also, that the late 
 Mr. Milner, of Kuil, a nvdn of profound learning, and ^Yh^5e 
 judei'nent was emiu'/nt'.y sound and discri;ninatin^, does the same. 
 See IMiiiier's £erniO]is, vol. 2., on 1. John v. 14, 15, : »nd4^yse Cfz __ 
 the 'Aqy. Darnel Vvilscn, p. 114. ^r v -//>> /' -'^ ^'k.>/<i-^ -* -^ 
 
 F 2 
 
54 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 above, he adds immediately, " for tlie T ather judgetk 
 no man, but liatli committed all judgment mito the 
 Son ; that all men should lionour the Son, even as 
 they honour the Father," that is, of course, distinctly 
 as co-equal persons, and unitedly as one God. And 
 this single scripture throws to the" ground Mr. Mar- 
 som*s whole theological fabric, since he founds it upon 
 this indefensible error, that the Father is the only legi- 
 timate object of sacred worship ; w hereas the scrip- 
 ture directs us to honour the Son even as we honour 
 the Fatlier. Consequently, if Ave honour the Father 
 as God, we are bound to honour the Son as God also ; 
 not, as if they were two Gods, but two divine persons 
 who '* are one", as the Son declares; that is, syro'^eioy 
 en to theion, one divinity, one Godhead ; the one 
 being the Son of God, and the other God the Father, 
 Now, as the Son acts as judge, but not the Father; so 
 it is the Father's ollice to elect, predestinate, and adopt, 
 and not the precise oitice of the Son or Spirit ; and hence 
 St. John exclaims, " Behold, what manner of love the 
 Father \iM]\ bestowed upon us, that we should be call- 
 ed the sons of God". Whilst the Spirit sustains 
 other oirlces (^quully distinct ; He is " the Spirit of 
 supplications", '* the Spirit of adoption", and '* tho 
 Spirit of truth", as vwll as " the Spirit of life " ; for 
 having quickened us v> hen dead in sin. He informs our 
 minds witli respect to heavenly things, assures us of 
 our divine filiation, and excites in our hearts the cry 
 of Abba Father ; " by whom ", says St. Paul, " we 
 ery Abba Father '*. Not now to insist on his office, 
 as " the Spirit of holiness ", in the internal sanctifica- 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 65 
 
 tion of the saints, who are said to be " elect according 
 to the fore-knowledge of God the Father, through the 
 sanctification of the Spirit, unto tlie obedience * and 
 the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ ". In one 
 place, indeed, we are said to be *' sanctified by God 
 the Father '* ; that is, separated to himself from the 
 mass of mankind for a peculiar people. In ano- 
 ther place, Jesus is said to '* sanctify us with his own 
 blood"; that is, to separate us from the guilt of 
 our transgressions, and the desert of our sins, for 
 " the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth vs 
 from all sin". But elsewhere we are said to be 
 *' sanctified by the Holy Spirit", and this intends our 
 gradual separation from the love of sin, and the prac- 
 tice of it; and from every thing, in trutJi, which h 
 contrary to righteousness and true holiness. So that 
 in this one point of sanctification, considered in its 
 
 * " The obedience here spoken of, is that of Christ to the law, 
 and it constitutes t)Mirighteousncs'i \\\nc\\ is imputed to his people, 
 through faith, for their justilication before God. See Rom, v. 19 : 
 and iv. 6, It, 22, 23, 24. It is too often the custom to point this 
 passage wron^, so as to .make obedience appear to belong to 
 the sanctified person, thus <' through sanctification of the 
 Spirit unto ohedh:n:e" ; bnt, in tlie first place, it is coutraiy \» 
 the pointing of our English bibles ; and secondly, it is totally in 
 opposition to the sense, and construction, and pointing of the 
 original Greek. It is strange that men cannot jnaaage to defend 
 one truth without destroying anotljer. See some excellent re- 
 marks on this subject in two Letters, by tlie Rev. E.Coopei-, p. 29 
 
 35. " From the fear of countenancing-, or of being siist'ected to 
 countenance, the ai)ominable conclusions which Antinoininnisra 
 involves, tlie opposer of this system is strongly tempted io de- 
 part from that full exposition of the dotirines of grace ^ic^dch he has 
 been prcvioushj accustomed te imwitainy " licc. 
 
56 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 various senses, we clearly discover a distinction of 
 agency in the peculiar operations of the Father, the 
 Son, and the Holy Spirit. 
 
 tt is further urged by Mr. Marsom, that if the 
 Holy Spirit was a person, the saints, being his tem- 
 ple, would be devoted to him, &c. " But this ", he 
 says, " is not taught us in the word of God; all 
 supreme worsliip is there directed to be addressed to 
 God even the Father". To this I answer, first, that 
 sometimes in scripture God is represented as our re- 
 conciled Father, in, through, and by, Jesus Clirist ; 
 and in this view He only is the supreme object of 
 worship, through the " one mediator between God 
 and men, the man Christ Jesus ". But in a more 
 comprehensive point of view, we contemplate (he 
 Alehbn in Jehovah, as the legitimate object of our 
 adorations, for in their name we have been baptized ; 
 and hence we appear to be fully justified in worship- 
 ping the Son and the Spirit, as well as the Father; 
 although, ill agreement with the economy of salvation, 
 it is not improper to address the Fatlier, through the 
 iijtervention of the ton iiu-arnate, and by the aid of 
 the blessed Spirit. Still, each is to be worshipped dis- 
 tinctly, as personal agents,— as well as conjointly, as 
 the Aleliim of Israel, and in unity also, as the one 
 Jehovah.* This is the case throughout the Hebrew 
 scriptures, where God is at one time worshipped in 
 
 • Schknisner states the Holy Spirit to be distinct from the 
 Fatlier niid the Son (diversum esse a Patre et Filio); and con- 
 tends that he is to be honoured v.ith eqonl dijinity, and equally 
 to be made the object of religious worship, v,lih the Father ai;«i 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 57 
 
 onity as Jeliovah ; at another, in trinity, as the Alelrim 
 of the Hebrews ; and, at other times, distinctly, ac- 
 cording to the phiri-psrsoiiality in the divine essence 
 and the mediatory character sustahied by the second 
 person. Thus the Fsahiiii-t prays : " Forsake me 
 not, Jchcvah ! O n)y Alehim, be not far from me; 
 make haste to help n:e, O Adcnai, my salvation ". ' 
 Here, God is first invoked in imity ; then, in trinity ; 
 and last, in the mediating person, the Son, who is 
 peculiarly the Saviour of his people. Hence 
 Daniel prays, '' O our Alehimf hear the prayer 
 of thy servant, for Adoiwis sake"; this is a cry 
 to God in trinity, with a reference to the mediatory 
 character of the Son. The sam»e prophet, in the 
 same chapter, addresses himself to each persott 
 distinctly, and then conjointly, — *' O Adonai, hear ; 
 O Adonai, forgive; O Adonai, hearken and do; de- 
 fer not, for thine own sake, O my Aiehim". But 
 in Malachi, the Lord speaks of himself in th« 
 plural of Adonai: *' If I be Aihnim, Adiere is 
 my fear, saith Jehovah Sabaoth ?" — this is trinity in 
 unity. And when the heavens were opened, or th« 
 heavenlics revealed, to Ezekiel, *' I saw, " says th« 
 prophet, " visions of the Aiehim". But what did he 
 see? " The cheiubim of glory": anel v^hich the pro- 
 phet calls " the glory of the Aiehim of Israel ". Kow 
 111 ese were represented to him under the similitude of "^ 
 an ox, an eagle, and a lion conjoined to the face of a 
 man ; *' Thus are the tluee persons in the Holy 1 ri- 
 
 the Son — "eodem quo Pater et Filins, dignitatis loco habendum, 
 et cum utrtqut religiose ab hominibHS coleiuium esee^ 
 
68 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 nity ", observes Mr. Maurice, ** shadowed out, under 
 the similitude of the three noblest animals in nature, 
 - the bull (or ox), the lord of the plain ; the eagle, the 
 sovereign of birds ; and the lion, the king of the forest. 
 They had likew ise the face of a man (next to the lion), 
 to denote that the human nature was to be blended 
 with the divine, in Him who, in the fulness of time, 
 did actually take our nature upon him ; even that very 
 person in the divine triad, called " the lion of the 
 tribe of Judah ". And at the same time to teach the 
 unity of these persons in the common Godhead, the 
 vision is sometimes called " the glory of Jehovah ".' 
 Now these cherubim * are the exact figures of those 
 •which were oiiginally planted at the east of the 
 garden of Eden, where Adam and Lis famdy were 
 to do sacrifice, and to worship; which same kind 'of 
 figures were afterwards put in the holy of holies in 
 ^he tabernacle : and lastly, in that of the temple at Jeru- 
 salem. From between these representative figures, the 
 Lord God promised to meet and commune with his 
 people Israel; and before these, as the symbol of 
 the divine presence, the blood of atonement was 
 sprinkled by the high priest on the annual day of 
 expiation. Hence when Isaiah saw Adonai on his 
 tlirone, with his train filling the temple, he heard the 
 seraphim distinctly lauding the Sacred Three ; from 
 being dedicated to whom the temple is called the 
 holy of holies, or the holy place of the holy ones, 
 (kedosh ha kedoshlm) — '* one cried unto another, and 
 
 * This subject is ably treated of by Parkhurst, Maurice, 
 Bellamy, and others ; hut the reader is referred to the Appendix 
 for further remarks on the cherubim. 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 5!J 
 
 said, Holy, holy, holy Jehovali Sabaoth !" Just 
 after, the prophet heard *•' the voice of Adonaf, 
 sajing, whom shall I send, and who will go for- 
 usV* ' In the temple above, even in heaven itself, a 
 similar worship prevails ; there " they rest not day 
 and night, saying. Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Al- 
 mighty, which was, and is, and is to come ". Thii?, 
 all scripture confirms what Mr. Marsom and others 
 so confidently deny. And hence the saints are de- 
 clared to be the temple of the Holy >pirit, as well 
 as the abode of the Father and the Son; " Your body is 
 the temple of the Holy Spirit ", says St. Paul : and 
 the Son says, " my Father will love him, and ive will 
 come unto him, and make our abode with him " : thus, 
 and thus only, we are truly ** filled with all the full- 
 ness of God'\ 
 
 But Mr. Marsom is sure, that the Father only is 
 worshipped, although it is expressly declared of the 
 Father, that " unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O 
 God! is for ever and ever'', and "let all the angels 
 of God worship him!" See also Psalm ii. 11, 12: 
 John v. 22, 23 : and Acts vii. 59, 60. 
 
 But the w orship of the Spirit, — where is this to 
 be met with ? In Phil. iii. 3. — '* we are the cir- 
 cumcision, who worS'iip God the Spirit". Our 
 English bible renders it, God in the Spirit; but this 
 is not a translation of the Greek. There is no such 
 preposition as in, in the original, nor any other; but 
 sin?p!y God the ' pirit. In Griesbach s second edi- 
 tion, so much extolled for its purity, *' it is God the 
 Spiiit" in the text, and in the margin it is yet stronger, 
 
CO PERSONALITY OF 
 
 namely " tlie Spirit of God ". And in liis notes lie 
 lias the various readings of " the divine Spirit ", and 
 ** the Lord the Spirit ",— which last would corres- 
 pond with that of St. Paul : " We all, with open face, 
 beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord (Jesus), 
 are changed into the same image, from glory to 
 glory, as by the Lord the Spirit ", The Jews 
 Iiad reduced circumcision to a mere external rite, 
 forgetting that he only is a Jew w^ho is one i?z- 
 wardly, through the *' circumcision of the heart'*. 
 Now Paul would restore it to its original spiri- 
 tuality, — would exalt it into an excision of the 
 fleshy lusts, as indeed Moses had done before him. 
 (Deut. X. 16.) But this spiritual act required a spiri- 
 tual agent. The old circumcision was effected by 
 tlie agency of men ; but the new, is the *' circum- 
 cision made without hands ", even by the ce- 
 lestial spirit. This, Nicodemus could not compre- 
 hend, — this, even to a ruler of the Jews, a master in 
 Israel, appeared an unintelligible mystery ; and no 
 doubt the idea was much ridiculed in Judea, as it is 
 to the present day, by mere nominal professors of the 
 gospel througliout Christendom. These the apostle 
 calls the concision, who were still addicted to the old 
 rite according to the letter ; ** beware of the conci- 
 sio7i''\ he exclaims, '* for we are tlie circumcision, who 
 (being horn of the Spirit) icorship God the Spirit ", as 
 the Author of this very important operation on our 
 souls. 
 
 Wliat the nature of genuine circumcision is, and 
 who is iLe aullior of it, will further appear from the 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 61 
 
 fbllomug remarks. Moses tells us ia what it con- 
 sists, " The Lord tliy God will circumcise thy heart j 
 to love the Lord thy God". Now according to the 
 New Testament, it is the province of the Holy Spirit 
 to do this, to renew the heart, and fill it a\ ith this 
 gacr*^ emotion. As *' the Spirit of burning ", Pie 
 gradually purges away the mere carnal lust, or evil 
 concupiscence of our fallen nature, and warms us with 
 a purer flame — '* because the love of God is shed 
 abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit '\ So, in 
 Galatians " the fruit of the Spirit is love". M'ho- 
 ever has himself experienced this benefit at the hands 
 of the ever blessed Spirit, will necessarily make a 
 corresponding return, b}' a love /or this holy agent; 
 and upon this principle it is, that St. Paul exhorts 
 us, as, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, so also, " and 
 for the love of the Spirit '*. And there is, in some other 
 passages, a manifest connection implied, between the 
 Spirit and love, as being cause and effect, whence the 
 apostle exhorts us " by the Holy Spirit, by love un- 
 feigned ". Again he says, " if there be any consola- 
 tion in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellov/- 
 ship of the Spirit ", intimating, that our consolation 
 in Christ, and our comfortable love towards God, are 
 both derived from the fellowship of the Spirit. So, 
 in Jude, the apostle first speaks of those who are 
 ** sensual, 7iot having the Spirit"; and then adds, 
 *' But ye, beloved ! praying in the Holy Spirit, keep 
 yourselves in the love of God, lookiug for tlie merc^ 
 ©f our Lord Jcvsus Christ unto eternal life ". 
 
 "With these observations before us, it will be cvi- 
 
 G 
 
(52 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 dent, in the passages that shall follow, that the Holy 
 Spirit is the object of prayer. Contemplating Him as 
 the author of love, Paul says, " The Lord (the Spirit) 
 direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the 
 patient waiting for Christ". In another place, he 
 invokes each sacred person distinctly : " Now God 
 himself even the Father, and our Lord Jesus Clirist, 
 direct our way unto you ; and the Lord (the Spirit) 
 make you to increase and abound in love, to the end 
 He may establish your hearts unblameable in hoii- 
 7iess ", And hence arises a further confirmation. Love 
 by the Spirit tends to holiness. Now He is called 
 *'= the Spirit of Holiness ", or of sanctilication; for 
 the same Greek word is translated, sometimes holi- 
 ness, and at other times, sanctidcation. And this is 
 the Spirit's office: "God hath from the beginning 
 chosen you to salvation (to the salvation of Christ), 
 through the sanctification of the Spirit". And Peter 
 calls the saints, " elect, according to the fore-know- 
 ledge of God the Father, through the sanctification of 
 the Spirit, unto the obedience and sprinkling of the 
 blood of Jesus Christ". And hence St. Paul ob- 
 serves, "that the offering up of the Gentiles is accept- 
 able, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit". 
 
 In further evidence of prayer to the Spirit, it may 
 be observed, that Jesus charges his disciples, " Pray 
 ye the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth 
 labourers into his haiwest ". But who is it that sends 
 forth gospel labourers ? Let scripture determine: "As 
 they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Hohj Spint 
 said, separate unto me Barnabas and Saul, for the 
 
THE HOLY SriRIT. 63 
 
 work ^^ liereimto / have called them ; so they, being 
 sent forth by the Holy Spirit, departed ". And there- 
 fore St. Pciul, ill Ills address to the elders of the 
 Ephesian cliurch, said to them, " Take heed there- 
 fore uiito yourselves, and to all the flock, over the 
 which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers ". In- 
 deed, the whole book of the Acts declares the Spirit 
 to be the Lord of the harvest, both appointing the 
 labourers, ai-id directing them in their work, and also 
 bles.-ing them in it. For, with respect to the eunuch 
 of Ethiopia, we read that, *' Then the Spirit said unio 
 Philip, go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And 
 when they were come up iVoni the water, the Spirit 
 caught away Philip ". In the instance of Cornelius, 
 too, " the Spirit said unto Peter^ behold three men 
 seek thee ; arise, therefore, and get tliee down, and go 
 with them, fhr I have serd them ". Afterwards, in 
 rehearsing this matter at Jerusalem, Peter tells the 
 apostles and bretliren, that three men came to him, 
 sent from Cesarea,— *' and the Spirit bade me go with 
 them, nothing doubting". And as Paul and Silas 
 w.ei*e on their route, visiting the churches, they '* were 
 forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the word in 
 Asia ". And after tiiey were come to Mysia, " they 
 essayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suiTered 
 them not ". 
 
 In conclusion, let it be remembered, that baptism 
 is a solemn act of worship, by which we are dedicated 
 to God ; now we are dedicated to the Spirit expressly, 
 as well as to the Father and the Son. Paul's parting 
 benediction, in his last Corinthian Epistle, is also ex- 
 
64 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 pressed in tlie name of the Spirit, with that of the 
 Father and Christ, And, in fine, He in his sevenfold 
 energy, or varied power and operation, is inchided in 
 that of St. John : " Grace unto you and peace, from 
 Him, who is, and who was, and who is to come ; and 
 from the seven spirits which are before his throne, 
 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness ". Now 
 in Isaiah xi. the Spirit is seven times repeated under 
 as man}' diiFerent titles, which shows the meaning 
 of St. John's phrase of the seven spirits. It is a 
 number of periection, and denotes the unlimited per- 
 fection of '^the one and the same Spirit" -o tv Kai ro avro 
 to en kai to auto, of whom St. Paul says, in reference 
 to his manifold grace, "Ail these workeththe one and 
 the same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as 
 He will ". Now the manifold, and infinitely diversi- 
 fied grace of the Spirit, was imparted to Christ, as 
 unto the Lord's Anointed, or Messiah ; w hence it is 
 said that the Spirit was not given to him *' by mea- 
 sure ", but that grace was poured into his lips so su« 
 perabundantly, that he was *' anointed with the oil of 
 gladness above his fellowsj". This then is the reason 
 of its being said, *' that he hath the seven spirits of 
 God ", which, explained by Isaiah, means, "the spirit 
 of the Lord shall rest upon him (1) ; the spirit of wis- 
 dom (2) ; and understanding (3) ; the spirit of counsel 
 (4); and might (5); the spirit of knowledge (6) ; and 
 of the fear of the Lord" (7). For notwithstanding 
 that the seven spirits are often mentioned, as in the 
 Eevelations, (i. 4., iii. 1., iv. 5., and r. 6.), yet, to 
 preserve the unitj^ of the Spirit, in the midst of hi« 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 66 
 
 Kiultiform gifts and operations, He is as often, or in- 
 deed more frequently, declared to be but one. " Now 
 there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. For 
 to one is given, by the Spirit, the word of wisdom. 
 To another, the word of knowledge, by the same 
 Spirit. To another, faith, by the same Spirit. To 
 another, the gifts of healing, by the same Spirit. T© 
 another, the working of miracles ; to another, pro- 
 phecy ; to another, the discerning of spirits ; to ano- 
 ther, divers kinds of tongues.; but all these worketk 
 the one and the same Spirit, dividing to every man 
 severally «s Se will. Thus there is one Spirit, om^ 
 Lord, one God and Father. And these are to b?; 
 worshipped, as before stated, distinctly, conjointly, 
 and in unity; just as the eye may contemplate the se- 
 veral colours of the rainbow, may vieAv them com- 
 bined and coalescing, always distinguishable, indeed, 
 the one from the other, but never divided ; and may 
 also admire those colours united in one inimitable 
 bov, , together constituting a single glorious arch, 
 
 ISIr. Marsom next informs us, that instead of at- 
 tributing personality to the Spirit, as the spirit of 
 adoption by whom we cry, Abba, Father, — '* tliis 
 though said of the Spirit, must be understood of the 
 believer under iU influence " ! If our author intends 
 by this, that the believer is tlie son, and that to him 
 belongs the child-like cry of Abba, we entirely ac- 
 cede to his opinion. But then we must add to thi«, 
 that such an acknov/ledgnient by no means interfere? 
 with the distinct personality of the Holy Spirit, since 
 the begetter of that iilial disposition in tlie believing: 
 o 2 
 
66 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 soul is no other than the Holy Spirit of adoption. 
 The actor on the stage is the person who delivers the 
 speech assigned him ; but the prompter, who suggests 
 to him what he is to say, is as much a personal agent 
 as the actor himself. Now the Lord says, " Take ye 
 no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or 
 what ye shall say ; for the Holy Spirit shall teach you 
 in the same hour what ye ought to say." This would 
 form a singular proof of the impersonality of the Spi- 
 rit; just as if we should argue against the personality 
 of a tutor from the circumstance of his pupil being a 
 person. Now the Spirit is the believer's tutor : *' The 
 Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name ", 
 says Jesus, " He shall teach you ail things." In the 
 same verse he is promised as our remembrancer : 
 " And He shall bring all things to your remembrance, 
 whatsoever I have said unto you." But, to revert to 
 the original question, we have already hinted at the 
 idea, that it is peculiarly the province of the Father 
 to elect or choose, and to predestinate us unto the 
 adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. But 
 that we might receive the adoption of sons, the spirit 
 possesses our hearts, and renews them, Gal. iv. 5 — 7. 
 We are, as Christ speaks, ** born from above '*, — 
 " born of the "Spirit." By this, which is also called 
 the " renewing of the Holy Spirit ", we become 
 " babes in Christ"; and then, naturally, '' as new born 
 babes, we desire the sincere milk of the w ord, that we 
 may grow thereby "; and thus, by the agency of the 
 Spirit, the purpose of our heavenly Father is accom- 
 plished. He is thenceforward our teacher and guide r 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 07 
 
 *' for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they 
 are the sons of God." He is also our instructor in 
 prayer ; he teaches us to lisp and to utter the filial cry 
 of Father, delivering us from the baleful influence of 
 the spirit of bondage, that tyrant spirit of darkness, 
 who keeps us so long in subjection under a dread, and 
 a tormenting fear of God, as an austere master. But 
 now we know from happy experience, that " where 
 the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty ", a sweet 
 foretaste of what the apostle calls " the glorious li- 
 berty of the children of God ". We now. know what 
 it is to " have access by oiie Spirit unto the Father, 
 through Christ". We approach him, and transact with 
 him, in an infantile way, as both saved and sealed j 
 because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts 
 by the Holy Spirit; which love " castetb out fear ^'. 
 Yea, ** the Spirit himself (ipse Spiritus) beareth wit- 
 ness withour spirits that we are the children of God; 
 and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint 
 heirs with Christ, if so be that we suficr with Iiim, 
 that we may also be gloriBed together." 
 
 How exceeding unscriptural, and even irrational, 
 then, to assert, that, although confessedly all these 
 effects are attributed to the Holy 'spirit in every page 
 of the gospel, as being the author of them, yet, *' not 
 as a proper person, distinct from the believer ! " It 
 is enough for the believer, that the Spirit is to him 
 *' the Spirit of faith," that he sustains a personal cha- 
 racter in the economy of a sinner's salvation, and that 
 He faithfully performs all his official engagements 
 towards every real member cf " the general asieniblv 
 
08 T^ERSONALITY OF 
 
 and church of the first born, who are written (or re- 
 gistered) in Heaven". As for others, ** those that 
 are without", as St. Paul speaks, he knows it is writ- 
 ten respecting them, that *' tlie natural man receiveth 
 not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are fool- 
 ishness unto him, neither can he know them because 
 they are spiiitually discerned ". 
 
 In reference to St. John's description of the Spirit 
 as the paracletf, the advocate, comforter, or instruct- 
 or of the saints, in the course of the 14th, and two 
 following chapters of his gospel, Mr. Marsom has re- 
 course a second time to the figure prosopopasia. ** The 
 personal name there used ", he says, *' is not the pro- 
 per name of the Holy Spirit, but an assumed one; the 
 Holy Spirit is personified, and this gives occasion for 
 the use of the personal pronouns he and him, wliich 
 so frequent!}^ occur in this connexion ; all the person- 
 al pronouns supply the place, not of the noun pneuma 
 Spirit, tlie proper name, but of parakletos the Com- 
 forter, the assumed name ; and therefore tliis can be 
 no proof of its proper personality ". I have already 
 shown that tlie word for spitit is of tlie neuter gen- 
 der only in the Greek, not in the Hebrew, nor yet 
 in the Latin. It has been also sliown that scripture 
 adopts neuter nouns for sons and children, as tekna 
 and teknia, without any detriment to their person- 
 ality, and both feminine and neuter nouns for God, 
 as theotees, thslotees, and theion. Indeed, if thero 
 were a grain of weight in this cumbrous piece of cri- 
 ticism, it would militate as strongly against the per- 
 sonality of Satan as against that of the HoJy Spirit. 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 60 
 
 Satan and Satanas, from the Hebrew Satan, 
 means an adversary, and is an assumed name, refer- 
 ring to his habitual opposition to the caii^e o( God and 
 truth, so that it was once applied to Peter by our 
 Lord, who said to him, " Get thee bellied me, Sctian !" 
 !Now, because the proper name of atan is Trrev/jia 
 pneuma, — '* nhe spirit {to pneuma) that worketh in 
 the children of disobedience '' ; this circumstance 
 would of course, upon Mr. Marsom's very ingenious 
 plan, affect his personality ! His other title of Devil, 
 or Diabolos, means an accuser, or slanderer, so that 
 it was once applied to Judas by our Lord, " Have I 
 not chosen you tv, elve, and one of jou is a Devil " ? 
 This therefore is no proof of the personally of the 
 Devil; his ptoper name still remains of the neuter 
 gendsr. The name of angels too is assumed; it is 
 official, and not characteristic of their nature, so that 
 Christ is called an angel, by office, and ministers of 
 the gospel are also denominated angels ; the proper 
 name of these celestial beings, is jmeumata, spirits: and 
 what then, upon IMr. Marsom's hypothesis, becomes 
 of their personality ? The Jews seemed to hold for 
 the personality of spirits, since, in the affair of Paul, 
 they said, '* if a spirit, or an angel hath spoken to 
 him, let us not fight against God ". The evil spirits 
 are invariably represented in Scripture as personal 
 agents, and are sometimes called pneumata and daimo^ 
 nia, in the neuter, and at other times diaboloi, and dai» 
 mones in the masculine gender. So that perhaps it is 
 impossible to imagine a more ignorant notion than thi» 
 of Mr. Marsoni. Tho Greek word theos for God 
 
70 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 is not descriptive of his nature, but ratlier defines Lis 
 oflice as Creator, disposing and placing in order the 
 different parts of tlie universe, for Herodotus says that 
 the ancient Greeks called tlieir gods theoi, from 
 thentes, disposing or placing in order all tilings : and 
 hence St. John, in order to define his nature, tells us, 
 that '* God is a Spirit. " Now suppose I here quote 
 our author's precise words at page 8, of his pamphlet : 
 *' Pneuma (Spirit), then, being a neuter noun,, is 
 it not clearly and decisively in iavour of tlie imper- 
 sonality of " God ? I might, with much more reason 
 enquire, Was there ever a more clear and decisive 
 proof of the most transparent ignorance ? 
 
 But enougli of this glaring noasensfr. It savours 
 too strongly of mere Socinianism, to have any weiglit 
 with a Bible Christian. Socitiians, like the disciples 
 of Sadoc of old, deny for the most part the existence 
 of angel, devil, or other '^•pirit; they reduce the whole, 
 whether supernatural, human, or infernal, to a person- 
 ification, or trope, or figure. I conclude Mr. Marsom 
 is very nearly related to this description of Unitarians, 
 .who, to complete tlieir system of unbelief, have added 
 to their infidel creed, the crowning article of materi- 
 alism. 
 
 , Again in page 25, our author plays the critic, and 
 translates the passage in John xiv. " The Spirit of 
 truth, whom the world cannot receive ", he translates 
 thus, " which the world cannot take away '. To be sure 
 it is not an original idea, it is borrowed from a Mr. 
 Purvis, to whom we are referred, at page 8lh of Mr. 
 JMarsom's performance, Now the question is not, 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 71 
 
 whether the verb Xa^/3aj'a> lamhanoo has several signifi- 
 cations, but what is the sense of it in this particular 
 place? That it is riglitly translated in our Bible, receive, 
 is plain, both from the context and from a parallel pas- 
 sage. The parallel passage is once quoted by our au- 
 thor *' Jesus saith, Receive ye the Holy Spirit". Now 
 the \a(3eiv labeiu, in John xiv. 17, appears to bear the 
 same meaning as the \a(y£TE labete, in the 20th chapter 
 of the same Evangelist, (verse 22.) ; the disciples of 
 Christ caw, but " the world cannot receive" the Holy 
 Spirit. And why? " Because it seeth him not, nei- 
 ther knoweth him " — that is, hath no mental percep- 
 tion of him as a real and a necessary agent, nor hath 
 any individual experimental acquaintance with him; 
 — " but ye know him ", adds John, — ye not only ap- 
 prehend him intellectually, but your hearts are privy 
 to his secret visits and motions, — *' /or ^e dwelleth 
 with you " — is an inmate in your souls. Here also 
 it is observable that the Greek word koc-jaoq kosmos^ 
 the world, is masculine, although impersonal^ whereas 
 'pneuma, for the person of *' the Comforter, the Spirit 
 of truth ", is in the neuter gender ; so that almost 
 every instance our author happens to stumble upon, 
 seems, by a particular fatality to his cause, to illus- 
 trate the absurdity of the rule he has laid down. 
 
 The next objection to the proper personality of 
 the Comforter is equally absurd. *' It should be ob- 
 served ", says our author, *' that this Comforter was 
 not only to abide with them, but to be in them ; and 
 being promised as an internal Comforter, could not 
 be considered, as a distinct person or agent!" That 
 
•72 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 gucli objections as these should have weight with Mr. 
 Baring and his followers, is wholly unaccountable, 
 iiiiless we suppose them given up judicially to *' a 
 strong delusion, that they should beheve a lie ". They 
 " abode not in tlie truth ", and new it behoves them 
 to consider well, lest the Lord should righteously seal 
 them up in their present unbelief, because they re- 
 ceived not the love of the truth, that they might be 
 saved. For how determined in infidelity must he be, 
 who will object to the personality of the Spirit upon 
 the ground of his being an internal Comforter! Is 
 not this our mercy, that He is not, as men are, a mere 
 external comforter, but one who has access to the 
 heart? In one and the same sentence St. John de- 
 clares his personality, and his residence within us : 
 ** Ye are of God, little children ! and have overcome 
 them (the false teachers) because greater, is He that is 
 in you than he (the Devil) that is in the world ". It 
 is on this sole account, that they cannot " deceive the 
 very elect "; because these are sealed with that Holy 
 Spirit of promise,—^*' by whom ", says the apostle, 
 " ye are sealed unto the day of redemption ". But 
 to bring this miserable notion to the test of scripture, 
 — Is it not said, with respect to Christ, " Know ye 
 not that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be repro- 
 bates ? '' Now if this is no exception to the persona- 
 lity of Jesus Christ, neither can the other passages be 
 so to that of the Holy Spirit. Nay more : the Father 
 too resides in his people by His communicable pre- 
 sence. " My Father will love him," says the ^on, 
 " and 2ce will come unto him, and make our abode 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. T3 
 
 *vitli liiiu ". The Christian therefore is tlie temple ot* 
 God ill trinity, as well as of God in unity, " No mau 
 hath seen God at any time ", hut *' if we love one 
 another, God dwelleth in us "; for " he that dwelleth 
 in love, dwelleth in God, a.id God in himJ'* No man 
 has seen the Son as God, nor yet the Spirit as God, 
 any more than the Father, — but the Son has appeared 
 in the assumed human form, and the "spirit in the form 
 of a dove, whilst the voice of the Father has been heard 
 from heaven. Now lie in whom God dwells, holds com- 
 munion with God, and the christian has fellowship 
 •with Him in trinity, as well as in unity, because he is 
 the abode or temple of the Son and -piiit, as well as 
 of tiie Father, and is thus " fdled with all the (com- 
 municable) fulness of God '\ And tliis experience of 
 the saints is agreeable to tlie recorded promise, and 
 which is referred to by St. Pari : •" For ye are the 
 temple of the living God : as God hath said, I will 
 dwell in them, and v\ alk in them, and I w ill be their 
 God, and they shall be my people ". I'or, in the 
 Hebrew, the name of God is plural : *' I will dwell 
 among the children of Israel, and will be iheir Alehim, 
 aiKl they shall know that I am Je-hovali iheir Alehim 
 that brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I 
 may dwell among them; I am Jeliovah their Alehim \ 
 The delightful truth of Jehovah being " their Ale- 
 him ", is thrfc.o i'epeated in this concise, but empiiatic 
 promise; and it declares, tli?.t Jehovah in trinity will 
 be their God. And this is the grand promise of the 
 new covenant, as quoted by St. Paul more than once, 
 in his Epistle to the Hebrews : " I will be to ihem 
 
 H 
 
74 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 a God, and they sliall be to me a people " — a God, 
 that is, will be their Alehim, for *' at the same time, 
 saith Jehovah, wi]l I be the Aleliim of all the fami- 
 lies of Israel, and they shall be my people." 
 
 But Mr. Marsom is not yet exhausted in point of 
 proof. " The accomplishment of the promise of the 
 Spirit ", he tells us, " affords further proof that tlie 
 Spirit is personified, or spoken of under a borrowed 
 name : our Lord tells his disciples, that he had spoken 
 these things in parables or proverbs, that is, that he 
 liad used figurative or metaphorical iang^iage, but that 
 the time v. as coming when he would no more speak 
 in parables ; accordingly, after he had risen from the 
 dead, and had sent the Spirit, the Jigiire is laid aside, 
 and in ail the subsequent parts of the K^ew Testament, 
 the S^nrlt is spoken of plainly, and the name Advo- 
 cate or Comforter is never u?ed aftei\ ** Now, in 
 answer to this, let it be observed, in the first place, 
 tliut if we refer to tlie Lord's om n Mords, to which 
 our autlior alludes, we ?hall find that he is speaking 
 of the Father, and that, however strange it may ap- 
 pear to the reader, he does not throw oat the most 
 distant hint or inlimatiou respecting the Holy Spirit. 
 The quotation of Mr. Marsom is from John xvi. ; 
 from the first to the fifteenth verse of w]»ich chapter^ 
 the Lord is speaking of Himself, the Father, ^vA the 
 Holy Spirit; but from that verse to the end, which 
 includes about eighteen verses more, the Spirit is not 
 even mentioned, but Christ is .-peaking to his disci- 
 ples of the Father. At the 25th verse, the Lord 
 iil1:ers tlie sentiment quoted by our author, and which 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 75 
 
 he, wlih the most unwarrantable licence, and, I may 
 add, with the most ciilpaMe disingenuousuess, so 
 states to his readers, as ii' it had been intended to ap- 
 pl_> to tlie Holy Spirit. But let us read for ourselves ; 
 " In that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily I say 
 to you, whatever ye shall ask the Father in my name, 
 he will give it j ou. iiitherto have ye asked nothing 
 in my name ; ask, and \c shall receive, that your joy 
 may be full. These things have I spoken unto you 
 in proverbs ; but, the time cometh, when I shall no 
 more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show 
 you plaiul!j\—oi what, or of whom? — of the Com- 
 forter? of the Spirit? No such thing, — " but I shall 
 shew you plainly of the Father ! " Then the Lord 
 goes on to say, — '' at that day ye sbtiU ask in my 
 name ; and I say not unto you that I will pray ths 
 Father for you, for (he Father hbiiseJf loveth } ou, 
 becaiise ye have loved me, and have believed that I 
 came out from God. I came forth from the Father, 
 and am come into the world ; again I leave the world, 
 and go to the Father ". To this immediately, " His 
 disciples said unto him, Lo, noic speakest thou -plainly , 
 and speakest no proverb ! Xow we are sure that thou 
 knowest all things, and needest not that any man 
 should ask thee ; by this we believe that thou camest 
 forth from God ". To this, " Jesus answered them 
 Do ye now believe ? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, 
 is now come, that ye shall be scattered every man to 
 his own, and shall leave me alone; and yet I am not 
 alone, because the Father is with me. " 
 
 It may be asseited, in the second place, that there 
 
 ^ 
 
76 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 is notliing proverbid, parabolical, figurative, or meta- 
 plioiical, in the language used in reference to the 
 Holy Spirit. What our author calls his borrowed or 
 assumed name of Paraclete, is a proper official title; 
 and is really expressive of the part he sustains in the 
 accomplishment of the everlasting coAenant, and by 
 censequence, of what He does for those wlio are in- 
 terested in its sure mercies; for He really comforts 
 theii' hearts, and they renlly *' abound in hope through 
 the power of the Holy Spirit" ; He really instructs^ 
 Iheir minds, aud leads them into all truth ; and He, 
 as really becomes their Intercessor or Advocate, hy- 
 disponing them to prayer, by inviting them to ap- 
 proach the throne of grace, and by teaching them 
 both how to pray, and what they shoukl pray for. 
 Without his couni-el and advice, we should urge 
 wrong pleas, and so our prayer would- be no more 
 than Sin ; as is often to be noticed in persons un- 
 taught by the Spiiit, who undertake as it were to 
 plead their own cause, — these, like the Pharisee in 
 the temple,'pray, and praise, but to no good purpose; 
 it is ail labour in vain. They go to court without the 
 assi.^tance of ** t]j8 Spiiit of counsel "; and thus their 
 moudi niters fouiishness, and their suit is not granted. 
 These are ** the rebellious children, saith the Lord, 
 tlsat take coursel, but not of me, and that cover with 
 a covering, but not of my Spirit, — that tliey may add 
 sin to sill ". Kow the Spirit, the Counsellor, fills 
 our mouths with arguments, couched in right words, 
 and these have a force in them, so that the kingdom 
 of heaven " sufTereth violence, and the violent take it 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 'Tj^ 
 
 by force ". In a word ; the Spirit proposes Christ to 
 us, and his great salvation in all its constituent parts, 
 as the very merit of our cause ; and in pleading his 
 work, we urge a plea that is sure to be attended to, 
 because it is " according to the will of God ". 
 
 But in the tliird place , ajtei' the time specified by 
 our author, for the termination of the usq of figure, 
 metaphor, and so on, in respect of tlie Spirit, namely, 
 subsequent to the resurrection of Christ; tl^ " pirit is 
 still introduced as a personal agent. Let it be recol- 
 lected, that Mr. Marsom has told us, that " after he 
 was risen, and had sent the Spirit, the figure is laid 
 SLside, and in all the subsequent parts of the New 
 Testament the Spirit is spoken of plainly ". We hav» 
 therefore, as honest men, but one line of conduct t<^ 
 pursue, and that is, to suffer these " subsequent 
 parts" to speak for themselves; these must be sought 
 tor in the Acts and Epistles, since the four Grospels 
 close with the resurrection of Christ. I shall content 
 myself v, ith quotations from thp Acts alone, since, to 
 add to these similar ones from the Epi&ties, would 
 necessarily carry us into too great a length. 
 
 Acts i. 16. This v^cripture must needs have been 
 fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of Da- 
 vid, spake before, concerning JuUas. 
 
 Acts ii. 2. And they were ail filled with the 
 Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, 
 as the >pirit gave them utterance. 
 
 Acts v. 3. Why hath ^atan (that evil spirit), fill- 
 ed thy heart to lie to tlie Holy ;; piiit ? 
 H 2 
 
7« rSRSONAUTY OF 
 
 Acts V. 32. We are his witnesses of these things, 
 and so is also the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Acts vii. 51. Ye do always resist the Holy Spirit ; 
 as your fathers did, so do ye. 
 
 Acts viii. 29. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, 
 Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 
 
 Acts viii. 39. And when they were come up from 
 the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip. 
 
 Acts ix. 31. Then had the churches rest, and 
 were edified ; andj walking in the fear of the Lord, 
 and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, were multiplied. 
 
 Acts X. 19, 20. While Peter tliought on tlie vi- 
 sion, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek 
 thee. Arise, therefore, and get thee down, and go 
 with them, nothing doubting; for I have sent them. 
 
 Acts xi. 12. " And behold, immediately there 
 were tliree men already come unto the house where I 
 was, sent from Caesarea unto me; — and the Spirit 
 bade me go with them nothing doubting. 
 
 Acts xi. 28. *' In those days came prophets from 
 Jerusalem unto Antioch, and there stood up one of 
 them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit, that 
 there should be great dearth throughout all the world. 
 
 Acts xiii. 2 — 4. As they ministered to the Lord, 
 and fasted, the Holy Spirit said. Separate unto me 
 Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have 
 called them. So tliey being sent forth by the Holy 
 Spirit, departed unto Seleucia. 
 
 Ajts XV. 28. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit^ 
 and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden. 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 19 
 
 Acts xvi. 6, 7. When they had gone throughout 
 Phrygia and the region of Gal alia, they were forbid- 
 den of the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 
 Alter they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go 
 into Bitliynia, but the Spirit suffered them not. 
 
 Acts XX. 23. The Holy Spirit witnessethin every 
 city, saying that bonds and imprisonment abide me. 
 
 Acts XX. 28. Take heed unto yourselves, and to 
 the flock, over the which the Holy Spirit hath made, 
 you overseers, to feed the church of God, >\iiich he 
 hath purchased with his own blood. 
 
 Acts xxi. 11. And Agabus said, thus saith the 
 Holy Spirit, — So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind 
 the man that owneth this girdle. 
 
 Acts xxviii. 25. AVhen they agreed not among 
 themselves, they departed, alter that Paul had spoken 
 one word, — Well spake the Holy Spirit, by Esaias 
 the prophet, unto our fathers, saying, Go unto this 
 people, &c. 
 
 With such passages occurring in every page of the 
 Acts, one w'ould have thought it impossible for any 
 man pretending to be compos mentis, to assert as our 
 author proceeds to do, in reference to Acts ii. 2 — 4, 
 that ** the word ghost or spirit, as before noticed, 
 means wind, or air in motion; and the elllision of 
 the Holy Spirit is described by a sound corning tVoni 
 heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind " ! That such 
 a sound preceded the descent of the Spirit, and 
 gave intimation of it, is plain, — but that the wind 
 itself was the Spirit, is a monstrous idea for any one 
 to broach, who professes to believe in revelation. U 
 
so PERSONALITY OP^ 
 
 might be as plausibly asserted, that Jebo\'ah was no 
 more than wind, because it is said — ** And behold 
 the Lord pas^-ed b}^ aiid a great and strong wind 
 rent the mountains, and bi-ake in pieces the recks, be- 
 fore the Lord." Tiie case is parallel : for in each, 
 the advent of the sacred personage is preceded by a 
 miglity wind; but in neither instance is the wind the 
 personage whose approach is spoken of. Indeed, in 
 this passage of the Acts, the Spirit is called pneuma, 
 and the ayiov Trrevfjia ag'ion pneuma, or Holy Spirit, 
 w Jiilst the wind is pnoee ; nor does pneuma ever intend 
 wind in all the New Testament. It means, besides 
 the immaterial part of man, and other spiritual exist- 
 ences, either the Spirit himself, or his influence, ex- 
 erted on men in the production of those various gifts 
 and graces, which aie constantly attributed to his 
 agency. Thus the disciples, in the plac.e referred to 
 above, are said to have been *' filled with the Holy 
 Spirit ", just as the saints are elsewhere said to be 
 ^Milled with the fulness of God "; then it follows, 
 as if to mark the personal agency of the Spirit too 
 distinctl}^ to be overlooked, that the disciples " began 
 to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them 
 utterance'^ The Spirit gave them instant knowledge 
 of diflbrent languages, so that they were enabled to 
 express themselves wth fluency in tbeui ; devout men, 
 out of every nation unier heaven, heard them speak, 
 in their o -^n native tongues, the wonderful wojks of 
 God. This, according to Mr. Martom, is all the 
 eifect of wind, or air in motion ! But Paul was of ano- 
 ther mind : '* there are diversities of gifts, hni the same 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 81 
 
 Spirit'^ ; and after having specified soir.e of them, he 
 adds, " to another, divers kinds of tongues ; to ano- 
 ther, the interpretation of tongues ; hut, all these work- 
 eth the one and the same Spirit, dividing to every 
 man severally as lie \rili ". 
 
 Accordingly, the expressions made use of in this 
 place, and d^velt on by our author, such as, " I will 
 2^oiir out of my Spirit ", — and " having received of 
 the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, Chri&t 
 hath shed forth (or poured cut, it beiiig tiie same verb 
 as before) this " — this wonderful energy of the Spirit 
 — " which ye now see and hear '\ in its amazing ef- 
 fects on these men, — these expressions b}' no meanvS 
 interfere with the proofs already so amply adduced 
 of the proper person^dity of the Spirit. For, in the- 
 first place, if Mr. M'arsom had been accustomed tor 
 read his Greek Testament^ he would have refrained 
 from talking of the t(^rms here used, of poming out, 
 shedding forth, &c." — as it several such terms occur- 
 red in this chapter; since, in fact, there is but one^ 
 the vt;rb f/v'xsw although it is translated ** pour out " 
 in one ver?e, and *' iihed fortli " in another. In the 
 next place, the expression is, ** I Vv'ill pour out of or 
 from (a-o apo) my Spiiit", which appears to ii.tend 
 his inO'u' nee in the various gifts dispensed to the dis- 
 ciples. Indeed a simdar expres:-;ion is sometimes used 
 in reference to the human soid. i^o Hani^ah said, — 
 *' 1 poured out my soul before tho Lord; " and of 
 Christ it is said, that *' He hath poured ont his sou! 
 unto death," 
 
82 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 In alkisioii to llie testimony of Cliiist, concerning 
 the Holy Spirit that " what ile shall hear, that he *hail 
 speak, and lie will show you thirgs to come, and 
 shall also iesiify of me ", Pvlr. Marsom remarks, that 
 *' it is unnecessary to enter into a consideration of 
 those personal actions which in these passages are at- 
 ti-ihnted to the Holy Spirit, because they are used 
 Jiyv.rativply ! Joshua ascribes hearing, and bearing 
 witness to a sioue " / Certainly this instance might 
 have been in point, had we been contending for 
 tlie personality of any inanimate thing; but since 
 the Holy Spirit is isivariably represented as an intel- 
 ligent agent, insomuch tiiat " the Spirit searclietli all 
 things, yea tlic d<?ep things of God/', and is the 
 great author of all genuine inspiration, so that holy 
 men, not of old only, but iii every age, and under 
 every dispensation, have spoken and wrote, as they 
 have been influenced ** by the Holy Spirit ", it ap- 
 pears to me a daring impiety, and next akin to blas- 
 phemy against the Spirit, to put Him thus upon a 
 level with a personified stock or stone. Men may in- 
 dulge in sucli impious fancies, for God is long-suiFer- 
 ing; yet although He bear long with them, their 
 judgment lingereth not, and '* their damnation slum- 
 bereth not "; for, as St. Jude declares to us, " Be- 
 hold, the Lord comcth, with his holy myriads, to 
 execute judgment upon ail, and to convince all tliat 
 are ungodly auiong them, of all their ungodly deeds, 
 which they liave ungodiily committed, and of all their 
 hard speeches wlii-.h ungodly sinners have spoken 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. »3 
 
 agninst Him." Then even '* every idle word " which 
 unfaithful men h;iYe uttered, shall be brought into 
 judgment ng^aiust them. 
 
 Our author's next attempt is to do at^n y the force 
 of Oiat expression in the viiith of Romans, " the mind 
 of the Spirit ". But the proof of the personality of 
 the ••Spirit does not rest upon a solitary word in this 
 delightful passage ; it is conspicuous in the whole te- 
 nor of it. Not but that even the expression in ques- 
 tion strongly implies it; it '* means ", says Parkhurst, 1/ 
 ** the mind and inclination of the Holy ^^pirit him- 
 self influencing our spirits ". And the meaning of 
 ^povvij-ia phron^ema in Ilederic, is *' animus ", and 
 ** sensus animi " — that is, " the mind, or the flense, 
 meaning, and iutention, of t]ie mind ". That this is 
 really tlie force of the '^cripture, is manifest to the 
 plainest understanding: I shall give it at length, just 
 observing, that tlie Spirit himself is the declared 
 agent throughout, and is opposed, in his power and 
 efficiency, to iis and our weakness and imbecility. 
 ** Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. For 
 we know not what we should pray for. as we ought. 
 Bat the Spirit himself (ipse Spirilus) maketli inter- 
 cession for ns, with groanings which cannot be ut- 
 tered. And he who searcheth tlje hearts, knoweth 
 what is the inijid of the Spirit, hechwae He (the *^pirit) 
 ,inaketh intercession for the saints, according to the 
 w^ill of God." Thus I he passage is a clear demonstra- 
 tion both of the personality of the .""pirit, and of his 
 agency, and indeed of his influence upon the saints, 
 /in both exciting them to prayer, and assiiiting them 
 
164 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 everyway in -the execution of that highly spiritual 
 exercise of the soul. 
 
 Anotlicr passage attempted to be neutralized, is 
 that of the First Corinthian Epistle, where the Spirit 
 is said to work all the diversities of gifts and opera- 
 tions in tlie church of Christ, " dividing to every man 
 severally as He ivill *\ Our author would render it, 
 ** as it will ", because the word for Spirit is of the neu- 
 ter gender. But I have so fully disousGed this absurd 
 opinion already, that it is wholly unnecessary here to 
 resume it. Suffice it observe, that throughout the, 
 chapter, the Apostle is enlarging upon the personal 
 agency of the Holy pi .it in the affairs of the church, 
 — that he enumerates several gifts, and expressly says 
 they are each of them " by the Spirit", and " by the 
 same Spirit ", — and that, lastly, he ascribes them all 
 in the aggregate, to the same divine personage, — *' all 
 these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to 
 every man severally as He will ". However, I miiat 
 not pass over Mr. Marsom's criticism on St. John. 
 In Older to carry his point with respect to the passage 
 just ciied from the Corinthian Epistle, our autiior 
 quotes that in John, " the wind bloweth where it list- 
 eth '', or willeth. And upon this, he remarks, that 
 *' Pneuma, the word there used for -vviud, beir.g of 
 the neuter gender, the verb is properly translated it 
 listeth or willelh ; it the noun had been mascuUne, it 
 mu?t have been rendered IZev/ill!" Now I am so 
 far from acquie-iiig in tliis idea, that my opinion is 
 diametrically opposed io it. 1 think that if the noun 
 for wind, had been in the mabcuiiue, iiisteai of the 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 85 
 
 neuter, it must then have been rendered, it listeth or 
 willeth ; but since the neuter noun pneuma is used, 
 and not the masculine anemos, it ought to be ren- 
 dered,— '* the Spirit breathes where He wiir\ The 
 usual word for wind is anemos, and this is of the mas- 
 culine gender; if this had been the term here em- 
 ployed, then according to the above rule of Mr. Mar- 
 som, it must have been so rendered, — as if the wind 
 were a person ! But because the word pneuma is here 
 used, which is of the neuter gender; — this, although 
 it really means a spirit or intelligent agent, yet, con- 
 trary to all usage and common sense, it must, upon 
 this single accoimt, be so rendered, as to convey the 
 idea of its intending no more than a stock or a stone ! 
 Now observe how contrary is the usage of scripture : 
 — " He maketh His angels spirits " — that is, pneu- 
 mata, in the neuter : *' who waiketh upon the wings 
 of the winds " — that is, anemoon, in the masculine. 
 What sort of interpretation would ensue, if governed 
 solely by the gender of nouns, instead of by their ob- 
 vious signification and import, we should make the 
 iv'mds to intend persons, and the spirits to signify 
 inanimate things ! 
 
 Mr. Marsom's last effort is to invalidate the argu- 
 ment naturally arising out of the baptismal form in 
 the conclusion of St. Matthew's Gospel. *' The Spirit", 
 lie tells us, "is never represented as a person"! 
 Elsewhere it is contended for, that although he is re- 
 presented as a person, in the character of a teacher, 
 a comforter, a guide, intercessor, remembrancer, and 
 so on — yet it is all a personification! But here, be- 
 I 
 
68 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 cause there h no room for the introduction of his fa- 
 vourite figure prosopopoeia, our author, who of course 
 calculates upon his readers' having a bad memory, de- 
 nies at. once, what he had before acknowledged, that 
 the Spirit is €ve7' represented as a person ! But the 
 thing seems to speak for itself: the disciples are sent 
 forth in the name of the Holy Spirit, as well as of 
 the Father and the Son; He is therefore a distinct 
 agent in t!ie economy of salvation, and a distinct 
 mode of subsistence in the divine nature or essence. 
 Nor does this depend, as Mr. Marsom says it does, 
 ** upon doubtful inferences, drawn from tico or three 
 obscure texts " *. So far from this, we have quoted 
 
 * Nothing is more easy than to start a doubt, respecting the 
 most self-evident truths ; and a doubt once expressed, although 
 it should happen to originate with the most egregious simple- 
 ton, is soon caught at by persons devoid of faith, and they make 
 use of it with as much confidence, as if it contained a cogent 
 argument. The plainest texts that can be imagined are called 
 obscure by Mr. Marsom, and the legitimate conclusions which 
 are naturally deducible from them, he is pleased to denominate 
 doubtful inferences. This suffices for Mr. Baring, and his party, 
 — they catch at such trifles, as drowning men catch at straws 
 floating on the surfiice of the water, and they dream of being 
 buoyed up by these things of nought. And a doubt being raised^ 
 no matter whether with, or without, foundation, this induces an 
 idea in the minds of many, that since diflerences of opinion do 
 obtain, it is not of essential consequence on which side we range 
 ouiselves ; and thus they adopt the principle of the old Greek 
 philosopher, Carneades, who held, '' that of two things directly 
 opposite, either may be chosen indifferently ". This mii. ht be 
 done with impunity, in regard of things purely philosoihical, 
 but in regard of revealed truths, it is not a bare experiment, 
 but most certainly a very dangerous expedient. I shall subjoin 
 as a sufficient weight in the scale against Messrs. Marsom, Car- 
 penter, Baring, and others, the opinion of the very learned 
 
THE HOLY SPiniT. 87 
 
 abundantly from the Scriptures, to prove it to be a 
 most undeniable article of our most holy faith ; and 
 V hat then does he mean by doubtful inferences ? As 
 for liis two or three obscure texts, we have but just 
 adduced no less than eighteen plain and express testi- 
 monies to the personality and agency of the Holy 
 Spirit, and these selected from the book of the Acts 
 alone ! Therefore this man either wilfully misrepre- 
 sents the thing, or he is totally unacquainted with the 
 sacred writings ; in either case he is absolutely unde- 
 serving of the least credit for the truth of any thing 
 which he .nay assert, and his readers mil do well to 
 try him by the unerriag word of God. But in dis' 
 trust of all other objections, Mr. Marsom reverts to 
 the old story, as if it contained a something invincible 
 in it ; it is his sheet anchor, and he throws it out up- 
 on every alarming occasion, lest he should at last 
 make shipwreck of his faith. For he adds, in refer- 
 ence to the baptismal form, that " that also should be 
 attended to here, which has been before observed, 
 namely, that the word Spirit is of a different nature 
 
 Schleusner. He says, — *' Non minore perspicuitate et evidentia 
 commendanturquoque loca de Parackto, Spiritii sancto ablegate 
 a Patre, et in Jesu locum veniente, qui Apostolis proraittitur a 
 Jesu. Joliii xiv. IT, 26 : xv. 26 : xvi. 13. He adds, " et a Kvptuf, 
 €t Ofw, tliveisus describitur, a Paulo, 1 Cor. xii. 3, 6. But 
 what immediately respects the present passage, that of St. Mat- 
 thew as objected to by Mr. Marsom, Schleusner selects it as 
 most eminently in point : — ' lUustre autem prae csBteris dictum, 
 e quo solo efficitur, Spiritum sanctum eodem sensu a Patre et 
 Filio diifere, uti illi ipsi inter se differunt, est, quod apud Mat- 
 theuni, xxviii. 19, legitur, ubi Apostoli eodem roodo etc to ovo- 
 fxa Tov ayLGv WyEv^aTOQ^ uti in Putris et Filii nomea a 
 Cfaristo baptizare jubentur. " 
 
^ PERSONALITY OF 
 
 from the words Father and Son ; for they being both 
 proper personal characters, are nouns masculine, — but 
 the word Spirit is neuter, which of itself proves that 
 to be impersonal of which it is the proper name " ! ! ! 
 My reader need not be reminded that this is Mr. 
 Marsom's cliief argument; it is intruded upon our 
 notice almost in every page ; and truly it is a most 
 unwelcome intruder, because a most trifling, tiresome, 
 and unmeaning one. I might reply, as before, that 
 whether we call Him, in agreement v/ith the scriptures, 
 the Spirit, in the neuter gender, — or the comforter, 
 advocate, instructor or earnest, in the masculine, — 
 He is in either case equally and alike an intelligent 
 personal agent : just as, in the instance of Satan, he 
 still continues possessed of his personahty, whether 
 we call him the Spirit, in the neuter, or Satan, tempt- 
 er, dcA^l, prince of this world, and so on, in the mas- 
 culine. Ho\^ ever, as I wish to oppose our author's 
 arguments and objections, rather by express scripture 
 testimonies, than by a trahi of reasoning, I shall con- 
 clude with a few cases in point, in which spirits, and 
 spirits too in the 7ieuter gender, designated indeed by 
 the same term o^ pneuma, are considered, and that as 
 spirits OT pncumata, to be proper, intelligent, person- 
 al agents. 
 
 Matt. xii. 43 — 45. AVhen the unclean spirit [in tlie 
 neuter, to aKadapToy Trvevi-ia to akatharton pnetima] is 
 gone out of a man, he [the spirit] walketh through dry 
 places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he [the 
 spirit] saith, 1 will return into my house, whence I 
 came out; and Vvhen he is come [t}^Goy dthon, in the 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 89 
 
 ' neuter], he findetli it empty, swept, ajid garnished. 
 Then he goeth, and taketh with himself seven other 
 spirits [all of the neuter gender !] more wicked than 
 himself; and they enter in, and dwell there. 
 
 Mark iii. 11, 12. And unclean spirits [pneumatui 
 when they saw Jesus, fell down before him, and cried , 
 saying, Thou art the son of God! And he strictly 
 charged them, that they should not make him known. 
 
 Mark v. 2 — 13. There met Jesus a man with an 
 unclean spii'it [pneuma]. When he saw Jesus afar off, 
 he came and worshipped him, and cried out with a 
 loud voice, and said, What have 1 to do with thee, 
 Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure 
 thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said 
 unto him. Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit 
 [to TTVEVf-ia to pneuma]. And he asked him, What is 
 thy name ? And he answered, saying. My name is 
 Legion; for we are many [ttoWoi polloi, in the mascu- 
 line, that is, many persons, many individual spirits]. 
 And he besought him much, that he would not send 
 them {avTovg autous) away out of the country. Now 
 there were there, a great herd of swine feeding. And 
 all the devils [cainoveg duimones, in the masculine] be- 
 sought him, saying, Send us [v/iac umas'] into the swine, 
 that we may enter into them. And Jesus gave them 
 leave. And the unclean spirits [ra TrvevfxaTa ta pneu- 
 mattty in the neuter gender] went out and entered 
 into the swine. — Here, these fallen angels are called 
 both spirits and devils — the first of which terms is 
 neuter, and the last masculine; but throughout the 
 I 2 
 
90 MRSONALITY OF 
 
 narrative, Jesns represents them as distinct personal 
 
 agents, or intelligent beings. 
 
 Luke iv. 41. And devils also [^aifjtovia daimonia, 
 in the neuter] came out of many, crying out, and say- 
 ing, [tha>t is, the demla crying out and saying, for 
 these participles are in the neuter gender]. Thou art 
 Chfist, the Son of God. And he, rebuking, suffered 
 them [avra auta, in the neuter] not to speak; for they 
 knew that he was Christ.— And in the same chapter, 
 Qt the 33th rerse, Jesus addresses himself to a pneu* 
 ma, or unclean duimonion, saying. Hold thy peace, 
 «ind come out of him. And when the devil \to ^aifxo- 
 riov to daimonion, in the neuter] had thrown him [the 
 man he had possessed] in the midst, he came out of 
 liim, and hurt him not. And they were all amazed, 
 and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is 
 this! For \^ith avVhority and power he commandeth 
 the unclean spirits [nvevixuat. pneumasi], and they 
 -•ome out. 
 
 Many other instances occur in the Gospels; and 
 the book of the Acts affords examples of the sam« 
 kind, a few of which shall follow. 
 
 Acts xvi. 16 — 18. But Paul, being grieved, turned 
 and said to the spirit [to Tryev fxan to pncumati], I com- 
 mand Mee [(TOL soi]y in the name of Jesus Christ, to 
 "come out of her. And he came out the same hour. 
 
 Acts xix. 13 — 15. Certain Jews took upon them 
 to call, over those who had evil spirits, the name of 
 the Lord Jesus, saying. We adjure you [umas] by Je- 
 Tsns, whom Paul pre^cheth! And there were sev«ft 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 91 
 
 SOUS of Sceva, chief of the priests, who did so. And 
 the evil spirit [to Trvevjua to Troyrjpop to pneuma to pa- 
 neeron] answered, and said, Jesus I know, and Paul 
 I know ; but who are ye ? 
 
 To these may be added an example from the He- 
 brew scriptures. In 1 Kings xxii. a spirit is intro- 
 duced, who is to influence the false prophets to per- 
 suade Ahab to go to Kamoth-gilead, since he had 
 despised the advice of the Spirit of the Lord, or the 
 Spirit Jehovah, as given him by iVlicaiah. *' And 
 Micaiah said. Hear thou therefore the word of the 
 Lord. 1 saw ihe Lord sitting on his throne, and all 
 the host of heaven standing by him, on his right hand 
 and on his left. And the Lord said, Who shall per- 
 suade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth- 
 gilead. And one said on this manner, and another 
 •said on that manner. And there came forth a spiritT^ 
 and stood before the Lord, and said, 1 will persuade 
 him. And the Lord said unto him. Wherewith? And 
 he said, 1 will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit 
 in the mouth of ail his prophets. And he said. Thou 
 shalt persuade, and prevail also; go forth, and do so. 
 Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a l^'ing spi- 
 rit in the mouth of all these thy prophets. But Ze- 
 dekiah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, 
 and said, which way went the Spirit of the Lord 
 from me, to speak unto thee ? " In this passage the 
 host of heaven intends the angelic spirits, who are the 
 messengers and mmistering servants of Jeliovah; one 
 of them is called a ruach or pneuma, that is, *' a spi- 
 rit " and is addressed by ihe Lord, and is employed 
 
^2 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 by him, as being an intelligent agent. The same title 
 of ruach or pneuma is here also applied to the Holj 
 Spirit, or Spirit Jehovah, and intends that person in 
 the divine essence, who is entitled by St. Paul, ** the 
 eternal Spirit; " and this, as distinct from Jesus Christ, 
 and God the Father. I scarce need observe to ray 
 reader, that if the terra spirit, as applied to the angels, 
 does not militate against their proper personality, nei- 
 ther can it interfere with that of the third mode of 
 subsistence in the deity ; consequently, we have a 
 trinity of pergonal subsistences in the unity of the 
 uncreated essence ** in the name of the Father and of 
 the Son and of the Holy Spirit ". 
 
 That, by the host of heaven in the above quota- 
 tion from the Kings, nothing except the angels of 
 God can be meant, is the current opinion of tlie Jew- 
 ish divines; and, especially, of Rabbi Moses Geriin- 
 densis — *' the host of heaven", he says, ** will also 
 comprehend the abstract intelligences, as in the text, 
 *' I saw Jehovah sitting on his throne, and all th« 
 host of heaven standing by him ". 
 
 That the individual Spirit, which stood forward 
 on this occasion, was but one of the many angelic 
 beings present, is expressly affirmed by Rabbi Solo- 
 mon Jarchi, — " * Now one of the angels came forth, 
 and said, I will persuade him.' According to the 
 words of the Psalmist, * Who maketh his angels 
 spirits.' For which reason it is premised, a little 
 before, * and all the host of heaven were in attend- 
 ance '. bo that we are not to make it a matter of 
 wonder, on its being said, * And a spirit came 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 93 
 
 forth ', as to who he was, and whence he came; see- 
 ing that it is expressly declared, ' And all the host 
 of heaven were standing ' — on purpose to manifest 
 whence he came, to wit, from tiie rest of the spiriiSy 
 w ho were standing by him ". 
 
 But the perfect incorper^ity of aiigels is strenuously 
 inculcated by Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon; and I 
 superadd a few testimonies on this head, because, with 
 a revival of Unitarianism, there seems to be an in- 
 crease likewise of the Sadducean idea, respecting tho 
 real existence, and immaterial nature, of those celes- 
 tial beings : " Neither ", says he, "have angels bodies, 
 but are intelligences abstracted from matter. Never- 
 theless, they were formed and created by God. *' To 
 this also Rabbi Abraham Ben Ezra asserts, " But 
 the celestial world is the world of the holy angels, 
 who are neither bodies, nor yet included within bodies 
 like the soul of men", l^o again, Rabbi Moses Ge- 
 rnndensis : " The angels of the Lord, being abstract 
 intelligences, are not to be apprehended by the sight 
 of the eyes, as they are not a bodily substance to be 
 perceived by vision ". And indeed, Rabbi Joseph 
 Ben Chajim affirms, " But tlie angels are of a more 
 spiritual nature than the heavens, as they are perfect^ 
 incorporeal ". And, to mention no more, Rabb* 
 Isaac Abarbinel says, '* But I have already observed, 
 tliat although angels, on account of their being wholly 
 abstracted from matter, cannot possibly be perceived 
 by the senses ; nevertheless, at the pleasure of Jeho- 
 vah, they are seen of men, — and these behold them 
 with their seoijual organs in the humau sJiape ; an act^ 
 
94 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 which is accomplished in a similar way with other 
 mi] aculoiis appearances." — See more, to this amount, 
 in the Rev. John Oxlee on the Trinity. 
 
 Having pursued our aistiior through the whole of 
 his tract on the impersonaiity of the Holy Spirit, I 
 might have liere taken my leave of him, had he not 
 added to his third edition, a few pages of strictures 
 on Dr. Hawker's Sermons. I do not intend to follow 
 him here, because to animadvert upon this addition to 
 his tract, would be to repeat what has been already 
 stated; all I intend to do, is, to point out a few of his 
 observations, which will aii'ord a fair specimen of the 
 whole performance, and to oppose to them a few ap- 
 posite scriptures. 
 
 Mr. Marsom begins by telling us, " that the deitj 
 of the Holy Ghost is not the deiiy of the Father, or 
 of the Son, but a deity peculiar to himself, properly 
 and personally his own, and from which he is, by 
 Trinitarians, denominated God the Holy Ghost " ! If 
 this statement were true, Trinitarians m ould indeed 
 lie open to the serious charge of polytheism ; since, 
 if the Father is one kind of God, the Spirit a God of 
 another description, and the Son a God of a third 
 sort, there must be at least three Gods. But this is 
 Mr. Marsom's trinity, not ours, because not that of 
 the scriptures, which assert, of the Father, and the 
 Son, that they " are one", en to thcion, one Deity, or 
 Godhead ; whilst they also assert, of Father, Son and 
 Spirit, that ** the$e three are one ", en to theion, one 
 Deity, or Godhead. Even the creed called Athana- 
 «iaii, and which will be allowed a fair standard of 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 95 
 
 Trinitarianism, declares, '* that we worship 07i€ God 
 in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding 
 the persons, nor dividing the substance. For there is 
 one person of the Father, another of the Son, another 
 of the Holy Spirit ; but the Godhead of the Father, 
 Son, and 'Spirit, is all one. " 
 
 Mr. Marsom's next assertion is not more happy. 
 f* To the sole deity of the Father, the New Testa- 
 ment bears its positive testimony ". This is plain and 
 express ; and we have only to oppose to it the follow- 
 ing Scriptures of the New Testament. The name 
 
 of the Son mcarnate, is '' Immanuel, God Mith us ." 
 '' Unto the Son He saith. Thy throne, O God ! is for 
 ever and ever ". *' His Son, Jesus Christ,— This 
 (person, ovtoq outos), is the true God ". ** Ihe Word 
 was God,—aud the V/ord was made flesh, and dv'i^elt 
 among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of 
 the Only-begotten of the Father." 
 
 Nor is our author more correct in the following 
 assertion; " we never read of God the Holy Ghost, 
 nor is proper deity ever ascribed to the Spirit in the 
 New Testament". Now we cZo read of " God the 
 Spirit"; of " the Lord the Spirit"; of " the eternal 
 Spirit"; and of- the Spirit of glory ". And proper 
 deity is ascribed to Him:— *' Why hath Satan, (that 
 evil spirit), filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit ? 
 Thou has not lied to men, but to God'\ " Your body 
 is the temph of the Holy Spirit " ; and, since a tem- 
 ple is a place dedicated to some divinity, if we are not 
 an idoVs temple, the Holy '-pint must be God. 
 
 A^ain, " The word of Jehovah certainly is not a 
 
9(5 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 personal agent, and the work of creation h no more 
 ascribed to the spirit or breath of Jehovah, than it is 
 to his word". With rerpect to the Spirit, we need 
 only repeat Elihu's testimony, *' The b^hit of God 
 hath made me". As to the Word, or Logcs^ not 
 being a personal ogent, it is ratlier astonishing that a 
 man, in his senses, should hazard an assertion so pal- 
 pably false ; and that he should affirm, moreover, that 
 the work of creation is not ascribed to the Word. 
 " In the beginning was the Word, and the V»^oi d was 
 with God, and the Word was God, the same (divine, 
 person, outos) was in the beginning with God; all 
 things were made hy Him, — and, without Him, was 
 not any thing made, that was made. He was in the 
 world, and the world was made by Him. And the 
 Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we 
 beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten 
 o/thc Father." 
 
 We are told next, that " regeneration, as well as 
 creation, is invariably ascribed to God the Father, as 
 his work, and as his alone ". That creation is of God 
 alone, we grant; but that it is ascribed to the Father 
 only, we have just disproved, since it is also ascribed 
 to the Son, or Word, and to the Holy Spirit. With 
 respect to regeneration, it is of God, truly; " born of 
 God " : but the Spirit is peculiarly the personal agent 
 in the renovation of the human soul, whence, in 
 John iii., Christ distinctly states it as a being " born 
 of the ^'pirit ", and which he repeats in the 6th and 
 8th verses — " That which is born of the Spirit is 
 Spirit ", and "so is every one that is born of- the 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 07 
 
 Spirit", We may defy Mr. Marsom to quote a sin- 
 gle express passage, such as these are, to prove the 
 Father, personally considered, to be the immediate 
 Agent in this affair of regeneration. 
 
 Another assertion is, *' that God the Creator is 
 one simple uncompounded Being, one individual Per- 
 son ; and not one God subsisting in three persons, is 
 the uniform language of Scripture ''. To prove this, 
 our author quotes passages which declare for one God, 
 and here we have no controversy with him ; but he 
 produces no proof to substantiate the idea of there 
 being but one individual person. This idea his own 
 quotations refute, since Jehovah expressly declares 
 himself to be the Alehim ; that is, an unity of nature 
 or essence in a plurality of personal subsistence. For 
 Jehovah is singular, but Alehim is plural; and we 
 have to recollect, that " the Alehim said. We will 
 make man, in our image, after our likeness ". So 
 that God the Creator is indeed one Jehovah, but not 
 only one person ; had this been the case, we should 
 not have heard the Alehim saying, " We will make or 
 create man in our image, and cur likeness"; nor 
 would the Alehim have said, afterwards, — " Behold, 
 the man is become as one of us'' ; or, again, '* Go to, 
 let us go down, and there let us confound their lan- 
 guage". This, then, and not what our author pre- 
 tends, is the uniform doctrine of scripture. And that 
 I may not seem to make mere assertions, without 
 proof, after the example of Mr. Marsom, let it be 
 observed, that the Alehim in Jehovah are, according 
 to the Hebrew, sometimes called creatorSj or C3'«nu, 
 
98 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 boraim, in the plural number, as in Eccl. xii. 1. : also 
 makers, or o^it^i? ashim, in Isaiah liv. 5., and husbands, 
 or ci3»Vri haalim. Elsewhere they are styled " the 
 Alehim the holy ones ", or tZD'u^Tp kedoshim, as in 
 Joshua xxiv. 19., and other places. And, to mention 
 no more, in P*Ialacbi i. 6., they are the " Adonim '*, 
 OUn^^, or masters, or lords. Now these, in the New 
 Testament, are revealed to us as three distinct per- 
 sonal agents in the Godhead — ** in the name of the 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit '\ 
 
 In reference to Christ's breathing on the disciples, . 
 and saying, *' Receive ye the Holy Spirit ", our 
 author observes, that it is *' the holy breath, the 
 holy inspiration "! And, as if it could corroborate 
 this idea, he goes on to quote, — *' it is not ye that 
 speak, but the spirit of your Father who' speaketh in 
 you '' ! A passage which only serves to prove the 
 folly of Mr. Marsom's former interpretation; since 
 to translate ** but the breath of your Father which 
 speaketh in you ", would be to turn the Scripture into 
 absurdity. Let the reader, for his own satisfaction, 
 attempt to substitute ** holy breath" or '* inspiration" 
 for the Holy Spirit, wherever that term occurs, and 
 the trial will evince the stupidity of the proposed ex- 
 pedient. ^ 
 But we are told next, that " the Spirit is never 
 said to speak, or to act, as an individual person ; Imt 
 only in the words and actions of those who spake and 
 acted under the direction and influence of the Divine 
 Being." This, however, is contradicted by a host of 
 scriptures, in which it is manifest that when the Spirit 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 99 
 
 speaks and acts, He does both the one and the otiier 
 as an intelligent personal agent. As to his speaking 
 and acting, often, througli the medium of human in- 
 struments, what has this to do with his personality ? 
 When a king addresses his subjects, or does some 
 gooJ offices towards them, he generally employs his 
 ministers, or other official servants, both as Iiis organs 
 and his instruments; yet it is common to refer the 
 speech and the action to the king, as being really the 
 proper author of them. Because St. Paul dictated 
 the Epistle to the llomans, it is by one consent en- 
 rolled among his pa-toral letters, notwithstanding that, 
 as bis amanuensis, another person says, ** I, Tvrtim, 
 who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord." And 
 if Tertius wrote as Paul dictated to him, so Paul dic- 
 tated according as he Iiimself was " moved % the 
 Holy Spirit ", But as instances of the Spirit speak- 
 ing and acting immediately of Himself, although of 
 course He more generally does so, and necessarily 
 by means of created agents, take the following: 
 **Then the Spirit said to Philip, Go join this chariot." 
 Here the Spirit himself is represented as addressing 
 his servant Philip, without the intervention of a hu- 
 man speaker ; and, in the sequel, the Spirit acts also 
 by himiielf, and without any human insirument; for 
 ** The Spirit of the Lord cau/^ht away Philip". 
 Again: '* The Spirit said to Peter, Behold, three 
 men seek thee; arise, go with them, for I have sent 
 them." Llere also the Spirit both speaks and acts, as 
 an individual sovereign agent; which He does, more- 
 over in the following passage : " The Holy Spirit 
 
100 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 said, Separate unto me Barnabas and Saul, for the 
 work whereunto I have called them; so they, being 
 sent forth by the Holy Spirit, departed." 
 
 Another assertion of our author is, that '* there is 
 not in the sacred Scriptures, any precept enjoining 
 the worship of the Spirit, Bor is there a single exam- 
 ple there, of any such worship ever being paid to 
 him, either in heav en, or upon the earth *. This has 
 
 * Mr. Marsora also states, that " if the Holy Ghost be God, he 
 has never been honoured as God ; his worship has been, aud still is, 
 shamefully neglected." This is true, as it respects all orders of 
 Unitariaiis ; but how is it true of the real church of God upon 
 earth ? Our initiation into the visible church is an act of wor- 
 ship, in which the Holy Spirit is as much regarded, as are the 
 Father and the Son. Cyprian, Blsliop of Carthage, in 248, ob- 
 serves, that " Christ himself commands the nations to be bapti- 
 zed in the full and united Trinity, in the name of the Father, 
 Son, and Holy Spirit." Firrailian, a pupil of Origen, and con- 
 temporary of Cyprian, calls baptism " a symbol or confession of 
 the Trinity." And he advises " invoking the Trinity, and call- 
 ing upon the names of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy 
 Spirit." And he adds, "let us rest assured, that our concord 
 and brotherly love, and being agreed concerning the unity of 
 the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is an acceptable 
 sacrifice to God ". 
 
 The true believer in Jesus will do well to consider, in this 
 day of peculiar trial, what has been " the faith of God's elect ", 
 in respect of the Deity, in every age of the church, since the es- 
 tablishment of Christianity, it was not left to a few heady indi- 
 viduals of the 19th century, to make the first discovery of 
 the genuine gospel ; the church, and the truth, of which it is 
 expressly called " the pillar and ground ", have been always, 
 and arc still inseparably connected. Now it is confessed even 
 by the Socinians, that so early as the year 325, the doctrine of 
 the Trinity was publicly established amongst christians ; and, 
 that it had obtained jrior to that era, is plain, from the writ- 
 tings of the first christians, whicli are still extant. Ignatius, the 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 101 
 
 been acknowledged by some of the moit pious and 
 learned Trinitarian writer.^, "! That I may not re- 
 peat what has been urged before, I beg to refer my 
 reader to the 56th and nine succeeding pages of this 
 
 disciple of St John, aud a maityr, gives this as his pastoral ad- 
 vice, — " Study to be confirmed in the doctrines of tlie Lord, and 
 his apostles, that in all things which ye do, ye may have good 
 success, in tlesh and spirit, in faith and love, in the Son, and th^ 
 Father, and the Spirit ". And Justin Martyr, who wrote about 
 the year 140, says, — " We are named Atheists ; but not with 
 respect to the most true God — the Father, Him and the Son, 
 and the prophetic Spirit, we worship and adore, honouring them in 
 word and in truth". And siuiilar declarations are to be met 
 with in the other early writers, up to the above mentioned year 
 of our Lord, 325 ; when it is acknowledged, that at a general 
 assembly of the christian church, the Trinity was averred to be 
 scriptural. Andsiwce that period, up to the present day, what 
 has been the prevailing opinion amongst the saints ? Before the 
 glorious Reformation from popery, there arose the Waldenses, 
 Albigeases, Wickliffites, Lollards, Hussites, and others, but not 
 to oppose themselves to the doctrine of a Trinity of Persons ia 
 an unity of essence ; here tliey v. ere happily agreed. I will sub- 
 join the creed of the Waldenses as a specimen : " We believe " 
 say they, " that there is one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
 We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son, and Image of the Father, 
 We believe in the Holy Spirit, as the Comforter, proceeding 
 from the Father and from the Sou." Nor ought we to omit here 
 the Syrian Christians in India, who, like the burning bush, were 
 preserved unconsumed in the midst of the flames of papal rage. 
 Tiieir ci'eed is this, — " they believe in Father, Son,, and Holy 
 Spirit, three Persons in one God, neither confounding the Per- 
 sons lior dividing the substance, one in three, and three in one • 
 the Father, generator, — the Son, generated, — and the Holy 
 Spii it proceeding. None is before or after the other,- in ma- 
 jesty, honour, mi :ht, and power, they are coequal ; unity in tri- 
 nity, and trinity in unity. In the appointed time, through the 
 di3{)o.>ition of the Father, and the tioly Ghost, the Son appeared 
 on earth, incarnate God and man ". And what has been the 
 sciitiineiit of christianji iu later years ? The Paritan^ were Triui- 
 
102 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 Tract, for proofs of the worship of the Spirit, as well 
 as of the Father, and the Son, tlie subject being there 
 pursued to a considerable length. Having spoken of 
 Trinitarian writers, wlio abandon the worship of the 
 Spirit, Mr. Marsom should have quoted, or at least 
 named them : but, instead of any of those superla- 
 tively pious and learned Trinitarians, lie adduces Dr. 
 Watts, who, although a professed Trinitarian in the 
 earlier part of his life, as his Hymns and other writ- 
 ings demonstrate, yet became, late in life, an Arian: 
 this there can be no doubt of, as he published his sen- 
 timents a few years before his death ; though accord- 
 ing to some, his opinions were rather of the Sabellian 
 stamp. " Dr. Watts," says Evans, " towards the 
 close of his life, became a Sabellian, and wrote several 
 pieces in defence of it." Consequently, his opinion, 
 as a Trinitarian, has no weight; and it is most impro- 
 perly appealed to, as such, by Mr. Marsom, since it 
 can only tend to impose upon his readers. He might 
 have as well appealed to any of those persons, who 
 have lately revived Sabellianism, and joined the Bap- 
 
 tarians, — the Reformers were so likewise ; and since them, all 
 pious Dissenters, as well as Church-men, at home and abroad ; 
 Calvin, Luther, Zuingle, and our English worthies of the Re- 
 formation, with those of Scotland and Ireland, have been fol- 
 lowed since by those revivers of truth in the new, as well as 
 in the old world ; Whitfield, the Wesleys, Romaine, and others, 
 who all agreed in declaring for the Trinity in Unity- So that 
 we must move an amendment to Mr. Marsom's statement, it ap- 
 pearing, that " as the Holy Spirit is God, he has ever been 
 honored as God by the churches of Christ; but amongst all 
 mere Unitarians, his worship has been, and still i§, shamefully 
 neglected ". 
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 103 
 
 lists; for these seceders were once, like Dr. Watts 
 Trinitarians by profession, but now they labour to 
 destroy the faith which once hey preached : — I say 
 they, supposing Mr. Baring's sentiments to be pretty 
 nearly those of the whole party *» 
 
 Lastly. Our author observes, that ** Mhat the 
 oflBces of the Holy Spirit are, or, that the Spirit is a 
 being sustainmg certain offices, we are not informed 
 in the New Testament ". Before, it had been con- 
 ceded that the Spirit, by a figure, is represented as a 
 comforter, advocate, instructor, and so on: — and is 
 not this to sustain certain offices ? Yet now Mr. Mar- 
 som strikes out the Spirit from all offices of whatever 
 description, and fastens this notion upon want of in- 
 formation on the subject in the New Testament! ! I 
 have only to remark, that the t\tle'& of the Spirit very 
 strongly imply His official engagements : as, for in- 
 stance, His agency in our regeneration is implied in 
 His title of ** the Spirit of life '*; His agency in our 
 santif cation is implied in His title of " the Spirit of 
 holiness ". So, as *' the Spirit of supplications ", He 
 is the author of prayer; as '* the Spirit of adoption ", 
 He gives us the dispositions, feelings, affections, and 
 so on, of children of God; as '' the Spirit of truth ", 
 He instructs us in the knowledge of revealed verities; 
 
 * Mv. S«ou' and vl/j-. Exons are now supposed to be exceptions, 
 but all the others, as far as I can learn, have determined in fa- 
 vour ef Sabellian Unitarianism. Indeed the doctrine of Unita- 
 rianism, in opposition to that of the Trinity, was explicitly 
 avowed at the opening of Mr. Baring's meeting in Exeter, on 
 the IGth of August, 1818, at which were present Messrs. Baring, 
 Cowan, Bevan, Read Kemp, &C, 
 
104 PERSONALITY OF 
 
 as '' llie Spirit of counsel ", He acts the part of an 
 adviser and monitor; as the "Spirit of grace ", he 
 strengthens us with might in the inner man; — and, to 
 enumerate no more, as " the Spirit of glory ", He 
 reveals to us the grandeur of our future condition, fills 
 us with a thirst after the promised glorious inheritance 
 in light, and fits us by degrees for the possession and 
 enjoyment of that far more exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory; so that " we all, with open face, be- 
 beholding, as in a glass, the g]ory of the Lord, are 
 changed into the same image, from glory to glory, as 
 by the Lm-d the Spirit ". 
 
 Now to the Alehim the Holy Ones, in tlie name 
 of Father, incarnate Son, and Holy Spirit, as to n. 
 trinity of co-essential and socially existing persons in 
 the unity of the ineffable nature of the one Jehovah, 
 he all possible praise ascribed, distinctly, conjointly, 
 and in unity, throughout time, and to all eterniiy. 
 Amen. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ON THE DOCTRINE OJF THE 
 
 TRINITY, 
 
 AND 
 
 ^mm asr^ASii^ii^^a'D^^ 
 
©N THE DOCTRINE OF THE 
 AND THE 
 
 INCARNATIOJy, 
 
 tl UST as the foregoing sheets were ready for the 
 press, a Sermon was lent me b}^ a friend, which 
 proved to be the production of the Rev. T. ». . Cowan, 
 of Bristol. After having perused it, I thought it 
 ought to be noticed, because it appeared to me to 
 touch upon and enforce, almost every peculiarity of 
 sentiment contained in the newly adopted system of 
 the Rev. George Baring; a system fraught with error, 
 with error of the first importance, inasmuch as it re- 
 spects those points in our most holy faith which are 
 fundamental and essential. It is an ungrateful office 
 to oppose a friend; but when that friend opposes 
 truth, or adulterates the pure milk of the word of 
 God, it then becomes an imperious duty, not so much 
 to set oneself in opposition to the person, as to do 
 one's best endeavour to counteract the poison which 
 he disseminates in the shape of the bread of life. 
 
108 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 When Israel had fallen into the commission of a gross 
 act of idolatry, those wh© had ranged themselves on 
 the side of Jehovah, were commanded to go forth 
 against the idolaters, each one against his nearest and 
 dearest connexions, — " every man against his brother, 
 and every man against his companion, and every man 
 against his neighbour,''' — that they might thus discover 
 a becoming zeal for the Lord their God. And we 
 find, in the course of the ]Vew Testament records, 
 that when the apostle Peter acted amiss, using dissi- 
 mulation to please the Jewish converts, his beloved 
 brother Paul " withstood him to the face, because he 
 was to be blamed ", in that both he and Barnabas 
 walked not uprightly according to the truth of the 
 gospel. And in the same Galatian Epistle, in refer- 
 ence to certain teachers, who went about to corrupt 
 that evangelical system which they professed to in- 
 culcate in their ministerial labours, and whom the 
 apostle there calls '* brethren ", but " false " ones, 
 he says, *' To whom we gave place by subjection, no 
 not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might 
 continue with you." 
 
 With respect to Mr. Cowan, I may truly say, in 
 those expressions of the son of Jesse, that he was — 
 " mine acquaintance; we took sweet counsel together, 
 and walked unto the house of the Alehim * in com* 
 
 * Beth Alehim; by which the Psalraisf means the tabernacle, 
 the sacred house dedicated to the public worship of Jehovah, 
 as the Alehim of Israel, — as divinely appointed symbols of whose 
 gracious presence there, the cherubim wxre fixed within the 
 vail ; and in reference to those " cherubim of glory ", as repre- 
 sentative images of the Trinity in Unity, with the manhood 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 109 
 
 pany ". Our views were once pretty nearly, though 
 not altogether alike, — and the love of the truth is a 
 mighty cement; it knits souls in one, as it is written 
 of Jonathan and David, that " the soul of Jonathan 
 was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved 
 him as his own soul." But alas ! how are the 
 mighty fallen! And, what is worst of all, '* Truth is 
 fallen in the street, yea truth failetb"; and this awful 
 departure from the faith once delivered to the saints, 
 *' soweth strife ", as the wise man speaks, and " se- 
 parateth chief friends *'. For what concord has light 
 with darkness, or faith with infidelity? Jeremiah, 
 sorely lamented his condition, — but he could not 
 avoid it; '' Wo is me," he cries, '^ a man of strife, 
 and a man of contention, to the whole earth " : yet, 
 I say, he could not av©id it, for his Lord had said 
 to hun, " Let them return unto thee, but return not 
 thou unto them. 
 
 Before I proceed to comment on certain passages 
 in Mr. Cowan's sermon, which professes to treat of 
 the work of the Holy Spirit as far as it respects hi« 
 office in glorifying Cln-ist, I sliall oifer a few prelimi- 
 
 which was about to be assumed by the Son in the fuhiess of 
 times, the inner sanctuary was called Kedosh Kedoshira, or 
 " Holy of Holies ", that is to say, the holy place nf the Holy Ones, 
 the Father, and Son, and Spirit, whence it stood for a type of 
 the body or manhood o^ Jesus, which he himself called a tem- 
 ple, because in it there dwelt the whole fulness of the Godhead; 
 and hence too, it was a type cf heaven itself, which is the true 
 Holy of Holies, as the peculiar residence of " the Alehim of 
 glory ", into whose presence Jesus is entered in, in cliaracter of 
 High Priest of the Israel of God, "with his own blood, having 
 obtained eternal redemptio» for us/' 
 
110 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 nary observations, in order to prove to the reader, 
 what, in my opinion, should be clearly unders^tood by 
 the public, — that Mr. Cowan, in adopting his newly 
 embraced system of theology, has rather derived it 
 from the representations of his friends, Mr. Baring 
 and Mr. Snow, than from Iiis own individual investi- 
 gations of scripture. It is by no means intended to 
 insinuate, that the Sabellian scheme in question has 
 been so blindly espoused on the part of Mr. Cowan, 
 as if he had not previously examined it by the light 
 of the word of inspiration ; but thus much at least is 
 iHtended, namely, that Mr. Cowan had been preach- 
 ing the gospel, and with considerable success for 
 years, and of course had been in the daily habit of 
 studying the Scriptures, and of extracting from them 
 the matter of his discourses, prior to his- late secession 
 from the pale of the established church, — and all this, 
 without discovering in the simple unsophisticated truth 
 of the gospel, any of the peculiar elements that enter 
 into the composition of his present openly avowed 
 Sabellian creed. This Mill evidently appear to have 
 been the case, from the circumstances which I shall 
 have to bring before the reader. For, upon Mr. 
 Cowan's suspension from his cure by the Bishop of 
 Bristol, and his subsequent resolution to withdraw 
 himself from any further communion with the national 
 establishment, what line of conduct does he pursue ? 
 Does he confine himself to secret communion with 
 his legitimate Kabbi, his heavenly master, as to his 
 ulterior proceedings, and instead of conferring with 
 flesh and blood, or going to them which were apostles 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. Ill 
 
 before him, does he, like another Paul, preacfi 
 among Iiis perishing fellow immortals the gospel which 
 he had learnt of Christ? I can only testify that which 
 I certainly know. IMr. Cowan embraces an early mo- 
 ment to go to Northbrooke, on a visit to Mr. Baring. 
 He heard him preach, and much of what he lieard he 
 considered neiv. But the novelties evidently gave 
 pleasure in a certain degree, from what his friends at 
 Exeter heard him remark on the occasion; and if he 
 did not return to Bristol a decided convert to Mr. 
 Baring's opinions, which although new to him, were 
 recognised by others as the old Sabellian errors re- 
 vived, — yet he certainly did return, divested of his 
 former prejudices against Mr. Baring's doctrines, and 
 in a certain measure impressed in their favour; so 
 that an opening was now begun to be effected for his 
 subsequent and no very remote reception, of " another 
 gospel " than that which he had before received, neither 
 " after man " nor *' of man ", but " by the revelation 
 of Jesus Christ ". And with this other gospel, he has 
 naturally espoused the cause, and become the w^arm 
 and zealous advocate, of " another Jesus ", and " ano- 
 ther Spirit ". 
 
 However, the transition was gradual; and it is 
 most easy to trace it step by step. For, in answer to 
 a letter of mine in July last year, which was soon 
 after his return to Bristol from Northhrooke, Mr. 
 Cowan observed to me, in his letter of August, — " I 
 cannot, how^ever, close without saying, I at present 
 am decidedly in favour of your viev,, against the idea 
 of the pre-existcnce of Chrisl's human soul, though 
 
112 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 the opposite opinion lias much to support it. And 
 even should it lead to what is called Sabeilianism, 
 that would not keep me back from embracing it, wer® 
 I convinced it were scriptural — for names I regard 
 them not. But although, in this point, I differ from 
 my dear friend Baring, yet I a ould not suffer it to 
 keep me back from him, — nor, my friend do I think 
 it should you. Go to him, — converse with him as a 
 friend and brother, be assured he will receive you 
 as such, when he understands your object: and do 
 more, — hear him preach for yourself. I was mueh 
 prejudiced against him, — and when I did hear, I felt 
 ashamed I had entertained that prejudice. Hear him 
 more than once; I do not say you will agree with 
 him in all his positions, particularly that to which I 
 just now referred : but need 1 tell you, how necessary 
 it is, we learn to bear with those who differ from our- 
 selves, more especially on points so deep ?" 
 
 It is manifest from the above extract, that the 
 leaven had already insinuated itself, and was begin- 
 ning to operate, although its effect was as yet almost 
 imperceptible; and Mr. Cowan's next movement was 
 not likely retard its operation : I allude to a visit he 
 made Mr. Snow at Cheltenham. In the mean time, I, 
 who had never felt, as Mr. Cowan says he had, a pre- 
 judice against Mr. Baring, but had all along known 
 him to have entered into the nations of Safeellius, 
 which I had often tried by the written w^ord, and had 
 as often found them essentially unscriptural, had pub- 
 lished a tract, to refute the Nabeliian gospel, which 
 Mr. Baring had been so industriously disseminating 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 113 
 
 among us. A copy of this tract I had sent to Mr. 
 Cowan, which reached him just as he was on his re- 
 turn from Cheltenham; and his letter in reply proves, 
 that his visit to Mr. Snow had only tended to accele- 
 rate his reception of Mr. Baring's religious tenets. 
 For, a short time before, when Mr. C.'s publication 
 came out, he had denied, in a note at page 44, his be- 
 lief in the pre-existeuce of the soul of Christ; and 
 had also expressed his dissent from Mr. Baring's opi- 
 nion, of the Holy Spirit not being a party in the co- 
 venant of grace. Whereas, in a letter to me of Sep- 
 tember, on his return from Cheltenham, Mr. Cowan 
 observes, — " Sincerely I thank you for your last pub- 
 lication [on Sabellianism], which, however, I did not 
 receive till a few days ago ; and having been at Chel- 
 tenham, from whence I only returned late yesterday 
 evening, I have not had time to peruse it. JS^ot with- 
 standing the note I have put at p. 44 of my pamphlet, 
 I am yet much staggered on the doctrine of the pre- 
 existence, from considering, the day before yesterda}-, 
 [that is, of course, before he had quitted Cheltenham], 
 the seventeeth of John, verses 5, 22, and 24." 
 
 Thus I'ar, at least, it appears evident, that in every 
 step in his advance towards the adoption of the Sabel- 
 iian system, Mr. Cowan was led on by the advice 
 and counsel of his friends, Mr. Baring and Mr. Snow. 
 But this is not all — the crowning proof is yet to ap- 
 pear. For, as soon as Mr. Cowan's pamphlet, stating 
 his reasons for leaving the Establishment, had reached 
 Northbrooke, the obnoxious note at p. 44, in which 
 he jiad declared his dissent from his friends on the 
 2 L 
 
Il4 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 point of tlie pre-existence, and on that of the Spirit 
 not being a party to the covenant — this note gave no 
 little uneasiness to Mr. Baring; who, feeling the im- 
 portance of the moment, immediately dispatched a 
 letter to Bristol, in explanation of his peculiar views 
 upon the disputed points, — a letter so weighty and 
 powerful, &t least in the estimation of the individual 
 to whom it was addressed, that it seemed to come to 
 liim with all tlie autliority, and to have upon him all 
 the influence, of an apostolical epistle. The effect 
 was great indeed, as it was almost instantaneous; so 
 that a second edition of the pamphlet was put to press, 
 — the note at p. 44 was new modelled, — the obnoxious 
 parts were expunged, — and the whole was so ** re- 
 vised, corrected, and altered * " as to convey a very 
 contrary idea of the writer's sentiments to what the 
 former had done, as the following abstracts show: 
 
 1st. Edition, dated September, 17th, 1817.—" I 
 will not deny, that the more I consider, and ponder 
 (►D, the two leading points, which I hear him (Mr. 
 Baring), charged witii, imd have heard him preach, viz. 
 the pre-existonce of the human soul of Jesus, and that 
 the Holy Spirit h not a party to the covenant of 
 grace, — the more I mn inclined to disagree ivith him. 
 
 2nd. Edition, dated October 10th, 1817.— " My 
 note, as it stood in this place in the former Edition, 
 but now cancelled, conveyed an impression, contrary 
 to what I have since ascertained to be the fact, — and 
 literally, stronger, than I even then intended. I 
 am convinced, that both his views alluded to, viz. 
 * See Title Pa?e to 2nd. Edition. 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 115 
 
 the pre-existence of the human soul of Christ, and 
 that tlie Holy Spirit is not a party to the covenant of 
 grace, have more of the truth of Scripture in them, 
 than I had hefore conceived. While I am as tho- 
 roughly convinced, to use his own language, in a let- 
 ter, dated September, 19th, which I received from 
 him two days after the first Edition was published, — • 
 he does, ** in the fullest manner preach, and acknow- 
 ledge, the blessed truth of God and man, in the per- 
 son of Jesus, teaching, quickening, and guiding his 
 people by Iris Holy Spirit "; and that the view which 
 he entertains on the subject of the covenant, as he 
 further writes, *' neitlier attacks the divinity of Christ, 
 nor denies the work of the Spirit ". 
 
 The circumstance of Mr. Baring's communication, 
 here admitted by Mr. Cowan himself, came to my 
 knowledge, during an interview with Mr. B. at 
 Northbrooke. I called upon him, in company with 
 a clerical friend, for the purpose of discussing the 
 points at issue between us, — and in the course of the 
 conversation, some allusion was made to Mr. Cowan, 
 and to the pamphlet which he had lately published; 
 upon which, JMr. Baring took occasion to refer to the 
 altereci note, as it now stands in the second Edition, 
 observing, somev/hat to this amount, (for I quote from 
 memory,) — ''that it was not exactly such a statement 
 of his opinions as he could have wished, and, that if he 
 had intended a statement to be made at all, with a 
 view to publication, he should have drawn it up him- 
 self, in his letter to Mr. Cowan; adding, that his 
 friend at Bristol was sometimes too precipitate, and 
 
116 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 wliich would account for the apparently strong and 
 decisive manner, in which (as if upon deep and tho- 
 rough conviction), he had entered his protest against 
 the pre-existence, &c., in the note of his first Edition, 
 — and for the subsequent, and very sudden alteration 
 of his sentiments, as declared in the note of his second 
 Edition." 
 
 Immediately after the perusal of his first Edition, 
 I wrote Mr. Cowan, and pointed out, what appeared 
 to me, a glaring inconsistency, — in that he had glided 
 so rapidly from one opinion to another, notwithstand- 
 ing that the motto of his book in the title-page, gave 
 the public to expect that it would contain, not such a 
 deplorable instance of human caprice and instability, 
 but the final dcternLination of a matured .judgment. 
 The motto alluded to, was as follows, — " Let every 
 man be fnlJy persuaded in hia own n\mdi ". So easy, 
 and so common is it, to give a gloss and a varnisli to 
 the surface of things. • *' Fronti nulla fides ", was an 
 adage of the ancients; Put no faith in appearances. 
 It h not every face that may be relied upon as a faith- 
 ial index to the mind; nor is the tongue, nor yet the 
 pen, an invariable interpreter of the thoughts and in- 
 tents of i\\e inner man. For my good friend's own 
 expressions, in a letter to me, wliich accompanied a 
 copy of the first Edition of his pamphlet, most effectu- 
 ally contradicted v/bat his motto was calculated to in- 
 sinuate. The letter began thus, — " I snatch one 
 moment to say, T seize tlie first opportunity of for- 
 warding 30U one of my pamphlets just come out;" 
 and it. concluded with, — ** notwithstanding the note 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 117 
 
 I have put at page 44, I am yet much staggered (very 
 far, this, from being fully persuaded!) on the doctrine 
 of the pre-existence. But my time is so limited, this 
 being my preaching night, tliat I cannot enter on this 
 point. 1 will, however, d. v. read with attention, 
 your [book on Sabellianism.]'* 
 
 Now it was not a trifling matter, which Mr. Cow- 
 an had not decided upon, as the event has too sadly 
 proved. For with an admission of Mr. Baring's Sa- 
 bellian notion of the pre-existence of the souio£ Christ, 
 he has at last, as was to be feared, rejected the Scrip- 
 ture truth of the divine person of the Son, as subsisting 
 in the Godhead, distinct, though not separate, from 
 that of the Father, and of the Holy Spirit. He has 
 now adopted his friend's scheme in, toto, as far, at any 
 rate, as the great essentials of our faith are concerned, 
 and has abjured that God in Trinity, whom, once, he 
 worshipped as the Alehim of Israel. 
 
 This truly awful and affecting circumstance, (in the 
 comparison with v/hich, all other questions agitated 
 by us are as light as air), his last publication unequi- 
 vocally announces; I mean his ssrmcn on the work 
 of the Holy Spirit. For in it he teils us, as unhesi- 
 tatingly as if it was a demonstrable truth, that " Jeho- 
 vah, in imion with his Son Jesus Christ, formed the 
 body of Adam ! " By this he means of course, the 
 Godhead, as the Father, and the supposed pre-exist- 
 ent sovd in union with him, to the utter exchision of 
 Ezekiel's " Alehim of glory", whom the prophet re- 
 presents as Jehovah, and of v/hom the historian Moses 
 records, *< that Jehovah, the Alehim, made the earth 
 
118 ON THE THINITY, 
 
 and the Iiearens ", — and, v/hat coraes home to the 
 point in debate, that Jehovah the Aleiiim formed man 
 of the dust of tlie ground". So that no being not 
 essentially Jehovah, had any share hi the work of 
 creation, — it was all effected by these Aleliim who 
 said " We will make or create man in our image, our 
 likeness"; and who, being essentially Jehovah, are 
 by nature God. All other Creators are idols; and 
 idols are the creatures of the imaginauon; and they 
 can no more stand before the glorious and fearful 
 name of Jehovah, our Alehim, in the name of the Fa- 
 ther, and of the Son, and of the Hoi v Spirit, than the 
 senseless image of Dagon could stmid before the ark 
 of the living God. 
 
 Indeed, according to Mr. Cowan's new creed, not 
 only the Son and the Spirit are to be divested of their 
 dist'iict personality in the sacred essence of deity, — 
 hat even the Father is not himself properly a person ; 
 for he expressly tells us, that '' To attach the idea of 
 Ijerson to iJod, save as manifested in tlie Hesh, is to be 
 wise above what is written " ! So much like an oracle 
 of God will men proclaim their ov/n conceits and de- 
 vices! He reduces it all to a temporary assumption 
 of character, — so that the Godhead is represented, I 
 had almost said profanely, as personifying itself for a 
 season, and even assuming different characters in its 
 appearance on the theatre of the world ; and by and 
 by, these artificial personalities will be dropped again, 
 that is, as soon as the drama is brought to a termina- 
 tion ; aiid the Godhead will then relapse into its for- 
 mer impersonal condition ! '' 'i he diaracters ", sa} s 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 119 
 
 Mr. Cowan, *' of Father, Son, and Spirit, have all an 
 exclusive le'ereiice to redemption, with the fulfihnent 
 ofwhic'i thesa choracf^rs wi/l ccasBy and yet Je/ior«A 
 remain the same; • that God', not as Father, and 
 Son, and -pirit, but as Jehovah in the ahsiruct^ ' may 
 be all in all* ' ". Now to the Godhead in itself, or to 
 Jehovah in the absti act, our author had just before 
 declared, that we may not *' attach the idea of per- 
 son"; so that even ihe almighty Father, awful to say, 
 is no other, in his view, than an artificial character ; 
 and therefore, in their eventual state of glory, the 
 saints would, if this were true, necessarily lose every 
 vestige of that God of revelation, whom, in their pre- 
 vious state of graoe, they had been accustomed to 
 worship as the proper and legitimate object of de- 
 votion ! Truly, from the ease, and apparently little 
 concern, with which men change their ideas of the 
 majesty of Iieaven, and tlie licence t!iey take to tli em- 
 selves to mould the divinity, according to their own 
 imaginations, one would really suppose it was a re- 
 ceived opinion amongst mankind, that they have an 
 undoubted right to deal with ** the t Alehini of eter- 
 nity, Jehovah the Creator ", just as they please, as the 
 
 * Isaiah xl. 28. 
 
 t Alehi a-o/aw,— literally, " the Alehim of eternity ", and these 
 Alehim are said to be Jehovah Bom, or ^' Jehovah the Creator'; 
 and as, in this place, tliey are represented as Jehovah, and Bora 
 the Creator, as God in unity of essence, — so, in Eccles. ?».ii., they 
 «re called Bora-im or Creators in reference to their plurality as 
 persons in the Godhead ; for the only title in the chapter, oesides 
 Boraim, is Ha- Alehim, or the Alehim " j which is repeated three 
 times. 
 
120 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 potter, who has power over the submissive clay, fash- 
 ions the unresisting lump into what form he will. 
 
 But our author's statement refutes itself. If Jeho- 
 vah is impersonal naturally, and only becomes per- 
 gonified as manifested in the flesh or human nature, 
 which he expressly asserts, there would be but one 
 personal character formed in this way, and not three ; 
 there would only be, as Mr. Cowan stales it in Mr. 
 Baring's words, *' God and man in the person of Je- 
 sus." We should have read, tdmply and solely, of 
 Immamiel, as the Godhead itself, or Jehovah in the 
 abstract, personified artificially tlirough the assumption 
 of the human nature ; whereas the Scriptures give us 
 many plural titles of the Deity, anterior to the actual- 
 ity of the incarnation, and even use those very per- 
 sonal terms, which, ever since the accomplisiiment of 
 the incarnation, have been proposed to us as the pecu- 
 liar and proper descriptive appellation of the Alehira 
 of Israel, — *' the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Spirit ". And it may be further 
 remarked, that Scripture never represents Jehovah, 
 as the Father coming to to be invested with humanity, 
 but tells us plainly, that ♦' the Father sent the Son^\ 
 and tliat this personal Logos, or only-begotten Son, 
 was made flebh, and dwelt or tabernacled amongst us, 
 as a mode of subsistence distinct from, and yet as to 
 sameness of essence and nature, one with, God the 
 Father. 
 
 Indeed, the only plausible method of explaining 
 the idea, which Mr. Cowan is desiroHs of conveying 
 to the mind of his readers, but which Le has not very 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 121 
 
 lucidly expressed, is that of Mr. Bellamy in his 
 Ophion, — where he informs us, that the body, or hu- 
 man nature, is all that is intended by the Sou, — that 
 the indwelling Godhead, as the soul, is what is intend- 
 ed by the Father, — and that what is called the Holy 
 Spirit, is no other than the influence or energy pro- 
 ceeding from tlie incarnate Deity. This is what is 
 called the tri-unitarian scheme, broached, or rather 
 revived, by the fanciful Baron Swedenborg; and it 
 has lately been warmly espoused by Mr. Bellamy, 
 who, like Mr. Cowan, with his system, attempts to 
 father it upon the sober word of inspiration. What 
 makes it probable that Mr. Cowan has seen the state- 
 ment of Mr. Bellamy, or else some account of the 
 Swedenborgiau creed, is this, — that he seems to have 
 adopted tiieir precise phraseology; for they restrict 
 their idea of the personality, in reference to the Deity, 
 to the circumstance of the iiicarnaticn, as he has done 
 above, framing a sort of visionary Trinity out of it; 
 and they likewise substitute the term charncter, in the 
 place of that of person, with respect to the tides of 
 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But surtly, it will bo 
 sufficient to remark here, that if these sacred agents 
 had been only as soul, body, and proceeding energy, 
 we should have heard of the God-man only ; and no- 
 thing of a trinity of personal agents, either real or 
 assumed, would have been introduced to our notice, 
 since, a super-addition of any thing like this, suppo- 
 sing it to be an ideal representation, and not a sub- 
 stantial matter of fact, must necessarily be the occa- 
 sion of endless error, misconception, and confusion. 
 
 M 
 
122 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 Mach less then should we have met with these august 
 personages as distinct agents, — the Fcither, for in- 
 stance judging no man, but assigning lljat office of 
 omniscience to his incarnate Son; that is, if Mr. 
 Bellamy, and Baron Swedenborg are right, the soul 
 committing all judgment to the body. Not to urge, 
 that if the Father, as the in-dwelling Jehovah, be 
 the goul of Christ, when Christ complains of his soul 
 being exceeding sorrowful even unto death, he must 
 mean it of the in-resident Godhead. But this absur- 
 ditj Mr. Cowan is exempt from, since he holds for 
 the distinct existence of the soul of Christ; what he 
 denies is, that the Son of God is, like God the Father, 
 a divine person. However, since lie contends for the 
 Godhead being ericlusively the Father, an{] St. John 
 informs us that tiie Father " sent the Soil " to be *' the 
 Saviour of the world ", — it must fellow necessarily 
 from hence tliat a supposed created soul, and not a 
 divine uncreated person in Jehovah, is the emphatic 
 Saviour of mankind ; which idea is directly in oppo- 
 sition to the Hebrew scriptures, in which the Lord 
 proclaims, — ** l,even I, am Jehovah; and besides tne, 
 there is no Saviour ". The manhood is but the medium 
 of salvation, — it is the divine person of the Sen, who 
 is esseutially Jehovah, and naturally, Al or £1, God,. 
 that is strictly and properly " the Author of eternal 
 •salvaticn unto all them that obey him ". And hence, 
 in reCcrence to his name Jesus, which signifi»^.s, ''he 
 that saveth thee ", — not merely as Joshua his type, 
 ** Jehovah saveth", but Jlimselj, the Saviour, being 
 in Jiimself v/hat the name of Joshua meant, — it is de- 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 123 
 
 dared, tlint ** He ", He {ihiiself, ** .sliall save hh own 
 people from their sius ". Therefore it then fv>llo\vs^ 
 in furtlier explanation of his real nature, that He i^ 
 indeed El or A\, that is, God, — ** they shall call his 
 liaiiie, InirMaiiu-^/, which being iiitv'^rpreted is God 
 — ^vith us ". A\i(\ to add but one word more. If the 
 Father only is God, how is it that he will have us to 
 bonoTir the Son, even as v/e honour the Father? Ac- 
 knowledge the Son and the Father to be two in dis- 
 tinction of personal subsistence, and one in identity of 
 nature and essence, and all is clear. But deny this, 
 and tl.'en we are ccnimanded to hononr a creature 
 even as vre honour God. For that tlie hononr in- 
 tended is spiritual, or worsliip properly so called, is 
 evinced in the conduct of the discipigs, who not only 
 before, but also after his resurrection, paid him this 
 homage as the Son of God ; and even posterior to his 
 ascension, wi.'en his visible presence was withdrawn 
 from ihem, Stephen, under the immediate infiuence 
 of the Holy Spirit, implores his mercy in favour of 
 his murderers, and commits his own departing* soul 
 into his almighty hand : besides that the Father him- 
 self acknowledges the divinity of ilie Ho J, and com- 
 mand;' tlie angels to wors'iip him as such: " Unto the 
 Sjif,* he saith. Thy throne, O God! is for ever and 
 ever ", and " Let all tiie angels of God ivorship him.* 
 
 * The foliowing quotation from a note by the Editor of Dodd- 
 rl(k;:e's Lectnies, pihued in 1894, may obviate the objections 
 wliich some are apt to entertain against the divine Sonsbip of 
 Cluist. * Persons of opposite sentiments in other respects 
 h^ivc (ibjrctecl to tlie terms eternal generation, znd begotten, whtn 
 applied to a person proptriy divine, as implying derkation anal 
 
124 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 But to sift this notion a little closer, — a notion 
 wliich may be considered as forming the basis of Sa- 
 bcllianism as embraced by Mr. Baring and his friends, 
 
 inferiority. And censures have been libtvally cast on those who 
 Jiold the sentiment, as either destitute of common sense, or dis- 
 posed to digest contradictions. But may we not suppose, w-ith- 
 out any forfeiture of candour, that such a censure may possibly 
 be too precipitate, by assuminj^ that they fully compreh'Cnded 
 file sentiment expressed by such terms? The following hints, 
 disclaiming the tone of a dictator, are submitted to consideration. 
 " 1. The terms generation and begetting do not include any 
 rchiiitary act ad extra, but rather denote a necessary act ad intra; 
 they hold that, as the divine existence, life, and activity, ar6 
 independent on will, so is personality ". — That is, the modes of 
 subsistence in the essence as much exist by a necessity cf nature^ 
 as the essence itself; for if God is a being who nece:^sarily is, it 
 it is as true of him that he necessarily is tchat he is, whatever 
 that may be, — and therefore the Divine Being is as necessarily 
 Father, ana Sow, and Spirit, as it is necessarily God. 
 
 " 2. Another consideration of great inoment in this contro- 
 versy, but often very much out of sight, is the strict co-existence 
 of persons. For want of due attention to the nature of the sub- 
 ject, the mind is deceived by the sound of words. For no sooner 
 is it said that the Son is the only begotten of the Father, than we 
 form, if unguarded, the idea of priority in tlie Father, and pos- 
 teriority in the Son. But even among men, notwithstanding the 
 infinite disparity between the First Cause and a human beings 
 between the voluntary acts of a creature and a necessary property 
 of God, it would be ditficult, if not impossible to form an idea 
 of fatherhood and sonship, but as correlative and co-existent. 
 One may, indeed, exist as a 7na7i before his son, but not as the 
 father of such a son. 
 
 " 8. Through carnal associations, we find a difficulty in pre- 
 serving the subject itself, and that to which it bears a partial 
 analogy, sutRcientty illstinct. Thus among men, a father has a 
 pyrsoual subsistence (though not as a father), prior to ins father- 
 hood ; but not so in i espcct of God "', who necessarily, and 
 therefore eternally, is \\hat lie is. " In this doctrine no personal 
 subsistence is to be conceived prior to fatherhood and sonship ; 
 
• AND THE INCARNATION. 125 
 
 and of Swedenborgianism as revived by Mr. Bellamy : 
 " To attach the idea of person to God, ^ave as mani- 
 fested in the flesh, is to be wise above what is written.'* 
 
 these relations actually constitute the personalities. For if there 
 be no son, there can be no personal father, and vice versa. The 
 term father is no* in scripture always used in a personal sense, 
 but often answers to God as the Creator, because we arc all his 
 offspring, — or to God, as Governor, because we are his family. 
 *' 4. The proper use of illustrations by comparison is, not to 
 prove the doctrine, but to show from analogy the possibilhy of 
 what is apprehended to be the collected meaning of revelation 
 on the subject. Suppose then the infinite mind, as to essence, ■ 
 to be necessarily active, or life itself; is there any thing unrea- 
 sonable in the thought of a terminus a quo, and a terminus ad 
 qnem, relative to this essential energy and life, antecedent to 
 will ? Is it impossible that these termini should contribute rela- 
 tive properties, which may not improperly be called subsist- 
 ences or persons ? Is it not possible, that this iniinite and infi- 
 nitely active life should be denominated, according to the col- 
 lective sense of revelation, as a relative property a quo, the 
 Father; aud the same life, as a relative property ad quern, the 
 So7i ; while the essential energy of this life, ternainating ad quern, 
 is generation, or begetting? Again; is there any thing absurd 
 in the supposition, that this infinitely active life, proceeding in 
 medio a diiobus terminis, should constitute another (or third) dis- 
 tinctive relative property, called the Spii'if/ 
 
 " 5. In all M'Orks ad extra, the eiyects of divine power and 
 will, no one person acts exclusively of tlie others; therefore no 
 work ad ej:tra, whether creation, redemption, or any other 
 whatever, can be the disiinguisldng cause of these relative pro- 
 perties. Is it not then a possible and a rational notion, and in- 
 telligible language, when it is said that Father, Son, and Spirit, 
 are these positive real, or personal modes of subsistence in God, 
 or one inlinitely active life ? and that b.e who is tke Soji of God 
 by eternal generation, assumed our nature into personal union 
 v^Ith himself, thus coiistitutlng n. glorious Blediator between 
 sinners and the Divinity, which though in itself love, is ccnsum- 
 i.'j^^'j^rj to oflcndtrs? 
 
 " The sentiment of cterDul generation, and that which repre- 
 31 2 
 
12S ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 This is Mr. Cowan's statement. Mr. Bellamy*!? 
 amounts to nearly tlie same thing, — namely, that '* if 
 finite beings attempt to personify the eternal, infinite, 
 and incomprehensible Jehovah, they greatly errf"; 
 yet that ** the Godhead is the Father, who dwells in 
 Christ, as the soul dwells in the body of man." That 
 is, in pretty close agreement with Mr. Cowan's state- 
 ment, that personality in any sense or shape, is not 
 to be attributed to Jehovah, as He is in Himself na- 
 turally and essentially, but only after an artificial 
 manner, as he is resident in the flesh or human na- 
 ture of Christ, as a soul in its proper body. 
 
 In reply to this I take leave to observe, tbat so 
 
 scnts Father, and Son, and Spirit, as terms of distinctive per- 
 sonal relntions, seems much less exceptionable to many who 
 have long considered both sides, than that which holds these 
 terms as expressive of works or offices ad extra, while yet a 
 trinity of persons is acknowledged. For it may be urged, either 
 these divine persons have essential distinctive characters, or 
 they have not; if not, with >vhat propriety can they be called 
 three persons? The idea of three distinct Behtg-s is disclaimed 
 i>y us, and yet hoic are supposed three persons without any dif- 
 ference of distinctive characters; that is, a diversity without 
 any assignable groiin 1 of difl'erencc. But if they have essential 
 distinctive cJiaracters, what arc they, if r.ot those held by con- 
 sistent Athanasians, in some respects corresponding with the 
 terms begeitiiig; b(gctcen, zud proceed ins^, as before explained ? 
 If it be said, — the works of rctlemption ; it may be replied,— 
 tljese art^ works ad extra, and therefore belong to each person. 
 Is any divine perfection, as love, goodness, mercy, wisdom, 
 power, or the like, a sufficient ^^round of personal distinction? 
 Surely that person is not divine, that possesses not each of these 
 alike, and in an infrnite degree. '^ 
 
 See this subject pursued by the Rev. James Kidd, Professor 
 of Oriental Languages, Aberdeen. 8vo. Price 10s. Gd. 1815. 
 t History of all Religions p. 225. ;~and Ophion, p. 119. 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 127 
 
 far from tljff human nature being a means of commu- 
 nicating personality to the Deity, it was a divine per- 
 son, sometimes called the Word, or Lof/os, and at 
 other times the Son, who assumed it; and wIjo, by 
 his assumption of it, caused it to partake of his own 
 personality : and hence the angel said that •* that holy 
 thing'' {to ayiovto agion), in the neuter gender " which 
 shall be born of thee, shall be called the Sojt of God." 
 Let it be observed, that in and of itself, it was (to ye- 
 rcjiisvoy ayiou to gendomenon agion) a begotten iioly 
 thing, or substance, or nature, but not a separate per- 
 son; but by virtue of its union with the eternal Aoyoc 
 the essential word or Son, it became identified with 
 him, and was called the Son of God. . For John first 
 tells us, that the Word or Logos was, or existed, in 
 the beginning, as God, so that by Him were all things 
 created; and that, in the fulness of times, the Word 
 was incarMated, or made flesh. Whence it is sufficiently 
 manifest, that the divine person owed nothing of his 
 personality to the flesh, or assumed human nature ; but, 
 that on the contrary. He, as Immann-cf, or God-man, 
 invested the assumed inferior nature vrith his ov.n per- 
 sonality, inasmuch as in his incarnate state, he stiii is, 
 what he v/as before, *' the Sea of God." 
 
 Thus, in a v>'ay of illustration,— when Adam's 
 body was formed, it had in itself no proper person- 
 ality ; it v,'as m virtue of its after union with the soul, 
 or intelligent spirit, that ii participated in the personal 
 character of the man. For indeed a person is a thi dik- 
 ing thing, that is, a spirit, and not a mere mass of 
 unconscious matter. Our personality originates in our 
 
1128 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 souls, and our bodies partike of it through their unioa 
 with them ; so that we are as truly persons, when dis- 
 embodied at death, as when re-embodied at the resur- 
 rection. Hence God is styled emphaticall}^ " The 
 God of the spirits of all flesh "; he is not so properly 
 the God of the dead, or of the inanimate clay, as he 
 is of the surviving souls of the saints. The apostle 
 therefore calls him *' the Father of spirits "; and this 
 too in opposition to our earthly parents, whom he 
 describes as the fathers of our flesh. Nor is it foreign 
 from the subject to add, that Jesus is represented as 
 ** the Shepherd and Bishop of souls ". It is obvious 
 therefore to common sense, as well as evident from the 
 scriptures, tliat our Immanuel is indebted for his per- 
 sonality to his being essentially, naturally, and eter- 
 nally, the Word or Son of God^ and not in any re- 
 spect whatever to his assumption of the human nature 
 at the Incarnatioa. 
 
 Again. To assert that Jehovah in the abstract, or 
 the Godhead, becomes possessed artidcially, of what 
 it is not endowed with naturally, tliat is, of persona- 
 lity, in consequence of the incarnation, is to assert, in 
 so many words, that Jehovah or the Godhead under- 
 goes a change. Now this is palpably impossible. Since 
 if one attribute seem essential to the Deity, above and 
 beyond ail others, it is tlie divine perfection of immu- 
 table samcnes;(. And hence, if Jesus Clirist is ever- 
 lastingly " the same ", as tlie apostle to the Hebrews 
 describes him, this his eternal sameness respects his 
 divine person, and nature, and perfections, as the 
 Son or Word of God: and it cannot '»vilh anv colour 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 129 
 
 of propriety allude to tbat begatteii holy tljiiig, or 
 created liumau nature, which he assumed, and not- 
 witlistandiug which, he still remains in himself as God, 
 *' the same ", indeed, the same identical uncreated 
 p-^rson, both " yesterday, and to day, and for ever*'. 
 Tor let it be remembered, that it is in the nature of 
 Jehovah, necessarily to effect changes in his creatures, 
 according to his pleasure, as an almighty Agent who 
 is always self-disposed; but not to be acted upon him- 
 self, as if he could ever be a 'patient; since, in such a 
 case, the invariable Father of lights, with whom is 
 no shadow of turning, would seem to be subjected to 
 variations. Hence that holy thing, or begotten hu- 
 man substance, is itself made to be, or to be identified 
 with the Son of God, tlirough its mysterious union 
 with Him; as our clay bodies, which are impersonal 
 of themselves, become participant of the personal 
 character of the man, through their conjunction with 
 our immortal spirits. But to reverse these cases would 
 be absurd; as if our souls could derive thoir person- 
 ality fi*om our bodies, or the Son or Word of God 
 could stand indebted for his to the purely adventitious 
 circumstance of his assumption of tlie manhood. A 
 thing cannot impart what it does not possess, Now 
 a mere body of matter, or organized dust, cannot 
 confer personality upon an}^ other substance, because 
 it has nothing of the kind in itself, for it is not a 
 (kinking thing or intelligent being ; whereas the soul 
 or spirit answers to this description, and therefore 
 possesses a natural and essential personal character, 
 and consequently it can, and does communicate per- 
 
133 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 tonality to the body. Tlie same is in a measure true 
 of our Im-Daiiu-ei. He is in himself, and has been 
 from all eternity, a divine person, or inteiiigent, un- 
 created Agent, called the bon or Word of God; and 
 beiug El (or A!) in himself, that is God, as a distinct 
 subsistence in the sacred essence, he, by assuming our 
 nature fr- m uie substance of the Virgin, took that mi- 
 racidou.tiy begotten holy thing into a personal subsist- 
 ence wiLh Iiimself, and so became Immauu-el, that is, 
 still Ei or God unalterably in himself, and also Gcd 
 with us, which is the meaiiitig of Lumami, or God in 
 our naiure: and this " part ", as the apostle calls it 
 in his epiblle to the Hebrews, or portion of our huma- 
 nity, is thn.s iTpresented as a thing, nature, or sub- 
 stance, rather than as a person, becau'-e it was instiintly 
 l^egottea into a personal union wilh the ^dn of Gcd, 
 and never therefore existed by itself in a state of 
 absolute separation from him. 
 
 Now it appears, from what has been advanced by 
 Mr. Bclhun}^ and Mr. Cowan, that tiiey both agree in 
 the impi'opriety of directly personifying the divine 
 essence. i' By persoriii'ving the Dciiy ", says Mr. 
 Belhiiiiy, " it is an attempt to coa;pre!ierid iiim who 
 is iiicomprehensible, infinite, and uncrcate * '\ Yot 
 they see a necessity for a persouification in some 
 shape, and attempt to ciTect it by means of the natu- 
 rally impersonal Godhead being " manifested in the 
 flesh " of Christ, as Mr.Cowau states it, or according 
 to Mr. Belhuny, *' in human form ". But the fallacy 
 of this has been exposed; and the contrarj' has been 
 * History of all Religions, p. 22i* 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 131 
 
 eliowed to be the real statement of the inspired wri- 
 ters, — namely, that so far from commmiicating per- 
 sonalit}^ to the Godhead, the human nature, or begot- 
 ten holy thing, has no separate personality of its own, 
 that is, apart from the Logos, Word, or Son of God, 
 nor ever had, fiom the circumstance of its never 
 having existed alone, !)ut always, from the fir^t instant 
 of its being, in a state of union with him. H^nce Je- 
 sus describes it as his temple, which does not so'much 
 convey an idea of its separate personality, as demon- 
 strate the proper divinity of tlie Son, hini-self, as t'^e 
 indwelling person. The Evangelist too defines it to 
 be a sort of tent or tabernacle of the Word, which he 
 pitclied for himself, and in which he took up bis abode 
 among>t us, — " The Word was God, and all things 
 were made by him, and the Word was incarnated, 
 and tabernacled amongst us, and we beheld his glory, 
 the glory as of the Oiily-hegottoi of the Father". 
 Whilst Peter says — ** W^e were eye-witnesses of his 
 majesty ". And the last of the prophets had revealed 
 his future Advent in the following appropriate and 
 closely corresponding language ; *' the Adon, whom 
 ye seek, shall suddenly come to Ms temple, even the 
 Melach Beritli (the Angel-Purifier, or iVIessenger of 
 the covenant), whom ye delight in, — behold he shall 
 come, saith Jehovah Sabaoth". 
 
 W^hat remains then, but that we proceed to state 
 the scripture account of God, both as to ' .e self-existing 
 essence, and the socially-^tibsistingpersjnalities in it? 
 It will form a noble contrast to the poor and beggarly 
 conceits of erring mortals. And here to illustrate 
 
132 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 what is intended by the distiaction of essence and 
 persons, so as to convey an easily intelligible idea of 
 the matter to the plainest understanding, it may be 
 observed in the outset, — that as we speak of the ma- 
 terial sun as a single object, — and it is an object by 
 the way, which is pointed at by the hand of inspira- 
 tion for an emblem of the divinity, that immaterial 
 luminary who rules the universe of worlds, — " the 
 Lord God", says the Psalmist, "is a Sun"; now 
 as we speak of the sun as a single object, and a 
 mighty agent in the mateiial world, so we likewise 
 speak of the properties of it, its fire, light, and heat, 
 which have a sort of distinct existence in it, but are 
 co-evalwith it, and co-essential to it, — they are of one, 
 and the same nature, they go together to constitute 
 the Sun, and they equally co-operate in all the solar in- 
 fluences on this lower sphere. And of these kindred 
 properties, fire, light, and heat, although they are 
 alike co-eval with the sun, yet the light is as it wer« 
 the offspring of the fire, not the fire of the light ; and 
 the heat is a proceeding influence from them both, — 
 ^nid from its energy the most stupendous eflects result. 
 And what is more, — as the sun itself acts upon other 
 things by means of th«^se its operative properties, so, of 
 these, the fire acts rather externally by means of the 
 light and heat, than immediately by itself*. Now since 
 
 * This is stating it according to the popular idea. And indeed, 
 after all the conjectines hazarded respecting the nature of the 
 sun, and of light, I find that a modern Encyclopoedia (Edincnsis) 
 still adheres to tlic old opinion, that " the great source of lighi, 
 as well as of heat, is the sun ". It is the great instrument of 
 light, at least, to this world ; and from Berard's experiments it 
 
AND THE INCARNATION\ 1S3 
 
 it is declared to us, that " Jehovah, the Alehim, is a 
 sun ", — we seem to have just reason for concluding, 
 that a certain resemblance may be traced between 
 them. And the resemblance is very strong. Jehovah 
 
 appears that " the heating principle never separates from the lu- 
 luinous particles ". This is certain, that the sun never shines 
 even in winter, but we feel a something of warmth ia its beams. 
 When its light is commuuicateil indirectly, indeoii, I mean by 
 retlection from the moon at night, we perceive no genial v.armth ; 
 but in its pure and native light there is ever found a due pro- 
 portion of heat- We want no otlier proof of this than the inva- 
 riable effect of the glass, which collects the solar rays into a 
 focus, — it sets combustible matters on iae. On the 12tll of 
 January of the present year, 1818, about 10 a. m., the black, 
 ribbon (a colour which absorbs most heat) tied to ray watch was 
 suddenly in a smoke as it lay on the table; and whilst I stood 
 looking at it, I saw it gradually consume away, until it fell 
 down separated into two parts, the extremities of which were 
 evidently burnt. This, it is to be observed, was without any 
 other medium than the glass of the window through which ths 
 sun shone into the rocm. But even the diamond, the hardest 
 and the most indestructible substance in nature, is combustible 
 by the action of a bunimg ^lass. It is recorded by diiierent an- 
 cient authors, that Archimedes set tire to the Roman fleet at 
 the siege of Syracuse, by means of a burning mirror. And it 
 is asserted, moreover, that by means of a similar instrument, 
 constructed by Proclus, the Gothic ships, which blockaded 
 Constantinople in the time of Auastasius, were destroyed. It 
 is pleasing to remark, that notwithstanding all the boasted | re- 
 gress of science in these later yeais, Davitl, who wrote the 19th 
 Psalm almost 3,000 years ago, speaks of the snn, and the uni^ 
 \ersal spread and inlluence of its light and heat, much in the 
 same terms as the writers of the Eucyclopadia already racKiion- 
 ed ; they say, that " wherever the eilects of liglit and heat are 
 felt, few, or perhaps no kinds of matter, even those whicli seem 
 the least susceptible of change, are exempted /ran their infai. 
 ence." Whilst the Psalmist says of the light of the sun, that 
 " its going forth is from tiie end of heaven, and its circuit unto 
 the ends of it, — and there is nothing- hid from the. heat ihcjxo/." 
 N 
 
1^4 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 may intend the essence ; may signify the Deity in the 
 unity, oneness, and indivisibility of its nature ; and 
 this is represented by the substance of the sun as a 
 single orb, and the great operator in all tlie depart- 
 ments of nature in this our terraqueous globe. Then 
 the AleJiim are the persons. Father, Son, ami Spirit, 
 who have a social and relative co-existence in the 
 self-subsisting essence, — they are of one and the same 
 divine, uncreated nature, and co-operale together in 
 ail the works of Jehovah, whether in nature, provi- 
 dence, or grace ; and this pluri-personality,. expressed 
 in the plural title Alehini, no more destroys the abso- 
 lute unity of the Godhead, than the three properties 
 of fire, light, and heat, in any way oppose themselves 
 to tlie unity of the solar orb. Nor do Father, Son, 
 and Spirit, argue, as some contend, three' Gods, any 
 more than the solar properties argue three suns. But 
 to pursue the resemblance, I proceed to observe, that 
 of these sacred persons, although they are equally 
 €0-eval Avith Jehovah considered as the self existing 
 essence, and are consequently co-eternal together, — 
 yet the Son is as it were the offspring of the Father, 
 and not the Father of the Son, — whilst the Spirit has 
 his proccssicn from them both, and by his ahnighty 
 energy all that display of mii-aculous acts, which hav« 
 been exhibited to the church, under both dispensa- 
 tions, has been ejected. And to complete the parallel^ 
 as Jehovah, considereLi as the infinite essence or God- 
 head, r-cis rather by means of the Alehim or persons, 
 than cf itself, so, of these personal agents, the Father 
 acts bv means of the Son, and Spirit, and not immedi- 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 135 
 
 ately by himself. So that tliere is an exquisite order 
 observable, both in the social existence of these persons, 
 or Alehim in Jehovah the self-subsisting essence, and in 
 the operations also, or in the manner of acting, as well as 
 of existing, of these sacred agents. And this appears to 
 square with the idea of Bishop Horsley, who observes, 
 — * " I hold, with the Pktonists, that the Father's 
 faculties are not exerted on external things, otherwifie 
 than through the Son, and Holy Ghost; these two 
 persons being, as it were the two faculties, in which 
 alone the divine nature is active en created things ", 
 Not that tiie Father also is not an ogent,— for to 
 him, as the first principle, he, as well as the Piaton- 
 ists, " ascribed indeed an activity, but of a very pecu- 
 liar kind ; such as might be consistent with an undis- 
 turbed immutability. He acts by a simple indivisible 
 unvaried energy ; which, as it cannot be broken into 
 a multitude of distinct acts, cannot be adapted to the 
 variety of external things, — on which tlicrefore the 
 first subsistence acts not, either to create, or to pre- 
 serve them, otherwise than through the two other 
 subsistences '', namely tiie Son and Holy Ghost. 
 
 I shall conclude this brief illustration of the Tri- 
 nity in Unity, with a corresponding hint at the incar- 
 nation. The Psalmist remarks, that in the heavens 
 there is set " a tabernacle for the sun ",— whence it 
 beams forth as out of its chamber; and whilst it 
 enlightens the earth by the splendour cf its beams, 
 there is nothing hid, observes the sacred poet, " from 
 the heat thereof". And these, the light and the heat, 
 
 * Letter xiii. addressed to Dr. Priestly. 
 
136 ON TTIE TRINITY, 
 
 wliicli are so sensibly discerned, Lear sufficient wit 
 ness to the more latent, but not less real, parent fire^ 
 Now that begotten holy thing, the manhood, is, as we 
 Jiave shown, called, much in the same manner, a 
 tabernacle or sacred parillion ; and is it not, indeed, 
 the temple of the Sun ? a tent or tabernacle for that 
 uncreated Sun, Jehovah our Alehim? of whom the 
 prophet promises the church, declaring,— " Thy Sun 
 shall no more go down ; but Jehovah shall be unto 
 thee an everlasting light, and thy Alehim thy glory ? " 
 Vqv in the manhood dwells, as in the true holy of 
 holies, all the fulness of the Godhead. And since 
 wherever Jehovali is, there are the Alehim also,— or 
 where the essence, there the persons; b}^ consequence 
 we have in Christ, as tlie whole plenitude of the God- 
 head bodily, so the several personalities belonging to 
 it, the Father, .Son, and llolv Spirit. The union of 
 t!ie manhood with the divinity takes place more imme- 
 diately in the person of the Sou, — as, in the clierubic 
 figure, the face of tlie man is represented as more di- 
 rectly connected with that of the Lion, the Lion of the 
 tribe of Judah; yet still, as the persons are insepara- 
 ble through their natural ubiquity, althougli distinguish- 
 able, — and as the essence is indivisible, — the presence 
 of one person necessarily implies the presence of the 
 otiier two. And therefore, as from the sun in the 
 centre of the heavens, a thousand blessings are be- 
 stov/cd upon mankind, so from our triune God in 
 Christ, Jehovah our Alehim in the consecrated huma- 
 nity of Jesus, src derived to the clmrch, those infinitely 
 a icher than the mo?t genial solar iniluenccs, the '* gi'ace 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 137 
 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ ", and the " fellowship of 
 the Holy Spirit ", as a token, and indeed as the posi- 
 tive effect and evidence, of the *' love of God the 
 Father ". 
 
 Having submitted to my reader the above remarks, 
 for the purpose of illustrating in a familiar wa}'- what 
 is meant by essence and by the personalities in it, I 
 shall hasten to show how much is to be produced 
 from the scriptures in confirmation of such a view of 
 the subject. For it is most readily conceded, that 
 however plausible any system may appear, it must be 
 condemned as erroneous without hesitation, if, upon 
 investigation, itshoidd prove to be uncountenanced by 
 the authority of inspiration. 
 
 It has sufficiently appeared alread}', in the remarks 
 upon Mr. Marsom's tract, that, with respect to the 
 sacred essence of Jehovah, many apposite expres- 
 sions occur, in the course of the Greek New Testa- 
 ment records ; such as ee thela fusis^ the divine na- 
 ture, — ee theiotees, the divinity, — to theiori the Deity, 
 — and also pan to pJecrooma Ues thcoieeios, '^' the whole 
 
 •The T^abbins nse rilH/^ cJehotk, for divinita';, deltas, &c. ; 
 and CfjU rni^7U; fikdifihah gr,phim, for trcs pcrsomedeitatis, or 
 the tiinity of persoijal subsistences in the Godhead. 314 is ren- 
 dered suhs'aiitiu by Buxtorf, aiid whUli may agree with the 
 apostle's v-TO-ci'jir, hypostasis, substance, or subsistence, but 
 translated " person " in Heb. i. 3. Schleusner, reierring to this 
 expression of St. Paul, observes that Christ, as the .Son of God, 
 " is there said to have been the express image of the divine e^- 
 sence or nature, and of its immutable majesty." Under XapaK.- 
 rrip, he says, that in the alvove passage from the Hebrews, th« 
 Son is said to be " the im<'ge of the Divine Majesty, insomuch 
 .that lie v»h> sees the Son, may sec the Father also"; wiiich 
 N 2 
 
138 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 ftilness of the Godhead. And certainly the pluH- 
 personality is as plainly described to us, in the name 
 of the Fatlier, the Son or Word, and the Holy and 
 Eternal Spirit. The doctrine, here, is so clear and 
 shnple, that it requires no sort of comment. I will 
 therefore pass on at once to the Hebrew Old Testa- 
 ment records, wliere, if the doctrine contended for is 
 from heaven, it must have first appeared as in its pri- 
 meval garb, — since in that ancient language, the pro- 
 bable parent of all other tongues, the Almighty origi- 
 nally revealed himself to man. And here we meet 
 with no such unhallowed fancies as a God composed 
 of body, soul, and spirit, like the Swedenborgian idol 
 espoused by Mr. Bellamy ; nor yet ah impersonal 
 God personified for a season by the flesh, according 
 to Mr. Cowan ; nor indeed a Trinity like his, artifi- 
 cial, not natural, — assumed, and not essential, — nomi- 
 
 coukl not be the case, except the Son were as really God as the 
 Father is. For although man is made in the image of God, yet 
 because it is after a certain finite, limited, imperfect, manner, 
 we do not adduce man as a correct repi-esentation of Divinity ; 
 nor could we say, that he who sees man sees God. But the Son 
 possessing naturally, necessarily, and essentially, " the form of 
 God ", as to substantial divinity, he having all the divine per- 
 fections inherent in his nature, v^liich are, so to speak, the pro- 
 per and peculiar features of Jehovah, is an exact representation 
 of Him; and becomhig incarnate, and disj>Iaying the divine at- 
 tributes in tlie human form, " God became manifested in flesh ", 
 and he who thus saw the Son in those exhibitions of his essential 
 glory and majesty, could not but see in him the Father also. 
 8chleusncr adds, that C hrysostoni interprets Paul as meaning to 
 represent the Son to be like or equal to the Father in all respects, 
 and that too in regard of nature and essence — " to Ofwioy tiiat 
 .Kara Tvavra Kar ovatay. 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 139 
 
 nal, and not rea], made up of characters without per- 
 sons, and offices \vithout agents, and which reduces 
 Father, and Son, and Spirit, to absolute nullities. But 
 here, we meet with whatever is worthy of the great 
 Supreme, — w^e meet with titles which are strikingly 
 illustrative of the Divine Being, his existence, nature^ 
 and perfections, and which denote the pluri-person- 
 ality of God. This is the acknowledged excellence 
 of the Hebrew tongue, that it teems with meaning, 
 and the names of things are admirably descriptive of 
 their natures. This is not unnoticed by Mr. 15ellamy, 
 who speaking of " the significative nomenclature of 
 the Hebrew '*, says, that terms " were used by tiie 
 most ancient people as indices, pointing to knowledge 
 in every page of the book of nature ; a knowledge 
 given to the primeval people, who gave names to crea- 
 tures and things, expressive of their natures, — a won- 
 derful singularity, found only in the Hebrew lau 
 guage ". But this is not confined to created person* 
 and things; the Creator has very eminently revealed 
 himself to his people through the same medium; sa 
 that he is his names, and his names are himself,— -his 
 names are not arbitrary sounds, which convey no pe- 
 culiar idea to the mind, but sucli as respect, and 
 define, his being, his nature and essence, his attributes, 
 and modes of subsistence, together with the peculiar 
 economy observed in the accomplislimsnt of our salva^ 
 tion. And this will be obvious to every one, who pays 
 any regard to the variety of appellations employed in the 
 Hebrew scriptures as significative designations of the 
 
140 ON THE Tr.lNITY, 
 
 celestial Maje.-tv, and who at the same time, endea- 
 vours to obtain an insight into their original meaning. 
 The first of these names which I shall notice, will 
 be that of Jehovah. And before I enter upon its ex- 
 planation, it may be interesting to remark, that in 
 reference to this august title of the Deity, there is an 
 expression in Exodus, which will completely exem- 
 plify what has been advanced, respecting the differ- 
 ence of meaning which obtains in the variety of He- 
 bi ew names, employed as suitable designations of the 
 great Eternal. *' And the Alehim spake unto Moses, 
 and said, I, Jehovah, even I, appeared to Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob, by Al Shadai, but by my name 
 Jeliovah was I not known to them, — and I also esta- 
 blished my covenant with them." This by itself will 
 serve to convince us, that in the original tliere is a 
 rich mine, which in our translation is wholly con- 
 cealed from us, and whose treasures are suffered to 
 lie buried under a heap of unmeaning terms. For 
 here are introduced to us *' tlie Alehim ", the divine 
 persons, who, as their name imports, both make and 
 confirm or estabiis]i their '* covenant" with their peo- 
 ple. Next, the Alehim ai^sert tlieir Lordship, as the 
 sovereign God in an unity of essence, by an appro- 
 priation of the incommunicable name of" Jeliovah"; 
 for the Ah^him spoke to Moses, and said, *' 1, Jehovah, 
 even I appeared to Abraham " — v.'hence it is undeni- 
 able, that tlie appearing personage throughout the 
 Bible history is no inferior bcir.g, as some imagine, 
 no pre-cieated soul or spirit, or any other human fie- 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 141 
 
 tlon, but the Being of Beings, the self-subsisting Je- 
 liovah. Now in the affair of the covenant, when it 
 was made, revealed, and confirmed, to the patriarchs 
 of old, the Alehini were not so much known as Jeko- 
 vah, as by the more corresponding title of " x\l Sha- 
 dai ", that is to say, the mighty, all-hountifiil God ; 
 who, according to promise, preserved them, and pro- 
 vided for them, who was tlieir sun and their shield, 
 both to bless and defend them, and whose goodness 
 and mercy were constantly following them, yea, and 
 going before them, both to redeem them from all evil, 
 as t!ie aged Jacob expressed it, and to feed tlicm all 
 their life long. In this concise passage, then, we 
 have discovered no less than four several names for 
 the Deity; Alehim, the covenanters, or sworn ones 
 — Jehovah the self-subsisting essence or divinity, — Al 
 or EI, the mighty God, — and Shadaiyihe all- bountiful. 
 Now to disregard them, as if they all conveyed but 
 one and tlie same idea, or indeed as if they were to- 
 tally devoid of usefid information, — what is it, but 
 to place them on a level with the accumulated tiiics of 
 some Spanish Don, which are assumed without any 
 good reason, and convey no real meaning ? 
 
 But, to commence Avith Jeliovah. It has been al- 
 ready hinted that it refers to the saci ed self-subsisting. 
 essence of the Deiiy; it likewise expresses its eter- 
 nity. The Jews of China confessed to Father Gau- 
 bil, that by Jehovah thc}'^ always understood the eter- 
 nity of God, and tliat in it were comprehended the 
 present, the past, and the future : so as that it signi- 
 fied the same as. He isj He was, He is to come. 
 
142 OK THE TRINITY, 
 
 And it as cerlaini}' imports behuj, and intimates, tliat 
 he who sustains this name exists of* himself, and is the 
 first cause of existence to ail other beings; for it is 
 said to be derived from the verb ,— iin Jiavah, with the 
 letter » (jod) prefixed, which forms Je-havah, or Je- 
 hovah — a mode of formation, with respect to proper 
 names, not iinconmion in the Hebrew, as in the in- 
 stances of Isaac and Jacol) -^ Now the verb havah, 
 in Ka], singnifies to be, and in Hiphel, to cause to be 
 to others. Buxtorf, in his deiiiiition of Jehoval), in- 
 cludes all these ideas, since he makes it to signify — a 
 being existing from himself, from everlasting and to 
 everlasting, and communicating to all others beyond 
 himself both essence and existence. To this he adds, 
 that it signifies the Being, who is, and who was, and 
 who is to come. The letter » (jod) in this name is 
 cljaractcristic of the future; the t (van) of tlie present; 
 and the n (he) of ihe past. Accordingly, God was 
 pleased m3'stically to' reveal and typify iiimself under 
 that name to Moses, I have been, I am, I v^ill be. lie 
 further observes, that this name v/as wont to be de- 
 scribed amongst the Jews by three joof.9, with a Jaimctz 
 under, and sometimes included in a circle ; the jods 
 intending th.e three hypostases, — the Kametz showing 
 their unity — and this in the sacred essence of the god- 
 head, intended by the circle. This at least goes to 
 show what idea some of the ancients entertained as 
 to the latent mystery of the Godhead, Vvrapped up in 
 this glorious and fearful name. It has been remarked 
 
 * \>r\^'> i-mac, he will laugh ; '2\>V i-ocoIk he will supplant. 
 
AND THE INCARNATION-. 143 
 
 by some of the Cabbalistic writers amongst the Jews, 
 tliat ill this four lettered name, there are only three 
 different letters; and that, of these, jod means tlie 
 Father; van, being a connecting particle, means the 
 Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, and 
 in whom iXiGy are united ; and that he means tlie Son : 
 and what is more, that tlie fourth letter, w hich is the 
 he for the Son repeated, denotes the human nature 
 united to him., and foriiiing his complex character, as 
 Immanu-el, God — witli us. But according to others, 
 the^W denoted the essenee of the Deity, and the other 
 three letters the co-existing j>ersGns, with a circle in 
 intimation of the unity. However these remarks are 
 not produced as proofs af the Trinity in Unity, but 
 only as specimens of what may be gathered from Jew- 
 ish authors on this important subject. 
 
 There are two other names of simJIar import with 
 Jehovah ; namely n> Jah and n'Tii^, Ahejah. The first 
 of these simply denotes existence, the /aw, or he icho 
 is; whilst the latter m.eans, ** I will be '\ or he who is 
 to come : whereas Jehovah, including both these ideas, 
 of the present and the future, with these connects the 
 past, and is therefore the more perfect and ail-com- 
 prehensive term. 
 
 Now, bearing in mind the plenary meaning of these 
 expressive titles, and comparing it with what is re- 
 corded of the Holy Spirit, — that He is at once, the 
 Spirit of life, or the quickening, or life-creating Spirit, 
 and the eternal Spirit, — bow can we hesitate to ac- 
 knov/ledge him to be really Jehovah ? 
 
 That the Father is Jehovah, demands no proof, 
 
144 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 because it is not denied by any species of Unita- 
 rians. 
 
 And that the Son is so, will easily appear. In the 
 first place, he is called by the name Jali, in the 68th 
 Psalm, which is directly applied to him by St. Paul, 
 in the 4th chapter of his Ephesian Epistle. " Extol 
 him that rideth upon the heavens, by his name Jah, 
 and rejoice before him " ; then in a subsequent verse, 
 lie is introduced as Adonai, the person in tlie God- 
 head, who is constituted the basis of Zion, and her 
 main pillar and support, as well as her ruler and 
 director, — " the chariots of the xllehim are twenty 
 thousand, even thousands of angels; Adonai is among 
 Ihem, as in Sinai, in the holy place; thou hast ascended 
 on high, — thou hast led captivity captive, — thou hast 
 received gifts for men ! " This, every one will recol- 
 lect, is immediately applied to the Son of God, by 
 St. Paul, upon his re-ascension to glory, posterior to 
 his incarnation. I gay, his re-ascension, in reference 
 to his previous existence in glory, which he had essen- 
 tially with the Father before all worlds, for the Apos- 
 tle argues, *' now that He ascended, what is it but 
 that He descended first? He that descended, is th© 
 game also that ascended up"; whither? " far above 
 all heavens! " and what to do? ** that He might fill 
 all things!" Nothing surely can be a more sublime 
 description of the Son of God, as Jehovah Sabaotb ' 
 the King of Glory, re-entering his ancient domains, 
 amidst the united plaudits of saints and angels, who 
 expressly hail him as Jehovah strong and miglity, * 
 ♦ Ceuipare Psalms xxiv. and Ixviii., with Eph. iv. 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 145 
 
 Jehovah miglitj in battle ; this, tlierefore, cannot refer 
 to tlie human soul or body, but must instantly appl}^ 
 to his divine person as being by nature God*. I 
 cannot dismiss this, -without submitting to the reade** 
 a second specimen of the exquisite beauty of the ori- 
 ginal Hebrew, as it respects the delightful vdiiety of 
 significant names v, hich we meet with in it, at once to 
 ■pourtray to us the being and perfections, and the es- 
 sence and personuK ties, of the Adorable Supreme. The 
 passage I shall quote is contained in the 17!:h and three 
 following verses of the 68th Psalm : — " The clrariuts 
 of the Alehim are reduplicated myriads of angek ; 
 Adonai is amongst them \\\ Sinai the holy place; thou 
 hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, 
 thou hast received gifts for men, yea for the rebellious 
 even, that Jah the Alehim might dwell amongst them. 
 
 *'' The notions of a trinity and of au atonement, liave in most 
 cases stood or fullen together. Any doctiine, tlierefore, vvhich 
 at all goes to weaken the evidence of the essential personality 
 of Christ, ought to be considered a very serious one; and 
 the denial of the eternal sonshij) of Christ is unquestionably a 
 great abatement of this evidence. Besides that of Son of GoJ^ 
 there is, perhaps, no other term applied, to Christ, which sini^.-ly 
 und in itself, and without recurring to other evidence, expresses 
 his divine personality. Let the term " Son of God " he esta- 
 hlished as the scriptural designation of the divinity of our Lord 
 end Saviour, aiul the idea of divine and proper personality is 
 eternally preserved in our opinions respecting hhu. Let us 
 show, first, that tlie Son is divine, and we escape Sochiianisni ; 
 and secondly, that he is divine as a S-n, and v.e f'iun the SabeU 
 lian heresy — that sliding path which infallibly, altlionch by easy 
 descent, has cond acted thousands to Join the ranks of tnose who 
 deny the Lord that bought them." See an excfcllont pamphlet 
 on the Eternal Sonship of Christ, by Richard vt'^lbcn. Loi.don, 
 1818. 
 
148 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 Blessed be Adonai, who daily prosperelli us, the Al 
 of our salvation; our Al is tlie ill of salvation, and 
 frooi Jehovah Adonai are the escapes from deatJi ". In 
 this short, but emphatic passage, we have /"t-e several 
 appellations of the Deitj^ The Akhim intend the 
 trinitj^ of persons, which plural name is connected 
 wdth the singular Jah *, to shov/ their oneness in point 
 of iderititj of nature and essence; these are said to 
 dwell amongst us ; whence we are at one time said to 
 be a habitation of God, that is, in unity as Jah, and 
 at other times to he the temple, of the Holy Spirit, 
 and the abode of the Father and the Son, ^n^i so, as 
 it were, the holy place of the Alehim the Holy Ones. 
 Then, the second of these, or the Son,- who ever sus- 
 tained the character and office of the mediating person, 
 on the part of the church cr Israel of G-o'd, lie is in- 
 trodaced to us as Adonai, our. regent Prince, and 
 Lord of angels, and the rock-foimuation of his Zion. — a 
 rock like what we read of in th« song of R^oses, which 
 pours us out oil and honey, yea and the unceasing 
 
 • " Jah tiie Aleljim ". It is thought by some that Jah is an 
 abbreviation ot Jcliovah ; and by others that Jehovah is only a 
 duplication of Jali, namely, Juh-ve-jah, and diopping the latter 
 (') jod, by contraction, Jehovah. Adnutting this, there will be 
 a threefold repetition of Jah, in Isa. xii. 2., and xxvi, 4., where 
 we meet witli " Jah Jehovah ", in connexion, and which words 
 are equal to Jah, Jah, and Jah, or the Alehim.. See Serle's 
 Horae Solitaria-, vol. i. p. 3. Pasor says, — " Jah videtur con- 
 tracti^m ex nonunc Jehovah.'* But Mr. Hutcliinson mrkes Je_ 
 hovah a cornpoiir.d of n'Jah, the essence, and the participle 
 i~nn kavah, existirjg, subsisting, ^c, that is, of and from it- 
 self, necessarily and voluntarily, by some virtue, power, or 
 action, in itself. This agrees in the main, indeed, with the pre- 
 tlous defniition given from Buxtorf and others. 
 
AND THS INCAPvNATlON. 147 
 
 streams of the river of the water of life : he is therefore 
 celehraled as Adonai who prospers us, or daily loads 
 us with blessings, and as our Al or El, eren the AI of 
 salvation, which i;orfesponds with his well known tilW 
 
 "^of Lnmaau-Ei, that is. El or Al icith us, united to us 
 no\v, and one v^iih us in our nature; and that no 
 mirtake mi;7ht ariie, as to who our Adonai is, even the 
 
 ■ Al our Saviour, it is added, in the Psalmist's poetic 
 eulogy of him, '* our Al is the Al of salvation ", or 
 in other words to the siine purport, oar El is linmaau- 
 El, " and Irom Jehovah Adonai are the escapes from 
 death ", that is, fioin Adonai, who is no creature, 
 but the Lord of life essentially, and who is therefore 
 the cause of existence to others, namely, Jehovah. 
 
 T" *^.-. X'..,' T.-t?,^^-^'>- i^--^ '^r.r. i^ ^..'Ur^ the I am 
 
 or eyo eiml, v/hich is the literal interpretation of Jah ; 
 and it was at the hearing of this name of omnipotence, 
 that the enemies of our Lord are said to have gone 
 backwards and to have fallen to the ground : *• As sooa 
 then as ha had said to them, I am, th y went back- 
 ward, and fell to the ground * ''. 
 
 Tlie &ei\se of the Hebrew ahejah is likewise applied 
 to him in the Greek expression ocp'^ojisvoQ o erkciueiios, 
 or he v.ho is to come. *' Art thou he that should 
 come ", or, that " is to come ", said the Jews to 
 Je?us, (thiitis, art thou the aliejah,) " or do we look for 
 ancther?" It may refer to his declaration to Moses; 
 *' I will be that ahejah ", as the Shiloh promised be- 
 fore in the prediclions of Jacob ; for so the passage in 
 
 • Jolm xvi'd. C, compared with John viii. 24; 28, 5S, xlli. 13 , 
 aiid Coios 1. 17. 
 
148 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 the 3rd of Exodus, at tlie 14tli verse, seems to intend, 
 — " ahejah asher uhejah ", I will Ijc that aliejali, or 
 lliat future Jah, the Jali who is to appear amongst 
 men, and as a man, in the dispensation of the fulness 
 of times, at the end or last stage of the world. And 
 therefore the Jewish multitude, by some singular im- 
 pulse, quote the 26th verse of the llBth Psahn, as it 
 stands \\\ tlic Soptuagint, and apph^ it to the Siessiah 
 Jesus; " blessed be he that com.ctk (o erkom-enos), in 
 tlie name o? Jehovah''' ", that is, the expected Shiloh, 
 the promised aliejah, — " Hosanna in the highest"! 
 And it is remarkable, tliat St. Paul, himself a He- 
 brew, and in an epistle to Hebrew converts, adopts 
 this term m reference to the still future, and the final, 
 advent of ilie Lord : '" Cast not away your ccnfidcriCe 
 which hath great recompence of reward. But ye have 
 need of patience, that afier ye have done the will of 
 God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little 
 while, undhe that shall come (o erkomenos) will come, 
 and will not tarry." 
 
 But in Kev. i. 8., the full import of Jehovah is 
 predicated of the Son of God, nor is language well 
 able to afford us a more comprehensive interpretation 
 of the word: '* I am Alpha and Omega, the Begin- 
 ning and the Ending, saith the Lord, v, ho is, and who 
 ■\;aK, and who is to come, the Almig'sty." I'his is a 
 most iiiiportant scripture, and it demands our utmost 
 aUention in this our day of multiform error, since it 
 proves to us, to demonstration, ia what sense the Son 
 
 * Matt. xi. 13, and xxi. 9. Ileb. x. 37, 
 
AND THE INCARNATION 141> 
 
 18 the Begiuuing, or Alpha ^ or the First', he is so, 
 not as a creatarc, Dot as ono who began to be at any 
 possible period, nor as an inferior Deity in any con- 
 ceivable sense, — but as the Lord, who is said to bs 
 the Almighty y and who is here especially defined to 
 be the very Jehovah of the Hebrews. For first, he is 
 declared to be the self-sub. isting Being, or Jah, that is, 
 he " v> ho is ". Next he is represented as the First 
 Cause of being to all others,—" I am Alpha, and th?? 
 EegTuniug. Then he is said to be the Pinal Cause, or 
 end, aim, and design in all things, even the " Omega, 
 and the Ending ". And, to conclude, it further states 
 him to be the Eternal — '* who is ", that is Jah, and 
 " who is to come ", that is, o erkomencSy or ahejah, 
 and " who was ", which connecting the past with the 
 present and the future, completes this full length por- 
 trait of Jehcvah. He is therefore the beginning of 
 the creation, as its origin, as its producing cause, as 
 the \7ord who was God, and who created all thiiigp, 
 who, as the Psalmist expresses it, " spake, and it 
 was '\ It was alniost an adage among the Jews, that 
 Aleph by Beth created the world; that is to say, that 
 a« A.6, the Father, by n^, Bar, the Son, created the 
 universe. And this is the simple doctrine of St. John, 
 in the foref^'ont of his Gospel, and of St. Paul in that 
 of his Colossian and Hebrew Epistles; not indeed to 
 the exclusion of the other person?, but agreeabl}^ to 
 the modus ageudi, cr manner, or order, of acting 
 ariiong-t them; the Father purposing, the Son under- 
 taking to {-erform, and the .Spirit causing tlie actual 
 accomplishment; so that it may be intelligible, per* 
 o 2 
 
150 ON THE TKITsITY, 
 
 haps, to cljaracterisa iiiem in tlieir personal agenc 
 as Will, Word, and Power; or as Mind, Thought, and 
 Energy. And it is well known that amongst the Jews, 
 the beginning, in Genesis, is explained by Wisdom ; 
 and they understand by it a subsistence in the God- 
 head, or one of the first three of their scphiroth or 
 numerations, and which three they distinguish from the 
 divine perfections, or seven inferior numerations. And 
 Aponius, an ancient writer observes, *' God says by 
 JMoses, In, or by the beginning God created, and the " 
 Spirit moved upon the face of the waters ; here are 
 tliree persons in one power, — the beginning, God, and 
 the Spirit, — he who made, he in and b}^ whom ail was 
 made, and he who gave life to what was made". This 
 truly is fanciful, and not the proper interpretation of 
 the two first verses in Moses,— but it goes to show 
 what idea was current of old, respecting three distinct 
 personal agents in the unity of the Godhead; and 
 this is the reason of its introduction. It has been ob- 
 jected by some late Sabellian Writer amongst the 
 Baptists in the West of England, that since the Son is 
 called the Beginning, and not the Beginner, it does 
 not prove him the author of creation; not considering, 
 that by common consent the Deity is universally 
 styled the First Cause, rather than the Causer, of all 
 things, and that the Lord Almighty has himself chosen 
 to be designated by this appelkition, — *' I am Alplsa 
 and Omega, the Begin?iiiig and the Ending, saith the 
 Lord the Almighty; who is, and who was, and who is 
 to come ". Indeed philosophers have observed, that, 
 *' To a beginning there is no origin, because from a 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 151 
 
 beginning all things must arise, whilst itself cannot 
 possibly be edaced from any other thing. Tt could 
 not be a beginiiing, -were it begotten or traduced 
 anywhere out of itself." Pythagoras calls God the 
 Beginning of all things. Plato stiles him the Begui- 
 ning, the Middle, and the End. Proclus delines him 
 to be the First Cause of all operations. Simplicius 
 names him the Beginning of all Beginnings, tbe 
 Source and Origin of all. And Aristotle speaks of 
 Iiim as an InSaite and Eternal Mover, the Cause of 
 causes. But what is still more to the point, Theo- 
 pbilus. Bishop of Antioch, in the year of our Lord, 
 IGO, and w ho was the first to use the word Trinity for 
 the three distinctions in God, but far from the first to 
 broach the doctrine, — and indeed, as to the tenit, it 
 was used by the Jews, of whom, Rabbi Hakadosh in 
 particular speaks of sltalishit/i, a Trinity, " one in 
 three, and three in one "; — this Theophilus of Anti- 
 och observes, that " the Word is called the Beginning 
 (cipxri arkeej, because he commences, or originates 
 (apX^^ arkel), and governs, all things that were made 
 by him ". And again he says, ** in the beginning God 
 made the heaven, that is, the heaven was made by 
 him who is the. Beginning ". What has been ad- 
 vanced may suffice to disprove the Sabellian idea so 
 current in the present day, of the ^on being the first 
 creature, instead of the original Creator of the world. 
 lie cannot have been botk. If he was created, h% 
 could not create, because to cause to be is tiie preroga- 
 tive of Jehovah. Or if he really created all things, 
 then he is no creature himself, since a creature can- 
 
152 ON TME TRINITY, 
 
 not be the source and f^pring of being to otlifr?, for 
 tbe only fountain of life and existence is Jehovah; 
 Tvhence, in tlie Psalms, after having spoken of Jeho- 
 imh the Alehim as preserving man and beast, and un- 
 der the shavlow of whose wing?, in reference to the 
 symbolic cherubim in the tabernacle, * the children of 
 Adam put their trust, — David adda, " for with thee is 
 the fountain of life ". But now it is declared expresgly 
 of the Son, tliat ** all things v/cre creciled by I'im; ail 
 things v/ere created hi/ him, and/or him, and he is be-' 
 fore all tilings, and by him all things consist ". This 
 scripture includes at lea^t, four peculiar and incom- 
 municable features of divinity, which therefore evince 
 the person, of whom it speaks, to be absolutely pos- 
 sessed of the substantial form and image of God; for 
 inasmucli as tliey are such as are totally incongruous 
 to any created existence whatever, these features de- 
 note the Son to be, not tiie image and likeness of 
 God, as men, and as angels are, in a certain limited 
 and finite way ; but naturally, really, and essentially, 
 
 • Psalra xxxvi. 6, 9. " O Je'liovah ! thou preservest man and 
 beast. How excelkut is thy lovhig khtdness, O Alehim! there- 
 fore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of t>^iy 
 wings." This is in direct ailu>*ion to the cherubim, as symlioli- 
 lical representations of the Aiehin^, since the shadow of their, 
 wings is liere repre-ei.ted as belrg the shadow of the \^!ngs of 
 the AUIiim. And thevefore it follows, " Ihey sliall Le ahr.nd- 
 antly satisfied with the fntness of thy house (i. e. t^ie Taberr.acle, 
 in w4iic{j the symboivcal cherubim vvcre placed, and which on 
 that account is so often called btth Alehm^ the hense of the Ale- 
 him), and thou shaU. make ihem drink cf the river of thy plea- 
 sures ; for with thee is the fountain of life, and in thy ligkt w« 
 sliaii see light." 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. lo3 
 
 as participating the same identical being, nature, 
 essence, and perfections, as the Father does, who is 
 therefore called Tra-Epa ihov patera idion, his own 
 proper Father, and himself rov lclov viov, ton idiou 
 uiou*, his own proper Son : for indeed, with any thing 
 at all short of the unlimited attributes of Deity, he 
 could.not have created, nor could he now preserve, 
 ■ the universe ; he could not be the Object or End, any 
 more than the Author or l>eginning of it, nor could 
 it be said of him, with any propriety of expression, or 
 consistency of meaning, that lie is before all tilings, 
 that is, eternal; either therefore we must consent to 
 acknowledge, in contempt and defiance of the lively 
 oracles of truth, that the Son is not what he is said 
 to b?j «Ild tllRt hv tiid not do what he is said to have 
 done ; or else, conceding these mighty points, as un- 
 answerably and incontrovertibly true, because divinely 
 declared, we must subscribe, willingly, &nCi ejt animo 
 to his eternal power and Godhead as Je/iovak. 
 
 Should any on« object, that if Father, Son, and 
 Spirit, are each of them Jehovah, we in this way in- 
 culcate a plurality of Gods, — we have to answer, that 
 Moses speaks, in Gen. xix., of Jehovah raining a fiery 
 tempest upon the cities of the plain, jfroz/'i Jehovah, out 
 of hearen : And in Zee. iii., we read that ** Jehovah 
 said unto Satan, Jehovah rebuke thee, O Satan I even 
 Jehovah, who has cliosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee.'* 
 This teaccies a dislinciion of person in a sameness of 
 essence. For if these personages, thus introJuced 
 to our notice, were not of the one self-subsisting na- 
 * Jolin v. IS. Horn, viii. 32. 
 
154 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 ture of Deity, tli-y would not, and they coalcl not, be 
 called Jell.:.. : . i'.e iiaiue doteimhies the identity of 
 tiieir being. And tberefore, elsev/here, as in Gene- 
 sis, and in tlie Gih of Isaiah, Jehovah is described as 
 speiiking of hinigelf in the pliuai fo.ni, saying, " Be- 
 kold the man is become as 07ie of ns ";— '* Go to, let 
 Its go down, and there let us confound (heir language "; 
 — ami *• Whom shall I send, and who will go /cr?is*\ 
 This only proves, that there is a plurality of Alehim 
 in the indivisible essence of Jchov.^h,— and that the 
 Godhead is as clearly a trinity, in respect of person- 
 ality, as it is an nnity in point of nature. Ko-.v it is 
 a remarkable coincidence, widi reference to this glo- 
 rious title, that in the divinely constituted form of 
 benediction in use in the Israent^'^^^ !J!lUrc!l. ZZZZ'lilZ'* 
 a;* recorded in Nninb. vi., — it was commanded to be 
 thrice repeated. This could not refer to essence, since 
 in this particiilRr, Jehovah is nn«, ackad ih-dt is one, — 
 there is no oUxr i3eity or Godhead than this seli-ex- 
 isling Eternal; bnt it intends what, in Deut. vi., is 
 expressed by '' our God", that is, in Hebrew, " our 
 Alehim ", wF.o are nti^'HtN shdishifh, a trinily of per- 
 gonal agents, and of whom lome of the Jewish llab- 
 bios say, ^^i^ ti>»Vu^ she'ish achad, " the three are 
 one", and "there are t]^rce ones (jnn^, achadm), 
 and lo they are one ". So Origen, on Psahn cxxii, 
 has noticed a saying of theirs : *< but the three are 
 the Lord our God, {or tlie three are one". And 
 hence in the very ancient book of Zohar, the letter [m) 
 shin is introduced as a symbol of the threefold dis- 
 tinction in the divine nalure, — the Godhead being 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 155 
 
 compared to the root of it, and tiie trinity of persons 
 to the tnree branches of this leUer, which has been. 
 likened to a tn-Ient without a handle. But what is of 
 vasr'ty greater weight in the scale, the form of sound 
 words, appointed for Aaron, and the succeeding 
 priests of die Aaronic order, is pnrrellel with, and 
 may receive illustration from, the benedictioa of St. 
 Paul so generally in uec in t';e Gentile church; ** ihe 
 grace of the Lord Jesus, and the love of God the Fa- 
 ther, and the fellowship of t]:e Holy vSpirit ". And 
 there is an old tradition amongst the Jews, that when 
 the officiating priest pronounced the accustomed bless- 
 ing, in the name of Jehovah, the Father; Jehovah, 
 the Son; and Jehovah, the Spirit; — in the elevation 
 of his hands, he so extended anci disposed the three 
 middle fingers of his right, as to exliibit in a very 
 conspicuous manner a manifest emblem of this glori- 
 ous mystery. Hq this as it may, the proof lies on 
 surer ground, the sure word of sacred history. And 
 I may conclude this part of our subject with that of 
 Isa. xxxiii. : " Jehovah is our judge, Jehovah is our 
 lasvgiver, Jehovah is our king. He v.iU save us"; 
 where the three are resolved into one, and the one 
 distributed into three. 
 
 But I must hastsn to other names, which as 
 clearly preach the same doctrine as the former three, 
 of Jab, Ahejah, and Jehovah. * 
 
 « ILira occurs in Jeremiah xiv. 22, and it designates Jehovah 
 as the He, the immutable one, who is always tho same, and is 
 the sole Divinity, He alone existing of Himsfclr", and being the 
 cause pf existence to iiU otiier beings. Hence tiie prophet con- 
 
166 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 Al or El is a frequent title of the Deity, and from 
 its radical idea of strength, might, po\ver,and so on, 
 it may be intended to express the omnipotence of the 
 
 trasts liim Kith tlie impotent idols of the heathen : " Ave there 
 any amoDg the vauities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or 
 can the Cmatciial) hea\'ens give showers (of themselves)? Art 
 not thou He, O Jehovah, our Alehim? Therefore v;c will wait 
 npon thee, for thou hast made all these things " — thou art Hava, 
 the He, who causes these things to exist. 
 
 And to separate himself from nil others, whom in one way or 
 another, men are fond of associating uith hhn, in order to fabri- 
 cate Ak'him for themseives that are not essentially Jehovah, or 
 self-existent, the Lord says by Moses, (Deut. xxxii. 39, 40.)' 
 " See nowr that I, I am Hava (the Ke), and there are no Ale- 
 him v:Uh me. I kill, and I make alive ; I wound, and I heal ; 
 neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand : for I lift 
 up my hand to heaven and say, I live for ever." 
 
 But that the true and living Alehim, who are of him, that is, 
 are essentially Jehovah, that these are not intended to be exclu- 
 ded, is evi'lent from the commencement of this Song of Moses : 
 " Because I will pubiisli the name of Jehovah," says this man of 
 God, ascribe ye greatness unto our Alehim ". Indeed Jeremiah, 
 in the quotation above, expressly enquires, " Art not thou Ha- 
 va, O Jehovah our Alehim ?" Accordingly David declares Jeho- 
 vah to be Harfx the Alehim ; " And now, O Adonai Jehovah ! thou 
 art Hava tlie Alehim." And Nehemiah adopts a similar phrase, 
 ^' Tliou art Hava, Jehovah the Alehim.'* 
 
 Taylor, in his Concordance acknowledges this title, and says, 
 *' It seems to be sometimes used substantively, for a person, a 
 being, a lie, as if we should say, ' I am the he,' and '■ thou art 
 the He, the Lord ". Taylor likewise assigns to it the force of 
 Hie same (ille idem), the self-same immutable God. And this 
 appears to be its sense in tlse Psalms (cii. 2T), where the Deity 
 is celebrated under the titles of Jehovah, Jah, and Al "; " of 
 old hast then laid the foundation of the earth, and the Jieavens 
 are tiie work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt 
 endure ; yea ail of them shall wax old like a garment ; as a ves- 
 ture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed : but 
 thou art Hava " ihe same, " and tliy years shall have no end." 
 
AND THE INCAT^NATION. ir>7 
 
 supreme governor of the universe. It is sometimes useil 
 for God in unity as JeJiovah, — " for who is ^1/ except 
 Jehovah* 1 " that is, who is an almij^hty one, unless it 
 
 *2Sam. xxii,23..^2 
 
 Now this of the Psalmist is interpreted of the Soji, as a divine 
 person in Jehovah, or one of tlie living- Alei.iin in the ineffable 
 essence of Deity, by St. Paul; " but thou art the sayne ", it is 
 rendered in th.e Gieek, that is, o avroQ, o uvios. This is said 
 (Heb. i. 8—12) Trpog ror vioy, pros ton uion, " to the Sg71 ". This? 
 however, cannot be to the exclusion of the Father, who thus ad- 
 dresses the Son, but it is intended to show the proper and abso- 
 lute deity of the Son, that he is personalbj equal to tlie Father, and 
 esseiitiuily one uiih Inm. And hence St. Paul, in the concluding 
 chapter of the same e;ustlc refers the Hebrews to Jesus Christ, 
 as being, in respect of his divine personality " the same, ' and 
 therefore a fit object of trust, and confidence to them, as well 
 as to others; " whose faith follow ", or imitate, " considering 
 the eiid of their conversation, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, 
 and to day, and unto the eternal ages." This superaddition of 
 the pa3t, the present, and the future, to the o antos, might have 
 been inserted by the Apostle as a kind of interpretation of the 
 full meaning of the original Hebrew title ^^'l^ hava, which, as 
 a derivative from the verb haca^ to be, or exist, seems to stand at 
 difi'erent times for is, and was, and u-ill be. (See Taylor, Frey, 
 Parkhurst, <!irc. 
 
 Schleusner observes, that avroc, autos, sometimes stands for 
 f-iovog, monvs, and signifies alone, and separate from others, — 
 sohis, et sejviutns ah aliis; and that it is a periphrasis for Jeho- 
 vah the one God. In the same manner, he ob.«erves, huva is 
 sometimes read for Jehovah, as in Deut. xxxii. B9. and in Psalm 
 cii. 27. So also Christ is i^ar t'^oj^iv, kaV exokcen, called an. 
 tos, and o avtos, in the New Tcslauient. And i:e remarks, that 
 autos signifies the He, who always continues the same, immu- 
 table, free from all change cr variation. He renders the pas- 
 sage in Heb. i. — " but thou art ininutable, eternal." And tiiat 
 m the 13th chapter he reads t!ius, — " but Jesus Chiist shall 
 r( jr-ain the same always, that he has been, and now is." 
 
 Bishop Lowth on Jeremiah (\iv. 22.) says that haru " is often 
 fc^iiivalent to the true and eternal God ; ar.d especially inPsaim 
 cii. i7, where the expression is the same as in Jer;niiah, r~iiji< 
 ? 
 
158 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 be Jehovah ? to which the Psalmist adds, — " and who 
 is Zur, except owr Alehiml " that is, who can be relied 
 upon as a firm basis, an immoveable rock of salvation, 
 unless our sworn ones, our covenanters, even Father, 
 Son, and Spirit, whose voluntary oath and covenant 
 are engaged for our safety ? At other times, Al is 
 used for a distinct person in Jehovah, for the Son for 
 instance, who is called by Isaiah ** the mighty God ", 
 that is to say, in J S« Algebur; where the epithet in J 
 gebur is employed to express, what the term to which 
 it is subjoined really means. And hence the Son is 
 called Emanu-El or Al, that is to say, the mighty 
 one with us. But now and then it appears in the 
 plural form as Alim; and in such cases it respects the 
 trinity of persons in the sacred essence. Thus in the 
 29th Psalm at the 1st verse; " Ascribe' unto Jehovah, 
 O ye sons of the Alim! ascribe unto Jehovah glory 
 and strength '*. And at the Gth verse of the 89th 
 Psalm ; " Who in the heaven can be compared unto 
 Jehovah? who amongst the sons of the Alim can be 
 likened unto Jehovah"? In the same manner, in 
 oth er places, both men and angels are denominated 
 the sons of the Alehim ; as in Genesis; **The sons of 
 the Alehim saw the daughters of men, that they were 
 fair ". And the angels are thus distinguished from Satan 
 in Job: ** Now there was a day, when the sons of the 
 
 j^^lTf^ atah huva, thou art He. Our English versioi) has it 
 ♦* tliou art the same ". The words express the eternal and un- 
 t-hangeable nature of God, It is remarkable enough, that Isaiah 
 introduces Jehovah asserting, " yea before the day was, I am 
 He (hava)"; and that in the New Testament the Son is equally 
 described as being eternal, — "He is before all things ", and 
 *' boferc Abraham was / am ". 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 159 
 
 Aleliim came to present themselves before Jeliovali, 
 and Satan came also amongst them ". But if this is 
 rather intended for the true worshippers amongst 
 men, who in the days of Job regularly attended at 
 the appointed place of worship, where was a taberna- 
 cle erected for the purpose, and in it the symbolical 
 cherubun, fixed as repregeutatives of the Alehim of 
 Leaven and earth, and which arc alluded to, in the 
 expression *' tlie presence of the Lord ", in the 12th 
 verse, but which is literally *' the faces of Jehovah ", 
 or the persons, — there is another passage, in which 
 angels only can be intended. It is m Job xxxviii. 
 7, — where, in reference to the creation of this globe, 
 of which these previously created hein^s, as included 
 in all the host of the heavens, were the glad spectators, 
 it is said, " when the morning-stars sang to^etlier, and 
 all the sons of the Alehim shouted for joy ". But 1 
 shall have to enlarge upon the term Alehim hereafter, 
 only observing by the way, that the character given 
 of Job hy Jehovah was this, ** one that feareth ik^ 
 Alehim"; he did not scorn their service, or scofif at 
 the myster}- presented to him in the cherubic fices, 
 but wiion his wife said to iiim, ** Ciir.-:e the Alehim 
 and die "; he said to her, "What! shall VvC receive 
 good at the hand of the Alehim and shall we not re- 
 ceive evil ? " It is manifest therefore that the Deity 
 whom Job served, was Jehovah in the Alehim, and 
 the Alehim in Jehovah, — or in otJier words, the God- 
 head in the persons, and the persons in the Godhead*. 
 
 • Joh i. 8,, ii. 3. The proper Jehovahship of tlie true AlehVii 
 is slioagly marked io Exodus xxii, '^0, '• lie that sacriflcetli to 
 
180 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 Ado7i and Adonai rocur very often as Jiviae titles 
 and are of the same meaning. They are sometimes 
 found alone, and at other times joined with Alehini 
 and also with Jehovah. The radical import is tliat 
 of a ba e and socket, and of a pillar or cojumn, and 
 which, whilst they sustain and support, may be said to 
 direct, dispose, and regulate, the whole building. These 
 titles therefore convey an idea of (he deity as a soiw- 
 reign Lord, who is the sole foundation, prop, and gov- 
 ernor, of Ills own creation. In its full signification, it 
 can only apply to Je'iovah or to the Alehim, in whom 
 all the above senses naturally unite, and form his or 
 their character as the Adon, Adonai, or Adonim of 
 the univeise. Hence David sings, in iiis 8ih Psalm ; 
 '' O Jehovah, our Acionai f how excellent is thy name 
 itt all tlie earth "? This is the chorus, in the first and 
 the last verse, whilst the body of the song is a cele- 
 bration of the praises of Jehovah our Adonai, as being 
 the author of man's existence, and of all other crea- 
 tures, and as being the great disposer of them all. 
 IVow these titles are not unfrequently applied to the 
 >%oft paitjcularly, as well ^% to the Alehim generally : 
 
 Alehini, e'.cept it be to Jehovah guIj, he sliall be nllcr'y destroy- 
 ed ". It was to Jehovah then, in the Alehini, and to tiie Aiehim 
 ill Jelsoviih thiit Job sacrificed. " Job rose up early in the 
 jiiorniiig, and otfered burut-ofTerJugs, for Jol) said, It may be 
 that n.-y sous have sinned, aiid cursed the Alclibn h\ their licarts." 
 Indeed, in £xod. xx., this matter is put beyond doubt: " And 
 the Alehim spake all these words, saying, I am Jeliovah thy Ale- 
 itini, \\\\o have brougiit tht:e out of the land of Egypt; thou 
 sbalt have nn other Alehim bcf.)re me '\ no Alehim uherim, no 
 strange or fijreign ones, that are not essentially Jehovah or by 
 natare Gud. 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 101 
 
 " The Adon, whom ye seek ", said Malachi, '* shall 
 suddenly come to his temple ", to the human nature 
 which Jesus expressly called a temple ; and also to the 
 temple at Jerusalem, Avhich was his, as being of tiic 
 Alehim of Israel, .to whose exclusive worship as Jeho- 
 vah, it had been dedicated from the beginning ; for 
 in 2 Chron. v. that building at its consecration 
 by Solomon, is twice called, in the first and the 
 last verse, beih Alehim, the house of the Alehim. 
 And in reference to tlie&e, as represented there by 
 the cherubic figures, the inner sanctuary is called, at 
 the 7th verse, the Kedosh Kedoshim, or the holy place 
 of the Holy Ones. Tt is in allusion to the same 
 ]>lessed personages, then, that the title we have been 
 explaining, is sometimes used in the. plural form : " If 
 I be Adonim, where is my fear, saith Jehovah Sa- 
 baoth '\ 
 
 Another sacred appellation, is that of ]vhv, Elton. 
 It is translated in our Bible, the Most High. Some- 
 times indeed, as in Hos. xi. 7, it is Sr El, but more 
 generally Elion. The primitive sense is that of ascen- 
 sion, and exaltation ; and it seems to convey the idea, 
 in its application to Deity, of the native siillintity of 
 Jehovah, as " the liigh and lolly one mIio inhabiteth 
 eternity " alone, and in whose eye the creatures are 
 as gras-shoppers, or rather as a drop of a bucket, or as 
 the small dust of the balance, — yea " all nations before 
 him are as nothing, and they are counted to him less 
 than nothing and vanity " ! Hence he i« finely des- 
 cribed as humbling himself, * or stooping down Ircvm 
 
 » * Psalm cxiii. 4—8. Jehovah is represented in this Psahn n$ 
 
7 
 
 162 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 his natural altitude, in order to behold, or to take 
 cognizance of the transactions, going on in heaven 
 and earth. So that the title El, or Elion, impMes the 
 
 on, rom, the high of exalted one,—" Jehovah, the exalted one 
 ahove all nations, his glory is above the heavens." It occirrs 
 again in Isaiah Ivii. 15, " the high: ot exalted one." Hence also 
 Dl'ID merom, from the same root, is.used as a saered title ia 
 Psalm Ivi. 2, and ti'anslated, " O thou Most High." It may ex- 
 press his self-exaltation, and indeed may imply his being tire 
 Causer of all elevations, both that of himself, and of all others* 
 Taylor and Montanus refer it to the Deity. And Schlensner) 
 under the word v\pi'^og, upsistos, the highest, alludes to tlie He-. 
 hrew rom ^Liid merom, as divine titles synonimous with it. He 
 'fj refers to Psahm Ixxj^ii. 8, 0, in partienlar ; " si<; etiara Davidcs, 
 Deuni ipsum hu-meram nominavit — so also David has denomi^ 
 Dated God himself the merom ; they speak concerning the exalt- 
 ed one, they set their mouth against the heavens ", or the heaven- 
 lies. For ScMeiMner considers shemtm (the heavenlies) to intend' 
 the Deity in this place, in the same manner a? 7neT(nndoes in the 
 preceding member of the sentence. See his Lexicon under ov- 
 pavoQ rpiTog, ouranos tritos^ where he shows that in the New 
 Testament both ort;*«?2os, and its plural oitr<inoi, the heaven and 
 the heavens, are sometimes used for the Deity, as shemim is irt 
 the Old; "sic etiam liebraicum CD'Dti^ sfe^mimusurpatur. Psalm 
 Ixxiii. 9. Chaldaicum i^'Dtt^ shemiu, Dan. iv. 23. Vide et plura, 
 a Btixtorfio congesta, in Lexico Ctiald. etTalmudico, sub O'Q!!^ 
 shemim"* Parkhurst also observes, tliat " the w'riters of the 
 New Testament frequently use ouranoiy the heavens, in conform- 
 ity, no doubt, to the Hebrew, where the name shemim is in like 
 manner plural. So in the Seventy, ouranoi often answers to she- 
 mbn. And the Talmiidists use Heaven and Heavens for God." 
 Indeed s/it^mm and the Greek tlimi are nearly alike in sense> 
 ih? disposers and formers of ail things. The idolatrous worship 
 of the muteiial ones, instead of the immaterial heavenlies them- 
 selves, prevailed very early : "and this species of idolatry ", 
 says Parkhurst, " ivas not confined to the ancient Greeks, Ro- 
 mans, and Asiatics, or even to the Old Word. The inhabitants 
 of the ISew World, or America, who had any religion at all, were, 
 whea iirst discovered, universally addicted to it. Some of the 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 103 
 
 superlative higbness of the divinity, — -his sapi*e4iiacy, 
 aiid absolute sovereignty. Now die sense of the 
 term is evidently applied to the >on of God, in refer- 
 ence to whom John Baptist said, that *' he that 
 eometb after me i& above air\ — and again, that '* he 
 that cometh from. hea\-^n is above all"; in which pas- 
 gages, the Greek erkmmnosi \rhich has been hefor« 
 explainetl as. sigmfying the same with the Hebrew 
 akftjak, is twice repeated,— and the Son of God, as 
 the coming Jah, is here declared- to have descended- 
 from above, from heaven, and to be, in respect of bis- 
 divine person, above all. I say, in respect of his 
 divine person as God ; since ot no inferior being 
 whatever conld it have been asserted, thtit he is 
 
 West Indian heathen, aiiiono; thfeir other physical ^ods, liad in 
 particular their chemem or cliemun, that is, witli little variation, 
 sbemim, whom they represented by id-ils of such a conipoiintj 
 form as appears an evident, though monstrous px?rversion of the 
 ehei'ubic emblons^ and may in some measure serve to confirm the 
 explanation aiveu of the cherubim." See Gr. Lex. 4b6 ; H. L, 
 745. 
 
 And it is remarkable that Frey, in his Lexicon (p. 256), ren- 
 ders ha-merom by " ca^U, the heavens ", as a plurals And Cru- 
 den, in his Concordance, englishes nierom by " eminences t)r ele- 
 vations ", in reference to it in Josh. xi. 5, 7 — " th^; waters of 
 merom ," or of the high places. But in Isaiah xxiv. 21. ha- 
 merom is actually translated "■ the high ones ". However, its 
 regular plural is certainly, merominiy which is often in use in tlie 
 Hebrew Scriptures. But to revert to the 5<}th Psalm, where the 
 Deity is' addressed by this title — the only titles which occur in 
 addition to it in this song are, Jehovaii once, Alehim nine times, 
 and the epithet knyhn once ; it ends thus : '* Thy vows are upon 
 me, O Alehim ! I will render praises unto thee. For thou- hast 
 delivered my soul from death; wihnot thou deliver B*.y feet 
 from falling, that I may waik ber'ore tUe /«*,*«£ of the Alehim iu 
 the light of the iiving^ ones (hayim) r " 
 
164 ox THE TRINITY, 
 
 above all, and this, as descenditig from heaven itself, 
 of which we read in Isaiah, " Thus saith Jehovah; 
 the heavens are my throne ". The idle conceit there- 
 fore, of a pre-created soul descending, rather than the 
 proper Son of the Most High, is utterly to be reject- 
 ed. Indeed, what does St. Panl entitle him who 
 descended? He calls him '• the Lord from heaven", 
 that is to say, the Ahejah coming down from the throne 
 of his holiness, or the Adon taking possession of his 
 temple. Accordingly, to dissipate every rising appre- 
 hension on the subject, this same apostle, in his 
 Epistle to the Romans, observes in allusion to the 
 Jews ; ** of whom the Christ, as concerning the 
 flesh ", but " who is ", in himself, " over ail God 
 blessed for ever ". Now, God over all, — what is it, 
 bnt-the exact interpretation of El or Elion the Most 
 Highest? From all which, we may collect with cer- 
 tainty, that when the Lord Jesus Christ is denomina- 
 ted the Lord of glory, and the Lor<l of all, it is only 
 applicable to Idm, strictly and properly, as the essen- 
 tial Son of God incarnated, and not as a mere glori- 
 fied creature, according to the Sabellian scheme. The 
 same remark A\ill hold good, with respect to that 
 ot!ier expression of St. Paul, wherein lie tells us, that 
 the august personage who descended., is the same also 
 that ascended up far above all heavois, that he might 
 fill all hings! The only difference is this; that in 
 his de;cerit, the Ss n came in his naked divinity ; and 
 that, in his return, he w^ent back invested with a 
 garment of humanity; the congregated celestials, 
 therefore, piercing through this vail of earth, and 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 163 
 
 descrying tiie person of their Elion as llio gflory in 
 the midst, exclaim with no hcsit^iting voice, in an.'swer 
 to the enquiry, " Wko is this King of Glory " ? — they 
 exclaim in answer — -** Jakomih strong and mighty, 
 Jehovah mighty in battle ". And to the repeated de- 
 mand, of ** Who is this King of Glory ; their unvary- 
 ing response is, — ** Jehovah Sahaoth, lie is the King 
 of Glory ". But the manhood is of course exalted, 
 and made higher than the heavens, through its union 
 with our Eiion ; and, considered \xi the co::ipiexness 
 of his person as incarnate, and in his cdlcial capacity 
 as Mediatorial Head of his church and people, lie is 
 said to have heen " highly exalted ", and to have bad 
 a name given him wliich is ahove every name, not only 
 that is named in this world, but al^o in the world to 
 come, — that is, the name of Jesus, or lie vjIio savcth; 
 and therefore it immediately follows, to show him 
 to be the legitimate object of universal adoration, 
 which yet he could not be, except he were Jehovah 
 still, although incarnate, — ** that, at the name of Jesus, 
 every knee shall bow, of beings in heaven, and beings 
 on earth, and beings under the earth ; and that every 
 tongTie Sihould confess, thai Jesus Christ is Lord, to 
 the glor}^ of God the Father*'. Now that the Lord- 
 ship here isitended, is of the highest sort, is manifest 
 from its connexion v/ith the name of Jesus, or he who 
 saveth; a name declared to be ab-olutely pre-ewiiiient, 
 and which proves the lav.iul sustainer of it to be Jeho- 
 vah, than whom, there is no other Saviour. W hat 
 wonder, tlicn, if an apostle declare, that " no one can 
 say ", from a true, vital persuasion of the fact, " that 
 
160 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 'jesus", or be wlio savetli us, ** is the Lord", or Jeho- 
 vah, " but by the Holy spirit"? Or what wonder 
 is it, that those who deny thcj person of this Holy 
 Spirit, and refuse hioi a share in the covenant of 
 grace, which, since it is confessedly the covenant of 
 God, directly goes to mideify, as well as to imper- 
 sonify the Spirit,— ^ what mighty wonder, that such 
 apostates (Vom the (kith &liO«Ul iruuiple under foot thu 
 Son of God, and attempt to siupply his place hy a thing 
 of naught ? 
 
 But here it will bo said, that if the Son is Elion, 
 tmd the Father also, as well as the Holy Spirit, we 
 shall have more Elions than one. Certainly each of 
 the Akliim is Elion, distinctly and personally consi- 
 dered; although, m respect of their oneness, in a- 
 sameness of nature and essence, ** He, whose name 
 alone is Jehovah, is the Most High over all th© 
 earth". Let it be observed, then, that in Sanli xxviii* 
 13, we read thus; '* I saw Alehim ascending"; the 
 word here for ascending, is ei-im, in the plural fornix 
 and ill agreement with Alehim, Kow it is of no sort 
 of consequence in the argumeRt, as to Avhat. v/as meant 
 by the speaker, in the use of tliese tenns ; whether 
 ghe spoke ol Judges under this divine name, because 
 judges are the agents and representatives of the true 
 Alehim, who are themselves called '' Judges in the 
 earth * ", or whether she intended some other thing. 
 For all that we are concerned with is this; that tho 
 
 * Psalm Iviiill. AlehbnsJiophotim, the Alehim are Judges in the 
 earth. This was cuimently the ease in Israel, whose government 
 was a theocracy, and in whose alfairs the Deity often interposed, 
 to show that He v»'as " the Alehiiu of Israel '' in a |»eculiar manner. 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 167 
 
 sacred name for God in Trinity, is here in agreement 
 ^^^tIl a plural part of speech, of the same root with 
 El, and Elion, Aleh-im El-ini; and the phrase is 
 translated plurally, both in our English Bible, and in 
 the Seventy. Accordingly, the reader will be the less 
 surprised at the information, when he is told, that the 
 plural form of Elion is hkewise employed at times in 
 application to the AleJiim in JehovaJi. In the 7tli 
 chapter of Daniel, alone, at the 18th, 22c!, 25th, and 
 27th verses, EUoniii occurs four several times, and 
 means the most high ones ; the termination in, is con- 
 sidered to be the Chaldaic for the plural masculine, 
 instead of the Hebrew im, for it is used in several in- 
 stances throughout the Book of Daniel, much of 
 whose life was spent in Babylon. This title then, so 
 often recurring, of " the saints of the most high ones ", 
 (tuv'?];) clearly intends the Father, Son, and Spirit, 
 whose portion the saints are ; and who are tbemselvev«, 
 indeed, by virtue of their own voluntary bond or co- 
 venant, the everlasting portion of the saint*. Thus it 
 is said by Moses; *'the portion of Jehovah is his peo- 
 ple^'; and the prophet Jeremiah, on the other hand, 
 observes; "Jehovah is my portion, saith my soul". 
 We may conclude this division of our subject, with an 
 appropriate quotation from the 113th Psalm, in which 
 the divinity is celebrated as inherently and essentially 
 the highest, and also as the great Author of our ascen- 
 sion and exaltation ; since, as the devout Hannah had 
 remarked, he snatches us, as impoverished " beggars", 
 from the lowest depths of our humiliation, and causes 
 us to *' inherit the throne of glory ". ** Jehovah ", 
 
1C8 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 s'd}s David, '* the exhalted one above all nations, his 
 glory is above the heavens. V/ho is like unto Jeho- 
 vah, our Alehim", our one God in trinity, " who 
 dAvelleth on high, — who humbletli himself to behold 
 the things that are in heaven and in the earth ! He 
 vai^clh up tije poor cut of the dust, and lifteth the 
 needy out of the dunghill, that he may set him with 
 princes, even with the princes of his people ". 
 
 Hayim occurs in the Hebrew Scriptures in con- 
 nexion wdth Alehim ; it is a plural epithet, and signi- 
 fies the living ones, Ii is translated the living God, 
 and lience the proof of a plurality of persons in Jeho- 
 vah is wholly lost in our English bible. It has been 
 observed by some eminent scholars and divines, that 
 the original names for the Deity should have been 
 preserved in the translation of the Bible — at s^ny rate 
 that Jehovah and Alehim should have been; since 
 these are used most frequently, and in them the unity 
 in trinity, and the trinity in unity, arc conspicuously 
 revealed... And had those divinely significant titles 
 been preserved, t!iey would have been at this time as 
 AimJliar to the Euglish reader, as are tlie terms of 
 Lord and God, which, in the comparison with them, 
 are mere arbitrary sounds, and convey to the mind of 
 the biblical student no precise and discriminate ideas. 
 Strange to relate, in Mr. Bellamy's new translation, 
 which professes to be, beyond all former attempts, 
 directly frcm the Hebrew text, altlicugh Jehovah is 
 preserved to us, ytt the no less important name of 
 Alehim is stiuliously concealed. These titles for the 
 first time occur touelher, at Gen. ii. 4. where Mi\ 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 169 
 
 Bellamy has rendered them by *' Jehovah God '\ But 
 this of course is neither the original, nor yet a trans- 
 lation ; it is not purely Hebrew, nor purely English, 
 but an unmeaning jargon. It is an unwarrantable 
 mutilation of'' the book of the Lord ". Besides: the 
 first name of the Deity that occurs in the bible, is this 
 very suppressed one of Alehim ; and although it is re- 
 peated no less than two and thirty times in the fir^t 
 chapter of Genesis alone, yet not even once does Mr. 
 Bellamy introduce it into the body of his version. 
 Does the inspiring Spirit use words in vain? Are names 
 of creatures, as Mr. Bellamy himself confesses, ex- 
 pressive of their natures, or of some properties pe- 
 culiar to them, in the significative nomenclature of the 
 Hebrew ; and may we imagine that the recorded ap- 
 pellations of the creator himself are less significative 
 and instructive ? The fact is this : Mr. Bellamy is an 
 anti-trinitarian, save after Ms own fashion ; so that 
 '* the doctrine of three persons *' he is pleased to call 
 *' a plurality of Gods* ". This then accounts for his 
 
 * See his Ophion, p. 88. Yet in his Historj' of all Religions, 
 p. 5, he says, " It may be clearly seen that the unity of God, 
 owl the trinity in unity, was the grand doctrine which was first 
 given to man " ! And in his new translation of Genesis, he says, 
 *' It must necessarily he allowed that there is a plurality in the 
 divine nature, for this is undeniably evident throughout the scrip- 
 ture " ! But Mr. B.'s plurality, observe, is not a pluri-personality ; 
 this he declares in p. 87 of his Ophion : — " those who worship 
 three distinct person*, do not worship one God in trinity, but con- 
 found the persons and divide the substance." But if there is 
 a plurality in the divine nature, it must be a plurality of co-ex- 
 isting persons; or else there would be a plurality of Gods. 
 Whilst we hold for three distinct modes of subsiitence, we can. 
 
 Q 
 
170 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 suppression of tlie title in question ; it would have 
 spoken too strongly and intelligibly agaiijst his heresy. 
 He must have been aware wliat sort o'l impression the 
 
 ttot be said to cortfound the persons ; and since we also contend 
 tiiat these three persons are one essence, we can with no more 
 justice be accused of diiidwg the substance. 
 
 But it is curious to trace Mr. Bellamy in his attempts to de- 
 stroy the force of the passage in Gen. i. 26. " This passage 
 cannot consistently with the original be read as it is in the trans- 
 lation, viz. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after 
 bur likeness ; but thus. And God commanded man to be made 
 in our image, — or thus, And God said. Let man be made in our 
 image"! See his Ophion, p. 106. Yet, would any one imagine ' 
 it?— :n his translation of Genesis ho is at last constrained to 
 translate it, " And God said, JVe icill make man, in our image, 
 after our likeness " ! This then is a Trinity existing prior to 
 creation; and it cannot then originate in the incarnation, either 
 according to the notion of Mr. Bellamy or Mr. Cowan. Mr. 
 Bevim, in his pamphlet just published, says, " All such texts as 
 Let us make man, &c. are explained without a trinity ; the man 
 in union, may he addressed by God, his Father"! What man, 
 before man w as created ? Is it not preposterous to talk of a 
 man, and the Son of man too, prior to the creation of man ? Mr. 
 Bevan defines this man to be " a son, begotten of God, not from 
 eternity, yet, before the world was — a man, in union with God 
 his Father ". St. Matthew, on the contrary, says, that Christ 
 as man was " the son of David, the son of Abraham" \ whikt 
 St. Luke traces him up to Adam, and then describes Adam as 
 the original offspring of God, " Adam, which was (the son) of 
 God." Christ then is the son of Adam, of Adam posteriot* to 
 the fall, and so called also " the son of Enosh ". But as the Sou 
 of God, Christ is a divine person, and co-eternal with God the 
 Father. The Jews speak more plausibly than Mr. Bevan, in 
 saying that God addressed the angels. But all these absxird 
 suppositions, these may be explanations, owe their birth to infi- 
 delity ; Mr. Bellamy, Mr. Bevan, the Jcm s, Sec. &c. cannot be- 
 lieve the doctrine contained in " the name of Father, Son, and 
 Spirit ", the Alehim who said, tie will create Adam in our like- 
 iiCEs,' — and theaefore they invent, each cue for himself, sojue 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 171 
 
 term would ]iave naturally made on the reader, as it 
 stands in Gen. i. 2f». had it been px*eserved : *' and the 
 Alehini said, Tie will make (or create) man, in our 
 image, our likness '\ The secret of this name would 
 have been still farther disclosed in the third chapter, 
 had it been retained there also ; since the reader could 
 not fail to have remarked, that in the fifth verse our 
 
 may he explun'dion. Sir. Bevau's explanation of Aiehim, as 
 meaning simply JehovaSi and the man in union, an e\pianatioa 
 resorted to likewise by his friends Karins; and Co\van, is set aside 
 at once by such passages as thefollovvinff. " Israel shall seek Je- 
 furvah their Ahhlni, and David their kiisg " : ibr since tiieir king, 
 even the Oeloval (as David s.ignilies) intcuds the Messiah, tluir 
 Akhiiu, even Jehov.di, must intend Father, SoUj and Spirit, in 
 the Godhead, to the second of which persons the manhood be- 
 came united at the Incarnation. 
 
 That tiie Keader may be assured of the decided uuitarianisni 
 of tlie new party, I subjoin a i'evf passages from Mr. Bevan''s 
 pamphlet. " I hold that God is one person onhj (p. 7). The 
 Father is the Godhead, and it is the man who is the Sou (p. 32). 
 As he is a man for us before God, so he is our Creator, and by 
 vhom all tilings coubist (p. 32). It is the man by whom God 
 made the worlds (p. S()). The Word was God ; In what sense? 
 It is not one who is God of himself, and in himself, but that 
 Christ being with God, imited and associated, he is, because of 
 Gcd being in him, called God (p. 49). The man is called God (p. 
 64;". I\Ir. Bevan's concluding declaration is this, that '• the 
 doctrine of the trinity irill quick! ij fall " 11! Surely it will never 
 fall before las artillery. Svch ordnance has been played upon it 
 for ages and generations, w ithout even a breach being effected, 
 or the least impression being made upon the citadel. It lias 
 stood the shock of engines of much lar^&r calibre than those now 
 planted against it; and is it not a little presumptuous to expect 
 its demolition from the popgun artillery of the present party, 
 when it iras bid detiance to the battering train of the allied forces 
 of infidelity from the dawn of Christianity to its now almost 
 meridian splendour? 
 
172 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 translators hare confessed the plnralitij of tho term, in 
 that they have rendered it, as the seventy also have 
 done, Gods; instead of which, for it is an improper 
 version, the literal term should have been retained: 
 *' for the Aleh'un doth know, that in the day ye eat 
 thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall 
 be as the Aiehim, knowing good and evir\ The •2'2nd 
 yerse of the same chapter would have tended very 
 powerfully to. complete the conviction of its plural 
 meaning; not as intending a plurality of Gods, but as 
 intending three distinct personal agents, Father, 
 Son, and Spirit, in one Godhead; for in this 22nd verse 
 it is connected with the following plural personal lan- 
 guage, which is too unequivocal to be explained away 
 from its real meaning; " And Jehovah the Aiehim 
 said, behold the man is become as one of usf* 
 
 The famous Maimonides tells us, that the vulgar 
 Jews are forbidden to read the history of the creation, 
 lest, understanding it literally, it should lead them into 
 heresy. This is the way, indeed, in which the people, 
 instead of being preserved from error, are kept in a 
 lamentable ignorance of the truth ; as in this instance 
 of the designed suppression of the title Aiehim, and 
 tiie substitution of a word which agrees witli it neither 
 in number nor yet in sense. " Wo unto you, who 
 take away the hetf of knowledge ! Ye enter not in your- 
 selves into the secrets of wisdom, and them that are 
 desirous of entering in, ye hinder". Many ofv the 
 Jews, although miserably deficient in sacred science^ 
 have yet confessed a somewhat of the mystery of this 
 divine appellation. Some of them have said, that it 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 173 
 
 is as if you should read Al-kem, that is, " they are 
 God ". But here, an important letter seems to be 
 omitted, the letter jod. The two first letters make .4/, 
 that is, God ; the third and the last make heim, or 
 they ; that is, " they are each of them Al or God *' : 
 and the fourth letter Jod, intend mg Jehovah, intimates 
 the oneness of these Alehim in the eternal self- 
 subsisting essence. The author of the book of Zohar 
 says, '* come and see the mystery in the Mord Elo- 
 hmi (or Alehim). There are three degrees, and every 
 degree is distinct by himself; yet notwithstanding, they 
 are all one, and bound together in one, nor can they 
 be separated each from the other '\ These madragoth 
 or degrees, are the same with w^hat, in the Sephir 
 Jetzirah, are called by the cabbalistic doctors, the 
 penim, or faces, in reference to the cherubic fig^ires ; 
 the havioth^ or sudsiiicnces ; and the prosoopin or 
 persons, in the divine essence. Indeed, the grand 
 doctrine respecting the deity, which passed current 
 Effiougst the more learned Jews, was this ; they spoke 
 of the abstract essence or Godhead under the names 
 infinity, central point, and nothing, intending by the 
 first term, that the deity is Cause of causes, and has 
 neiihcr end nor boundary, by which we can apprehend 
 him • in a word, that lie is, as others have expressed 
 it, a mighty circle, whose centre is e^» ery where, but 
 w'i:ose cir<'uniference is no M'here. By the central 
 poj^it, the » seemed to intimate that he is the centre of 
 aii being, from whom all existences of whatever na- 
 ture ({iverge, as radii from the point of a circle, and 
 in wheal they n^eet, unite, and are contained; which 
 y 2 
 
174 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 indeed is tlie doctrine of holy writ, tliat '< in him we 
 ive, and move, and have our being,' — for we are also 
 his offspring ". And they call him Ain, or nothing, 
 not as intending by it a privation of being, but to in- 
 timate, that we can form no idea, nor conceive a single 
 adequate thought of him, inasmuch as he is not at all 
 to be apprehended either in respect of his cause or in 
 respect of his substance. This then was the first order 
 in the divine mystery. The second was that of the three 
 minds, lights, splendours, or enumerations*; which in 
 
 * The original word for these degrees or gradations, in refer- 
 ence to the Older of existing of the divine persons, is rnUlTD 
 madrugoth ; it occurs in Ezek. xxxviii. 20. where it is translated 
 " the steep places". It occurs in the singular in Cant. ii. 14 ; but 
 translated " stairs ". The Root is, J*TI dareg; or, to proceed gra- 
 dually, to ascend, &c. Bishop Horsley well observes, that " the 
 three persons are one Being ; one, by mutual relation, indissolu- 
 ble connexion, and gradual subordination : so strictly one, that 
 any individual thing, in the whole world of matter and of spirit, 
 presents but a faint shadow cf their unity. Each person by 
 himself is God, because each possesses fully every attribute of 
 the divine nature. But these persons are all included in the 
 very idea of a God. And for that reason, as well as for the 
 identity of the attributes in each, it were absurd to say, There 
 are three Gods"; Accordingly, Joshua says, that "Jehovah, 
 He is the Alehim, the Holy Ones " ; thus preserving the unity of 
 essence, in the plurality of persons. " I maintain ", adds Bishop 
 Horsley, " the eqnalitij of the three persons in all the attributes 
 of the divine nature ; their equality, also, in rank and authority 
 "witli respect to all created things, whatever differences may sub- 
 sist between themselves. Difieiences tliere must be, lest we 
 confound the persons ; the errof of Sabeliius ; but tfie differences 
 can only cotmst in the personal propeHics (as Father, ?on, Spirit), 
 lest we divide the substanee, and make a phuaiity of indepen- 
 dent Gods ". See his Tracts, p. 295, 6. 
 
 The word for numerations cr enumerations, is i^lllDD, sepkl- 
 roth; it occurs in Pialm Ixxi. 15, and lis there translated " the 
 
AND THE INCARNATI0>7. 175 
 
 f^ict were an obscure representation of the trinity. 
 The third order, is that of the seven inferior numera- 
 tions; or the varied perfections of the Godhead, 
 exerted through the medium of the sacred persons. 
 
 And truly, it is impossible to originate a conception 
 more scriptural, or more worthy of the awful Majesty 
 of heaven, both as it respects his essence or nature, 
 
 numbers ". It is well applied to the three subsistences in God, 
 because three is a perfect number ; since it has been observed, 
 that nothing short of three, can properly constitute numb<^r,and 
 it requires nothing beyond it. Hence, Mr. Kidd remarks, that 
 " in the two first persons (the Father and the Son), the person- 
 ality of the divine essence is in distinction ; in the third (the 
 Holy Spirit), this distinct personality of the divine essence is iu 
 vnion ; and simple distinction, and simple union, constitute ail 
 the modes of distinct subsistence in the divine essence, and is 
 all that the human mind can conceive,, consistent with reason. 
 For the third unites in itself the distinction, which subsists be- 
 tween the two first, and thus nccessariiy, e:'.sen!:Jai]y, and natu- 
 rally closes, and shuts up for ever, all further comuiuniGatioaof 
 the divine essence and perfections" (p. 155). This may stand 
 for an answer to the objection of the r.ew party, that tlj-ere may 
 as well be 300, as three persons, which in ueclanjation may 
 sound very well, but there seems to be in the remark, sound only, 
 without sense. "Diversity", says Mr. Oxlee, "of whatever 
 kind, necessarily implies three personalities, or subsistences, — 
 this, that, and a something besides, which causes the this, -to 
 differ from the that. Conformably to this doctrine, and on prin- 
 ciples strictly logical, and metaphysical, Rabbi Shabtai denies 
 that any thing less than IrinHy constitutes number, ' The unit 
 of itself is not a number; as the definition ef number, or that 
 which perfectly constitutes nuniber, is a trinity, which consists 
 of equal, and unequal ; that is, of two and one'. Thus is the 
 trinity a pe; t'ect and a necessi-.ry liumber : it is perfect, in that it 
 requires notliing to be uiiderstood for the support of its subsist^ 
 ency, — and necessary, in that even unity itself caunot subsist 
 without it." P. lOG. 
 
176 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 and the manner of his existence and of his agency. 
 The doctrine they have illustrated by a tree : a tree 
 has a root ; from the root arises a trunks and from tlie 
 trunk, branches. Thns there are three orders, de- 
 grees, or gradations of existence : root, trunk, and 
 branches; and yet they are ail but one tree: each, 
 and every one of these, is the tree, and yet the root 
 is not the trunk, and the branches are not the root. 
 They are one, by union ; and also by an unity or 
 sameness of nature, and yet they co-exist in a triple 
 distinction. The difference is this : the root, the seat 
 and source of vitality, lies concealed, an exquisite 
 image of the incomprehensible self-subsisting essence, 
 or Godhead, which, having life in itself, is the spring 
 and fountain of all being ; in a word, the root is Jeho- 
 vah in the abstract sense. Nov/ the root, although 
 concealed, manifests its influence in the trunk , into 
 which it may be said to pour its whole essence; this 
 represents the Aleliim or persons, Father, Son, and 
 Spirit, called by the Jews the three minds, in wlioin 
 t]ie whole fnloe^s of the Godliead is manifested in vAl 
 its virtue and energy, and trpon which account each 
 of tliem severally is called Jehovah. Then finally, 
 the trunk manifests its iofiuence in the branches; as, 
 in all tlie glorious ucconiplishments of the Alehim, or 
 persons in Jehovah, the great elTects are brought into 
 being through the exertion of the divine peijhctiom. 
 llras, as there are root, trunk, and branches, in one 
 tree,^KO in our one Qod, we acknowledge Jehovah, 
 or the essence ; the Aiehim, or persons ; and the 
 divine attributoii or pcriections. 1 he-re ii one failure 
 
AND THE rNCARNATION. 177 
 
 however, in the image,— and what image is able to 
 depict God ? The failure is this ; that in a tree, all its 
 parts are not complete at once, but by a gradual 
 growth. This however does not affect the subject 
 really, because God is eternal, and immutably the 
 same ; so that whatever he is now, he must have been 
 sempiternally, from necessity of nature; he is " the 
 Tree of Life ", and eternity itself is but one of its 
 natural branches. 
 
 Dr. Allix, in his judgment of the ancient Jewish 
 Church, has produced a great quantity of curious 
 matter from their writers, who, he says, constantly 
 added to the word Alehim the letter jod, which is 
 the initial, or first letter of Jehovah, for the sake of a 
 mystery ; as well as, according to one of the most 
 respectable commentators upon the Pentateuch, the 
 Rabbi Bechai, to shew that there is a divinity in each 
 person included in the word. It has been likewise 
 remarked by some of them, that the verb «"in, 6ar«, 
 ** created ", connected with Alehim in the first verse 
 of the Bible, *' the Alehim created", — contains the 
 mystery of the pluri-personality in the divine essence; 
 the letters are but three in the Hebrew, «, 1, s, b, r, 
 a ; and of these, they say that «, a, means the Father, 
 a, b, the Son, and i, r, the Spirit, And it is at least 
 a singular coincidence, that the Hebrew words for 
 these persons, or Alehim, each of whom created, cor- 
 respond exactly in their initials with this three-lettered 
 vcrl); ab, being the Hebrew for Father, ben, or baj-, 
 for Son, and ruach is the invariable title of the Holy- 
 Spirit. Nor is it to be omitted, that in Eccles. xii. l. 
 
• 178 - ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 the word there rendered Creator is plural, "^'t^nn, 
 Bor.'ii-cka, *• the creators*;" and it is a regular deri- 
 vative from the root, bara, created, which we Jjave 
 jnst spoken of. Nor are we witl^ont other instances 
 of plural expressions in the Hebrew, which declare 
 these personal Alehim to be our Creators or Makers; 
 In Job XXXV. 10, we read as follows: '* Where is 
 n*^^, Akah, my cti>2;, Ashim, (or Makers), who 
 giveth songs in the night?" The 149(,h Psalm com- 
 mences thus; " Hallelu-Jif^, sing to Jehovah a new 
 song, his prai.-e in tlie congregation of saints. Let ' 
 Israel rejoice in his Askim (or Makers)- let the child- 
 ren of Zion be joyful in their King". And in the 
 64th of Isaiah at the 5th verse is this' corresponding 
 passage ; *' for thy Askim, (or Makers,) are thy 
 baalim (or husbands), Jehovali Sahaoth is his name, 
 even thy Goel, the Kedosh of Israel, the Alehim of 
 the whole earth shall he be called. " 
 
 But I must return from tliis digression, to the 
 cciisideration of the epithet tZD^n, hayim. It is con- 
 iiected with the plural Alehim, in the 5th of Deuter- 
 o'lom}', at the 26th verse : " who, of all flesh, hath 
 heard the voice of Alehim hayim, speaking out of the 
 fire, as we have, and lived?" But what is exceedingly 
 corroborative of the real plurality of the term Ale- 
 him, is tiiis, that in the commencement of the chap- 
 
 * 'And tlie only title useu by Solomon tinouiihout this chap- 
 ter, is the plural Alehim, with the article prerlxed. — " the Spirit 
 (or soul) shall jetuni to the Alehim who gave it ; '< fear the Ah- 
 hiin'" ; for the Alehim shall bring every work into judgment". 
 The verbs are siugular^ to teach tlieir unity of naturey as one Je- 
 hovah, and iheir union in operation, as co-agent persons. 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 179 
 
 ter just referred to, we find it coupled with another 
 |)iural adjective; " Jehovah, oifr Alehim ", says Mo- 
 ses, " m?<de a covenant with us in Horeb, saying, I 
 am Jehovah th; Aleium; thou shall have no other 
 Alehim before luci"; the v.ord is Cjnn.^, aherim, no 
 stranoe or foreign Aiebim. And here let it be ob- 
 served, that the distinction in our translation is made 
 between God and 6^01^^, as if one w^as singular, and 
 the other plural : "1 am tliy God, and thou shalt 
 have no other gods"; but there is nothing of this 
 kind in the Hebrews There the distinction is made 
 between the true and the false Ale^sim, it being as 
 decidedly plural in one case, as in the other ; and 
 this, with respect to its ternkuation in un, and also to 
 its having the customary chirik, under the preceding 
 letter, a mark by which the punctuists determine the 
 plural from the dual number. So that the command- 
 ment delivered to Israel was, not to abandon the wor- 
 ship of the living Alehim (hayim), but only that of 
 the strange Alehim (aherim) ; which were inanin^ate, 
 lifeless images, * a perfect contrast to that glorious 
 Being of beings, whose sole prerogative it is to say, 
 '* I am, and there is none else". Tsow he says to hi's 
 chosen people ; I am Jehovah thy Alehim, and thou 
 shalt have no foreign Alehim before me. This then 
 is a pure biblical proof of a trinity of persons in an 
 
 * Tlie true and false Alehim are finely contrasted in Isa. viii. 
 19 ; " Should not a people seek each one to his own Alehim ? 
 Should they seek, instead of the living, to the dead"? that is, to 
 the dead idols, Q>niDn, ha-motim, instead of the living Alehim. 
 Q^nn, /wj-/mj,-i//i? See, ou the passage, Bp. Lowth's Trans, 
 and notes^ 
 
180 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 unity of essence ; and it offers a sufficient answer to 
 the objection of Mr. Bellamy and the Unitarian 
 party, who assert that hayim is singular, because it is 
 sometimes made use of in a singular sense. But, as 
 Dr. Hales remarks, although tenebrae in the Latin 
 tongue is used for darkness, no one ever denied its 
 being a plural noun; to which I would add, that 
 although, in the same language, moniia is sometimes 
 used for a wall, and literce for a letter, yet every 
 school-boy knows, that both these words are undoubt- 
 edly plural. But Mr. Bellamy is exceedingly unhappy 
 in his proof, for he refers us to the 14th of Leviticus, 
 where we meet with the phrase *' running water ", at 
 the 5th and Gth verse ; which instance, in fact, only 
 serves to prove that hayim is not singular, since in 
 both places it is joined to mayim, which Parkhurst 
 calls a noun masculine plural, which Frey translates 
 " waters", and Montanus in his Latin version *' vivas 
 aquas '*, running streams, and which, according to 
 the doctrine of the points, and Babbi Crooirs judg- 
 ment, is at least of the dual number. Therefore, 
 allowing it to be a phrase for running water, or 
 streams, we could not argue from this circumstance 
 for the words being of the singular number, when 
 they are palpably plural, and at least dual according 
 to the points, — any more than we could contend for 
 vlara TvoWa udata polla, being singular, in the Greek, 
 and not plural, merely because in John iii. these words 
 are translated " much water", instead of many streams* 
 But /«tt«/m occurs again, withAIehim, inJerem. x. 
 10 : " Jehovah, the true Alehim, he is Alehim the 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. IBl 
 
 living ones ". Then it follows ; " thus shall ye say 
 iiuto them ", the fabricated Alehim of the idolatrous 
 heathen just before described by the prophet: "the 
 Alehim that have not made the heavens and the 
 earth, they sliall perish ". The true and living Alehim, 
 then, are in essence one Jehovah ; and all others that 
 are called by this name, except only Father, Son, and 
 Spirit, who made the heavens and the earth, must 
 eventually return to their original nothingness. They 
 are well entitled, in the Hebrew, a»V»/«, Elillm, tliat 
 is, nullities or things of nought. And such nmst be 
 every fancied being, which men associate with Jeho- 
 vah in eternity, or in the act of creation ; since Ihe 
 first he declares to have been his sole habitation, 
 and the second, his sole work, by himself j and alone. * 
 
 * Isaiah xliv. 24. Wc have a similar text in 1 Chron. xvi. 2^^: 
 " For all the Alehim of the peoples are idols", nD'7»7i^, eliliniy that 
 is, things of nought; " but Jehovah made the heavens." Let the 
 reader consider these scriptures v,ith attention, in which Jeho- 
 vah is said to be sole Bhilcer, and all Alehim not essentially Je- 
 hovah are said to be mere nuUities; and then compare with these 
 declarations the observation of Dr. Watts respecting the sup- 
 posed pre-existent soul of Christ — at any rate " he existed early y^ 
 enough to create the world!'' See a Tract of the Doctor's, re- 
 printed by Gresswell, of Exeter, under the auspices of Mr. 
 Baring. Now this created soul, and Jehovah in union, are said, 
 by Mr, Baring and liis friends, to be the Alehim ; but revelation 
 declares all Alehim, that are not simply and solely Jehovah, to be 
 idols, that is, creatures of the imagination, which exist only in 
 idea. And to be sure never was imagination more palpably 
 mistaken for truth, than in their embracing such an error as this, 
 that a supposed first creature created all besides ; *' it is the 
 man ", says Mr. Bevan, " htj rchom God made the worlds " ; 
 but, on the contrary, " thus saith Jehovah — I am Jehovah who 
 niaketh all things, who stretchelh forth the heavens alone ". 
 R 
 
lf^2 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 He only is the true and living Alehim ; ^vllence tlie 
 Father is said to have life in himself, and to have 
 jyjven to the Son to have life also in himself, and from 
 tlicse proceeds the Spirit of life; these are but so 
 many personal distinctions in the Godhead, and being 
 essentially Jehovah, or by nature God, are tiie kayim, 
 l>r living Alehini of the Hebrews. The singular form 
 of this epithet is used throughout the first chapter of 
 Genesis, for life, or Hving soul, n^n tr>DJ nephisk 
 kayah; and the first instance of its use as plural, is at 
 the seventh verse of the second chapter; '' the breath 
 of lives'' (hayim); and thus, man became " a living 
 soul" (nephish hayah). This breath oi lives, may 
 either respect the twofold vitality at tbis instant com- 
 municated to Adam— the animal life, and that of the 
 soul, in reference to which, the Lord observed to his 
 disciples, that they need not fear their enemies, who 
 indeed could kill the body, or deprive them of their 
 animal existence, biit who could not kill the soul ; or 
 else it may be so rendered, as to signify the quicken- 
 ing influence of the creating Alehim; " And Jehovah, 
 
 To this, Mr. Bevaii replies, " it asserts the oneness of the only 
 first principle, c/ whom are all things, withont meaning to deny 
 any agent ?>2/ «"^o;n." But is it so? How is it written ? *' IJe- 
 hovah who maketh all things, who stretcheth forth the heavens 
 «/o??e " njV, that is, "I only" or " myself alone"; and 
 who spreadeth abroad the earth by myself, *Di^'D. This is 
 confirmed by Nehemiah ix. 6 : " Thoii thyself, Jeliovah, thyself 
 alone, ^I'u/, thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens 
 with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, 
 the seas and all that is therein, and thou preservest thera all, 
 and the host of heaven worshippeth thee, — thou art the He, 
 Jehoiah the Alehim (lia-Alehim), who didst chu«e Abrani, Sic" 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 183 
 
 tlie Aleliim ibrmed the substance of the Adam, of the 
 dust of the adamah (or ground), and infused into his 
 nostrils the inspiration of the Living Ones". For the 
 word here rendered breath, neshemutli, is tran.slated 
 inspiration, in Job xxxii. 8: *' The Spirit himself is 
 in man; and the inspiration of nit^, Shadai, gireth 
 them understanding". Now the Ruach or Spirit, in 
 the first part of the sentence, and the Shadai in the 
 second, intend the same blessed personage, namely, 
 the third subsistence in Jehovah ; it being most com- 
 mon in Hebrew poetry, for the latter part of a verse, 
 to be explanatory or illustrative of the former. The 
 title is exceedingly well suited, in point of significa- 
 tion, to the Spirit of grace, from whose sweet influ- 
 ences, infinitely more valuable than those of the vernal 
 phiades, we derive eyery spiritual blessing; for it 
 means the all-sufficient, and all-bountiful pourer forth ; 
 and may be rendered literally into English, by the 
 corresponding term of the Shedder-forih of all good. 
 For indeed, what is our verb, to shed forth, but the 
 Hebrew word itself, englishized, lu^, shad, or shed, 
 Avhicli is the root of the title in question ? This sense 
 of the term is acknowledged by Mr. Bellamy, in tlie 
 tiotes to his new version, of Genesis xlviii. 3, xlix. 
 25; where, what is rendered *' God almighty '\ 
 should have been Al Shadai, the mighty pourer forth 
 of all good ; and which carries in it a meaning every 
 way adapted to the context, in the places referred to ; 
 in the first of which, Jacob says to Joseph,- " Ai 
 Shadai appeared to me at huz, and Messed me, and 
 said ; Behold I will make thee frmtjuV ! Such is the 
 
184 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 never enough to be admired connexion of sentiment, 
 between the divine names, and the circumstances with 
 vvhicli they are associated, and to which they are de- 
 signedly made to refer. This is still more remarkable 
 in the other instance, where the same sagacious patri- 
 arch speaks to Joseph, o^the mighty one of Jacob, as 
 the Al of his father, " who ", says Jacob, " shall help 
 thee". What a pertinence is here, what a fitness and 
 congruity, in calling his God by the name of Ti^ AbiVi 
 the potent one, and by that of Al, the mighty one, 
 when he would encourage his offspring to confide in 
 him as his Helper! Nor is this all; for Jacob instantly 
 superadds the name of Shadai, '* who ", says he, 
 ** shall bless thee "! I shall, without apology, subjoin 
 the whole passage. In allusion to Joseph, the aged 
 Israel observes : " the arms of his hands were made 
 strong y by the hands of Abir '\ that is, the potent one, 
 " of Jacob; — even by the Al (or mighty one) of thy 
 father, who shall help thee * ; — and by Shadai (the 
 
 * Gen. xlix. 24. This title occurs also in Isaiah i. 24. ** There- 
 fore saith the Adon, Jehovah Sabaoth, the Potentate {aUr) of 
 Israel." It seems to be used in the plural, abirim, for the Ale- 
 him in Jehovah, in Psalm Ivii. 24, 25; just as adirhn is used in 
 eonnexion with Alehim in 1 Sam. iv. 8 : " these illustrious Ale- 
 him", or " these Alehim who excel in the splendour of majesty." 
 The passage in the Psalm is this : " He had given them of the 
 corn of the heavens ; man did eat the bread of the potent ones '' 
 (abirim). This could not mean such corn and such bread as 
 ijiose inhabitants of the heavens, the angels eat ; for since they 
 are immaterial spirits, they can have no occasion for material 
 food. But it must intend the supply of manna, which the Ale- 
 him provided for them, and which plural title recurs six times 
 in the course of this Psalm ; and hence it is called the corn of 
 the heavens, as dropping down from the material shemim, or the 
 
AND THE INCARNATION 18'J 
 
 boiintifui one), who shall bless thee, wiCh blessings of 
 Leaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, 
 blessings of the breasts, and the womb, — the blessings 
 of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of 
 
 clouds — and the bread of the potent ones, as actually provided 
 for the use of Israel bj-^ the miraculous interposition of the Ale- 
 him, those celestial abirim, or potentates in Jehovah, Father, 
 Son, and Holy Spirit. 
 
 The Jews were for attributing the supply in the wilderness to 
 Moses, on account of whose merits they say that the manna was 
 given them. To correct tliis mistake, Jesus said to them, " Mo- 
 ses gave you not that bread fiora heaven ", John vi. 32. Nor 
 did atigels give it them ; but as ws read in Exodus xvi. 14, 15, 
 *' Jehovah said to Moses, Behold I will rain bread from the 
 heavens for you. And Moses said to them. This is the bread 
 which Jehovah hath given you to eat." This miracle God 
 wrought purposely to prove his omnipotence ; " I have heard 
 the murmurings of the children of Israel ; speak to them, say- 
 ing, at even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be 
 filled with bread, and ye shall knoic that I am Jehovah your Ale- 
 him." Hence, in the Psalm, Asaph tells us that " they spak<? 
 against the Alehim. They said, Can At furnish a table in the 
 wilderness ? Can he give bread also ? Can he provide flesh for 
 his people ? Therefore Jehovah heardj and was wroth, because 
 they believed not in the Alehim, and trusted not in his salva- 
 tion ; though he had commanded tite clouds from above, and 
 opened the doors of the heavens, and had rained down maUna 
 upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of the heavens ; 
 man did eat the bread of the Abirim." 
 
 The Alehim then should seem to be the abirim, or potent ones 
 in Jehovah, whose provision of food tlie Israelites partook of. 
 As the anti*ype o^^this typical food in the desert, wliich is there- 
 fore called by Paul ^^ splritnal meat'', because it represented 
 Avhat is described in the Revelation of John, as " the hidden 
 manna " for the true Israel of God, Jesus denominates himself 
 " the bread of God"; which appears to be the iiUerpretatioii 
 of " tlie bread of the alirim ", or of iht; irinity in UJiity, the 
 Alehiiii in Jehovah. John vi. 33, 1 Cor. x, 3, Kev. .i. 17. 
 R 2 
 
1«6 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 my progenitors, unto the utmost bound of the ever- 
 lasting hilJs'*. Now in this scripture, the original 
 word for the breasts is a>nii^, Shadimj from the same 
 root witli Sliadai, and it fully confirms tlie sense which 
 we have already given of it, as affording s^astenance in 
 abundance, just as the maternal bosom does to the 
 new-born babe ; for indeed what is the whole universe 
 but the creature or offspring of God, and he the great 
 supplier of all its wants ? Eut more especially is this 
 the case with respect to the church, and her covenant 
 Alehimin Christ: as indeed we have it described in 
 the 66th chapter of Isaiah ; "shall I bring to the 
 birth, and not cause to bring forth, saith Jehovah? 
 sh^ll I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb, saith 
 thy Alehim? Rejoice ye with Jerusalem,, all ye that 
 love her, that ye may suck and be satisfied with the 
 shad (the breast) of her consolations, — for thus saith 
 Jehovah ; behold, / will extend peace to her like a 
 river, and the glory of the gentiles, as a flowing 
 stream ; and as a man whom his mother comforteth, 
 so will I comfort you ". 
 
 I shall just adduce one instance more of hayim, 
 in connexion with Alehim, and then proceed. In 
 Jer. xxiii. 86, the prophet says : '* ye have perverted 
 the words of the living Alehim, of Jehovah Sabaotb, 
 our Alehim ". Here, the absolute oneness of the di- 
 vine essence is declared in the term Jehovah ; and the 
 plurality of personal subsistences which have a social 
 existence in it, is as inconteslii»ly revealed to us in the 
 other plural expressions of Alehim hayim, the Alehim 
 the living ones, aiid Alehi~nu our Alehim,— this last 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 187 
 
 expression being in the re gular plural construct form 
 ^vith a plural pronoun, antl pointed accordingh , as the 
 ^rwier expression is in agreement with the epithet hayim. 
 
 Bora is a sacred title, and signifies the Creator, 
 agreeably to the rendering in our Eiiglisli \ ersion. It 
 is a derivative from the root bara, he created. Reason 
 coincides with revelation in restricting the making of 
 the worlds to the Deity. This is implied in the mean- 
 ing of Jehovah, that he only is bora the Creator ; that 
 is, He alone can cause to 6e, or give being to others. 
 Hence, therefore, " the Alehim ", whom Moses re- 
 presents as haying " bara ", created the heavens and 
 the earth, are declared by him to be Jehovah. And 
 in Isa. xl. 28, these creating Alehim are called '* the 
 Alehim of etcrmty ", and *' Jehovah Bora", or Jeho- 
 vah the Creator. These personages did not exist just 
 early enough, as Dr, Watts expresses it, in allusion to 
 Clnist, to create ; which is a monstrous idea, and is 
 as irrational as it is unscriptural ; but they are co- 
 eternal subsistences, in the self-existing essence of the 
 deity. And therefore, in Ecciesiastes xii. Solomon 
 speaks of our " Creators ", Boraira *, in the first 
 Terse, and then calls them by the name of ha- Alehim, 
 or '' the Alehim", throughout the remainder of the 
 chapter. I will subjoin these few scriptures, which 
 coincide on this point, in succession. 
 
 *' In the beginning the Alehim (bara) created the 
 heavens and the earth ". 
 
 * El inde jod per modiun mysterii expressum est, in Zecor ho- 
 rai-cha, recordare creatorum titorum ; id est, creatoris tai Akhim 
 ft'.^la al-htitiij Dei:s sint" R. Bechai, (j«ctce by iiuxtrof. 
 
188 ON TtlE TRINITY, 
 
 *' The Alehim said, We will make (or form) Adam 
 in our image, after our likeness ". 
 
 " And Jehovah, the Alehim said, Eclicld tlie 
 Adam is become as one of us ". 
 
 *' Remember tby (Boraim) Creators, in the dajs 
 of tby youtb. The Spirit (or soul) shall return unto 
 the Alehim ivho gave it *'. 
 
 '' Hast thou not known ? Hast thou not lieard ? 
 the Alehim of eternity, Jehovah, the Creator (bora) 
 of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is 
 weary.'* 
 
 nit»r Ashah, is the Hebrew name for Maker. It 
 comes from the root ashah, he 7?iade, &c. Like the 
 preceeding term, bora, and its plural boraim, it can 
 only apply to the Deity, when it is used to signify 
 a creating, or causibg to exist, because this is the 
 unalienable prerogative of Jehovah. We meet with 
 this term in Job : *' Shall mortal man be more just 
 Aloah? shall a man be more pure than his Ashah", 
 or Maker ? * But in the same book we meet with its 
 plural, ashim : *' Where is Aloah, my Ashim (or 
 Makers), who giveth songs in the night? '' I shall set 
 down a few passages, v/hicli will confirm the idea of 
 tbe trinity of persons, or Alehim in Jehovah, being 
 our A&him cr Makers. 
 
 ** And tbe Alelnm said, ice will make Adam in 
 
 our image, ofter our bkeiiess"; the verb, we will 
 
 Jofe iv. 17. " £hall E'/icsh ", that is, shall man, debilitated, 
 and rendered rnoiUl by sin, " beinore just than Aloah ? Shall 
 gebur ", tbiit h, shuii ihun, in his pristine vigour, v;hen all liif 
 faculties of body, tovA, ai;d spirit, were nni»:. paired^ sliull even 
 he " be more pure than bis A&hah ";, or Maiiei i 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 189 
 
 mate, is the first person plural, of the future, in iia/, 
 of the verb athah, the root of the noun in question ; 
 it signifies, that the Alehim declared, that they, them- 
 selves, as co-operating agents in Jehovah, would cause 
 Adam to exist, or would be liis Ashim or Makers. 
 
 ** Thy Makers (ashim) are thy Husbands (or Ru- 
 lers), Jehovah Sabaoth is his name; even thy Re- 
 deemer, the Holy One of Israel, the Alehim of the 
 whole earth shall he be called ". 
 
 ** Sing to Jehovah anew song, — let Israel rejoice 
 in his Makers ", or Ashim. 
 
 Kedos/i occurs very often as a divine appellation, 
 and it is very properly translated '' the Holy One ". 
 It sometimes applies to God in unity of essence, as 
 Jehovah ; at other times to the Alehim, as being each 
 of them Kedosh, or holy. We likewise meet with it 
 in connection with the Spirit — ruach kedosh, the Holy 
 Spirit: And also as applied to the Son, in character 
 of Redeemer, King, and Creator of Israel, — ** Thus 
 saith Jehovah your Goel, the Kedosh of Israel ; I am 
 Jehovah your Kedosh, the Creator of Israel, your 
 King." It is the constant epithet of the Spirit in the 
 New Testament, is sometimes connected with the 
 Father, and also wiili the So7i; " Ye have denied the 
 Holy One ", said Peter to the Jews. And it is truly- 
 suitable to these divine persons in God, as sejmrate 
 from the creatures; to separate, or set apart being the 
 original meaning of the root. These Alehim are as 
 widely distant in their nature from all that is created, 
 as eternity, immensity, and an infinity of all porfectioa 
 
190 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 can possibly set them. In the contrast with tliem, the 
 heavens diVQ not clean, and the angels are but folly; 
 and, conscious of it they are represented as veiling 
 their faces v/ith their wings, Avliilst they celebrate the 
 praises of those Alehim, who are *• glorious in holi- 
 ness ", and therefore *' fearful in praises ". Plence 
 Eliphaz says, " He putteth no trust in his saints, yea 
 the heavens are not clean in his sight ". And Bildad 
 observes, " Behold even to the moon, and it shineth 
 not, yea the stars are not pure in his sight ". Now 
 what is the amount of all this? Is it not to convince 
 us, that oi inanimate things, even those which are the 
 most unsullied, and the furthest removed from all 
 possible contamination, are not to be spoken of as 
 holy, in the comparison with their Creator ? And of 
 rational creatures, the most eminent of them are no-, 
 thing but vanity, even saints and angels. *' To v/hom 
 then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal, saith Ke- 
 dosh? Lift up your eyes on high, and behold — who 
 hath created {bara) these? Hast thou not known? 
 Hast thou not heard? — The Alekim (^ eternity— Jeho- 
 vah bora ". What then becomes of the idol of our 
 day, the created Creator? The fancied Being that 
 exiiited early enougli to create the world, but not so 
 early as to be essentially Jehovah ? The Scriptures 
 know no such Being: according to their verdict it is 
 a thing of nought. Not so the Alehim of Eternity: 
 these existed early enough to create, because so early 
 as to be essentially Jehovah, and by nature God. 
 Thcee therefore are called Kcdoshinif in the plural, 
 
AND THE liSCARNATION. IDl 
 
 that is to siy, • Vie Holy Ones "; and sometimes 
 " Aleliim Kedo,?iiim ", or the holy covenanters, or 
 sworn ones. This I shall pioceed to sliow. 
 
 Wherever, in tl-e book of Daniel, the holy Gods 
 are mentioned, as in chap. iv. in particular, the ori- 
 ginal phrase is Alekin Kedishin; that is to say, both 
 the words are in the plural number, Iiaving the Clial- 
 dee termination of in for the Hebrew im ; literally, 
 therefore, it is the Alehim the Holy Ones, and not the 
 holy Gods, as our translation has it. At the 13th 
 and 23d verses of this chapter, Kedish, in the singular, 
 is translated '* a holy one", and at tlie 17th verse the 
 plural Kedishin is rendered " the Holy Ones ". The 
 same sacred persons are those also called *' the watch- 
 ers '*, or ever wakeful observers, |n»j? airin; and the 
 individual Kedish or Holy One before mentioned! is 
 called *^ a watcher " or observer, Ti; air. These are 
 tlie same who, having been our observers will finally 
 be ^^ swih witnesses" against us; and of whom John 
 says, ** There are three avIio bear tuifness in heaven, 
 the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit ; and these 
 three [persons] are om " — en, in the neuter gender, 
 to agree with St. Paul's to theion, one godhead. Now 
 the doom of the king Nebuchadnezzar is said to pro- 
 ceed from these arbiters of the fate of all; — *' this 
 matter is by the decree of the Watchers, and the de- 
 mand by the word [ox fiat) of the Holy Ones." Af- 
 terwards, at ver. Vjf, it is called the decree of the 
 Most High. ** This ", says Daniel, ** is the decree 
 of the Most High; that they shall drive tliee from 
 men, and they shall wet thee \\ith the dew of heaven: 
 
192 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 and wliereas tkey conimxinded to leave the stump of 
 tiie tree-roots, tliy kingdom sliail bo sure unto thee, 
 after that thou shalt have known that (i^niiu^ pio^Vu^ 
 skelifm shemia) the heaveiis do rule." To this must be 
 added -what occurs in the 31st verse; " While the 
 word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from 
 
 the heavens To thee they speak (jn?Di^ nmarin) O 
 
 king Nebuchadnezzar! The kingdom is departed from 
 thee, and they shall drive thee from men, and they 
 shall make thee to eat grass as oxen ". 
 
 Now Bishop Horsley, who was a competent 
 judge, considered these expressions to denote the 
 persons in the Godhead ; the first, that of watchers, 
 or observers, describing them by the vigilance of their 
 universal providence ; and the second, the Holy Ones, 
 by the transcendent sanctity of their nature, and we 
 might add, by their righteous administration of the 
 affairs of the world. Nor do I see how it is possible 
 to distort this scripture to any other meaning. 
 
 But there is a thir(\ plural title in this passage, which 
 must not go unnoticed : that of the shemim or " the 
 heavens ", manifestly applied, throughout, to the same 
 personages, as being the ruling heavenlies, or the 
 heavenly ones, the rulers. And it is remarkable 
 enough, that the Jews call the three superior Sephi- 
 rotb, which mean, splendours, or enumerations, a»d 
 are esteemed rather as personalities, whilst the seven 
 inferior ones only rank as. attributes or perfections, — 
 they call these three, " the three heavens ". And 
 shemim in the Hebrew, may mean the same as Theoi 
 hi the Greek; the disposers, and placers in order, or 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 103 
 
 rulers; in Nvldch last sense it is used hy Daniel: ••' tbe 
 heavens do rule", or, tlie heavenlies are the ruler.s. 
 And hence, in the course of time, as men relapsed from 
 the native simplicity of truth into idolatrous practices, 
 instead of adoring the heavenlies themselves, they 
 paid their devotions to the material celestials, the sen- 
 sible objects of nature, ** and worshipped and served 
 the creature more than the Creator'', Thus, in the 
 17th chapter of the 2d book of Kings : '* Israel left 
 all the commandments of Jehovah, their Aiehhn, ami 
 worsliipped all the the host of the heavens ", instead 
 of the heavenlies themselves. These were their Baalim 
 (2 Chron. sxxiii, 3.), their Lords, Rulers, or Masters, 
 in reference to whose idol worship we read as follows, 
 in the 10th of Jeremiah; ** Thus saith Jehovah Saba- 
 oth, the Alehim of Israel; 1 will bring evil upon this 
 place, because the}^ have forsaken me, and have burnt 
 incense unto other Alehim", — that is, Alehim aherimf 
 slraDge, or foreign Alehim, where the adjective is phi- 
 raiy in agreement with its substantive Alehim. So 
 that in this place the opposition is not, in the original, 
 between God and Gods as in the translation, but be- 
 tween the true Alehim, the Alehim of Israel, and 
 tho.se other, or strange and foreign ones, the mere 
 fabricated mimic Alehim of the heathen nation:?, 
 adopted by backslidden Israel. 
 
 Bttt to revert to the title Kedoskim, What has 
 been advanced already might well sudlce, was it not 
 for the objections of certain adversaries to the doc- 
 trine contended for, who seem determined to deiiy 
 the most manifest tl'uths of Holy Writ, because they 
 s 
 
104 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 are " bard to be understood"; and this must be my 
 apology for any apparent tautology in the course of 
 the present sketch. In Prov. ix. 10, we find this 
 title used in correspondence with Jehovah, to denote 
 the sacred Shelishah, or triad of persons, in tlie stead 
 of the more frequent term of the Alehim : " the fear 
 o^ Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom, and the know- 
 ledge of the Kedoshim ", or holy ones, " is under- 
 standing ". It occurs again in the 30th chapter, at the 
 3d verse, — " I neither learned wisdom", says Agur, 
 ** nor have the knowledge of the Holy Ones ", that is,, 
 the Kedoshim, Nor is that less to the point, at the 
 end of the 11th cliapter of Hosea : ** But Judah yet 
 ruleth with Al, and is faithfal with the Kedoshim ", or 
 the Holies, or Holy Ones. With respect to the num- 
 ber of these sacred personages, the Scripture determines 
 them to be three, and in such a manner, as to demon- 
 strate a triple distinction in the sacred essence of the 
 Deity. For in the 6th of Isaiah, where the pro- 
 phet has a virion of Adonai Jehovah Sabaoth sitting 
 on a throne with his train filling the temple, he hears 
 the seraphic spirits express their adoration thus : 
 " one cried unto another, and said, Kedosh, Kedosh, 
 Kedosh, Jehovah Sabaoth"! Now surely, if we 
 interpret Scripture by Sciipture, we must allow the 
 ihrice repeated Kedosh of Isaiah, to be the same with 
 the plural Kedoshim of the other inspired writers j 
 snd these can be no other than the Father and Son 
 and Spirit. Afterwards, the prophet adds ; '' also I 
 heard the voice of Adonai, saying. Whom shall I 
 send, and who will go for tis"'l \Yhat langiiaga 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. lf>'*> 
 
 ov form of words, can possibly speak more pluinlr 
 for a triad of personal subsistences in an nnity of 
 Ratiire and essence ? In the new Jerusalem, a similnr 
 worsliip obtains : *' They rest not, day and night, 
 saying, holj/, holt/, hohi. Lord God Ahnighty, which 
 was, and is, and is to come ". In a comment on the 
 passage of Isaiah, a Jewish Rabbi, Simeon Ben Jo- 
 clmi, is said to have explained it thus : " Kedosh, 
 that is, ah (the Father),— Kedosh, tliat i?, hpii (the 
 80?)},— K<:do/h, that is niavh (the Spirit)'\ I rihaii sub- 
 join the foiiowiiig quotation from the 24th of Joshua, 
 as corroborative of the preceding remarks, 
 
 " The tribes of Israel presented themselves before 
 tJie Alehihi " ; that is, at the place appointed for public 
 devotion, the beth Alehim, or tabernacle, with the che- 
 rubim, as representative of the trinity in unity, and t'le 
 pre-ordained iDcarnation of the second person in Jeho- 
 vah. *' And Joshuasaid, Thus saith Jehovah, the Alehini 
 of Israel; your fathers, in old time, they served other 
 alehim", that is, alehini akerim, the adjective being plu- 
 ral, as well as its substantive. '* And I took your father 
 Abraham, and led him through the land of Canaan, and 
 multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. And I gave 
 to I^aac, Jacob and Esau. But Jacob and his children 
 went down into Kgypt: afterward, I brought you out, 
 and 3'e v, ent over Jordan ; and I have given you a land, 
 and cities, vineyards, and oliveyards. Now therefore 
 fear Jehovah ; and put away the alehim which your 
 fathars served ", that is, the ima ge-alehimf their sense- 
 less idols,—" and serve ye Jehovah'\ who is Alehim 
 hwj'utu, the livhig Alehim. " If it seem evil to you to 
 
19G ON THE TEINITY, 
 
 serve Jehovah, choose you this day, whether ye will 
 serve the Alehim which your fathers sensed, or the 
 Alehim oftjie Amoritcs; but as for me, and my house, 
 we will serve Jehovah. The people answered, Far 
 be it from us, that we should forsake Jchovali, to 
 serve other Alehim ", that is, aherimy m the pluraj. 
 *' For, Jehovah, our Alehim, he brought us up out of 
 Egypt; and Jehovah drave out from before us all tjie 
 people, — therefore we will also serve Jehovah, for he 
 is our Alehim". This repeated expression of the, 
 Israelites, our AJehim, is as much plural, as th^ 
 former one of other Alehim; and hence it follows ;— 
 *• and Joshua said. Ye cannot serve Jehovah, for he 
 ia Alehiin Kedoshim ", that is the Alehim the Holies, 
 or Holy Ones, •' If ye forsake Jehovah, and serve 
 the Alehim oj the stranger, he will consume you. The 
 people said, Ave will serve Jehovah. Now therefore 
 put away (said Joshua) the Alehim of the stranger 
 which are among you, and incline your heart uot*' 
 Jehovah ihe Alehim of Israel, The people said, Je- 
 hovah our Alehim we will serve ! and Joshua wrote' 
 tijese words in the book of the law of the Alehiin, and 
 took a stone, and set it up under an oak by the sanctuary 
 of Jehovah (or the Beth-alehim), and said to the peo- 
 ple, this stone shall be a witness unto ycu, lest ye dtuy 
 your Alehim*!" 
 
 * Joshua 2 J. In Dent, xxxii. aR<l xxxlii. v\ e find Jchovalj repre- 
 sented as Die Alehim, and the Alehim as Jehovah, aJthou«;h alJ 
 jiitlse Alehim are at tl)e same time exph)dr(J. ** I will publish 
 ike name of Jchot<ih'\ says Mases ; " ascribe ye greatness to 
 mtr Al^Hiim *\ Aitd aiter speaking of the Deity, under the uainei 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 107 
 
 Tlie only sacred titles, in addition to tlie preceding 
 
 ones, which I shall have occasion to pro^'hice, are 
 
 those of Aloak, Aleh, and Alehim; titles of the first 
 
 of A!, of EUvJij of Zur the Saviour, and Aloah the Maker, 
 Moses observes ; " They provoked him to jealousy with strange 
 oues ", Zarim, strange Alehim, instead of the true. " They na- 
 tjrificed to shadim'\t\xe pourers forth of nature, the clouds per- 
 haps, as dropping fatness, instead of the immaterial Shadira 
 in heaven, who cavse the skies to pour down rain and dew ; 
 and hence it follows, " to shadim, that Avere not aleh (not the 
 true God), to Alehim whom they knew not, new ones (hadci' 
 shim), newly come up ", that is, such as had been recently im- 
 agined, and not the true Alehim, who are denominated Alehi 
 kedem, or, " the Alehim of antiquity." 
 
 But, adds Moses, " Jehovah shall judge his people ; and shall 
 say. Where are their Alehim, the Zur in whom they trusted ? 
 See now that I, I am the He, and there are 'no Alehim with me ", 
 that is, no Alehim that are not myself, none else joined to 7r.e, ov 
 associated tdth me, that are not naturally of me, and so essen* 
 tially Jehovah ; no Alehim like ^Ir. Bevan's, made up of " a 
 mun in union with God his Father*'. Accordingly we read that 
 " tlis is the blessing, wherewith Moses, the man of the Alehim f 
 Messed the children of Israel. There is none like the. Al oi 
 Jeshnrnn. The Alehim of eternity (are) thy refuge, and under- 
 neath thee (are) the everlasting arms. Happy art thou, O 
 Israel ! O people saved by Jehovah ! " 
 
 The worship alluded to above, of the visible Shaulm, Xh^ 
 clouds, skies, or heavens, as shedding their influences npon tiie 
 earth, perhaps gave name to " thevaliey of the Shadim ", /<</- 
 shadim, in Gen. xiv. 3, 8, 10. The Psalmist (in Ps. cvi. 3G, T.S.^, 
 reproves Israel for having joined the heathen in their idolatry i 
 "they were mingled among the heathen, and learned tlieir 
 works. The^v served their idols ; yea, they sacrificed their sons 
 ond their daugliters to sho.dinz (the sheddei's forth), the idols of 
 i'miaan ". These were but the images of the Alehim of heaven, 
 and instruments in their service, to perform the pleasure of Jelio- 
 vah, and to show forth his glory ; but since tliey were not Jaii, 
 OF Jehovah, and so.not Al, their omnipotent Saviour, of whom, 
 the Fbahnist is speaking throughout tkissongof Ziou, they '.vt^^e 
 s 2 
 
108 on THE TRITCITY, 
 
 importanoe, ai it respects the ideas we are to entertain 
 of the Supreme Being, in conformity to his own divinely 
 inspired revelations. The above terms are diiFerently 
 written and pronounced by different persons, the 
 greatest difference obtaining amongst those who adopt 
 and those who reject, the points or oriental vowels. 
 But the variations in the enunciation of the words, 
 if they were multiplied a thousand fold, wonld intro- 
 duce no real change into the words themselves, and 
 consequently would effect no alteration either in theii* 
 construction or their signification. The letter of the 
 Hebrew text remains unchanged, whilst the pronun- 
 riation of the Jewish language, a thing of triOing mo- 
 ment, is so varied, as to make a German or Polish, 
 Sind a Portuguese or Spanish Jew, almost unintelligible 
 the one to the other. Indeed, it is allowed, that upon 
 theij return from the Babylonish captivity, the Jews 
 had lost much of the original sound of the Hebrew 
 tongue. But in earlier times, a difference of pronun- 
 ciation existed amongst the different tribes, so that 
 whilst the Gileadites gave the proper sound to the 
 letter m skin, those of Ephraim gave it the sound of 
 D samech, ** the men of Gilead said to the Ephraimite, 
 Say now r-^Vliir shiboleth; and he said m'piD sibcleth; 
 
 improperly worshipped. It begins with a " Hallelu Jah ", that 
 is. Praise ye Jah j and it goes on with, " O give thanks to Jeho* 
 vuhj for he is good, for his mercy is everlasting ''. And then it 
 conclndes, thus ; " Save us, O Jehovah our Alehbnl and gather 
 u&from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, 
 and to triumph in tliy praise. Blessed be Jehovah^ the Alehim 
 4ff Israel^ from everlasting to everlasting ; and let all the people 
 gay, Ameu. HalUIu Jah ". 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 109 
 
 fbr ie could not frame to pronounce it right * ". This 
 difference is marked, observe, iu the text of the Hebrew 
 Bible, by the distinct letters shin and smnech, and 
 there is no necessitj' for the points in order to ascertain 
 it. Now shibolcth means a v.ave, flood, strea.ui, or 
 Tiverf in reference to the Jordan whose passages the 
 
 • Judges xii. 6. The use of points fiiils to preserve an uni- 
 formity in the pronunciation of the Hebrew, for the Jews all use 
 them, and yet differ ranch amongst themselves. Blany of thein 
 almost constantly turn the 2 beth, into a 1 van, as in the instances of 
 amit^ and "Ji^, Abraham and ab (Father), reading these ^vo^ds 
 arraham and av, Sec. which is the case with Mr. Frey, in his gram- 
 mar. Mr; Bellamy differs even from himself in writing the same 
 word, notwithstanding the boasted accuracy and infaUibllity of 
 " the true oriental vowels " ; in his History of all Religious, he 
 writes Klohim (p. 390), — in his Ophion, he writes Dhoim (p. 99), 
 —and in his new translation of Genesis,' Eloliyim. But that the 
 points must be rejected, sometnnes at least, as glaring rabbinical 
 fictions, will appear from the following remarks. The glorious 
 name of Ji7ior«/i is often so pointed &s to be read Elohim. In 
 Gen. XV. 2, Abram calls God 'Mdonai Jeliovah"; but that it might 
 not be read as it is written, the usual points are changed for those 
 of the word Elohim. So again, in 2 Sam. vii. 18, 19, 25, 28, 29, ci 
 alibi And Buxtorf observes, that when ;his awful name has a 
 prefix, as 3 beth, or D mem (by or from), in these cases it is so 
 pointed as to be read udoiiai. In truth its customary points are 
 those of Adonai, so that the Jews always read it Adonai, and not 
 Jehovah, except when they turn it into Elohim. Buxtorf tells us 
 indeed that the Rabbins introduce Jehovah, saying, " I am itrii' 
 ten by jod, he, namely Jehovah ; but I am prcnoiineed by ahph, da-t 
 leth^ namely Adonai ". They also saj-, that "in this world his name 
 is uritten by jod, he, that is, Jehovah ; and it is read by uleph, dakthy 
 that is, Adonai : but in the future world, it will be pronounced 
 and written in one and the same way, Jehovah ". ^iiis may at 
 least moderate the zeal of the very warm advocates for the 
 vowel points ; and this is ail that is intended, since, in some res- 
 pects, they certainly have their use, £ce Biutorfs Lex. fieb- 
 rajc. €t Chakiaic. 
 
200 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 men of Gilead had secured to prevent the escape of 
 the men of Ephraim, Avho no doubt understood the 
 sense of the word, although they were defective in tlie 
 enunciation of it. As in the instance of tlie Latin 
 tongue, the learned of England and France may be 
 erual masters of it, as far as respects an accurate 
 knowledge of it, notwithstanding that, in its prononu- 
 ciation, they di(!er very widely. 
 
 This then at least is certain, and beyond all con- 
 troversy, that over and above the title Alj and its 
 plural Alim, the mighty one and the mighty ones, and 
 that of Aloah,^ which often occurs as a singular, but 
 never as a plural noun, for the Deity, and springs from 
 a root which signifies to swear, to covenant, to bind 
 oneself by an oath, S:q. and so implies what is not un- 
 frequently expressed, that **i/e/ioyaAhath sicorn'" to be 
 faithful in the performance of his word and promise, 
 over and above these names, it is not to be denied that 
 the other title of Aleh, witli its plural Alehim, is to 
 be met with in th© Hebrew Bible. It is repeated nine 
 or ten times in the 2nd of Daniel alone, and four times 
 it is translated, in conjunction with shemictj " the God 
 (tf heaven ", Aleh shemia. It is generally allowed to 
 arise out of the root from which Aloah is derived, 
 that is, aleh, which means as a verb of the third person 
 singular of the preterite lense, " he has sworn, bound 
 Lim:^:elf by an oath &c. ". And if so, then this title 
 in its singular form ^\ill refer to God in unity, in 
 covenant engagements with his people, or to the whole 
 
 * For the full explanation of this tltir, tlic reader is referred 
 1& ilie list of Hebrew Names at the cad of the Woik. 'i-' !^&/ 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 201 
 
 fullness of the Gcdliead bound by its own self-devised 
 Tolimtary oath, according to that remarkable scripture 
 in the 54th of Isaiah, " I\kave iwcrHy saith Jehovah, 
 that the waters of Noah should no more go over the 
 earth; so have I sworn y that I would not be wroth witli 
 thee, nor rebuke thee, for the mountains shall depart 
 and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not 
 depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace 
 be removed, saith Jehovah that hath mercy on thee!" 
 Hence we learn, that Noah's covenant, which ensures 
 to the world all the blessings of nature and providence ; 
 nnd tlie covenant -of Abraham, which ensures to tho 
 church in Christ all spiritual blessings in addition, are 
 both of them covenants by oath; and being absolute 
 deeds of gift, founded upon unconditional assurances 
 on the part of Jehovah, as is evident from the passage 
 in Isaiah just quoted, they are therefore entitled by St» 
 Paul, "the covenants of promise '\ So to speak, they 
 are promissory notes, under the hand and signature of 
 Jehovah, and their payment in their season is infallibly 
 sure to all " th« heirs of promise ". And the avowed 
 intention of the oath is for this express purpose, that 
 those heirs "of salvation ", as they are elsewhere 
 called, might derive everlasting consolation from the 
 certainty and inviolable nature of the covenant or 
 promise ; " ;tc desire that cvei-y one of you'' says the 
 apostle, '• do shew the same diligence, to the full assure 
 ancc of hops unto the end, tliat ye bo not slothful, but 
 followers of them wiio through faith and patience inherit 
 iae- promUes ; for when God m'ddo promise to Abraham, 
 because he couid iwear by no gieater he mvore by kiia^ 
 
202 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 selff saying, surely I will l^less thee, and I will mul- 
 tiply thee : and so, after he had patiently endured, he 
 obtained tlie promises. For an oath for confirmation 
 is an end of all strife; wherein God, willing more 
 abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immu- 
 tability of his counsel (or covenant), confhmedithy an 
 oath'\ or interposed with an oath; '* that, by two 
 immutable things (the promise and the oath), in which 
 it is impossible for God to lie (wliose they both arc, 
 and on wliom alone they both depend), we might have 
 a strong consolation, who (like conscious criminals) have 
 fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us". 
 But the plural form of Aleh is the most frequent 
 title of the Deity, that is, Alehim. These terms are 
 gometimes pronounced Eloah and Elohim. But this 
 is to add to the text, and to confound one title with 
 another. For Aloah has, in the Hebrew, four letters, 
 alepkf lamedf van, and Ac; whereas Aleh has but 
 three, aleph, lamed, and he ; consequently the one is 
 distinct from the other. And that the plural title 
 which we have now to treat of, is rather from the 
 singular aleh, than from aloah, seems evident, because 
 the plural Alehim has no van, as Aloah has, but only 
 the same letters as Aleh, with its customary addition 
 of the plural masculine termination im. So that those 
 who call it Elohim, are obliged to feign that ti\e word 
 is written defectively in the text of the book of Jeho- 
 vah, and, to supply tlie defect, they superadd of 
 their own accord the letter can. To give my reader 
 some idea of the frequency of tins term, and of its 
 importance as a sacred appeilatioQ of the Godhead, C 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 203 
 
 Lave only to observe that it is used no less than two 
 aad thirty tiaies in the 1st of Genesis alone ; and from 
 the 1st to the 35th chapter inclusive, it occurs about 
 a hundred and eighty times, whilst Jehovah occurs 
 about a hundred and forty eight. It intends the divine 
 persons, Father Son and Spirit; as Jehovah intends 
 the essence. If translated, it might be rendered iha 
 sworn ones or the covenanters. And the reader is re- 
 quested to r3collect, here, the plural language of these 
 exalted personages, in tiie book of Genesis and elss- 
 Mhere; "ive will make man, in our image, our likness", 
 — ** the man is become as one of us ", — " iue will go 
 down, and we will there confound their language ", — 
 ** whom shall I send, and who will go for us "; with 
 all those plural titles of Creators, IMakers, Watcher.*, 
 Holy Ones, High Ones, Living Ones, and so on, 
 which have been produced or referred to in the course 
 of the present sketch. With this premised, we shall 
 be prepared to enter into the form of those emphatic 
 expressions of the scriptures, *' the Alehim of our sal- 
 vation ", and " the salvation of our Alehim'*, trans- 
 lated in our English version the God of ov.r salvation 
 and the salvation of our God. Thus Kabakkuk sings, 
 "I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the Alehim 
 of my salvation ". And so in that admirable Psalm 
 cf David, in the IGth cf the 1st of Chronicles,—'* O 
 give thanks to Jehovah, for he is good, for his mercy 
 endureth for ever; and say ye, Save us, O Alehim of 
 our salvation! and gather us together and deliver us 
 from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy 
 holy name and glory in thy praise. Blessed be JeljCK 
 
204 OX THE TRINITY 
 
 vah, the Alehira of Israel, for ever and ever j and all 
 the people said, Amen"! 
 
 But nohvitlistanding the abuudaace of scriptwral 
 evidence in favour of the plurality of this eminent title, 
 it is nevertheless denied to be plural by the generality 
 of those who are adverse to the sublime doctrine of 
 the trinity in unity, and particularly, of late, by Mr. 
 John Bellamy, in his History of all Religions, in his 
 Ophion, and in his new translation of the book of Ge- 
 nesis. On© of his arg\iments is this, that Aieliim is so 
 often connected with singular parts of speech. But 
 the people of Israel are constantly spoken of, and ad- 
 dressed, in a similar manner, not, to intimate their 
 being, a single individual, but a single body or nation, 
 consisting of several individuals. And the first human 
 pair are sometimes spoken of plurally, because they 
 were two distinct persons, and at other times they are 
 represented as one, because of one nature, and of the 
 same species. ** God said, let us make man, and let 
 ikem have dominion *'. " So God created man\ ia 
 the image of God created He him ; male and female 
 created He them, and God blessed them". And 
 hence, from a sameness of nature, they had one name 
 assigned them: *' God created man, in the likeness of 
 God created He him; male and female created He 
 them, and blessed Mem, and called their name Ac?a?», 
 in the day when they were created '\ And therefore, 
 in the account of the fall, although Adam and Eve 
 are both specified, yet in their consequent expulsion 
 from paradise, we read vnly of " the Man '' : " and 
 the Lord God said, behold the man is become as one 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 205 
 
 of uJ. And lest he put forth his hand, and take of 
 the tree of hfe, therefore the Lord God sent Am forth 
 from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from 
 whence he was taken. So he drove out* the Man'^ 
 In this instance there is undcniahly a pkiri-personaUty 
 in an unity of nature ; and although their name was 
 the same, in reference to their origin, that is, Adam, 
 hecause taken out of the Adamah or the ground, — 
 yet, in respect of the distinction of their pcri^onal 
 characters as male and female, they had distinct names 
 assigned to them, — '* and Adam said, she shuU be 
 called aish-ahy' or the female or v/omb-man, (i. e. 
 woman), *' because she was taken out of aish*\ the 
 male being. And so in reference to their common 
 essence, the Alehim are called by. the singular name 
 of Jehovah, but their personal compellation is that of 
 Father, and So?i, and holy Spirit. 
 
 Another argument of Mr. Bellamy is this, that 
 tbe verb kara, " created," which the noun Aiehim 
 governs in the first verse of the Bible, is in th-e singu- 
 lar number, therefore Alehim as its nojninative cafe 
 must be singular also.f But this may refer to their 
 
 •Job. xxxli " There Is a spirit in man, and tlje inspiration of '/ 
 the Almighty giveth than understanding ". 
 
 t Mr. Oxley remarks, "Neither is the assertion of R. Solo- 
 mon and others, that the plural noun, by being associated with 
 verbs and adjuncts in the singular number, is divested of its 
 plural import, entitled to any regard. In Greek, a noun of the 
 neuter plural, is usually associated with a verb singular; and yet 
 no scholar would contend, that because the verb is of the singular 
 numbf r, the noun does not actually express a pluraiity of ,subr 
 sistaiices". That this remark is true, e\ery schoolboy will attest, 
 T 
 
206 ON THE TRIMTY, 
 
 unity of nature as the creating Divinity ; or, to tlieir 
 personal co-operation in the work of the universe, as if 
 we should render it, '' the Alehim each of them crea- 
 ted, '* or, " every one of them created, " and this mode 
 of expression is not uncommon in the Hebrew Bible, 
 and an instance of this kind shall here follow: " their 
 eyes stand* out with fatness, " that is literally, " their 
 
 who recollects his syntax; " neutra flurdlia gaiident verba singulari ; 
 aliquando etiam masciiHna et fcemijiina ", that is " and sonictinies 
 also masculine and feminine, as well as neuter nouriS delic^ht in 
 a verb singular ". This is likewise common in Hebrew, as the 
 following examples will shew ; for the passages that are to be 
 subjoined, having singular verbs governed by plural nouns, must 
 be rendered after the manner of " bara Aleliim", the Alehim 
 eac/t of them created. Exodus xvii. 12. *' his hands, each jm» 
 steady ", Job xii. 7. " ask the beast, and every one of them shall 
 teach thee ". Esther ix. 23 " the Jews, every one undertook to 
 do as they had begun". P&alm Ixxiii, 7. " their eyes, e?Lch sivells 
 with fatness ". Proverbs xiv. 1. " tlie ivise aniong women, every 
 one of them buildetlC'. Joel i. 20. " The beasts of the held, every 
 one of them crieth '*. P.salm Ixxxiii, 7. " w liatever things are glo- 
 rious, every such thing is spoken of thee ''. Exodus xxxi. 14. 
 *'They who prophane the Sabbath, every one of them shall surely 
 be put to death ". Proverbs iii. 18. " And they who retain her» 
 every such one is happy ". 
 
 * Psalm Ixxiii, 7. I cannot however refrain from subjoining 
 the following passage ; " Then went King David in ", that is 
 into the Beth-alehim or kedosh kedoshim, the house of the Ale- 
 him called also the holy of holies, — " and sat before Jehovah. 
 And he said, thou art great, O Jehovah Alehim ! for there is 
 none like thee, neither any Alehim besides thee. And what one na- 
 tion in the earth is like thy people, like Israel, whom the Aleliim 
 went to redeem {they went, for the verb is plural in agreement 
 with the Alehim), for a people for himself, and to make for 
 himself a name, and to make for you (O'Dh) greatness, and 
 wonderful things for thy Land, before thy people, whom thou 
 redeemedst for thyself from Egypt, from the nations, and thci'' 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 207 
 
 eyes, eac/t of them s/«wc?eM out with fatness"; for the 
 verb is singular, although its nominative case is plural. 
 But in truth, the argument militates against its author. 
 For Alehim is at times connected with veibs, parti- 
 ciples, adjectives, and pronouns, v liich are of the 
 plural form ; instances of which 1 foibear to quote, 
 after the numerous quotations already presented to the 
 reader, in which so many infallible proofs have appear- 
 ed, to sub:^tantiate ihis position. What I shall do, is 
 this, attempt to give a plain grammatical account of 
 the word, that the reader may judge of it for himself. 
 There will be nothing novel in what I shall advance, 
 but merely the substance of what is to be met vvilh ia 
 the various grammars of the Hebrew Language. 
 
 The first general rule, as applicable to our subject, 
 is this, that nouns substantive are generally deriva- 
 tives from some radix or root, and this root is gene- 
 rally a three lettered verb, in the third person singular 
 of the preterite tense. Now, to apply this, as we go 
 along, since we so frequentlj'^ meet with the substan- 
 tive alch in the Bible, and know that it must spring 
 from some radical term, to what can we so properly 
 
 Aleliim. For thou liast confirmed to tlijself thy peeple Israel, 
 a peoi>le for ever, anl thou, Jehovah, arttiieir Alphim ", 2. Sara, 
 vii, 18, 22 — 25. In tiie first of Sanmei, chapter 4, verse 8, the 
 same personages are called " tlsf-st' illviStrious Alehhn " adirim\ 
 " these are the Alelshu who smote the Egyptiai;s with all the 
 plairues in the Wildenuss ". Tsow it is evident that, in eachof 
 these places, the same transaction ii allalcd to, Israel's re- 
 demi>tion from Egypt, an 1 if is saivl to have be>^u by " Ikess iilus. 
 tiious Ai -tu.a ", of whoia David rccards th.it " tinuj uat to re- 
 deem " Israel. 
 
2[)8 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 refer it, as to its corresponding verb aleh, to swear, bind 
 by an oath, &c. ? more particularly, as we fiiid that this 
 coincides, in sense, with the scripture account of God, 
 of his covenants, and of the manner of his transacting 
 with his Church and people in every age 1 But this 
 derivation of the title in question is allowed, indeed, 
 by Parkhurst, Frey, Buxtorf, Pasor, and others. 
 We may therefore pass on to a second general rule, 
 namely, that those are considered as being perfect 
 radical nowns, which only contain the three original 
 letters of the root from which they are derived. And 
 in this respect aleh is a perfect radical noun, since it 
 Las but three letters in the Hebrew, and those are 
 precisely the letters of the verb * aleh, which we have 
 
 •The Punctuists make eloah of it, by the addition of a i vau^ 
 wliicli appears unnecessary. It is true, indeed, that " one jot 
 •(/wi«;, or one tittle {xspcctx) shall in nowise pass fVom the law "; 
 but it is yet to he proved that the vowel points form any 
 part of it. in truth, if not an iota or the smallest letter^ nor 
 even a keruia or the sliyhest variation which marks the dijf'erence 
 between letters very nearly alike, may pass from the written 
 J iw, or froiii the other scriptures, liow conies it that, through 
 the introduction of the eastern vowels, a multitude of letters 
 are suppressed or altered, and that whole words at times, and 
 some of them words of the very llrst importance, are entirely 
 changed, as in tiie i; stance of Jchorah, which by virtue of th^; 
 points is turned i'.t one tiuie into Elohim, and at another time 
 iatoAdonai? Is it not reniiiikable, that of all the divine ap- 
 pellations, the JevrS in their upcstaf'v have tampered most wiiii 
 *' ihis glorious and iea> a name Jehovah their Akhiiu *' ? 
 
 Some indeed, as Pas ji in his G. Lexicon, make keraia to si-;- 
 nify a vowel point. i>iu iu the first place it means the ufffx or 
 top of a thinif, it bL-injii^ a dimiuutive from aspx^ keras, which ^ig- 
 uities a horn on the head of an animal. Schleusner calls it apex 
 liUeruf, seu mhiima particula, And iherrfure iu its application as 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. ^09 
 
 fixed upon as its root. And nxv^cvitiip noun?, it may 
 be added, are those, generail} , vviiicii ihus consist of 
 rndicals only, that is to sa}', of the same letters with; 
 their respective roots. Another instance of I ii is sort 
 of formalion, in a title of tiie deity, we have in the 
 
 above, it mav iufeiid any mark or accent over the Greek letters, 
 to " !iic t the i'UtneJi.i; e refeieuce seems to be made from the 
 lurcciotUy the smallest of the Gr^ek letters, bewia: partieularized 
 just before, atid in conitexian v.iih it. Now the Jew^iali vowel 
 poi»tj are not so generally over, as under xMe letters. Besides 
 cr.tyixri stig^wee is the G:eek word for a poinf, and keraia should 
 more properly be considpied, in reference to the Hebrew as a 
 cornicte or little h(/ru, or small curvature at the head of some of 
 tLe Hebrew lette s. It is used in tins sense as early as the thiid 
 cenlnry i)y Origen, who, oo the xxxiii Ps.ilm, says, that 1 beth 
 arid D aiph are very much alike, " so as to differ from each othe"^ 
 in nothing;' but one little keraia ". The same is true of 1 daleth 
 and *1 resh. See Parkhurst's G> eek Lexicon. And further, if 
 k*raia were of doubtful meaniug^, which howevei is not the case^ 
 the iota would remain indisputable, as intending- the smallest of 
 the Hebrew letters or ' jod expressed i)y the Greek ' iota. Now, 
 if not a single letter may be lost, either as suppressed or changed, 
 not even the smalle^^t of them all, what becomes of the doctrine 
 of the poin ts? Not to ur^e, that what some have called j;owif« 
 are really ititended for letters^ and are so emplo>'ed ; they are ac- 
 covdinif to the system of the Punrtuists, the only vou-els of the 
 Kebiew lan-uaoje; thay are called by Mr. Bellamy <' the tru 
 oris-nta' vowels ". Now keraia cannot refer to th-se. For a real 
 letter of the alphabet is first mentioned, the Hebrew Jod expressed 
 by the Greek inta ; and this is allowed by Pasor, to be " iitera om- 
 nium minima ", the smallest uf all the letters. But if iota intends 
 the smallest of ali the letters, then how can the afier term keraia 
 refer to those still smaller than the smallest of all the letters, the 
 oriental vowels ? It 4s incontrovertible, that if jod is t^e smallest 
 ]etter, the points are no letters at all. Keraia must therefore mean 
 the little horned apex, or curvature at the head of some of the 
 Hebrew characters. 
 
 T 2 
 
210 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 term nnJ r/ebah, which occurs, in relation to Jehovali , 
 in Ecclesiastes (v,8.) — " he that is hifjher (gebah), than 
 the highest, rcgardeth"; it may be rendered "the lofty 
 one", to distinguish it from Eliou the liigh one. Gebab 
 is a masculine three-lettered noun, from the root 
 gebah, "he exalted himself, &c/' ; the septuagint ren- 
 ders it by upsistos, in the superlative degree, the 77iost 
 high or lofty one. And this is a title of God in the 
 new Testament, and there translated " the Highest,** 
 and the most High" ( Luke i, 35, 7(5; and \m, 28). 
 
 Then, with respect to the formation of the plural 
 number, it is a general rule, that nouns ?/msc?«/t;ie add 
 to their singulars the Fjllabie O' im. Thus in the pas- 
 sage of Ecclesiastes which has been jiist referred to, 
 gebah, the most lofty one, occurs also in the plural 
 form tZD'nnj gcbah-im, the most lofty ones, to intimate 
 the divine persons in Jehovah, the unity of whose na- 
 ture or essence is taught us in the singular gebah. 
 And it is worthy af remark, that no other title of 
 Deity is used in this chapter of Ecclesiastes, but that 
 oi Alekim, which is plural also, and which is formed 
 from aleh, as gebahim is from gebah; and at least 
 seven times, it has the emphatic article n prefixed to 
 to it— ha-alehim,Me Alehim. " Fear thou thealehim," 
 gays the King : " if thou seest the oppression of the 
 poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice 
 in a province, marvel not at the matter, — for he that 
 is loftier than the loftiest of them regardetb, and /Ae 
 most lofty ones Sire above them ** [Ksii it^sistoi ep' autois. 
 Septuagint.) 
 
 And I cannot but introduce another plural title, 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 211 
 
 from the prophesy of Isaiah, (Ixii, 5,) since it strongly 
 confirms the plurality of Aleliim. " As a young man 
 marrieth a virgin, so shall thv-'^ stovers iyyi) boni-cha 
 marry thee; and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over 
 the bride, so shall thy Alehim. {ynh^) rejoice over 
 thee". This expression o^ boni-cha, thy restorers, is 
 rendered thus by Dr. Lovvth, only that he puts it in 
 the singular number in this passage; "thy restorer,' 
 whereas, in another placeof Isaiah (xlix, 17). he trans- 
 lates boni-cha by *' thy Builders'', in the plural, and 
 which of course he should have dune here also, — thy 
 bonim or restorers afterwards called thy Alehim. 
 Builders or restorers gives the radical idea of bonim, 
 since it springs from benah or bouah, he built up, 
 repaired, restored, &c. ; and hence, says Buxtorf, *' ben 
 a Soii\ — '' who", as Parkhurst observes, " is, as it 
 were, built up by his parents, and who builds up or 
 continues his Father's house or famil3%" ( quasi sedifi- 
 cium familia3 paternae, quae in eo habitat et conserva- 
 tur. Buxtorf; see also Taylor*). Now to corrobo- 
 rate this rendering of the above quotation, it may be 
 well to remind my readers of another passage in 
 Isaiah (liv, 5,6.) in which ynbi^ (thy Alehim), occurs 
 in connection with y\nj^ thy makers (or ashim), and 
 who are said to be yhv:i baali-cha thy Husbands ; 
 and what is this but saying, in other words, — " so shall 
 thy restorers marry thee ? " " for tliy makers are thy 
 Husbands, Jehovah Saboath is his name, even thy 
 redeemer, the holy one of Israel, the Alehim of the 
 
 * Bonah, in the singular, occurs in Psalm cxlvii, 2, <'the buil- 
 der (or restorer) of Jerusalem is Jehovah '\ 
 
212 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 whole earth shall he be called : for Jehovah hath call- 
 ed thee as a woman forsaken, and grieved in spirit, 
 and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith 
 thy Alehim.^' 
 
 But other masculine nouns, ending in he, as ashah 
 a maker, drop the final letter he (as ferainines do*), 
 and take the syllable im in its place, as mhim 
 makers, and not in addition to it, as gebah and aleh 
 do, and whose plurals therefore are not gebim and 
 alim, but gebah-im and alch-im; gebim and alim, 
 are the plurals of gebor gob a back, &c., and al the 
 mighty one 
 
 The same rule is applicable to adjectires; and we 
 have seen it exemplified already in adjectives and 
 other parts of speech, in agreement with the title 
 Alehim, — such as, Kedoshim the holy ones, hayim 
 the living ones, adirimthe illustrious ones, shophetim 
 the Judges, and Kerobim the near ones; " lor what 
 great nation is there," says Moses, " to whom belong 
 Alehim that are near unto them (A'ero^im), like Jeho- 
 vah, our Alehim, in all things that we call upon him 
 for?" (Deutrou. iv, 7.) 
 
 But further, when a plural masculine noun is in 
 construction, or what Grammarians call in regirnen 
 or government, as, the Kings of a Country, or, the 
 
 t Though even Feminines sometimes retain the H he in the 
 plural ; as HDi^ amah a handmaid, mn?3« amah-oth haDclmaid^ 
 So nJ2 negah, mnji 7ic'gah-oth Seiidour and splendours, and 
 nVa belahf mnVs belah-oth terror J terrors* 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 5l3 
 
 words of the Lord, — the Doiin, so situated, is said to 
 suffer a change ; that is to say, it drops its final letter 
 and ends in i instead. Thus, meleck is the Hebrew 
 for a King, and melechim for Kings; but the phrase 
 for '' the Kings of a country", is melechi arets, and 
 not melechin). And dabar is the Hebrew for a worc% 
 and dabarim for words ; but '' the words of the Lord'*, 
 is expressed by dabari Jehovah, and not dabarim, 
 Now, in the singular number, these words, although 
 in the same construction, as the King of the country, 
 or the word of the Lord, suffer no change, but remain 
 unaltered, as melech arets, and dabar Jehovah. But 
 in the histance of Aleh, and of Alehim, we find inva- 
 riably, throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, that when 
 iX\e first of these (the singular aleh), is in the construct 
 form, as *' the God of Heaven", aleh shemim, it &\iSQY% 
 no change; whereas whenever the last of these (the 
 plural Alehim), is found in this situation, as, " the 
 God of Israel," — and it is found so times without num- 
 b<?r, — it always undergoes a change; it regularly drops 
 iU final letter m, and instead of Alehim, it is written 
 Alcki Israel, the Alehim of Israel. 
 
 In Isaiah (40, 28.), there is an important Scripture, 
 in this point of \iG,Wj because it proves the plurality 
 of Aleliim, and the Antiquity of the sacred trinity of 
 persons iiifluded in that title; they are called "Aleki 
 aolam" or tLe Alehim of Eternity, but which phrase 
 is translated " the everlasting God." There is a corres- 
 ponding passage in the last of the books of Moses 
 (Deutronomy xxxiii, 27.), translated " the eternal God", 
 aad whose '* everlasting arms'' tvre represented as the 
 
214 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 support of Israel; but in the original, it is '* Alehi 
 kedem," that is to say, the Alehim of antiquity or 
 Eternity. 
 
 Accordingly, the Trinity is essential to Deity ; 
 and it is not a made up thing of yesterday, as some 
 imagine. Neither the human nature, assumed in 
 the fulness of time by the Son, can possibly consti- 
 tute a third cf it, — nor could a created soul,* in any 
 
 • I very gladly embrace this opportunity of introducing to 
 tli€ reader the sentimenta of Doctor Hawker on this subject ; au<i 
 I do it the rather because au idea has gone abroad, that \vt coun- 
 tenances the dectrine of th.' pre-existence, and as it will be uni- 
 versally admitted, that eve.y author is the best interpreter of his 
 own n.ind, the followii g quotation ^vill be found exceedingly sa- 
 tisfactory in developing; the sentiments of the Df ctor, as far as it 
 respects tlie point in questinn, since it will be clearly seen, that 
 however he may have sometimes expressed himself in what ap- 
 pears to his readers rather ambiguous language, here there is no 
 ambiguity whatever, but a plain, explicit, and decided avowal 
 «f his belief in ti^e divine person of the eternal Son of God, and 
 in the ttfter incarnation of this sacred personage, by the assumption 
 of out nature from the substance of the Virgin, soul and body 
 together. 
 
 The following quotations are from the Doetor's*' letter to the 
 Rev. J.Stevens" a Baptist Minister in London, who whilst he 
 holds for the trinity contends also for the pre-existence of the 
 litunai) soul of Christ. " Is it possible that you can mean to say " 
 enquires the Dr. ** tliat the Son of God is only an ideal or im- 
 aginary Son wntil the Father had begotten foi' him a human soul? 
 Was the Son incapable of entering into C( venant engagements 
 with the Father and tae Holy Ghost, and t .» aci in his mediatorial 
 character as the chosen head of the election of grace, without his 
 previous union with a !;uman soul ? 1 must beg to enter my pro- 
 test against such opinions. We read in Genesis, that ilie Loid 
 prniised to wake Abram a father of many nations ; and the 
 Lord, in speaking of the grant, speaks of it as a V\\ug nln^ady 
 done. The words are, for a father of many nations have I madtt 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 215 
 
 possible pre-existent state, have any place here; be- 
 cause no creature can be eternal in respect of the past, 
 for whoever, or whatever is eternal in this sense, is 
 
 thee ; and they are so quoted by St. Paul, in the pa«t tense. 
 Now, at the time, there was not a sinicle one of the seed born ; 
 yet the Lord says, I hare niade thee a father, meaninjr that in 
 God's view, the thinsis promised subsisted in Abrani as if done, 
 and he stood before the Lord, not an ideal or imaginary father, 
 bat the real head and representative of the whole seed. If then 
 in the instance of Abram such things were said, when as yet he 
 had no cliild, but only chosen of the Lord as the head and re- 
 presentative of all that was to follow, sh"ll it be thought incre- 
 dible that the Son of God, to wlio;;^ Abram was but a type, 
 should personate his cliurch, when standing up before all worlds 
 as their glorious head and husband, when as yet he had made 
 no open manifestation of hlms;lf in his official character of 
 mediator? If God the father who quickenetli tl;e dead, calleth 
 those things which be not as though they were, shall not God 
 th* Son who qnickeneth irhom he ivill, be supposed competent to 
 act in this headshij) of mediator to his church, and not to be 
 considered ideal or imaginary, though until the fulness of time 
 he assumes not either a hnmun soul or body" ? 
 
 " Before men decide upon subjects of so mysterious a nature 
 and are guided in framing tlieir opinion* more by reason than 
 Revelation, it would be well to pause and enquire, what saith 
 the Holy Ghost upon these momentous things ? If it be con- 
 sidered ideal or imaginary, th.at (he f^on of God should stand up 
 from everlasting as the elect head of his churcli without either a 
 a human soul or body, what reality shau we be able to annex to 
 those precious things spoken of the chuich, and which are «iaid 
 to be given to the cliurch from everlasting? To instance one 
 among many ; the Apostle, speaking- of the Lord's mercy to the 
 church, saith, " ^lio hath saved us, and called us with a holy 
 calling, not according to our works, but according to his owu 
 purpose and grace, which (grace) icas given us in Christ Jesus be- 
 fore the world began. 2 Timothy i. 9. How or in what uianner is 
 this said to be done ? the members of Christ's mystical body had 
 «» ac(ual cxictaice when these blessings are said to have been 
 
216 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 Jehovah. ** He is eternal," observes Sir Isaac 
 ;^ewton, ** that is, lie endures /ro?/i c^ermV?/ to eter- 
 nity. He is not eternit3^ but eternal, — he is not 
 duration, hr.t he endures ; he endures for ever, and 
 by existing always, he consiiivies duration and eter- 
 nity." Tliis is the necessary attribute of genuine 
 divinity, and hence it is implied in the name of 
 Jehovah, and which is therefore a title peculiar to 
 what is God by nature ; it is absolutely inapplicable 
 to any creature, because that which it intends, is 
 ntterly incommunicable to a created being. For every 
 creature must have, at some period, begun to be, — 
 
 given tliem. And yet soraehow or other, there must have heen 
 in the divine mind, hoth the knowlsd^e of their persons, and 
 an ordination of the grace which (he Lord in -his purpose deter- 
 mined for them, or such thine? conld not have heen said. Had 
 the promise ran in ditTerent terms, of grace given to Christ for lis, 
 then the thing might have heen thought (jnesttouahle ; but the 
 words are, given tons in Clirist Jesus, mo3t evident then it is, tliat 
 the church had a being in Christ, yea and a wellbeincc' according 
 to God's purpose and decree, before the church had luiy actual 
 existence. And if the members of Christ's body ncedeii no ac- 
 tual existence to render the grace given Ihem before the world 
 began, to be sure, but as they stood in ths purpose and decree 
 of God, what necessity could there be for tl'C gloiious head to 
 have a human soul in a pre-existent state ? Row much more 
 agreeable to the whole analogy of scripture is it to believe, that 
 in the covenant transactions of the holy pej^sons in the Godheadj 
 before all worlds, the Son of God personated what afterwards he 
 wonld fully be at his incarnation ? And when the fulness of time 
 was come, he tabernacled openly in substance of our flesh, 
 Ijeing, as it behoved him to be, both in soui and body, made like 
 to his brethren ; and in the union of God and man, wrought 
 out deiiveiance for his churcliand people, having obtained eter- 
 laal redemption for us ". page, 20 — 23. 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 217 
 
 but Jehovah, although called the first, is the first, 
 without coitime»icemeat, and the last, without a ces- 
 sation of being. In this sense, as in some others, 
 the Son is most trul}' the first and the last, and the 
 beginning and the end. And hence the Aleliim of 
 eternity are declared by Isaiah to be " Jehovah 
 bora," or the Lord the creator. And Jehovah the 
 cteator is with propriety denominated the Alehim of 
 eternity, and these are as properly denominated 
 Jehovah; because Jehovah is, whatever is eternal, — 
 and whatever is eternal is Jehovah. Eternity is his 
 own peculiar habitation ; and whatever mortals may 
 dix^ani to the contrary, it knew no other inhabitants 
 than the socially subsisting persons in the self sub- 
 sisting essence of Jehovah. Thus we read of " the 
 eternal Spirit," as being personally distinct from tha 
 Father, — and also of the Son of the Father, as being 
 " that eternal life which was w ith the Father," and 
 who is tbereforein his nature and essence " the true 
 God". And these are the Alehim of eternity. And 
 that these , — contrary to the Sabellian scheme, and 
 to that of Swedenborg as adopted by Mr. Bellamy, — • 
 that these Alehim are personal distinctions in Deit}^ 
 independent of the human nfiture, whether considered 
 as a fancied pre-created soul, or as any other visionary 
 being, such as Mr. Bellamy " entitles the divine hu- 
 man of Christ," will be manifest from tlie passages 
 that shall follow ; and in which the Alehim, as well 
 as Jehovah, that is to say, God in the Trinity of per- 
 sons as well as in the Unity of Essence, will appear 
 in distinction from the manhood, according to that 
 u 
 
218 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 gaviiig of St. Paul,— " there is one God, {not, one 
 person oiilv,) and one Mediator between God and 
 Men, the Man Christ Jesus." The passages in point 
 are these : in the prophesy of Jeremiah, (30, 9.), it 
 is predicted of Israel, that *' they shall serv e Jehovah, 
 their Alehim, and David their king, whom I will 
 raise up unto them." This prediction was uttered 
 long after the literal David had fallen asleep, and it is 
 generally acknowledged to refer to him whom the 
 Apostle calls " the Beloved", (Ephes. 1. 6.) which 
 is the exact interpretation of the Hebrew name 
 David, and who was an eminent type of Christ. The 
 people therefore hailed the Messiah as " the king of 
 Israel", and who, because inhabited by the in-dwell- 
 ing Deity, was said to come *' in the name of the Lord," 
 hat is as it stands in the original of the 'll8th Psalm, 
 (verse 26.), *' in the name of Jehovah." It is manifest 
 from hence, that the Alehim of the Hebrews are 
 one Jehovah, and that the man Christ Jesus is not es- 
 sentially one of these, but being united to the Godhead 
 n the person of the Son is constituted the permanent 
 habitation of the Deity. Hosea has delivered a similar 
 prophesy — "for the children of Israel shall abide many 
 days without a King, and without a Prince, and with- 
 out a Sacrifice, aud without an Image, and without an 
 Ephod, and without Teraphim ; afterwards, shall the 
 children of Israel return, and seek Jehovah, their 
 Alehim, and David their King." This proves to us 
 that the Jews are at present in unbelief, since they are 
 still without a King; and that, whenever they shall 
 turn to the Lord, upon the vail being removed from 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 219 
 
 tlieir hearts, tliey will acknowledge, l)otli the Doctrine 
 of the Incarnation, and tliat of a Trinity of personal 
 subsistences in the Unity of the uncreated essence. 
 And this is very generally the case, \\ henever a Jew 
 ha})pens to embrace Christianity from a sincere con- 
 viction of its divine original, — he returns to Jehovah, 
 the Alehim of Israel, in the name of the Father, and 
 of the Son, and, of the Holy Spirit, and confesses that 
 God Mas manifested in the flesh, through the assump- 
 tion of the human nature by the Son.* 
 
 The same glorious truth was taught the Church 
 from the beginning, in the symbolical representation 
 of the Cherubim. These are allowed by Mr. Bellamy, 
 to have been placed at the East of Eden, as " divine 
 symbols " of God's presence, accompanied by the 
 sword — like flaming Jire for the purpose of Sacrifice^ 
 -which was instituted, as typical of Christ crucified, 
 as soon as Sin had existence through the fall. And 
 these divine symbols, says Mr. Bellamy, " were hand- 
 ed down, in the believing line of Seth, to the Hebrews 
 who had this tabernacle, and sacred fire, before that 
 of Moses." 
 
 This author likewise confesses, that the word che- 
 rubun means, " a likeness of the divine majesty," m 
 wliich he is counlenanced by several of the learned, 
 and, amongst others, by Bate, Parkliurst, Frey, &c, 
 !Kow this concession is all that we require, since it 
 
 * See for numerous proofs of this, the Jewish repository and 
 expositor, published by tlie London society for promotiui; cliris- 
 tianity amongst the jjews. 5 vols, at 7s each ; and continued 
 nionthlv at Gd a number. 
 
220 ON THE THINITY, 
 
 abundantly establishes tlie Scripture doctrine of tlie 
 Trinity of persons in an Unity of nature, and of the 
 Incarnation of the Deity through the assuniption of 
 humanity by the Son. For if the cherubic figure 
 presented to the ancient Church a faithful likeness of 
 the majesty of Heaven, as far as such a symbolical 
 representation was calculated to express and convey 
 it, — then, we may expect to find, upon a compaiison 
 of the one with the other, some strong and decisively 
 corresponding features between the representative 
 Iniag;ery and the Godhead represented by it. And we 
 are not disappointed. The cherubic figure had four 
 penim or faces, inclusive of the Manhood as united 
 to the secK)nd of tbe Alehim in Jehovah. The faces of 
 the Ox and the Eagle represented the Father and the 
 Spirit*; whilst those of the Lion and the Man repre» 
 
 * See an excellent account of the Cherubim in Dr. Jo^a 
 Robinson's Theological Dictionary, (1815), where it is clearly 
 shown that they could not represent creatures (whether men or 
 angels), but must have been hitended to exhibit the divine 
 majesty. And hence they are called " the cherubim of glory •' 
 (Meb. ix. a.) The difiiculty of explaining tiieni in any other way 
 is evident in tije confused account of Taylor in his Hebrew Con- 
 cordance, where, after saying that they represented the " body 
 of the church of God upon earth ", he tells us, " pos^ihhj it may 
 here be apphed to Angels \ but, we can only say with certainty, 
 that the Clierubim and llaniing sword which turned every way 
 denote some perfect and irressistible poa-cr, which rendered the 
 tree of life, here upon earth, quite inaccessible ! " 
 
 But should he not have recollected ojie circumstance at least, 
 —namely, that the blood of the atoning sacrifice was always 
 sprinkled before the mercy-seat in the holy of holies, over 
 which the cherubim of glory were placed ? And ought we not 
 to conclude, thattheplaceof sacrifice for Adam and his family 
 after their fall and expulsion, was a tabernacle or beth-alehim 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 22L 
 
 sented the Sou, as *Hlie Lion of the tribe of Jiidali", 
 that is to say, as incarnated by an assumption of the 
 seed of David; who was a lineal descendent from that 
 celebrated tribe. Thus, in type and figure, although 
 not actually the Son of God was also the Son of man. 
 But to contend for the divine person of the Son of God 
 having been actually united to something human or 
 created, before his Incarnation of the Virgin, because 
 that which was to be assumed in the fullness of the 
 time, appeared before in type and figure, in shadov/ 
 but not in substance, — is just as ridiculous as if any 
 one should contend lor his having really suffered, not, 
 as the Apostle speaks, now, once in the end of the 
 
 at the east of Eden, where was tlie sacred Jire, or sword-like 
 flame, to consume the otYering, and also the Cherubim as 
 ■j-epresentative of a Covenant Alehim in Jehovah, to whom the 
 offering was made, to direct to the tree of life in the person of 
 Immaniiel, and not to make the way to him inaccessible ? 
 
 Ezekiel is the prophet who describes the Cherubim, and in 
 allusion to these he tells us, at the commencement of his pro- 
 phecies, that '' the heavens were opened " to him, or the heaven 
 lies revealed, " and I saw visions of the Alehim "• He saw four 
 faces or aspects in one figure, those of the lion and the man re- 
 presenting the incarnate Sou, and those of the ox and the eagle 
 representing tlie Father and the Holy Spirit. He had also a vi- 
 sion which simj>ly represented the great mystery of Godliness, 
 Gyc/ manifested in flesh or the human nature, — '' aman above 
 upon the throne ". This showed the Godhead in its unity of es- 
 sence dis Jehovah, through tlie medium of the manhood, just as 
 the other visions gave a representation of the trinity of persons 
 in the essence, as the Ah him of Israel, with the intended incar- 
 nation of the Son. Accordingly, at one time he calls this vision 
 " thf giory of the Aleiiim of Israel ", and at another tiiue " the 
 glory of Jehorah". Ezek. iii. 23 ; and viii, i» 
 
 V 2 
 
222 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 world, but in the very beginning, merely be<- 
 cause, in reference to the previous exhibition of liis 
 death in tlie appointed animal sacrifices, he is said to 
 have been "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the 
 world." The fact is, — God was always the same in 
 himself, and the same also in his purposes of grace 
 and mercy towards his people; it was therefore natural 
 for the same God in trinity, and for the same mediator 
 to be exhibited then as now, — in a word, for the same 
 glorious gospel of the blessed God to be preached to 
 the Church before the Incarnation, which has beeii 
 preached sinee. And that this was indeed the case, 
 the Apostle to the Hebrew^s expressly asserts('4, 2.)-« 
 "for unto us," he says, " is the gospel preached, which 
 was preached unto them"; for this is the proper 
 translation of the passage. The only dilFerence is 
 that the old Church looked forward, in faith and hope, 
 to tlie period when Jehovah himself, in the person of 
 the son, should become our Goel and our Zedeck, 
 that is, the Lord our redeemer, and the Lord our 
 righteousness; whereas w.e have to contemplate the 
 happy event as already accomplished. 
 
 But to resume the subject of the rules of grammar, 
 pronouns, in Hebrew, are subjoined to nouns ; and 
 this circumstance puts nouns in regimen, so that in the 
 plural number, those which have tiie masculine termi- 
 nation in ivi, regularly undergo a change, in tlie man- 
 ner before described, although in the singular form 
 they remain unaffected by it. Now in the case of the 
 title Alehim, whenever it occurs in the Bible, as our 
 God, their God, your God, thy God, his God, &c, it 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 223 
 
 appears invariably in tliis plural construct form ; and 
 is written, not Alehini, but Alelii. So that the often 
 recurring expressions of Alehi-nu (our Aleliim), 
 Alelii-hem (their Alehini) , A lehi-c!ieni (your Alehim) , 
 Alehi-cha (thy Alehim), and Alelii-o (his Alehira), 
 are undoubtedly plural, and thy unanswerably assert 
 the pluri-personality in the divine nature; whilst the 
 addition of tlie singular noun Jehovah, or, sometimes 
 of a singular verb, or other parts of speech, serves to 
 distinguish the true from the strange or foreign Alehim, 
 as being, not several Gods, like the idols of the Gen- 
 tiles, but only distinct personal modes of subsistence 
 in a sameness and oneness of naiure, of essence, and 
 all the peculiar perfections of divinity. Indeed, in 
 Hebrew, a plural noun may have a singular verb or 
 adjective in a distributive sense; as, in Isaiah (19,4.), 
 *' a cruel Lord " means Hterally, — "the Egyptians will 
 I give over into the hand of Adonim (or rulers) , every 
 one of themcr?<eP'(Kishah), because the adjectiv-e 
 is here singular, whilst the substantive is plural. So 
 in the psalms (119, 137.), — ^' thy judgments everyone 
 of them is upright/^ And in the 73rd psalm at the 7th 
 verse, we meet with a verb in this situation, " their 
 eyes, each of them sicelleth with fatness. '' But in the 
 proverbs (28, 1.), a plural verb has a singular nomina- 
 tive case, and a singular verb a plural one, in the same 
 sentence, *' the wicked (singular), all of i\\Qm Jlee 
 (plural), when no one pursueth ; but the righteourj 
 (pluralj, every one of them is as bold (singular), as a 
 Lion". Therefore, when the plural Alehim has a 
 singular part of speech, it may either express an Unity 
 
224 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 of essence, or operation , and so on, — or else it may 
 be understood cli.stril)utiyely, as •' bara Alehim", the 
 Alehim each of them created. 
 
 But tliere are some, who read the Hebrew with 
 the assistance of the points, or, what others clioose to 
 call, the oriental Vowels. According to these, there 
 are three numbers in Hebrew, the singular, the dual, 
 and the plural. OF the?e, the dual is confined to two^ 
 of course the plural embraces all beyond. The dual 
 is chiefly used to designate those things which are but 
 two, either from nature or from art. Now, according 
 to the received doctrine of the Punctuists, masculine 
 nouns form the dual with im, and with, what they call 
 a pathach placed underneath the preceding letter. 
 But they form the plural, with the termination Im, 
 and with what is called a chirik (.) under the fore- 
 going letter. According to this account, the title 
 Alehim is no more dual, or significative ot but two, 
 ■than it is singular, or confined to one person, for it is 
 never found, in the pointed Hebrew Bibles, with the 
 pathach under its letter he ; and therefore its meaning- 
 is not to be confined to what Mr. Cowan calls 
 "Jehovah, in union with his Son Jesus Cluist, who 
 formed the body of Adam." But it is a plural noun ; 
 for, as we have before ob-erved, it has the proper 
 plural termination im, and it is always found, in the 
 pointed Hebrew Bibles, with the usual chirik under- 
 neath its letter he n. 
 
 Nor is thi^ ail, — for according to the vowel system 
 when two nouns require o/ between them, the former 
 is governed, and undergoes a cbauge, and is said to be 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 2*25 
 
 in regimen ©r contracted; tlie noun masculine plural 
 drops its final m, and changes the preceding chirik 
 into what is termed by punctuists 'dizatry{, .). Now 
 this is the fate of Alehim universally; for whenever 
 it occurs in regimen, in pointed books, invariably it 
 di'ops its final letter m, and has the accustomed tzairy 
 underneath its letter Ae, in tiie place of the chirik. 
 
 I have already hinted at the attempt which Mr, 
 Bellamy has made, to support the idea of Alehim not 
 being plural. He contends that it is not plural, because 
 hayim, which has the same termination, is not plural. 
 To this I have answered already, by shewing from 
 various authorities that hayim is plural (but dual, as 
 pointed) ; and that even in the passage to which the 
 author Iia^ referred us, it stands connected ^;|'^^^ 
 plural mayim cz5'>n tZD^o signifying, together, "running 
 streams", just as v^xixzjoKXx (udatapolla) in the Greek, 
 has the meaning of many streams. 
 
 But Mr. Bellamy superadds to hayim, the follow- 
 nig words, as equally exceptions to the general rule 
 respecting plurals. And exceptions we might be dis- 
 posed to allow, since scarce any rule of Grammar in 
 any language is entirely without them. But particu- 
 lar exceptions can never destroy a general rule ; and 
 tliere is no very mighty force in the argument, in this 
 view of it, that Alehim is not plural, because a few 
 other apparent plurals turn out in reality to be singu- 
 lars. But the fact is this, — in Hebrew, as in some 
 other tongues, certain words obtain in the plural only, 
 they have no singular number : and these, if occasion 
 require, are used in a singular sense, at the same tiine 
 
226 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 that they preserve their plural /orw. This is the cjJse 
 with tliose Latin words, tenebrro, literae, and ma^nia ; 
 and it is much the same with those Hebrew terms, 
 which, in addition to the one already explained, 
 are produced by Mr. Bellamy. Those are, — onvD 
 mitsraim, tzD^oit^ shemim, C3^js penim, and CD'D'in tera- 
 phim; and I shall offer a few remarks on each of them, 
 for although the above considerations would sufficient- 
 ly account for instances of the kind, without any fur- 
 ther observations, yet in the present case, it is most 
 easy to demonstrate, that the terms in question are not 
 only plural as to form, but that they will likewise ad- 
 mit of some plural signification, 
 
 Mitsraim or mizraim, occurs for the first time, m 
 Genesis (10. 6.), as the pame of the second son of the 
 accursed Ham. It has been before observed, that 
 Hebrew names are not words without meaning; nor 
 is this of mitsraim (the original name for Egypt), with- 
 out its signification. Cruden in his concordance 
 englishes it by tribulations, Frey derives it from the 
 root zur, signifying distress, tribulation, affliction, &c» 
 In the book of psalms (116, 3.), this plural term occurs, 
 in the construct form, written '* mitsrai sheol *', the 
 pains of Hell. In the lamentations of Jeremiah(l, 3,) 
 the Hebrew word for the straits, — " her persecutors 
 overtook her between the straits^' , — is the identical 
 mitsraim. It is considered a plural by P'arkhurst. 
 And Montanus renders it, in the passage of Jeremiah, 
 by (angiistas macerias), the narrow walls, — and by 
 (angustice inferni), the troubles of Hell, in the psalm 
 just quoted. The seventy have rendered it by mvh 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 227 
 
 >o< x^ovthe dangers of Hades, in the psalm, — and by- 
 ay* [xsa-ov ruv ^K.Qovlxi m tlie niidst of tiie narrow passes, 
 in the Lamentations. * Mitsraim therefore is not 
 singular, as pretended by Mr. Bellamy, but it is plural 
 in its termination and its meaning, and is even chial 
 according to the points, which being of comparatively- 
 recent origin, might have been employed to confine 
 mitsraim to a dual sense, in reference to the two-fold 
 division of the country into upper and lower Egypt. 
 Why this name was given to the second Son of Hamf, 
 it is of no utility to enquire; but that it referred to 
 some particular circumstance, we have reason to 
 believe, as in the instances of tlie names of Cam and 
 Seth (Genesis 4.1, 25.). Nor is it unworthy of remark 
 that when mitsraim occurs tlie second time, as the 
 name of one of the Sons of Ham (Genesis 10, VS.), 
 it is found in connection with other plural titles, which 
 are recorded as the names of milsraim's descendents,— ^ 
 and mizraim begat Ludim, and Anaraim, and Lehabim, 
 and Nephtuhim, and Pathrusim, and Casluhim, out 
 of whom came Philistim, and Caphtorim. Now these 
 names of Mitsraim's sons are given in the plural, as 
 
 * Sec Isaiah 19, 20—25 ; where IMitsiaim is translated, not 
 only Egypt in the singular, but " the Egijptians " in the plural, 
 and it governs set^en "plural verh$ in the compass of four verses, 
 from the 20th to the 23rd inclusive. Its singular mitsur "IIVD 
 oocurs in the 6th verse, and is translated Egijpt by Bishop 
 Lowth and others. 
 
 t George Pasor, in his Lexicon, also makes it plural, " Ai« 
 gnptos dicitur mitsraim, a quodam Chami posteroruni, qui ita 
 nominatus fuit (Gen, 10, 6.), ab migwstiis. Radiv enini zur, sig- 
 nificat, obsidere, coarctare, in angustias redigere". 
 
228 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 including their families and descendents, meaning tlie 
 people of Lud, of Anam, Leliab, and so on; if there- 
 fore it be preferred, the name of Mitsraim may be 
 understood in the same sense, that is to say, as intend- 
 ed to include all those of Jiis descendents who peopled 
 the country wliich is now called Egypt. To this day, 
 it is asserted by some, the Turks assign the name of 
 Mitzir* to the first King of Egypt; and it might be 
 plausibly inferred hence, that Ham's second Son was 
 himself called mitzir or mitsur mvD and that from 
 him, the first inhabiters of the country and indeed the 
 country itself^ came to be called mitsraim as his descen- 
 dents.t 
 
 ♦ Schleusner says, — " hebraice vocatuv mitsraim, a filio Chami 
 secnndo, quiaegyptiacse gentis Conditor fuisse cr.editur." Egypt 
 is called mitsraim in the Hebrew, from the 2d son of Ham, who 
 is supposed to have been the Founder of^ the Egyptian Nation. 
 
 ■ t Dr. Robinson, in his Theological Dictionary, observes, that 
 '*,the Arabians, and other Oriental nations, still call it Misj-. It 
 i« also called the land of Misr, in the singular, in the opinion of 
 some of the most learned commentators, in the following pas- 
 sages— 2 Kings 19, 24 ; Isaiah 19, 6. ; 37, 25. ; Micah 7, 22, In 
 these places, however, I find it written, not misr, but mitsur j TlY ID 
 the singular of mitsraim, CD»")VD. Bishop Lowth renders it 
 Egypt in lsdii»h\ix, 6. «* In every other place", adds Dr. Robin- 
 son, '< it is written mizraim (or mitsraim), in the plural. Else- 
 where, indeed, under the article Egypt, the doctor represents 
 it as of *•' the dual number''; that is, he means, if we respect the 
 points. But, he proceeds, " this plural arose from the divi- 
 gion of the country into north and south, or east and west; which 
 division appears to be ©f the earliest antiquity". But how will 
 this account for thename of mitsraim being originally given to 
 the second sen o/ J7«m, by whom Egypt was afterwards peopled. 
 It first appears in Scripture as the name of this person, Ham's 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 22y 
 
 The second term of the same description is shemi?n, 
 the Hebrew word for the Heavens. According to 
 the points, it is of the dual* number, which of itself 
 refutes the assertion of Mr. Bellamy. But, unin- 
 cumbered with the points, it is plainly a plural noun, 
 and to produce the passages from the old Testament, 
 in which it is regularly connected with plural parts of 
 speech, would require a volume. In agreement with 
 it, the new Testament has its ouranoi or the Heavens. 
 And, as Schleusner remarks, the Jews in our Lord's 
 day, certainly held for Mree Heavens, the aerial, the 
 sidereal or starry, and the third Heaven. Nor is it 
 to be denied, that St. Paul makes mention of thia 
 tritos ouranos, or third Heaven ; and a third supposes 
 two others. These are the lower and the upper 
 firmament, beyond which is the highest Heaven, 
 Paradise itself, the true Eden or pleasure garden of 
 the Lord, wherein reside the spirits of the just made 
 perfect, the innumerable company of Angels, and 
 Christ and God. It has been shewn before, that 
 shemim is used by Daniel, for the Heavenlies them- 
 selves. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and that tho 
 Jews speak of *' the three Heavens" in much the 
 ,same way. Now, in the new Testament, the king- 
 second son ; and from him, as the acknowledged founder of the 
 Egyptian nation, the people and the conntiy came to be called 
 by the same name. It does not therefore appear that any after 
 division of the laud could have any thing to do in the origin of 
 it. 
 
 * Formam habet dualem, quasi a mayim ab aquis, quae 
 duplices, superiores et inferiores. Buxtorf. 
 
230 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 dom of the Heavens is sometimes put for the kingdom 
 of Godf which admirably corresponds with Daniel's 
 expression, *' the Heavens do rw/e." And, I do not 
 deny, says Schleusner,* that the plural number is had 
 recourse to, because it is best adapted to the nature 
 of God, &c. 
 
 Penim is another of the plurals objected to by 
 Mr. Bellamy. But, as Rabbi Crooll observes in 
 answer, ** it is a regular plural masculine," although, 
 from its having no singular, it is often employed in a 
 singular sense. Buxtorf, Frey, Parkhurst, and others, 
 consider it a plural noun. It is the original word in 
 the Hebrew for the {our faces of the cherubic figures; 
 and it is not unlikely that the term was first employed 
 in reference to these, which were the earliest repre- 
 sentation of the Deity vouchsafed to man. Mr. 
 Bellamy acknowledges, that, when Cain is said to 
 have gone out " from the presence of the Lord" {pent 
 Jehovah,) from before the /aces of Jehovah, it is evi- 
 dent, that this signified the place, where the cherubim, 
 and flaming sword (or emblematical sacred fire), were 
 situated. Hence then an obvious reason for peninii 
 in the plural, being used for the presence of the Lord; 
 it signified the cherubic aspects or faces or persons, 
 which were the sacred symbols of the Alehim in Jeho- 
 
 * Atqne haec maxima causa mihi quidem esse videtur, cur 
 ccclum in N. T. libris, non solum ouranos, sed etiam otiranoi 
 dicatur, qtuimquam non nego, numerum piuralem etiam ideo 
 'adhibitura fuisse, cum quia ab Hebraeis liomine ejusdem numeri 
 sliemhn signatum legitur, turn quoniam isfe numemsnuturce Dei, 
 ct praestantiae reliquorum ejus incolarum et habitatorum 
 aptior et couvenientior videbatur". 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 231 
 
 Tall, and of the intended incarnation of tlie Son as 
 the Lion of the tribe of Judah. And therefore when- 
 ever the true worshippers, from Adam even np to the 
 termination of the Mosaic temple service, bethought 
 themselves of God, and sought his presence, their 
 minds habitually turned to that all-gracious being who 
 had promised to inhabit the cherubim, and there to 
 meet, and from thence to commune with his seeking 
 people. Thus Asaph in the Psalms (ixxx. 1, 3.) " Thou 
 that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth ; turn 
 us again, O Alehim ! and cause thy faces to shine ; 
 and we shall be saved ". Here the o».veral plural ex- 
 pressions in this delightful scripture, of the Alehim^ 
 of the cherubim inhabited by them, and of ihepeuim, 
 or personal aspects of the Alehim*, tend to reflect 
 light one upon another, and to confirm our minds in 
 the idea of a real pluri- personality in Jehovah, in re- 
 ference to the unity of whose nature and essence, the 
 singular pronouns, thou and thy, are introduced. And 
 perhaps I might here observe, that throughout the 
 eightieth Psalm, as wei^ as elsewhere, the title Alehim 
 is put in apposition with Sabaoth, and is therefore writ- 
 
 • A cogent reason for believing the Chcrnbira to be repre- 
 ientatives of the persens of the Alehim. in Jehovah, and not of 
 those of either mtn or angels, may be gathered from tills very 
 striking circumstance, that in the 91st. Psalm, their shadow, 
 their wings, and their feathers, are made to refer to the protec- 
 tion which God vouchsafes to his people, and to their security 
 underthe shelter of his providential care — "He that dwdleth 
 in the secret place of Elion (where the Cherubim were fixed,) 
 shall abide under the shadou-of Shadai. He shall cover thee with 
 hi$ feathers, and, under his ninjfs shalt thou trust," or repose in 
 confidence. 
 
232 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 ten, not in the contracted, but in the absolute form 
 Alehim Sabaoth, and not alehi^ as if it was to be ren- 
 dered " the Alehim the Hosts," or defenders. *' O 
 Jehovali Alehim Sabaoth! how long wilt thou ba 
 angry against the prayer of thy people? Turn us 
 again, O Jehovah Alehim Sabaoth ! cause thy faces to 
 shine, and we shall be saved" (Psalm Ixxx. 4, 19.) 
 And truly, if Jehovah be called " a man of war" by 
 Moses, we need not wonder at the Alehim being called 
 Sabaoth, our hosts or defenders, since we have no 
 others to fight for us in every battle. And, what is 
 not to be omitted, both St. Paul and St^ James have 
 preserved this terra as a divine name, the only, one, 
 strictly hebrew, that occurs in the new Testament. 
 They have put it in apposition with Kurio^, " Kui'ios 
 Sabaooth" (Romans 9, 29 : James 5, 4.) as the Greek 
 rendering for Jehovah Sabaoth. And there is nothing 
 to be objected to this expression, any more than to 
 that of Jehovah Alehim ; for in either case, the sin- 
 gular Jehovah denotes the essence, and the plurals, 
 Alehim and Sabaoth, denote the persons. The 
 seventy have, in several instances, placed it in appo- 
 sition with Kurios : but at other times they have 
 adopted a genitive plural, such as Iwociazuv and arpxleiuv 
 the God of forces, hosts, or armies. Now the 
 Apostles rejected these interpretations, and have ad- 
 hered to the original term, introducing it into the 
 greek untranslated. * Parkhurst, in allusion to tliis 
 
 • Schleusner says, " Sabaoth, ab Hieronymo et Origine, 
 annumeratur nomiuibus divinis — Sabaoth is by Origin and 
 Hieronymus, reckoned in amongst the names of the Deity.** 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 233 
 
 remarkable circumstance, takes occasion to enquire, 
 under the word «iy zaba in his Hebrew Lexibon, 
 ** xchy is Alehim put in the absolute form, before 
 Sabaoth ; Is it not, in order to point out the Alehim 
 themselves, as the hosts, defenders, and champions, 
 of their own people ?'* 
 
 The remaining plural to be noticed is that of ier- 
 apkim. It is plural in its termination, and according 
 to the points. It is translated Ix ei^mXx eidoola or 
 images, by the seventy, which interpretation is adopt- 
 ed in our English version. And Buxtorf ren- 
 ders it by idolny and imagines, idolatrous images; and 
 says they are called dii, Gods, that is, penates or a 
 sort of family or household Alehim. Mr. Bellamy 
 acknowledges that they are similar to the Cherubim; 
 and he derives the word from ns~i raphah, as com- 
 prehending also the root t^Qn rapha, to heal, make 
 whole, ^'c. and so the teraphim may mean the restorers, 
 healers. Sec, The term does not necessarily intend 
 several distinct images, but may mean a single image 
 of a plural form, a single ^^7a-e, with the four cheru- 
 bic faces carved upon it. "I believe they were 
 Cherubim," says Cocceius ; that is, of an inferior kind, 
 for the famil}^ at home, as the originals were stationary 
 in the tabernacle or temple. They are called Alehim 
 in Genesis (xxxi, 19, 30.) *' Rachel had stolen the 
 teraphim thaii were her father's;" and Laban says, 
 ** wherefore hast thou stolen imj Alehim ?" So that 
 these no doubt were representative images, like the 
 cherubic figures at Eden, and in all the tabernacles 
 or beth-alehims erected by the Patriarchs during the 
 X 2 
 
234 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 earlier ages of the Church ; and they were used in 
 private, for symbols of the divine Majesty, serving for 
 a sort of penates or household Alehiin. Hence in the 
 Judges (18,) when Micah is despoiled of his teraphim, 
 he exclaims, as Laban did, *' ye have taken away my 
 Alehim which I have madeT This was an Israelite, 
 and one who knew and worshipped Jehovah, as ap- 
 pears from the whole of the preceding chapter. He 
 bad a *' Beth^alehim," that is, a house dedicated to the 
 worship of the Alehim of Israel; in which, inhumbld 
 imitation of the tabernacle, and its Cherubim of glory, 
 he had placed his teraphim, and which he calls ex- 
 pressly ^^ my Alehim v.hichl made." He worshipped 
 the true God after an improper manner, verging, it 
 fehould seem, towards idolatry. And this had become 
 pretty general in Israel; since, as we find in the 
 course of Micah's story, the children of Dan were 
 well acquainted with the prevailing use of the tera- 
 phim : for they say to Micairs Levite^ whom he kept 
 in his house for a priest of God, " ask counsel, -we 
 pray thee, of the Alehim." They meant, through thd 
 medium of the teraphim, as imitations of the Cheru- 
 bim ; and the priest gives them an answer of peace in 
 the name of Jehocuh, and not in the name of any idol 
 of the heathen. Nothing is more common, than for 
 any likeness, image, or other representation of a thing 
 or person, to obtain by degrees the name of the thing 
 or person represented ; thus the teraphim came to be 
 called the Alehim. And although there was a species 
 ol idolatry in it, for they seemed to pay more respect 
 to the visible signs, than Xo the invisible Aiehimin the 
 
AND THE INCARNATIOK. 2tl3 
 
 Holy of Holies above, yet there \ras truth at tli© 
 bottom; as, in the instance of the Romish Church, 
 their shadowy cross and Christ which they fabricate 
 for themselves, bespeak at least the acquaintance that 
 they have with those blessed originals, from which 
 they take their superfluous copy. We even meet with 
 the teraphim in the house of David, brought thither 
 perhaps by his wife Michal, the daughter of Saul; as 
 Jacob, we find, got possession, with his wife RacheJ, 
 of the teraphim or representative Alehim of Laban. 
 Now the teraphim in David's house (1. Samuel, xix.) 
 is spoken of as a single image. But this, so far from 
 disproving the plural form and meaning of the word, 
 only serves to shew us, that it was truly applicable to 
 every separate figure or image of the kind, in conse- 
 quence of its four several penim or faces, as repre- 
 sentative of the Alehim of Israel, and the doctrine of 
 the Incarnation of the second person in the godhead. 
 If Jehovah is our rapha, as in Exodus (xv, 20.) where 
 he calls himself '* Jehovah rapha," or the Lord that 
 healeth, then the Alehim may be called our raphaim 
 or physicians, as this word is rendered in the book of 
 Genesis (1, 1.) And this is confessedly the sense of 
 te-raphim, the restorers or healers. We know that a 
 9>m^\Qface in the cherubic figure, is in Ezekiel (x. 14.) 
 called a chenih ; and therefore, each Jigure, having 
 four of these penim or faces, might truly have th^ 
 plural name of Cheimbim, Elsewhere . in Ezekiel's 
 writings (xli, 18.) two faces out of the four, are called 
 a cherub, those namely of the lion and the man, be- 
 Ciause they pre-fig\ired the soa in. an ijacaruate state as 
 
236 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 our Immannel. But if the son, represented as incar- 
 nate, is called a cherub, then the father and the spirit, 
 under the emblems of the Ox and the Eagle, are each 
 of them, a cherub also. For what is a che-rub ma 
 but a likeness of a majestic one? And if the connected 
 faces of the lion and the man, are said to be a che-rub, 
 or a resemblance of the majestic son in his complex 
 character as incarnate, then the whole figure, com- 
 prehending the other two resemblances of the father 
 and the spirit, may with propriety be called the che- 
 rubim CD'inD or symbolical likeness of the majestic 
 ones. Now what is an explanation of the Cherubim, 
 serves to explain the teraphim ; for, Mr. Bellamy 
 being judge, they are " similar to the Cherubim," and 
 both of them confirm the plurality of Alehim. 
 
 This Doctrine then, which is so vehemently op- 
 posed in the present day, of a pluri-personality in the 
 J)eity, remains "secure," if I may so express it, **in 
 its own existence." It was as much derided by the 
 incredulous amongst men under the ancient dispensa- 
 tions, as it has been since, and is now, by reasoning 
 christians. Hence David remarks, — that **the fool," 
 that is, one who professes himself to be wise naturally, 
 like our rational christians, — "the fool hath said in his 
 heart (ain Alehim), there are no Alehim. Jehovah 
 looked down from Heaven, upon the children of Adam, 
 to see if there were any of them intelligent,* seeking 
 the Alehim ". And the declaration is, — ** they are all 
 
 ♦Psalm 14. Bishop Korsley renders it, "Jehovah looked down 
 from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if any one were grow- 
 ing wise, seekijjgthe Elohim," see his translation, vol. 1. page 31 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 23T 
 
 gone aside.'** But" the Alehim are still in the gene- 
 ration of the righteous. " In another psahn he sketches 
 a similar picture of the general apostacy of the Sons 
 of men — *' there are no Alehim, " is the cry of infideli- 
 ty : " the Alehim looked down from Heaven, to see if 
 there were any that did understand, that did seek the 
 Alehim ". But alas, — *' every cue of them is gone back ; 
 they have not called upon the Alehim*' ( Psalm 53. ) 
 This was esteemed perhaps, what Mr. Baring and Mr. 
 Bellamy now call it, a making of three Go(h\ and it 
 might have been ridiculed, in some such language as 
 the former of those Gentlemen is fond of using in the 
 Pulpit — " a little prayer to the Father, a little prayer 
 to the Son, and a little prayer to the Holy Spirit/* 
 But in the midst of surrounding infidelity, — " as for 
 W2C, " says David, "1 will call upon the Alehim; and 
 Jehovah shall hear me" ( Psalm 55, 16. ). And again, 
 — "I, like a green Olive-tree in [beth Alehim ) \hQ 
 House of the Alehim, I trust in the mercy of the Aler 
 him for ever and ever"( Psalm 52, 8. ). 
 
 I shall conclude, with a few brief observations on 
 gome other parts of Mr. Cowans Sermon. 
 
 Mr. C hints at "the intolerant persecution, 
 
 which many o\ tlie religious world exhibit against Mr, 
 Baring, some from not understanding, others from hat- 
 ing, his Doctrine. " Persecution is of course intolerant 
 iu its very nature, hut all intolerance is not persecution. 
 A man is not therefore a persecutor, merely because 
 he does not tolerate, or countenance, the false doc- 
 trines afloat in the world. If the soldier of Christ is 
 Iwiuid to contend earnestly for the faitli, he cannot 
 
288 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 but agonize [as the Greek word is), or strain erery 
 nerve, to oppose the progress of error. Tor him to tole- 
 rate error, is sin, — it makes him a traitor to God and 
 truth. " 1 have a lew things against thee," says the 
 Son of God, '•because thou hast them that hold the 
 doctrine of Balaam, " and '* that hold the doctnne of 
 theNicolaitanes, which thing 7 Aa/e. '* Again,*' I know 
 Ihj works, love, service, faith, patience &c; yet "not- 
 withstanding " all this, "I have a few things against 
 tliee, because thou syfferest (or toleratest) that woman 
 Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and 
 to seduce my servants." I am therefore free to ac- 
 knowledge my part in the intolerance complained of 
 in reference to Mr. Baring's doctrine, — which, if it is 
 not Arianism (and Mr. Cowan positively declares that 
 it is not), is at any rate near akin to it, that is, unita- 
 rian sabeilianism. And even Dr. Carpenter avows, 
 that "he considers the sabellian scheme, as unitarianism 
 (he means socinianism) under a differant name, and 
 using a different language. " * And who can doubt the 
 similarity, at least in some essential points, when we 
 find Y>i\ Carpenter recommending to his readers the 
 identical tract of John Marsom, which Mr. Baring es- 
 teems so highly ? In reference to the baptismal form in 
 Matthew ( 28, 19.), the Doctor observes, — " those who 
 wish to see its connection with the doctrine of the per- 
 sonaliiy of the Holy Spirit, may consult a valuable 
 little tract, entitled, the impersonality of the Holy 
 
 • See bis " Unitarianism (tliat i«, Socinianism,) the doctrine of 
 ike gospel." Sncl. ed. p. 19, and 142. 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 239 
 
 Spirit proved, by John Marsoui."* As to not un- 
 derstanding Mr. Baring's doctrine, I have heard for 
 myself in two long interviews with him at North-brook, 
 
 • Opposed to the opinion of Messrs Marsom, and Carpenter, 
 is that of the learned Schleusner, in reference to Matthew 28,19. 
 as quoted in a note at pajre 87 of tliis work. ♦' In the very names 
 (says Bishop Home,) of father mid son, a near relation, alhance, 
 and unity, between two of the persons, is intimated ; and in 
 reason we must infer somethinjj of a similar kind for the third, so 
 closely joined with them. It is not said, " in the name of God 
 and his two faithful servants ;" nor, "of God and Christ and the 
 holy Ghost;" which might have sns'gested a thought, that one 
 only of the three wai God ; but it is in the name o{ the father and 
 of the son, a style perfectly equal and familiar, without any note 
 of distinction, more than that of a personal relation, carrying 
 with it the idea of a sameness of naturey^s, among men, every 
 father and son are of the same human nature with each other. 
 From the very wording of the form of Baptism, therefore, most 
 reasonably might it be presumed, that tlie two t:rst persons 
 named were equally divine ; and the inference from thence would 
 fairly, and indeed unavoidably, reach to the third, to make all 
 suitable and consistent, besides that the terms hithj and spirit 
 evidently point the same way. 
 
 "But it is yet further to be considered by us, and a consider- 
 ation it is of very great weight indeed upon the subject, that a 
 new religion was to be introduced with this solemn form of 
 words ; and among whom was U to be introduced ? among 
 gentiles, or heathen nations. These were to be taught to turn 
 from their vanities to the living God ; to renounce their idols 
 and false Gods, and so to be baptized in the name of the father 
 zn(\ of the sonund of the holy ghost. Now, what must occur to 
 them, upon this occasion, but that, instead of all t'udr deities, to 
 "whom they had before bowed down, they were in future to serve, 
 worship, and adore, father, son, and holy ghost, as the only true 
 and living God? From tlie solemn proclamation of these three 
 persons, in opposition to allotlier gods, what could they conclude 
 but that these three possessed in reality that divinittj which was 
 falsely presumed with respect to the gods of the nations, and 
 that they had a natural right to all that homage and service 
 
240 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 — have corresponded with some of his followers ex- 
 pressly on the subject of his opinions, — have conversed 
 much with those who regularly attend his place of 
 worship, — and have read some sermons of his, taken 
 down, as preached, by a Lady of his views and ac- 
 quaintance. I may be allowed to say, then, that I 
 understand it, as far a* such a system is intelligible; 
 and in so far as 1 conceive it to be deeply and danger- 
 ously erroneous, 1 cacaot but declare that 1 cordially 
 hate it. *' I have somewhat against thee," says the son 
 of God to the Church of Ephesus, *' because thou hast 
 
 which men should pay to a divine Being ? We may add, that 
 the circumstance' of fc.c form running in the name^ and no! names ^ 
 but in the singular numher, in tlie name of the father and of the 
 son and of the holy ghost, might, and did, in the strongest man- 
 ner ultimate, that the authority oi all the three was the same, 
 their power equal, their persons undivided (though distinct,) 
 and their glory one. 
 
 "Tlielast consideration under this head shall be, that nothing 
 can appear more unreasonable, or unnatural, than to suppose that 
 
 - Gorf, and two creatures, are here joined together in so solemn a 
 rite of admission into a new religion, into the service of the 
 living God, in direct opposition to all creaturs-Avorship. For no 
 rational account can be given, wliy the son and iioly ghost should 
 be thus closely and equallj* johied with the father ^ in an act so 
 public, and of so high importance to the salvation of all men, un- 
 less it be, that all men are required to believe in, to worship, and 
 to serve them also, as well as the father : neither can it be reason- 
 ably imagined, that they are recommended to us in any such 
 
 . capacity, as persons to be believed in, served, and adored, if they 
 be creatures only much less, if Christ be no nnue than a mere 
 man, like one of us, and the holy spirit a property, or quality 
 only, of the father ; in short, if the three, taken togethei , be any 
 other than (in essence) the one living and only true God." Vol. 
 6. p. 420—24. 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 241 
 
 left thy first love"'; and then the Lord adds, in com" 
 meiiaaton of this back ilddeu Church, — ** bui this thou 
 hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, 
 which / also hate! " 
 
 Indeed Mr. Baring is the last man in the world 
 who should complain of j)ersecatio;) iind intolerance. 
 He has crept into tlie pulpits of other minis teiL^, in 
 some iiis'ances that I myself know of, decidedly against 
 the wishes of ihe Pastors, and decried the true God, 
 "the Alehiai of eternity, " and introduced a fanciful 
 Deity of his own conceiving. Now, if Mr. Cowjin 
 himself, in his zeal for his friend, abhors the idea of 
 the imputation of Ariauisni to him. — are not zve justi- 
 fied, as zealous and conscientious Trinitarian.-, ia 
 attempting to stem this torrent oi Sabelhanism, which 
 threatens to overwhelm the churches of Christ, and 
 which we consider as not a joi less heretical than the 
 system of Arius? Surely it becomes us to blow the 
 trumpet in Zion, and to sound an alarm in the holj 
 Mountain. 
 
 Mr. Cowan's main attempt in his sermon, is to 
 prove that conviction of sin in the mind of a humbled 
 sinner, does not proceed from the influence of the holy 
 spirit, but that it springs from the natural conscience, 
 which we have of right and wrong, or that it is effected 
 in us through the means of the written law. That 
 conscience is an internal monitor, and often accuses 
 and condenms, is not to be denied, or that the law, 
 whereit is promulged, often bears witness against us 
 by its holy precepts, and affrights us by its penalties. 
 But the remonstrances of conscience, and the thundex- 
 
 Y 
 
242 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 ing denunciations of Sinai, are not those which induce 
 a thorough contrition of soul. The question appears 
 to be this, — whence arises a true spiritual knowledge 
 of the law, of self, and of sin ? Whence comes, what 
 the scriptures term, "repentance unto life?" From 
 what source flows that ** godly sorrow," which is said 
 to ** work repentance," a repentance not to be repented 
 of, because a repentance** unto Salvation?^* Surely, 
 tp sorrow, not as the world sorrows, whose sorrow 
 proves abortive, or if productive of any thing, of 
 nothing that is spiritual, nothing that is gracious, — to 
 sorrow ** after a godly sort," this surely is from God. 
 It is generated in us by *' God the spirit,^* upon the 
 out-pourings of whose unction on us, we are said to 
 mourn (Zechariah 12, 10. ). But to mo.urn, says Mr. 
 Cowan, for Christ, — "not for our sins". Yes, — for 
 him, as crucified for our sins. David mourned, not only 
 for his own sins, but likewise for those of others, the 
 consideration of whose enormities, as detrimental ta 
 their own welfare, and derogatory to the honour of God 
 as the supreme legislator, caused " rivers " of tears to 
 gush from his eyes. In any other sense, Christ would 
 say to us, what he said to those who bewailed him in 
 his advance to the cross, — ** weep not for wte, but weep 
 for yourselves \" When Peter wept bitterly, it was 
 given him to taste a little of the wormwood and the 
 gall of sin, the full cup of which, his master and 
 Lord was ordained to drink for him. If Christ 
 is exalted a prince and a Saviour ** to give repentance 
 to Israel," he gives this, as he gives faith, that is, 
 by the same spirit. For when, upon his Ascension, 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. ^3 
 
 Le received the Holy Ghost, in him he received all 
 spiritual blessings, all requisite mercies for rebellious 
 men, to produce in them a change of mind, and reno- 
 vation of heart, and so to restore them from their apos- 
 tacy, and to reduce them into a willing obedience to 
 Limselfk Indeed, whatever genuine spiritual effect is 
 wrought in the human soul, through the instrumenta- 
 lity of ministers, or through the means of the word of 
 truth, is to be referred to the concourse of the spirit 
 who is the sole eflBcient agent. " All these worKeth 
 the one and the same spirit, dividing to every man 
 severally as he will. " A Paul may plant, and an 
 ApoUos water, in vain, except He command the in- 
 crease. Uninfluenced by his grace, all Israel turned to 
 idolatry, at the footof mount-sinai. so that the law made 
 nothing perfect. But if he is with us as the spirit of 
 truth lo teach, then the law becomes, subordinately to 
 him, our instructor unto Christ {GalatiansS, 24). 
 So that we are led to perceive, that *♦ Christ himself 
 is the end of the law for righteousness to every one 
 that believeth " ( Romans 10, 4. ) . But even if the 
 gospel Q,oii\Q to us " in word only, " it will not operate 
 in power, it will not beget one ray of hope, — and how 
 much less, then, the full assurance? It is only *'the 
 gospel preached with the holy ghost sent down from 
 Heaven," that can prove influential upon the hearers. 
 (1. Thessolonians 1, 4, G: 1. Peter, 1, 12.). It is 
 expressly the ministration of the spirit. He is the 
 great teacher in the school of Christ — ** he shall teach 
 you all things. " And therefore, without him, although 
 you may be ever learning, you shall learn nothing to 
 
244 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 any good purpose, — you shall never be able to come 
 to a true vital experimental saving knowledge of the 
 truth. Hence the word of God is most significantly 
 styled the swoid of the spirit; not this or that fyart of 
 the word of God, bu' the whole, and all its parts! It 
 Mas fabricated by him; it is sharpened and furbished 
 by him; and it is he who gives it all its point, edge, 
 and force. He also wields it, and all its execution is 
 from him. Paul W2ts alive once, as he thought; but 
 when the Commandment came in the power of the 
 spirit, then sin revived, he had a clear apprehension 
 of it, and he died. But he who kills, makes alive, — 
 he who wounds makes whole. He is the spirit of life. 
 He only probes the heart, that he may heal it. And 
 if he cause grief, he does not willingly afflict, but 
 would cure us of the hurt which sin has inflicted 
 on us — he quickly pours in the Balm, the Wine, and 
 the Oil, and having mollified it as with Ointment, he 
 binds up the broken in heart, and gives them beauty 
 for ashes, the Oil of joy for mourning, and the gar- 
 ment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Thus David 
 looks to him for comfort, from whom his smart pro- 
 ceeded — *' make me to hear joy and gladness, tliatthe 
 bones which tJiou hast broken may rejoice." And in- 
 deed, if the sou of God, who is emphatically the con- 
 solation of Israel, — if he declares, "as many as I love, 
 I rebuke and chasten; " and if {he father, who is de- 
 nominated a father of mercies and a God of all com- 
 fort, is represented as scourging every child of his 
 adoption; why may not the spirit of truth, aUhough 
 *^he comforter, with perfect consistency induce a godly 
 
AND THE INCARKATION. 245 
 
 sorrow for sin, in order to his preparing us for tLe 
 cordial reception of the gospel? But the lan^iage of 
 David is express, — "the sacrifices of the Alehira are 
 a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O 
 Alehim ! thou wilt not despise." Now if a broken 
 spirit, and a contrite heart, are the sacrifices which 
 God is pleased with, — if he dwells with him that is of 
 a contrite and humble spirit, and says, — ** to this man 
 will I look, even to hirn that is poor, and of a contrite 
 spirit and trembleth at my word," — it must be a sad, 
 yea an infernal delusion, to attribute every thing ot 
 this kind, as some now do, to the Devil. " Come and 
 let us return to Jehovah," says the Church of old, 
 "for he hath torn, and he will heal us, — he hath smit- 
 ten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he 
 revive us ; in the third day he will raise us up ; and 
 we shall live in his sight. Then shall we knoWy — we 
 follow on to know Jehovah ; his going forth is prepar- 
 ed as the morning: and he shall come unto us as the 
 rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. "* 
 Mr. Cowan asserts, that " the spirit does not glo- 
 rify himself as the agent, but he glorifies Christ," 
 !Nor did Christ glorify himself, or bear witness of him- 
 self. **I seek not my own glory", said he; and "if 
 I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. ** 
 He bore witness of the Father, and of the spirit, — • 
 and they gave testimony to the Son; the father, by an 
 audible view, — and the spirit, in his visible descent 
 like a Dove. The Sou refers all his miracles, one 
 
 * Psalm 51, and Hoiea 6. Isaiah 5T. 15—19, and 66, 2. 
 Hebrews 12, o^Il. Revelations 3, 19. and John 16, T— 15. 
 Y 3 
 
246 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 while to the father, and another while to the spirit, — 
 whom he glorifies as the agent, although poo?* erring 
 mortals refuse to do so. And knowing that there 
 would be grievous departures from the faith in this 
 particular, he very awfully declares that he who shall 
 speah against the Holy Spirit, denying his agency, 
 or his person, and attributing his works and oper- 
 ations to some foreign influence, *'hath never forgive- 
 ness, but is in danger of eternal damnation."* Nor 
 is it peculiar to the Son to be entitled the Lord of 
 glorij ; since the first subsistence in Jehovah is deno- 
 minated the father of glory, and the third subsistence 
 is called the spirit of glory. These are "the God of 
 glory"; or, what the Hebrew expi'esses by, "the 
 Aleliim of glory. " It is therefore unscriptural, and it 
 is perfectly irrational, to lose sight of these divine per- 
 sonages in Deity, and to make all glory centre in a 
 created nature. It is the express end of all the dis- 
 pensations of Heaven, *' that God in all things may be 
 glorified, throvgh Jesvs Christ," — that is to say, the 
 divinity through the manhood. The manhood is the 
 consecrated /werfh/zw, of glory to God in the highest, 
 and of communications of grace and goodwill to the 
 children of Abraham. But neither in the one case, 
 nor in the other, is it the origin, or the end. But 
 Mr. Cowan m ill contend, that the deity which is to be 
 nltimately all in all, is '* Jehovah in the abstract," and 
 " not as Father and Son and Spirit." He adduces 
 no proof, nor is it possible he should, because Father 
 and Son and Spirit are Jehovah, and therefore one, as 
 
 . • Matthew 12^ 31, 32. Mark 3, 29. and Luke 12, 10. 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 247 
 
 St. Jolm avers, — en to theion, one divinity. For tlie 
 scriptures pronounce unequivocally, that Jehovah is 
 *'Mc Alehim" ( ha-alehim ), — and at the same time, 
 that the Alehim of eternity are, essentially considered, 
 *'Jeiiovah bora," or the supreme Lord the creator. 
 And therefore, considered in their personal distinc- 
 tions, the Alehim (ha-alebim), are represented in the 
 plural, as boraim the creators. These have been de- 
 monstrated to be our bon'un or restorers, and our ashim 
 or makers; and these are they who said, we will make 
 ( or create ) man, in our im^ge, our likeness. And 
 since, to cause to be, is to be Jehovah, — and whatever 
 is Jehovah, or the cause of being, is neccessarily eter- 
 nal, a parte ante ; therefore tiiese co-operating agents 
 in the aflairs of the universe, are represented as ^nhiK 
 CDip " the Alehim of antiquitjs" the true ancients of 
 days, or czi^ir'nV^ ''the Alehim of eternity.'' Con- 
 sequently, as they never began to be, so they can 
 never cease to exist. It is indeed consistent in Mr. 
 Cowan to make his Trinity evanescent, because it is a 
 Trinity of his own devlsmg; he has passed sentence upon 
 his own figment, and doomed it to the fate it deserves 
 — *' the characters of Father, Son, and Spirit (he says) 
 will cease. " Had he known them as persons, as as- 
 sociated agents in giving being to the existing *' worlds, * 
 he would not have talked of their ceasing, because he 
 would have acknowledged them to be in essence "one 
 Jehovah.''' And to evince, in a word, that no being, 
 who is not naturally and essentially Jehovah, had any 
 part in Creation, — but yet, that the Alehim created, 
 and also, that all other Alehim, or pretenders to divi- 
 
248 ON THE TRINITY, 
 
 nity, than such as did really create, shall eventually 
 perish, — to evince the truth o( these particulars, it vi^ill 
 be only necessary to submit to the reader the follow- 
 ing quotations. "Thus saith Jehovah, thy Goel, even 
 he that formed thee from the Womb,- I am Jehovah, 
 that maketh all things (ashah), that stretcheth forth 
 the Heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth 
 by mi/self/' This plainly excludes from anj' partici- 
 pation in Creation every Being but Jehovah. But it 
 is not intended to exclude the Alehim, because they 
 are Jehovah ashah in point of oneness of nature and 
 essence, and are, as distinct personal agents in the same 
 Godhead, Jehovah our ashini or makers. *' For thus 
 saith Jehovah, who created the Heavens, he, the 
 Alehim, that formed the earih and made it,I Jehovah, 
 and none else."'' Thus the Jebovahship, or essential 
 Lordi^hip of the true Alehim, is secured, and likewise 
 indeed their creatorship, *'and, none else, saith Je- 
 hovah;" but, ''by myself, nnd alone.'" As for all 
 others, whether conceived of old, or such modern 
 Alehim ns the ancients knew not, neiv ones (hadashim,) 
 newly come up, as Moses expresses it, — "thus* shall 
 ye say unto them; the Alehim, that have not made 
 the Heavens and the Earth, they shall perish from the 
 Earth, and from under these Heavens. Bui Jehovah 
 is the true Alehim ; he is the Alehim the living ones, 
 and the king of eternity." 
 
 I now conclude, having sufficientl}^ demonstrated 
 the main point, namely, that ^ve worship Jehovah, 
 
 * Isaiah 44, 24 : 45, 18 : Deuteronomy 32, 17 j Jeremiah 10, 
 10; 1! J Ephesians 2; 18. 
 
AND THE INCARNATION. 249 
 
 wlieii we pay our adorations to Fa' her and Son and 
 Holy Spirit, inasmuch as these sacred personages are 
 the Alehini oF eternity: and of this divine triad, or 
 glorif)us Shelisbah, tlie Son as incarnate is the con- 
 stituted medium of approach to the Father, and the 
 spirit is our guide — *' for tftrmujh him we have access, 
 hy one spir»t, unto the Father. ' Thus the doctriue of 
 the old Testament coincides with that of the new, and 
 the Jewish theology wi h that of christians; both of 
 them concur, like kindred rays from the same source 
 of light, to direct us to the worship of ** the *Alehim 
 of truth" (Alehi amen,) in the name of the " three, that 
 bear witness in Heaven, the Father, the Word (or 
 Son,) and tlie Holy Spirit, and," as John subjoins, 
 ** these three are one."t 
 
 * Isaiah 65, 16, 
 t 1 John, 5, 7. The authenticity of this passage has been 
 questioned by some in modern times, although in the early ages 
 of the church it was never doubted to be genuine. The early 
 fathers constan ly represent the three as ojie, which is evidently 
 in allusion to this passage of the x\postle. TertuUiau of the 2nd. 
 century, and Cyprian of the 3rd. botii refer to it, as they would 
 1o any ether Scripture. And Jerome, who made his version of 
 the new Testauient about the year of our Lcrd, 384, observes, 
 in reiorence to it — " In that place we read of .he unity of the 
 Trinity, the testimony of the fatlier, the word, and the spirit? 
 by whicli, principally, both the Catholic faith is confimed, and 
 the one substance of the divinity of father, son, and spirit, is 
 proved.'* Again he says, — and as, coufouiidiug Arlus, we say, 
 that there is one and tlie same substance of the Trinity, and 
 confess one GoJ in three persons, so, slmnning the Impiety of 
 Sabdlhts, we distinguish the three persons, exi>ressed b}' tiieir 
 peculiarity. The father is always the father, the sou is always 
 the son, and the holy ghost is always the holy ghost. And thus 
 in substance they arc one (unum^ but in persons and iu titles 
 
S50 ON THE TRINITY, d'C. 
 
 they are distinguished." However, a doubt having being raised 
 of late, this cirGuiiistance is caught at with extreme avidity by 
 persous of Unitarian sentiments of every description, from the 
 Sociiiian up to the SabelUan. It may therefore be in season, 
 just to observe, tiiat Dr. Hales, in the 2nd. edition of his Unita- 
 rian SabelUanism, has ably defended this noble Scripture ; and 
 the following brief summary is given by him, as a faithful repre- 
 sentation of the present state of the question. 
 
 *' f then we compare the positwe evidence of the standard 
 editions, the vuls^ate version, and several of the early fathers^ 
 and liturgies both Greek and Latin, in favour of the disputed 
 verse, with the negative evidence (the only species of evidence 
 Existing agamst it) of Greek manuscripts, later versions, and 
 several Gn ek fathers, aguiust it ; and also oppose the acknow- 
 ledged silence of all the heretics (of former ages,) to impugn this 
 (now exploded) passage, to the alledged silence of some of the 
 fathers to adduce it ; we seem fully warranted to conclude, that 
 the testimony foTy grcatlj outweigh* the testUaony against ^ th« 
 disputed verge." 
 
AILIPIHABl^IKSAIL ILII3T 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 OF 
 
 jBiaaiDi?^ 
 
 NOTICED IX THE FOREGOING- PAQES. 
 
AILiPIHAIBISirilSAIL ILIilT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HEBREW TITLES, 8$c, 
 
 1. n*i« Abir, the potent one, the potentate 
 of Israel. *' Thus saith the Adon, -Jehovah Sabaoth, 
 the Abir of Israel (Isaiah 1, 24.) In this place it is 
 rendered o l£<moiri<T, by the seventy ; but in Geuesis 
 (49, 24.) they translate it lvyxa]yt(T. Together, these 
 terms convey the idea of an omnipotent and sovereign 
 governor of thf^ universe, but in a peculiar manner of 
 the Israel of God. Goih these Greek tides are applied 
 to the Lord JesMS Christ in the new Testament. 
 i)cspoites is applied to him in the general Epistlt of 
 Jude,verse4 — -'deming our only sovn-eigu God and 
 Lord, Jesus Christ;" or, accordmg to Giiesbach's 
 text, *' denying our onlv sovereign and Lord, Jesus 
 Chri-'t." Dunasfees is applied to Christ by St. Paul 
 in liis 1st. Epistle to Timothy (6, 15.); where the 
 Apostle entitles him, i^ reference to his superior 
 nature as a divine person in tlie Godhead, "the hiess- 
 ed and only potcntatef the Kings of Kings and Loiti 
 z 
 
254 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 of Lords." The latter part of this designation is pre- 
 dicated of the Son of God in the 19th. of the Revela- 
 tion by John (verse 11, — 16.) "his name is called 
 the word of G od ; and he hath on his vesture and on 
 his thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord 
 of Lords. '* And indeed in other places he is styled 
 "the Prince of the Kings of the earth," and the 
 *'Lord of all," and *' over all God blessed for ever.'* 
 Now his being God is the reason of the Apostle's an- 
 nexing to his title of only potentate, the following sub- 
 lime description of his ineffable divinity, — *♦ who only 
 hath Immortality, d\v^llhig in the light which no man 
 can appioach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can 
 see. " We only see the Son as he is incarnate, or 
 manifested in the flesh; just as men ** saw the Spirit,'* 
 when he descended in the; assumed appearance of a 
 dove. But in respect of their divLie nature or God- 
 head, we can no more see the Son, or the Spirit, thaa 
 we can see the Father. *' For no man hath seen God 
 at any time " ; that is to say, his essence or substance, 
 which is absolutely invisible, and e\fen incomprehen- 
 sible to every creature, insomuch that the mind's eye, 
 as well as the corporeal organ, loses, in this particu- 
 lar, its power of vision, and angeis and men are alike 
 incapable of a positive perception of him. And hence 
 arises an argument in favour of the proper divine Son- 
 ship of the Messiah, since, if no mem hath seen or can 
 see God at any time, then the only begotten Sou who 
 is in the bosom of the Father, is not a man, as Mr. 
 JBevan makes him, telling us that "it is the man who 
 is the Son, '' For Christ expressly declares, — " not 
 
OP THE DEITY. 2^5 
 
 tliat any Being {lia-) bath seen the Father, save he 
 who is of God, he hath seen the Father. " John 6, 46. 
 And the reader will recollect, that tbronghout the new 
 Testament the Son is frequently opposed to mat, ac- 
 cording to the following examples, *' God who spako 
 in time past by the prophets^ hath in these last days 
 spoken by the Son. " Hebrew 1, 1. " The huv maketh 
 7nen High Priests who have infirmity, *' and which 
 Christ also had as man, and even died as they did, 
 ** but the -svord of the oath maketh the Son, who is 
 consecrated for ever more." Hebrew 7, 28. He is 
 also distinguished from the Angels as the Son; ** for 
 unto which of the Angels said he at any time, Thou art 
 77Uf Son? But unto the Son he saith, thy throne, O 
 God! is for ever and ever. And again; when lie 
 bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, 
 and let all the Angels of God worship him." Hebrew 
 1, 2, 14. And because it was the person of the Sou, 
 and not immediately the person of the Father, that 
 becrime incarnate, therefore it is not said that he who 
 sees the Father sees the Son, but that he who sees the 
 Son sees also the Father in liim. For he is the incar- 
 nated person, and in him therefore God is manifested 
 in the flesh ; because he being no creature, but an in- 
 create essential mode of subsistence in the Deity, is 
 the tiKuy or xerjimo.f/e of the invisible Jehovah, jv^ao^^ 
 in the genuine form of God, and the Kxpx)i%p ''ir}<T 
 vTiotflx'jriXTaviov, exact delineation of substantial divinity. 
 2. Qn'n^< Abirim, tiie potent ones or potentates- 
 It is the plural form of the preceding title, and it 
 designates the Alehim or personal subsistences ia 
 
256 h:ebrew titles 
 
 Jehovah, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For this 
 should seem to be the only possible sense which can 
 be assigned to the expression in the 78th. Psalm (21, 
 25.) ** Jehovah heard and was wroth; so a fire was 
 kindled against Jacob, and aager also came up against 
 Israel, because they believed not in the Alefiim and 
 trusted not in his salvation, though he had commanded 
 the clouds from above, and opened the doors of Heaver, 
 and had rained down Manna upon them to eat, and 
 Lad given them of the Corn of the Heavens, man did 
 eat the bread of /Ae Abirim;" that is to say, of those 
 potent ones, the Alehim, who are mentioned in the 
 context as having provided the miraculous supply of 
 Manna, in order to assert their own omnipoence as 
 being essentially Jehovah, and to reprove by such a 
 wonder the infidel murmurings of the people; lor 
 *'they tempted Al in their heart, yea they spoke 
 against the Alehim ^ 
 
 •* It would be an affront to the reader's under- 
 standing," observes Mr. Parkhuife;!, "to go about to 
 persuade him that Angels do not eat Manna, any 
 more than am^ thing else. But that the Fheniciaus 
 or Canaanites worshipped their material Alehim, the 
 Heavens^ under this name or attribute of the tiue 
 Abiiim or potentates, is highly probable i'rom the plain 
 remains of a Pheuician Temple at Ahiry in ^^ iltsl.'ire, 
 >vhich still retains the name. For an accurate and 
 ingenious account of which, see the Reverend Mr. 
 Cooke's enquiry into the patriarchal and druidical 
 lleligion, Temples, <*tc." That learned gentleman's 
 supposition is, that this Temple was erected to Jehovah, 
 
OV THE DIETY. 257 
 
 tLe ever blessed Trinity, the true Abirim of Heaven ; 
 but Mr. Parkhurst rather inclines to the opinion, that 
 it was dedicated to the material Trinity of the Heavens 
 (the Hutcliinsonian fire, light, and airj v.lich the 
 idolatrous Piieiiicians worsliipped. 
 
 3. "n« Adir, the illustrious one, he who excells in 
 the splendor of majesty. Moses, in Exodus (15, 6. 
 11.) celebrates Jehovah as ilhistrions in pov. er and in 
 holiness, in reference to his glorious triumph over the 
 enemies of his people, v. hen he avenged himself upon 
 tiie proud Egypt'"an host, and delivered Israel from 
 their rage. *' Thv right hand, O Jehovali ! is become 
 illuslrions in power ; thy riglit hand, O Jehovah! hath 
 dashed in pieces the enemy, and in tlie greatness of 
 thine excellency tliou hast overthrown tliem that rose 
 up against thee. V^ho is like unto thee, O Jehovah! 
 among til e mighty ones ? wlio is like ihee, illustrious 
 in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" Trom- 
 mius renders Adir by Qxi'/xaatocr, mirabilis, S:c. See 
 his index, Heb. et Cludd. 
 
 4. anni^ Adb-imh the plural form oftlie above, 
 and is used as an epithet to Ak^him. "The Alehim 
 is come into the camp," cried the panic-struck Philis- 
 tines; "who sliall deliver us out of the hand of ihese 
 illusirious iVleliim? Tlicse are the Alehim v/ho smote 
 the Egyptians in the wilderness ! " 1 Samuel 4, 7, 8. 
 And David, in alhision to the i;ame transaction, speaks 
 of the Alehim in the plural number, at the same time 
 that he declares that there are no Alehim hut Jehovah, 
 *' Thou art great, O Jehovah Alehim ! for there is 
 jione like thee^ neither are there ant) Alehim besides 
 
 z 2 
 
258 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 thee. And what one nation in the earth is like thy 
 people, like Israel, wliom the Alehim they went 
 ID^n to redeem for a people to himself, whom thou 
 redeemedst to thee from Egj^pt, the nations, and 
 their Alehim^ 2 Samuel 7, 22 23. Bishop Horsl&y 
 notices tliis title in his translation of the book of 
 Psalms, ** adlrim, or the glorious ones, I should under- 
 stand here as a title o^ the Alehim, the persons of the 
 Godhead." The Bishop is commenting upon Psalm 
 42, 4, which he renders as follows, *' that I am to pass 
 over to the Tabernacle of the glorious ones, to the 
 house of God,"'' that is, of the Alehhn. Vol. 1. p. 25f>. 
 
 5. pnt^ Adon, the sustaining, supporting, and 
 governing Lord, wdio is at once the base, the pillar, 
 and chief corner stone of Zion, and her regent 
 Pj-ince. 
 
 6. »:i^ Adonai is from the same root as the above, 
 and conveys the same idea. 
 
 7. CD>j"n« Adonim is {he plural form of the pre- 
 ceding tiiles, and it signiiies the governing ones, c^-c. 
 or what Daniel expresses by ptD^bm sheldhi, the rulers; 
 *' thy Kii'jgdom shall be sure unto thee ( said he to the 
 King of Babylon ), after that thou shalt have Known 
 that f Ac IleavenUes i^'ni:? are therw/ers. " Daniel 4, 26. 
 These then are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
 .And hence in Malachi (1, 6.), we meet with this en- 
 quiry, — " If I be adoaim, wJiere is my fear, sailh 
 J^-ho^ah Sabaoth?" And Israel, confe8?ing their sin, 
 are represented by Isaiah ( 2G, 1*^. ), as sayimi, — *' O 
 .Tehovah our Alehim! adonim besides thee hove had 
 dominion over us; but thee only, and tliy name hence- 
 
OF THE DEITT. 25^ 
 
 forth will we celebrate." Nor vv-js this other tlian a 
 sen 'hie resolution ; " for," as Closes said to the people, 
 *' Johovali, yonr Alehim. is tUf^ Ale'jim of Aleliiiri; and 
 the Adonim o*^" Adonitn," D. uteroRioay 10, 17. 
 
 n^n^^ Akejnh, I will b?, or he who is to come; the 
 future or exjK-cted Jah. '^I'^will be that alipjab, " 
 said God to Moses. And he said, '• thus shaltibou 
 say unto the c'!:ldren of Tsrael. Ahejah liath sent me 
 unto you.'' Exodus 3, 14. The sense of this title is 
 preserved in the New Testament bi the expression 
 ospx'^l/.Evor erkomenos, he who cometh, he. who is to 
 <5ome, or rather, he who is a coming, *'Por yet* 
 little while ( says the Apostle f, and he that shall 
 come," crkomenos, he wiio is a coming, '' will come, 
 and will not tarry" . Hebrews 10, 37. This refers 
 to the final advent of our incarnate Jah, the ^-on of 
 God invested, with the human form. Tliei e is a -evere 
 repj'jof in tlie oOlh Psahu against ijiosp- who would 
 reduce thi^ oelestiaJ personage to a \qv(\ witli them- 
 sel\o*, 3.5 sorting that the Son is the manhood -mly ; for 
 \\\' 21st verse may be read ihus,—"lljcu hast thought 
 that ahejah is such an one as thyself; [ will call tliee 
 to account, and I will be thy adversary to thy face, 
 K^ V consider this, ye Vwd forget Alouh/' See 
 Horr"ley's translation and Notes — ''It is with parti- 
 cular propriety (observes the Bishop), that God, in 
 a personal expostulation wiih his people, about 'heir 
 iufiingement of their covenant with him in its most 
 ess^^ntial parts, calltj himself by the name, by which 
 he was pleas-ed to dHscri!jf3 himself to that same peo- 
 ple, when he first called them hy his servant Moses 
 
260 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 (Exodus 3, 14.). The passage llierefore slioiilcl be 
 
 rendered as in mj translation". 
 
 f?i^ Al, tlje mighty one. According to Taylor, 
 Frey, Pasor, and Buxtorf, &c, it springs from ^*« 
 ail, which signifies strength, might, power and for- 
 titude, &c. But others deduce it from V^ al, to inter- 
 pose for protection, &c; and Avhich idea indeed is not 
 at variance with the former, since he who is our, ^Z- 
 gebur, or mighty God, does truly interpose and shews 
 himself "mighty #0 s«ie. " 
 
 CD^h^ Alim is the plural of the foregoing, and in- 
 tends the mighties or mighty ones in Jehovah, the co- 
 agent persons in tlie sacred essence. For as men are 
 sometimes called the Sons of the Ahhun * or persons 
 
 * "Many," says the excellent Bisliop Home, '* appreliend 
 the doctrine of the Trinity to be what is called a speculative 
 doctrine only. This is a considerable mistake in judgment » 
 and to prove that it is so, let ns only ask one question, — what is 
 the doctrine of most importance to man in his religious con- 
 cerns ? Undoubtedly it is that of his redemption from sin and 
 sorrow, from death <iiui hell, to righteousness and joy, immor- 
 tality and glory. But of such redemption what account do the 
 Scriptures give us ? By whom v> as tb.e gracious scheme origin- 
 ally concerted, and afterwards carried into execution? Was it 
 not by the three persons of the ever blessed Trinity It was 
 rot an after-thought, a utw design, formed upon the transgres- 
 sion and fall of our first parents. That event was foreseen, and 
 provision made accordingly. For upon the very best authority 
 we are informed, that Christ was "the Lamb slain from the 
 foundation of the world ;" that is, slain in effect, in the divine 
 }";jjrposc and counsel. It is likewise said, that " grace was given 
 Ǥ in Christ Jesus before the world began." The words inti- 
 mate, that previous to the creation of the world, something had 
 passed in our favour above, that tlie plan of our future redemp- 
 tion '*tas then laid, that some agreement, sonic covecant, relative 
 
OP THE DEITY. 261 
 
 in covenant, so, at oiber times, thej appear to bo 
 styled the Sons of the Alim. Psalm 29, 1: 89, 6, 
 Trommms renders al, and its plural aiini, by Qtoa-, deus, 
 and Qsot dii. 
 
 n'?^ Aleh, the Deity vol antarily engaged in cove- 
 nant by oaih. Hence the ** Hoi^ Covenant" of God 
 is called by Zacliarias "the Oath which he sware. " 
 Luke 1. 72, 73. The word aleh sometimes means aa 
 oath ; but the root whence it arises, is the verb aleh, 
 which, according to I'a'Ior, Fiey, and others, sig* 
 hiiies to swear, to adjure, to bind one.ieif or another 
 by an oath. Ov;c. 
 
 m'?^ Aloah is from the same root as the forpgoing 
 title, and as a participle or participial no^m passive, it 
 
 to it, had been entered into. Grace was given iis, not in ow 
 propel persons, for u.^ yet we were not, we hat! no bv"inj;; but 
 in the pers... oflnm the -ou of God,)%vJio f being then our repre- 
 sentative; >Aas afiervYirds to become our Saviour, ''in Christ 
 Jesus." Now tiie plan rausi have been laid, the covenant 
 entered into, by the parties who have since been graciously 
 pl<^sed to roriceni the nselves in its execution. Who these arc 
 we cannot be ignorant. It was the Son of God who took our 
 nature upon him, and in tliat nature made satisfaction, 6:c. for 
 the sins of the vro} Id. It was tne Father who accepted such 
 gatisfaction, and in consf^quence forgave those sins. It was the 
 Holy SjArit, who came forrh from the Father and the Son, b> h;8 
 enliiihtening, heahug, and oomforting grace to api'ly to the 
 hearts of men, for aU the purposes of nardou, sanctification, and 
 salvation, the merits and bent tits of that oblation, satistViCtion, 
 and rionement. Say no more, then, that the doctrine of the 
 Trinity is a matter of curiosity and amusement only. Our 
 reliiiiim uifoundtd upon it. For what is Christianity, bui a mani- 
 festatK.n of tiie three divine persons as engaged in ihe great 
 work i.i n.an's redemption, oegun, crntiniuii, and to be ended 
 i>y tUeni? See Home's works, vol. 5, p. 430—4. 
 
202 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 may be rendered the accursed or devoted one ; mean- 
 ing the second person in God, who stood up in our 
 stead, became our surety, undertook in covenant to 
 assume our nature and our sins, and to take the penal- 
 ty of the broken law upon himself, and to endure the 
 punishment in that very nature which had sinned. 
 Hence Peter says that ^' he his own self hare our sins 
 in his own boclf/ (or humanity), on the tree"; and 
 that accordingly " by his stripes ive are healed. " The 
 Greek term, which in the New Testament corresponds 
 w ith this Hebrew title of aloah, is ntiY.o[^;otoa]o<i epikata-* 
 ratos^ and which is employed by St. Paul in reference 
 to the incarnate Son of God. " CA7'is^ hath redeemed 
 us from the curse of the law, hei7in 7nade a curse [K^iiapx 
 Kaiara, ] for us; for it is written, cursed is ( epikata- 
 ratos ) every one that hangeth upon a tree. " Gal. 3, 
 13. Now that the aloali who originally pledged him- 
 self for our redemption from sin and eternal damna- 
 tion, V. as not the first created human soul, according 
 to the Sabellian dream, or any creature whatever, but 
 the incarnate Son of the Father, Jehovah essentially 
 in himself, and by nature God, is manifest from the 
 following considerations. Scripture determines at once, 
 that no man can redeem, his brotlier, or give to God a 
 ransom for him, for that it is too precious; he cannot 
 redeem him from slteol or the grave, — and how much 
 less then from Gehenna or the Hell? Next it is invari- 
 ably declared in the Hebrew records, that our re- 
 deemer is Jeliovab, and none else, and that besides 
 Jehovah there is no Saviour. And, thirdly, in Psalm 
 18; at the 31st verse, it is enquired, — ''for who is 
 
OF THE DEITY. 265 
 
 €doah except Jehovah?'' And equally strong is that 
 ill Isaiali (44, 8. ), — *' Is there an Aloali besides me? 
 Yea there is no Zur (no rock, or sure ibunddtion of 
 trust and confidence), I know not any." Moses re- 
 proves Israel for their neglect of Aloah, — " Jeshurua 
 waxed fat; then he for ook Aloah his maker (ov, who 
 made him ), and lightly esteemed the Zur ( or rock ] of 
 his salvation : tliey provoked him to jealou.- ly with 
 strarvje ones, Alehim whom ttiey knew not, }iew ones 
 newly come up. " Deuteronomy 32, io. This Aloah, 
 who is Jehovah in the person of the Son, was Job's 
 consolation in the midst of his afflictions, and his hope 
 in the prospect of death and Judgment. " My friends 
 scorn me ; but mine eye pouretli out tears unto Aloali. 
 O that one might plead for a man- with Aloah, as a 
 man pleadetb for his neighbour! Have pity upon me, 
 have pity upon me, O ye my friends ! For the hand 
 of Aloah hath touched me. Oh that my words were 
 now written ! Oh that they were inscribed in a book? 
 Thai they were graven with an iron peu and lead in 
 the rock for ever ? For I know that my redeemer livQih, 
 and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth ; 
 and though after my skin, worms destroy this body, 
 yet in my flesh I shall see Aloah, whom I shall see for 
 myself, and not another." Aloah the redeemer was 
 he who chastened Job, — the hand of Aloali is upon 
 me ; and what says the Son of God to his Churches? 
 ** These things saith the Son of God : all the Churches 
 shall know that I am he who searcJietii the reins and 
 hearts. As many as I love, / rehuke and chasten, ^^ 
 Job 16. and 19. Revelations 2, and 3, 
 
^64 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 Bat altliongh the title umler consideration applies 
 vith peculiar emphasis to the second subsistence in 
 God, yet it may with evident propriety oe extended 
 to the Alehim generally. For the root aleh signifies, 
 as Frey states it, one who has *' sworn, abjured, cursed, 
 bound himself or another by an oath with an impreca* 
 tion annexed.^' So that the divine persons, concur- 
 ring in the covenant, and in the confirmation of it by 
 a voluntary oath, are virtually under a self imposed 
 execration in case of non-performance ; which non-per- 
 formaace, since it is an impossibility from the natura 
 of God who cannot lie, was not tiie thing in contem- 
 plation in the introduction of the oath, nor was the 
 oath introduced to en?ure performance, — but solely 
 to inspire the souls o^ \\iq faithful with ^ sort of confi- 
 dence which no tempest, whether ragiug within or 
 without, should be able to shake, — with a full assur- 
 ance of hope, which hope nught be their sheet anchor 
 in every storm, an anchor sure and stedfast. and which 
 would pie.?erve them from being driven by the wind 
 or tossed by the ^\aves, and from making shipwreck 
 of tiieir faith amidsr tiie severest assaults from the sea 
 of troubles with v\ hich they are liable to be assailed. 
 Hebrew 6, 13-20. And therefore, in Job 35, 10, 
 this tide is connected witli the plural ashlm, the crea- 
 ting persons in Jehovah ; "■ none saith, where is Aioah, 
 my makers, who giveth songs in the night?" And 
 indeed we learn this secret from the first page of the 
 Bii'le, that the personages who said, "we will niahe 
 Man," were "the Alehim'^ ^^ho are engaged in 
 covenant for ui^m's salvation. 
 
OF THE DEITY. 265 
 
 13. Q»nV« Alehim is the plural form of Aleh, and 
 it intends, as Mr. Romaine expresses it, "the three ia 
 covenant. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, wlio took 
 this name (of Alehim,) because the covenant was con- 
 firmed by an oatk for the sake of the heirs of promise, 
 that they might have two immutable things to rest their 
 faith upon. " Vol, 3. p. 2 15. These are represented 
 in the New Testament as the three who bear witness in 
 Heaven, — and if three, say our new liglits, why not 
 three Hundred ? God will answer that in due time. 
 Be it ours to believe what the inspired Author 
 records, that there are three, and no more nor less, 
 three icifnesses in Heaven, oi ixxplvfowlstr; these, as Mr^ 
 Serle observes, testify by themselves, a mode of giv- 
 ing oath peculiar to Jehovah, who says, '' by myself 
 have I sworn"; they testify concerning each other, 
 and concerning the whole covenantand work of grace 
 to which they are the selfsworn evidences. Horaj 
 Soiit. vol, I. p. 14. That these iyeiiim are Jehovah, 
 and that Jehovah is the Alehim, the Psalmist teaches 
 us, where he says, — "know ye, that Jehovah, he tho 
 Alehim, he hath made us, aud not we ourselves, his 
 people, and the Sheep of his pasture" . Ps. 100, 3. 
 
 II. nJin Bonah, the builder or restorer. "Je- 
 hovah is the restorer of Zion, he gathereth together 
 the outcasts of Israel. " Ps. 147, 2. lu correspon- 
 dence witli tlit3 idea of the erection of an edifice im- 
 plied in this, St. Peter says,— "ye also as lively (or 
 living) S.'oiii2s, are built up a spiritual House, a holy 
 Priestliood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable 
 to G'jd by Jesus Christ." And we know tvho hsLS 
 2 A 
 
2G6 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 said, "I will build my Church '\— I will be her 
 honah or Restorer; even the same divine person who 
 declared, that when his adversaries should choose to 
 demolish for a season *' the Temple of his Body " or 
 assumed humanity, he would raise it up again in three 
 days, — "destroy this Temple, and in three days / 
 will raise it up. " Now a human Soul could not assert, 
 with respect to its corporeal frame, ** I have power to 
 lay it down, and I have power to take it again"; nor 
 was it the person of the Father who said this, for the 
 speaker distinguishes himself from him, — but it was 
 ih% Son or word of God, who could, in his character 
 of Priest, offer up his human nature a propitiatory 
 sacrifice to God the Father, and afterwards re-assume 
 it into an everlasting union with himself. St. Paul 
 therefore very admirably delineates Christ — * as a son 
 over his oivn House; whose House are ire, if we hold 
 fast ihe confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm 
 unto the end. " 
 
 15. CD'Ji Bonim, the restorers. *' For as a young 
 man (sings Isaiah,) marrieth a Virgin, so shall thy 
 bonim marry thee ; and as the Bridegroom rejoiceth 
 over the Bride, so shall thy Alehim rejoice over thee.'* 
 Hence it appears that as bonah in the singular refers 
 to Jehovah, or God in Unity of essence, &c. so bonim 
 in the plural refers to the Alehim, or the Trinity of 
 co-agent persons in tlie divine nature. " Hallelu Jak 
 (says the Psalmist; ) for it is good to sing praises unto 
 our Alehim, for it is pleasant, praise is comelj^ Je- 
 hovah doth build up Zion, he gathereth together the 
 outcasts of Israel, he healeth the broken in Heart, 
 
OF THE DEITY. 207 
 
 ar.d bir.detli np their wounds/* This Doctrine has 
 ever been derided hy the intidcl. "Tiie fool liath said 
 in his lieart, there are no Alchim, Jehovah looked 
 down from Heaven upon the Sons of Men, to see if 
 any one were growing wise, seeking the Alehini." 
 But alas ! " the impious, in the swelling of his wrath, 
 will not enquire ; no Alehim, is the whole of his Phi- 
 losophy ! " See Bishop Horsley on Psalms 10, and 14. 
 1(i. ^172 Baal, a ruler, master, husband, or lord. 
 Jeliovuh was originally the legitimate Baal of his peo- 
 ple Israel, but tliey in their folly deserted him for 
 dumb Idols. "My Covenant they brake, although 
 I was a Husband unto them, saith Jehovah"; that is, 
 a Baal unto them. Jeremiah 31, 32. Yet he would 
 not utterly reject them on the score of their unfaith- 
 fulness; "for Jehovah, the Alehim of Israel, saith, 
 that he hateth putting away. " Accordingly, he ex- 
 horts them to return to their first, and only true ^nd 
 lawful husband; '"Return, O backsliding children, 
 saith Jehovah; for I am married unto you,'^ or I am 
 your Baal. Jeremiah 3, 14. 
 
 17. t=)»Vp2 Baalim, tlie plural of the foregoing, 
 in reference to the Alehim in Jehovah, who are be- 
 come ours by covenant engagements. *' For thy makers 
 are thy husbands (or baalim], Jehovah sabaoth is bis 
 name ; the Alehim of ths whole earth shall be called. " 
 Isaiah 51, 5. "For as a young man marrieth a 
 Virgin, so shall thy restorers marry thee (o. become 
 thy baalim',) and as the Bridegroom rejoiceth over the 
 Bride, so shall i\\y Alehim rejoice over thee.'' 1 
 
 18. «"iu Bora, the Creator, the prime causer of 
 
268 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 all things, who ouly has Being in himself, and who 
 thtrefore alone communicates Being to all other Ex- 
 ifctences; and in reference to whom, what we are want 
 to call secondary causes, are, strictly speaking, no 
 cavses at all, hut only effects produced by himself. 
 The Spirit of the living Being (as in Ezekiel's vision,) 
 primarily actuates all, however in a subordinate way 
 one thing may be acted upon by another; as, in a 
 Machine, wheel may operate upon wheel, and this 
 part be determined in its motions by that, — yet still, 
 every movement throughout the whole originates in a 
 somewhai which imparts the first impulse, and upon 
 which it is dependant for its continuance. And Jehovah 
 is (he mainspring o^ ihe vast msLchinery of the boundless 
 univerj>e, — is, as we are want to say, all in all, and 
 all in every 7:»G?/ ; or, as the Apostle would express 
 it, "frujn him, and by him, and to (or for) him, are 
 all things. " Romans 11, 36. But with respect to 
 the first credtitig of the substance of all existences out 
 of not])ing, that is, the immediate act of causing those 
 things to be v.hich before icere not, it is of great mo- 
 ment that this be restricted to absolute Deity. For it 
 is the voice of reason, as well as of revelation, that 
 **he who built all things is God.'' Hebrew 3, 4. If 
 then " thro.igh faith we understand that the worlds 
 were framed by the logos of God" (Hebrews 11, 3.) 
 the logos of scripture cannot be the logos of Mr. 
 Bevan, who tells us, that "it is not one who is God 
 of himself, and in himself, but that Christ being with 
 God, is called God!" Now upon this ground the 
 faith/ul may affect divinity, since they are said to 
 
OF THE DEITY. 200 
 
 dwell ill God and God in them! This is a pnro 
 
 Socinian gloss, that the word or logos is only a nomi-' 
 
 nal God! l^ut further ; it cannot mean a mere 
 
 titular divinity, since the logos is represented as being 
 
 with God, and himself God in the character of creator 
 
 of all thinys. " In the beginning was the logos, and 
 
 the logos was with God, and was himself God. All 
 
 things were made by him, and without him \vas not 
 
 any thing [ou^z £» not one thing) made that was made. 
 
 And the logos* Mas incarnated, and tabernacled 
 
 amongst us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of 
 
 the only begotten of ihe. Father,*' that is, as the same 
 
 writer expresses it elsewhere, the *' Son of the Father." 
 
 John 1, 1 — 14: 2 John 3. That therefore which 
 
 Rabbi Isaac Abarbanel remarks, in oppositi-^ i to the 
 
 idea entertained by seme of his nation, that the Ar "Ig 
 
 had a share in the fabrication of the universe, is 
 
 worthy of all acceptation, **the primary creation 
 
 originated solely from the first cause, without amj 
 
 instrumentality, ajid not from the Angels (or any 
 
 other supposed creature-creator,) who were themselves 
 
 but a j[iart of the general creation." 
 
 •The reader will consider that the creating logos is as clearly 
 revealed in the old Testament as in the new. In Psalm 33, G, it 
 is said tliat " by the logos of Jehovah were the heavens made ;" 
 for so it stands in the Greek of the seventy. In the Hebrew, the 
 term for the word or logos is -^^t dabar ; and the same divine 
 person is at other times called '* the Son," that is -j^ har^ as in 
 Psalm 2, 12. Now with this agreement between the Greek and 
 Hebrew Scriptures, in respect of the divine person of the creating 
 word or Son, let the plain Bible Christian connect the followioj^ 
 passages, in which Ue appears as oae God with the Fatlier said 
 2 A 2 
 
270 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 19. Q>t^"ni Boraim, the creators ; it intends the co- 
 agent personal modes of s\]bsistence in the Godhead 
 "Remember thy boraim," sajs Solomon, or thy 
 creators; and these are called " Me Alehim" through- 
 out the chapter. Of these Moses records that in the 
 beginning ''the Akhim created^ and lest we should 
 fancy these Alehim to be any other than divine, as. we 
 find that many are now fond of doing, Moses says 
 " that Jehovah the Alehim made the earth and the 
 beavens." Genesis 2, 4. Eccles. 12. 
 
 20. ni:i Gebahf the lofty one, implying the supre- 
 macy and sovereignty of Jehovah. 
 
 21. 0'n:i:i Geia^m, the lofty ones; Father, Son, 
 and Spirit, who preside over Judges, and are the 
 superiors of rulers and kings; the true CD'roBii^ shop- 
 helim or judges (Psalm 58, 11,) at whose tribunal all 
 the lofty ones of the earth will finally be summoned, 
 and to whose judgment, from >^ hich there lies no ap* 
 peal, they must submit, and acquiesce in their 
 decisions. Therefore human judges are sometimes 
 called Alehim, as Moses was, not to induce them to 
 think themselves ** as the Alehim," according to Satan's 
 suggestion to our first parents, but to remind them of 
 their only acting in the name, by the authority, and as 
 the representatives, of the Alehim of eternity, the 
 true ^»?3tt^ pto^'ptt^ shelitin shemia or ruling heavenlies 
 (Daniel 4, 23.). Hence Moses says, " the people 
 
 the Holy Spirit, "Go teach and baptize in the name of the Father 
 and of thcS^n, and of the Holy Spirit;" — "There are three who 
 bear witness in Heaven, the Father, the Wordy and the Holy 
 Spirit J and these three are one" Matthew 28, 19. 1 Jolm 5, 7. 
 
OF THE DEITY. 271 
 
 come to me, to enquire of the Ahhim; and I (as their 
 delegate,) ;Md(jrc between one and another, and I do 
 make them know \\v^ statiit(s of the Alchim.'^ Exodus 
 18, 15, 16. Accordingly, Solouion would have the 
 people, if oppressed at any time by unrighteous 
 Magistrates, to look beyond the representative rulers 
 or judges, to the Gebahim in heaven, who were their 
 superiors, and could easily avenge their cause. "Fear 
 thou the Alehim. If thou seest tlje oppression of the 
 poor, and violent perverting of judgment in a province 
 (namely, by the mal-administration of the persons in 
 power,) marvel not at the matter; for he that is loftier 
 than the loftiest of them regardeth, and the most lofty 
 ones are above them," that is, the Alehim Gebahim, 
 Eccles. 5, 7, 8. 
 
 22. ^«u Goel, the redeemer. It represents Jeho- 
 vah in a near relationship to Israel, since it was the 
 legal privilege and duty of one near akin to another to 
 act as his goel or redeemer. The r-^ot of this title 
 hi-Kl, signifies, he claimed, challenged, rescued, de- 
 livered, redeemed, avenged. Sec. ; all which i-^ truly 
 applicable to Jehovah as our Goel. For Israel is 
 described by David as being *' a people necr unto him'* 
 (I'lp kerob.) Tliis respects the covenant "yea Is ware 
 unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith 
 Adonai Jehovah, and thou becamest mine."' Jehovah, 
 our Adonai, in the person of the Son, made himselC 
 over to us, and undertook to become Emanuel or God 
 with us, and so to be really our near kinsman through 
 the actual assumption of our nature. As such, it 
 devolved upon him to redeem us ; and Paul states, 
 
272 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 that he vvas ''made of a woman, made under the law, 
 to redeem" And he does indeed perform unto us the 
 part of a kinsman ; for he claims us for his own, as 
 Boaz did Ruth, he delivers us from the slavery of sin, 
 rescues us from tlie dominion of Satan, redeems our 
 lost inheritance for us, as well as our lost liberty, 
 enriches us with treasures unsearchable of both grace 
 and glory, avenges us of our adversaries, leads capti- 
 vity captive, destroys our destroyer, and betrothes us 
 to himself for ever. Psalm 148, 14: Ezekiel 16, 8; 
 Galatians 4, 4, 5. Now, in the accomplishment of all 
 this, althougli the So7i is in a peculiar sense our Goel, 
 yet not to the entire exclusion of the other persons. 
 The Alehim are therefore said to be cs'nnp Kerohhn, 
 standing in a near relationship to us. Accordingly, 
 they concur in effecting our redemption. It was the 
 Father who appointed, and it is he who accepts the 
 ransom; and it Mas ''through the eternal Spirit," that 
 the Son incarnate offered himself without fpot to God 
 the Father. Hence Zacharias sung, — " Blessed be 
 the Lord God of Israel, m ho hath visiter^ and redeem- 
 ed his people ;" that is to say, in Hebrew, Jehovah the 
 Alehini of Israel. And such is David's account of the 
 redemption from Egypt. " Thou art great, O Jehovah 
 Alehim ! for there is none like thee, neither are there 
 any Alehim besides thee. And what one nation in 
 tlie earth is like thy people, like Israel, whom the 
 Alehim ('iD!?n) they went to redeem from Egypt, the 
 nations, and their (false) Alehim?'* And in addition 
 to this circumstance, upon Aaron's making a golden 
 Image, after the regemblaace of one of the cherubic 
 
OF THE DEITY. 273 
 
 faces, that of the Calf or Ox, tlie people exclaimed, 
 "these are thy Alehim, O Israel! ihey who brought 
 (lVj?n) thee up out of the land of E-ypt." lii this, 
 they did not invent any new Deity, but worsliipped 
 Jehovah the Alehim of Israel in an improper manner, 
 fabricating an Image for themselves, contrary to the 
 recently established law of the Ten Comraandments, 
 -For^ in the following verse, Aaron is said to have 
 "built an altar before it;" as had of old been the 
 custom to do, before the cherubic figures in tlie patri- 
 archal tabernacles or Beth-alehims : and Aaron then 
 said, " to-morrow is a feast to Jehovah,'" and the 
 people kept it. This is the opinion ofliabbi Abraham, 
 and aho of A ben Ezra and Nachmanides, as quoted 
 by Oxiee on the Trinity. Deuteronomy 4, 7: 
 I;lebrews 9, 11; 2 Samuel 7, 22, 23 : Exodus 32, 4. 
 
 23. «in Ilava, the He, the Being who alone is 
 essentially divine ; the eternal and immutable one, who 
 is everlastingly the same, and who, whilst he pre- 
 eminently is, or exists of himself, is the sole cause of 
 existence to all otlier Beings. It is rendered, in the 
 New Testament, by oa^.oa " the same' ; and is further 
 explained by the periphrasis, — "the same, yesterday, 
 and to day, and unto the eternal ages" {Hebrew 1, 
 12 : 13, 8.) It springs from the verb «in hava, to be, 
 exist, abide, remain, Szc. It is well observed by a 
 respectable writer in the Bible Magazine, the Author 
 of "Horns Davidica3, " that " there is violence done, 
 in many passages, to the Hebrew Idiom, when hava 
 is slurred over, by making it only a pronoini of the 
 third person. The llabbins have in many places 
 
274 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 shewn their opinion of its high character in rendering 
 it by Jchccali'\ See Horae DavidiccS, page 155. It 
 is much to be lamented that tliis truly learned indivi- 
 dual should have adopted the notion of a pre-existing 
 human soul, Created before all worlds, and the Creator 
 of all else besides itself; this pervades his whole per- 
 formance, and renders it unfit for general use,— this, 
 too, characterises the periodical work just mentioned, 
 and makes it, rather than a ''Bible Magazine," a 
 Magazine of error. 
 
 Siiuilar lo hava, is the term t^'n haya, and it arises ' 
 indeed from the same root, "It imports," says 
 Paikhurst, •* or refers to a Being or person." It is 
 sometimes translated, as observed by Taylor, •* the 
 same, " as in Joshua 15, 8. and in 2. Samuel 5, 7, 
 &c. And this appears to be its proper rendering, and 
 is adopted by Bishop Lowth, in that noble passage of 
 Isaiah, in which the Son of God is addressed as the 
 arm of Jehovah. "x\wake, awake; clothe thyself 
 with strength, O arm of Jehovah! Awake, as in the 
 days of old, the ancient generations. Art thou not 
 the same (the identical person, «'n,) that smote liahab, 
 that wounded the Dragon? Art thou not the samCt 
 that dried up the Sea, the waters of the great deep, 
 making the depths of the Sea a path for the redeemed 
 to pass through ?" See Lowth's Translation Isaiah 51. 
 9, 10.* 
 
 --" 
 
 » The Son of God is called the arm of Jehovah, because, as the 
 arraofman is the principal organ or instrument by which he 
 exerts his strength, so, witli respect to the persons in the Deity, 
 it is the Son in whom omnipotence is peculiarly displayed j and 
 
OF THE DEITY. 275 
 
 21. 7]''r[ liayah, the living one, or he who ever 
 liveth, the eternal; and it is piimarily predicable of 
 Jehovah alone, "in whom we live, and have our 
 
 hence he is called " the power of God." This he shewed himself 
 to be in the redemption tVom Eirypt, a type of onr redemption 
 from Gelicnna. In reference to this, Jeliovah the Father \s repre- 
 sented, in Isaiah G3, 7 — 14, as bringinii Israel throu-^h the deep, 
 and condnctins: them thronjih the wilderness, not merely by 
 Moses as their leader, but " with his glorious arm*' and likewise 
 as communicating the Holy Spirit to them, so that '^ the Spirit of 
 Jehovah caused them to rest." So true it is, that " the Alehim 
 they went to redeem Israel." 2 Samuel 7, 23. 
 
 It is remarkal)le, that the Hebrew word ^^m ^^ VW ^f'^ort or 
 s^ra, sometimes signifies an arm, and at other tiniv/s a seed or 
 offspring; its ra<Ucal meaning being that of spreading out or 
 abroad, dispersing, and h^nce, sowing and planting, and also 
 conceiving and bringing forth seed, >v:c. In Genesis 3, 1.5, the 
 seed of the Woman, meaning Chri-t as man is ni7"lT , " 'i^i' '^eed,'* 
 the same word radically as the former one "translated arm. And 
 in Genesis 22, 18, in thy seed (it was said to Abraham,) shall all 
 the nations of the earth be blessed'S^^-jl^. This, Paul declares 
 to be Christ—" thy seed, which is Christ," (Galatians 3, 16.) 
 Now if, as the zera of Eve, and of Abraham, &:c. Christ is a man, 
 and the S071 of man, then certainly, as the zera of Jelujvah, he is 
 truly and properly the Son of God, and so God by nature as the 
 Father is: '• his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, made of the seed 
 of David according to the flesh, and declared the Son of God witk 
 pouer for, the arm of Jehovah,) by tiie resurrection from the 
 dead," (Romans 1, 3, 4.) In order to oppose the proper Sonship 
 of the second subsistence in Jehovah, the anonymous author of 
 Horae Davidicae labours to confine the filiation of Christ the 
 circumstai.ee of his having been created by Gcd, so as that he 
 §hould be considered to be the Son of God in no other sense than 
 Adam is said to be " the Son of God-" in Luke 3, 38. For thus 
 he explair-s himself at page 74 — '* Son ; this title is appropriated 
 in the old and th.e new Testament, to Ciirist in hif himmi nature 
 only. He was the Son of G(id by creation, before all worlds !" 
 To make this good, or rather, to give to it an appearance of 
 
276 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 being," — He, the perennial Fountain of life, and 
 our existences the streams which issue from him. 
 Hence, in agreement with the meaning of the root, 
 which signifies to live, keep alive, restore life, recover 
 health, &c. Jehovah thus claims proper Deity for 
 himself alone as he wlio is the everlivhig one; "where 
 are their Aleliim? The rock in whicli they trusted? 
 Let them rise up, and he]p you, and be your protec- 
 
 scriptuvaltiess, he takes the liceace to render UDli^ Jl henadam, 
 *' the Son the man,'* instead of the Son of Many quite contrary 
 to the Idiom of the Hebrew laugnage. Now Paul may at least, 
 as aHebrevv of the Hebrews, instructed in all the learning of his 
 age, be allowed to understand the force of his mother tongue',; 
 and he, in Hebrews 2, 6, traiisi-.jtes ben <:dam, as it occurs in 
 Psalm G, i, "■ the Sfon **/ Man" [viaa- av^pu'^rou,) a"^^ "f>t, the 
 Son the man. Let the English reader be assured, that wherever 
 jn the new Testament he meets with the expression, the -Son of 
 Man, in allusion to Christ, it is correctly translated from the 
 Greek; and he may iience conclude, that the cid Testament 
 expression, ben adani(or ^^^ *-\^ bar enosh,) is as properly ren" 
 , dered "the Son of Man;' and nothing but an anxiety to^upport a 
 favourite opinion, couid ever have induced our author to dej art 
 so widely fr©m the original as to render it, the Son the Man. 
 His obvious aim Is, to undeify the Son, to reduce him to a level 
 "with A<]am, the tirst creut d Man, and so the Son of God by 
 creatiori (Luke 3, 3B.) Bi't ihe attempt is vain, for " unto the 
 Son," the Father Raith, " Thy Throne, O God! is for ever and 
 ever." And certainly, if, because Christ is really a man as be- 
 gotten of ihe Virgir., he may be called tke Son the 5ian, we might 
 be jusiifi'^d in calling him th: Sen the God, since he is expressly 
 entitled " the Son oi' God" as well as * the Son of Man, ' and is 
 as we huve seen, addressed by the Father to this amount; for to 
 the Sow he }^ays, thy Throne, O God! is for ever raid ever. 
 Hehrewfi 1, 8. In Daniel indeed (3, 25.) the Son is called 
 pn'^k^ "12 ^«'* Alehin, "the Son of God ;" hut which, if the 
 autlior-of Hora?. Davidicaa were right in his translation ot ben 
 adaiTh or bar enoskj might be rendered the Son the God. 
 
OF THE DEITY. 277 
 
 tion ? See now, that 1, I am th^ He, and there are no 
 ^creature) Alehiiu with me. I kill, and I make alive, 
 — I wound, and 1 heal; neither is there an_y that can 
 deliver out of my hand ; for 1 lift up my hand to Hea- 
 ven, and say, / live for ever? " Deuteronomy. 33, 
 36. 
 
 25. O'^n Uaylni, the plural of the above, the liv- 
 ing ones. Frey translates it by vivi, viventes, &c. 
 This epithet is sometimes used by itself for the co-es- 
 sential personages in Jehovah ; at other times it is con- 
 nected with the plural substantive Alehim, to distin- 
 guish the true ones, who are in and q/ Jehovah, or 
 sub&ist together in the self-existing essence, from those 
 strange ones [Zarim,) whom the children of Israeli 
 were too fond of associating -ucifh him, or substituting 
 in his stead, and which are, in contradistinction, call- 
 ed cj^nan ha-motim the lifeless ones. Hence we read 
 in Isaiah (8. 19) — "should not a people seek, each 
 one to his own Alehim'^. Should they seek, instead of 
 the living to the lifeless ones ? ' In other places, 
 hayim is opposed to aherinif or foreign ones; "I am 
 Jehovah thy Alehim, —thou shall have no foreign 
 Alehim before me: for who of all r?esh hath heard tl>e 
 voice of the Alehim the living ones, as we have and 
 lived?" Deiiteronomy 5. 6, 7, 26. 
 
 26. n» Jah, the I am, or he who is; the Being 
 that is ever-existing, simply, absolutely, and indepen- 
 dently, without date or era, of whom time and it* 
 distinctions are not predicable, but who always is, 
 -without variation, an; I who alone can answer the de^ 
 ecription of the Psalmist who says, — ^*Adonai! befor© 
 ~ 3b 
 
278 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 the Mountains were brought forth, or ever tliou hadst 
 formed the earth and the world, even from everlast- 
 ing to everlasting thou art Al! Psalm 90. 1, 2. The 
 New Testament has its parallel in the tyu ziyui ego eimi, 
 or " I am, " of St. John, as adopted by Christ to 
 assert his eternity — *^ before Abraham i^«s, I «w"; 
 and this too, as "the Son'^ (oviocr,) who also '* ahideth 
 ever" {£;o-7ov «/&;»«,) that is, is tOy as well as is/row, all 
 Eternity. John 8, 35, 58. The Greek OfiN ooon, or 
 **he who is," is another similar expression, occurring 
 in the revelation by John in application to the same 
 adorable person, who at the same time calls himself 
 **the Lord the Almighty." Nor ought we to omit 
 the xruloa- scrli autos esti of St. Paul; de-scribing the Son 
 of God as Creator of all, he tells us, not that he was, 
 but that " he is," he is '* before all things." Jah is a 
 derivat' /e from the verb n^rr hayah, to be, or exist, &c. 
 27. nin» Jehovah, the self-subsisting and eternal 
 Being of Beings, who is what he is, naturally, neces- 
 sarily and invariably, and is the alone source and 
 support of all orders of creatures. The sense of 
 it is in some degree preserved in the New Testament 
 by John, who describes Jehovah as, *' He who is and 
 who was, and who is to come". It springs from tlie 
 verb nin fiavah^ to be, and to cause to be, with the 
 letter ♦Joe?, or according to others, the word n» jah, 
 prefixed. The Au»iior of HorEe Davidicae, adopting 
 Mr. Hutchinson's idea, says, that ♦* Jehovah is the 
 essence self-existing. This peculiar name of Deity, 
 which cannot be attributed to any creature, is com- 
 pounded of rr^n havah, to be, subsist, continue, and n» 
 
OF THE DEriY. ^t^ 
 
 jah the essence. He is a Being necessarily existing 
 of and from himself, with all actual perfection origi- 
 nally in his essence. This name therefore can belong 
 to the most High alone; all other beings are depen- 
 dent." He also remarks, very properly, that ** Jeho- 
 vah must be the Author of Creation, for no creature 
 could effect this work." Though to be sure, this i« 
 only informing his reader, that no creature could 
 create itself, or, that no one part of creation could 
 create the whole of it. But notwithstanding this con- 
 cession, he adds, *' but as he does now, so he did in 
 the beghiningf he produces all tilings through an instru- 
 ment of his own appointing ! Having brought his 
 Son Jesus into being, for he is the beginning of God's 
 creation, hy him he made all things !'' And so im- 
 portant is this fiction in the esteem of its Author, that 
 we are plainly told, that ** he that honoureth not the 
 Son, treated and made, before all worlds, honoureth not 
 the Father who sent him into the world V And those 
 who oppose this Sabeliian fancy, of a created human 
 Son to be honoured '■' even as \\\e (increate) Father ^^ 
 these are called " the Sons of Behal !'' But since the 
 Author had before declared Jehovah himself to be 
 necessarily the Author of Creation, *' for no creature 
 (and therefore not even {\\q first creature, whatever it 
 was,) could effect this >york," he has suflicienlly refuted 
 his own after statement, in which he would ha\e us 
 believe that what he imagines to have been the first 
 creatiire (the Son created and made before all worlds,) 
 was the creator of all others. The Son created is a 
 child of his own iinuginadon. Scripture invariably 
 
2dO HEBREW TITLES 
 
 represents the Son, not as created, not as a creature, 
 but as begotten, as tlie ojily begotten of the Father, and 
 so cv en, one Being or Godhead with him in an 
 identity of nature. Accordingly, the Son is represent- 
 ed as Jehovah, which name our Author acknowledges 
 ** can belong to the most High alone.''' He is "Jehovah 
 our redeemer," and " Jehovah our righteousness," &c. 
 And even the Jews confess that this name is given to 
 Messiah, ** quia erit mediator dens, because he will 
 he 2i. Mediator God,'' bi^. See Buxtorf, under rf^r\* 
 Jehovah. * The Son therefore, who became incarnate, 
 
 * Our translators have too often followed the points or eastern 
 \ovvels, or rather perhaps, rabbinical vowels, iu the English 
 version of the Old Testament, in respect of this name of Deity, 
 The}' have rendered Jehovah by Lord, generally, it being pointed 
 like Adonui ; but when it happens to occur in connection with 
 Adonaj, then, to avoid a repetition of Lord, they have translated 
 it God, the Jews having in this situation pointed it like Elokim. 
 Thus, in the 68th Psalm verse 20, we read that, "unto God the 
 Lord belong the issues from Death ; " but the Hebrew is, " unto 
 Jehotah Adonai." And in Isaiah 49, 22, the }»hrase, *' thus saith 
 the Lord God," is, in the Hebrew, " thus saith Adonai Jelwvah." 
 But what could induce our translators to express Jehovah thus ? 
 An adherence to the poiiits or vowels. For in this of Isaiah, the 
 word Jehovah is so pointed as ro be read Elohim, instead of its 
 having its usual pointing so as to be read Lord or Adonai. For 
 observe, the Jews, through a superstitious dread, never pro- 
 nounce the word Jehovah, but read it as it is pointed by the 
 Masoretes, not as it is written or pnuled, that is to say, they 
 substitute for it either Adonai or Elohim. And cur translators, 
 in imitation of them, have scarce ever preserved the word Jeho- 
 vah, but have given us in its stead either Lord or God ; as the 
 seventy have introduced into their Greek translatioiis K,vpio<x 
 Kurios and Seoo- Thecs. They have often indeed preserved a 
 distinction between Jehovah and Adonai, not in the expression, 
 fur they iiave rendered botk by the term Lordf but iii the kind of 
 
OF THE DErTY. 261 
 
 iras nof a creature, but God, or ^« at, as the Jews 
 confess; the mediating person in Jehovah: and hence 
 John, when he attributes creation to him, calls hipi 
 
 Utter only, thus— Lord for Jehovali, and Lord for Adonai. A 
 most flimsy distinction truly ; and yet even ti)is, poor as it is, is 
 not always observed. In the 1 35 th Psalm, in the compass of the 
 4th and 5th verses only, three diiTercnt Hebrew names for the 
 DeitA', vjz, Jah, Jehovah, and Adonai, are rendered all alike,. 
 i.e. Lord; -' for Ja/i hath chosen Jacob to himself, Israel for 
 his peculiar treasure. For I know that Jehovah is great, and onr 
 Adonai above ail (creature) Alehim." And in the 5th of Daniel, 
 verse 23, another title, that of Metra, the supreme, is also trans- 
 lated Lord; J^'JDi:? i^TO mura sliemia^ "the Lord of Heaven," — . 
 but rather perhaps, " the supreme one of the Heavens." 
 
 George Pasor remarks, that, with respect to Jehovah, ''the 
 same points are not always affixed to it by the Jews. Most 
 frequently, indeed, the points from -the name Adonai, and more 
 rarely those from the name Elohim. Nor is it a novelty, for one 
 and the san.s word to be react one way according to the poiutst 
 and another way according to the -eti^r (sed subjiciunturptmc^a 
 lion semper eadem. Frequentissimi vero puucta ex nomine 
 divino Adonai, rarius ex nomine Ehhim. Neque in lingua sancta 
 Eovum f st, unam et eandem vocem aliter legi juxta pmida, et 
 aliterjuxta literas.") On the subject of the points, I beg to 
 subjoin Hrhop Lowth's cpinion. "The Masoretic punctuation 
 is, in eftec-t, an interpetatlon of the Hebrew text made by the 
 Jews of late ages, probably not earlier than the eighth century ; 
 and it may be ccnsideved as iheir translation of the Old Testa- 
 ment. The Jews by their pointirg have determin-d the words 
 to one meaning and construction; avid the sense which they thu» 
 pve, is their sense of the passage : just as the rendering of a 
 translator into another language is his sense, that is, the sense in 
 which in his opinion the original words are to be taken ; and it has 
 no other authority, than what arises from its being agrcoable to 
 the rules of just interpretation. Our public translations in the 
 nisdem tongues for the use of the Church among Protestants, 
 and so likewise of the modern Latin translations, are for the most 
 part close copies of the Hebrew pointed text, and are iu reality 
 2 B 2 
 
282 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 *' the word/* and then says, " and the word was God,^* 
 And what now is the name of this ** word made flesh," 
 or incarnated ? It is Emanu-«7; that is, al or God 
 emanu or with us by the assumption of our natnre. 
 And that I may give Scripture proof of his being al, 
 in phice of the Jewish evidence before adduced, let me 
 -direct my reader to Isaiah 9, 6; where the name of 
 the *'Son given," who became a *' child born** at the 
 incarnation, is declared to be "lUJ V« al gebur, ** the 
 mighty God,'* Some indeed have rendered these 
 words thus, the God — man; for gebur sometimes 
 stands for man in the Hebrew Scriptures. And if this 
 translation were admitted, it would demonstrate the 
 point at once, nameJy, that the Son who became incar- 
 nate, is al or God in himself; and, by consequence, 
 no created or made Son, or the first creature; but 
 that the Manhood assumed by him in the fulness of 
 time, and not " before all worlds," is what is intended 
 by the gebur of the prophet; and this interpretation 
 will every way coincide with his name " Emanu-aZ, 
 which is, by interpretation, God with us," 
 
 only versions at second hand, translations of the Jews' interpre- 
 tation of the Old Testament. We do not deny the usefuhiess of 
 this interpretation; it is perhaps, upon the whole, preferable to. 
 any one of the ancient versions; and it has certainly been of 
 great service to the moderns in leading them into the knowledge 
 of the Hebrew tongue. But they would have made a much 
 better use of it, and a greater progress in the explication of the 
 Scriptures of the Old Testament, had they consulted it, without 
 absolutely submitting to its authority' ; had they considered it as 
 an assistujit, not as an infallible guide." Preliminary Disstr- 
 tatioB to licw translation of Isaiah, pages 71; 72. 
 
OF THE DEITY. 283 
 
 28. «")D Mara^ the supreme, called by Daniel 
 t^»tou; «"ia mara shemia, tlie supreme one of the 
 Heavens (5, 23.) It is a derivative from the verb 
 i^lD mara, be lifted up, extolled himself, &c; and it 
 declares his supremacy over all creatures, even the 
 Heavens themselves, which were too commonly 
 adored by the heathen as their Alehim. And hence 
 it is said of Israel, in the 2nd of Kings, 17, 15, 16 — - 
 that " they followed vanitj^, and went after the heathen 
 and left ail the commandments of Jehovah their Ale- 
 him, and made them molten Images even two Calves, 
 and made a grove, and worshipped all the Host of 
 Heaven^^ . From tliis title of mara comes, it is likely, 
 Mara-zion in Cornwall (called also Market-jew,) and 
 which is, literally, the supreme one, or sovereign 
 Lord, ofZiou, 
 
 29. ann 3Ierom, the exalled one, he who is 
 self-exalted, and the exalter of all others, or, as v/e 
 have it in Psalm 8, 8. — " the lifter up of the heads of 
 his people, " csnD tnerim. " For promotion is neither 
 from East, M^est, nor South, but the Alehim are the 
 Judge ; he putteth down one, and setteth up another ". 
 Psalm 75, 6, 7. In Psalm 56, 2.— it is translated, 
 ** O thou most high.'* And in the 73rd. Psalm, the 
 passage at verses 8 and 9, may be rendered thus, — 
 *' they speak concerning the exalted one, they set their 
 mouth against the Heavetilies." Merom springs from 
 the root on rom, he was high, lofty, lifted up, &c. 
 
 30. CD'?DnD Meromim, the exalted ones, those 
 sublime personages who are self-exalted, are naturally 
 and inherently so, and are the exalters of all others. 
 
284 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 Hence., in tlie 33rd of Isaiah, at the 16th verse, it is 
 said of the righteous man, that — " he shall inliahit the 
 Meromim; his place of defence shall be the munitions 
 of rocks''*, — or mitsroth selaim* Now David, in 2 
 Samuel 22, 2 — says, — '* Jehovah is my rock" , that is, 
 my sela; " and my fortress '' cr miisroth. But if Je- 
 hovah is our sela, tlien the Alehim are truly our mits- 
 roth selaim; and we may be justified in considering 
 the prophet as saying of the believer, — "his dwelling 
 ^hall be in the meromim', the strong holds oi selahn 
 shall be his lofty fortress". See Lowth. 
 
 31. hv El, the high one, or the most high; he 
 iw'ho alone his naturally so, that is, inherently and 
 essentially suLlime, owing his elevation and ascension 
 to no external cause, his highness being of, and from, 
 and in himself. So that we may rather say, the high 
 one, than the highest. For in the use oi the superla- 
 tive, we seem to admit comparison between Jehovah 
 and the creatures, — whereas he only is high, w^hilst 
 the universe of worlds is but as a level plain under- 
 neath his feet; but if the proud must be distinguished, 
 they may be resembled to the dust which lies upon its 
 surface. However tliis title is rendered by the super-. 
 3 alive y4//o-%<r upsisfos in the New Testament, *'the 
 most high *' ; but this, in accommodation to the im- 
 perfections of our very limited powers of apprehension, 
 expresses the idea more after the manner of men, thau 
 according to the form of the original term, El, tho 
 high one, which is of the positive degree. 
 
 32. \vh>:^ Elion, this is of the same meaning at 
 the prcoeoding, and arises from the game root, n^;^ 
 
OF THE DEITY, S65 
 
 elah, he ascended, exalted himself, &c. Though some 
 would give greater intenscness to this expression, and 
 reader it, after our version, "the most highest". 
 
 33. p:!*"?!? Elionin, the plural of Elion, the high 
 or most high ones ; it is used, particularly in Daniel 7, 
 for the Father, Son, and Spirit, the socially subsist- 
 ing personages in the self-existent essence or Godljcad. 
 "But the Saints of the most high ones (pjv^j? 'D'^p 
 Kedishi elionin,) shall take the kingdom, and pos.sess 
 the kingdom for ever. " " I beheld, and the horn 
 made war with the Saints, and prevailed against them, 
 until the ancient of days came, and judgment was 
 given to the saints of the most high ones, and the lime 
 came that the saints poss«ssed the kingdom". "And 
 he shall speak words against the most high («*^2r e/ia), 
 and sLail wear out the saints of the most high onet 
 [yivh:} elionin,) and think to change times and laws ; 
 and they shall be given into his hand until a time and 
 tinies and the dividing of time " . " But the judgment 
 shall fit, and they shall take away his dominion, to 
 consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the 
 kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the 
 kingdom under ihe whole Heaven, sh:iU be given to 
 the people of the saints of the most high ones, which 
 kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions 
 shall serve and obey it", (verses 18, 22, 25, 26, 27.) 
 
 3-1. i^j; Air, the watchers, as denoting the ever- 
 frakeful vigilance of Jehovah, who, as the -ijdu^ shower, 
 or keeper or guardian of Israel, is said neither to 
 "slumber uoraleep". Psalm 121. Hence, except 
 Jehovah be tlie keeper of the City, whose searching 
 
28(5 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 eye no lurking danger can escape, the human keeper 
 or guard [shomer,] is wakeful in vain. Psalm 127. 
 The root of this word ("nr,) signifies, he sliiTed up, 
 awoke, <^-c. 
 
 35. pi'j; Airin, the watchers, intimating the con- 
 curring providence of the divine persons, the Alehim 
 of Heaven and Earth, over the aiTairs of the universe, 
 but in an especial manner over the concerns of Zion, 
 The plural language* of Daniel cannot be too carefully 
 
 * We have an instance of this kind in Isaiah 41, 21, 26. ''Pro- 
 duce your canse, saith Jehovah (to the i«JoIs ;) bring forth your 
 mighty powers, saith the king of Jacob. Let them bring them 
 foith, and shew us (the true Aleliinj,) what shall happen. Let 
 them slicw the former things what they arc, that ivevazy consider 
 thtni, and know the latter end of them ; or, declare to us things 
 for to come. Shew the things that are to cBme hereafter, that 
 v.e may know that ye are Alddm! Yea, do good, or do evil, that 
 we may be dismayed ajid behold it together. Behold, ye are of 
 liotliujg, and yonr work of nanght ; an abomination is he that 
 chooseth you, Who hath declared from the beginning, that ive 
 may know ? And before time, that tve may say, He is righteous ?" 
 To this may be added a passage from Exodus 18, 1, 12. ^' Jethro 
 heard all that the Alehim had done for Moses and Israel, that 
 Jehovah had brought Israel out of Egypt. And Jethro rejoiced 
 for all the goodness which Jehovah had done to Israel, whom 
 tkey (the Alehim) had delivered ("i^»yn) <>«t of the hand of the 
 Egyptiuis. Now know I that Jc^bovah is greater than all 
 {creature) Aleliim. And Jethro took a burnt oftering and sacri- 
 fices for the Alehim ; and Aaron came, and all the ciders of Israel, 
 to eat bread with Moses's Father in Law oefore the faces of thei 
 dUhim." 
 
 Observe, it is first said by Jethro, that Jehovah is above all 
 Alehim; and next, thai Jethro , icriBced to tiie Aiebim, and 
 that Aurou and a]l the jcid'.'rs of Israel < ?it bieud with iiira in 
 presence of the Alehmi. Either then tlicsv^ Alehim were Jehovah, 
 that is, co-existing pel sons in one essence of Deity, or else thLe 
 
OF THE DEITY. 287 
 
 noticed. ** I saw, and behold, sl watcher and a. holy 
 one came down from fleaven. He cried aloud and 
 said, hew down the tree, Arc; This matter is by the 
 
 was an act of Idolatry. But every one will be ready to declare 
 that it was uc idolatrous worship ; and if not, then tlie Aleliim 
 first reterred to by Jelhro, w hen he said, " Jehovah is greater 
 than all Atphiui," must intend the created Alehim of the gentile 
 nations wiiether consisting of molten fmagesof their own makinfr? 
 or of some of the works of creation of their own deifying. And 
 the Alehini afterwards mentioned, to whom Jethro sacrifired, 
 and before whose personal aspects, or faces, he eat bread with 
 Aaron and all the Klders of Israel, must be the socially subsisting 
 persons in Jehovah. Elsi they wouhJ have opposed thrmsilves 
 to tit- ia>^ which says, *♦ He tl)at sacrin -eth unto Alehini, except 
 4t bi to Jehovah only " n^^, ^h'it is, alone, or by himself " he shall 
 be utterly destroyer?." Exoiius 22, 20 This sufficiently refutes 
 thf idea of the Alelum being Jehovah and a created human soul 
 in union, indeed ihe following passage will clearly prove that 
 the Alehim ae lehovah, an ■ this, in distinction from the i'/an- 
 Aoot/ of our inunaMuel, •' And I, Jeki)Vnhy will be their Alehim^ 
 and ray servant David (or, the beloved,) apre/icc among them,'* 
 Ezekiel 34. 23. 24. 
 
 T\v faces ot the Alehim, or personal aspects, in the former 
 quotation, refer to the c/ier;<6?m as symbols of the Alehim; and 
 the word pfTtJm indeed, might in application to tlie Alehnn, be 
 at oncp translated pevions, " betbre the [)ersons of the Alehim," 
 since it bears this sense, and is so translated, in several Scrip- 
 tures. Deuteronomy 1, 17, "ye shal- not respect /jer.son* 
 (tz:'JS penim) in judg-ment." Proverbs 28^ 1\, " to have respect 
 ot' persons (cD>JJ£) peniniy) is not good." Lamentations 5, 12. 
 should be rendered, '' the ];<'r.so7is (penim) of Elders were not 
 honoured." And in 2 Sanmel 17, 11, Hushai advising Absalom, 
 says, in allusion to himself and his suite, " and that ye go to 
 battle in your own persons." The sei>tuagint uses tt^oiiuita, 
 prosoopu, for penim, and this Greek tti m is often employeci for 
 persons in the New Testament. WLen thereiore we find the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, so constantly repres-ented as uii 
 tinct personal agents in the Scriptures, wc are justified iu cor- 
 
288 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 decree of the watchers, and the demand by tibcjiat of 
 the holy ones, — to the intent tliatthe living may know 
 that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men, and 
 giveth it to whomsoever he will , and setteth up over 
 it the basest of men. And whereas (said Daniel,) 
 the King saw a watcher and a holy one coming down 
 from Heaven, and saying, hew the tree down, dc; this 
 is t\\e. decree of the most high, that they shall drive thee 
 from men, and they shall make thee to eat grass as Oxen, 
 end they shall wet thee with the Dew of* Heaven, till 
 thou know that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of 
 men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And wht^reas 
 they commanded to leave the stump of the tree :o > 
 thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thcu 
 ghalt have known that the Heavenlies are the rulers 
 {or, that the heavenly ones do rule.)' All this came 
 upon the King ^Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of 
 twelve months, he walked in the palace of the kingdom 
 of Babylon. The king spake and said, is not this 
 great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the 
 kingdom? &c. While the word was in the king's 
 mouth, there fell a voice from the heavenlies, O king 
 Nebuchadnezzar, to thee they speak! The kingdom 
 jS deprirted from thee, and they shall drive thee from 
 men, they sh<;li make thee to eat grass as Oxen, until 
 thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom 
 
 sidering them as personal modes of subsistence in the divine 
 essence ; nor are the scruples and objections to the use of the 
 term persons, in reference to the AieJiim in Jehovah, which are 
 now afresh i'vgeil,any cfther than indications of a reasoning spirit 
 of infidelity, which proudiy refuses to set to its seal that God is 
 true in his owu revelatioa of hiaiself. 
 
OP THE DEITY. 289 
 
 of men, and givelh it to whomsoever he will." Daniel 
 4, 13—32. 
 
 36. ntrj? Ashak, he who made or formed the 
 ■worlds; the creator, maker, or former of the universe 
 of Beings. It branches from the root n^v ashah, he 
 formed, fashioned, made, &c. And it is worthy of 
 notice, now that men, becoming vain in their imagi- 
 nations, have '* changed the gloi^ of the incorruptible 
 God into an Image made like to corruptible Man*\ 
 asserting that a created human Soul was Creator, it 
 is, I say, worthy of notice, that Jehovah is perpet- 
 ually pointed out in the Old Testament as he who 
 wade nit^i^ ashah, or was the maker of, the Heavens 
 and the Earth. Psalm 121, 2. 
 
 37. CD^tt^ir Ashim, the makers; it intends the 
 Alehim, as co-operating agents in the fabrication of 
 all things, — and of whom Moses records, that *' the 
 Alehim said, we will make man in mir Image, after 
 our likeness". In this passage, the verb nti^rJ 
 nashahy ** we will make " , is the first person plural 
 of the future in kal of the verb ntrp ashah, the root of 
 the titles ashah and ashim j maker and makers. It 
 was objected to Israel by the prophet Isaiah, that in 
 a time of danger they had, indeed, carefully fortified 
 the City of Jerusalem, "but, ye have not looked to 
 the makers thereof (n»tt^y, or to its ashim,] neither had 
 respect to him that fashioned it long ago ". Isaiah 22, 11. 
 
 38. mfc^^y Sabaoth or Zabaoth, the plural form 
 of Saba or Zaba, a host, army, &c; from tlie root 
 H:iy Zaba, to me^t together in a regular stated man- 
 ner, as the Levites were accustomed to do to perform 
 
 2 13 
 
290 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 divine service in the Temple,— or, to assemble in 
 orderly troops like Soldiers, and hence, to fight, war 
 against, &c. Tims in Isaiah (31, 4, 5.), the Lord 
 descends as the champion of Israel — ''Jehovah Sa- 
 baoth shall come down to fight (i^tavV La-zaba,) for 
 mount Zion and for the hill ther oof; Jehovah Sabaoth 
 will defend Jerusalem, defending he will also deliver, 
 and passing over he will preserve' . Viewed in this 
 character, Jehovah is evidently the saba or champion 
 of his people; and if so, theu li^ ^XuvaX sabaoth tuay 
 intend the Alehim as our champions, our guardians or 
 defenders. It is usual indeed to exclude this ex- 
 pression from the titles of Deity , and to make it refer 
 solely to the creatures. That it is often used for the 
 creatures, who are the hosts or armies of the Almighty, 
 is certain ; and so almost every other name of God is 
 likewise applied, sometimes, in a subordinate sense, 
 to created Beings. But ihat Sabaoth is a sacred title 
 appears evident, first, from its being found in apposi- 
 tion with Alehim, particularly in the 80th and 84th 
 !PsaLms, where we meet with the expressions "the 
 Alehim Sabaoth"; and "Jehovah Alehim Sabaoth"; 
 in which instances, Alehim is in the absolute form 
 before Sabaoth, instead of being put in regimen, so 
 that we ought to say, the Alehim the hosts or defen- 
 ders, and not, the Alehim of hosts. In the next 
 place, it is constantly found in apposition with Jeho- 
 vah. Now the Jews consider Jehovah to be a proper 
 name ; and if their definition of a proper name is 
 correct, we ought always to read Jehovah sabaoth, 
 and not of Sabaoth, that is, Jehovah the defenders 
 
OF THE DEITY. 291 
 
 instead of Jehovah of hosts, precisely in the same 
 manner as we invariably consider the word Alehim 
 to he in apposition with Jehovah, and consider Jielio- 
 \ah to be in the absolute form before it, so as that we 
 ever read Jehovah the Alehim and never Jehovah df 
 Alehim. ** It is worthy of remark (says Rabbi Abra- 
 ham ben Ezra,) that we find Jehovah Sabaoth, an ex- 
 pression, which has led many to assert, that the term 
 Sabaoth is itself a proper appellation of the Deity '*. 
 Now the characteristics of a proper name, as given 
 by Rabbi Elias Levita, are these. *' It differs from 
 others in four respects. 1st. construction; it cannot 
 be joined to another noMn in regimen. 2dly. Plurality 
 of number; it cannot have the plural form. 3diy. 
 Affixation; it cannot have an affix after it. 4thly. 
 Emphasis; it cannot take the emphatic and demon- 
 strative he n (corresponding to our !Kiiglish the) before 
 it". Now we may be certain that Jehovah is nevei* 
 found in the plural form in the Hebrew Scriptures i 
 it respects the self-existent essence cf Deity, and h 
 therefore always in the singular number. Nor is it 
 ever found with an affix ; it is never preceded by the 
 article the (n he), — and, would it not be as impossi- 
 ble, to find Jehovah in a state of construction^ It is 
 a curious fact, that except in the supposed instance 
 of Jehovah Sabaoth, commonly rendered the Lord 
 ©/"hosts, this glorious name is never found in regimen. 
 It does not appear therefore, that we are justified in 
 considering this as an exception. St. John renders 
 the expression in Greek by o Kvpioa- a irailoi^xlup o 
 Kurios pantokratoor, '* the Lord the Almighty". 
 
202 HEBREW TITLE* 
 
 And in tbe only two instances of the use of the 
 phrase Jehovah Sabaoth, in the New Testament, an 
 indeclineable noun is adopted and without any article ; 
 so that in both these instances Sabaoth may be consi- 
 dered as in a state of apposition. St. Paul has the 
 expression Kvploa- a-xQatuQ Kurios Sabaoothy in Romans 
 9, 29; which may be rendered "the Lord Sabaoth." 
 And so might the passage in James 5, 4 — *' the ears 
 of the Lord Sabaoth", Kvfiov dxQxuO. George Pasor, 
 unwilling to admit Sabaoth as a name of Deity, and 
 unable to account for the phrase Jehovah Sabaoth in 
 in any other way, tells us that the expression is an 
 ellipsis, and that the word 'n*?« alehi is understood 
 between those of Jehovah and Sabaoth, so as that we 
 ought to read ** Jehovah, the AJehim of hosts". But, 
 in the first place, this is a mere conjecture without a 
 pretence of proof; and, secondly, we have instances 
 of Alchim also being in the absolute form before 
 Sabaoth. In the 80th psalm this occurs four times ; 
 twice we have the expression Alehim Sahaotk, — and 
 twice that of Jehovah Alehim Sabaoth. In the 
 last of these expressions, the word Alehim is indeed 
 inserted, but in the absolute form, and therefore it is 
 quite subversive of Pasor's conjecture. It will not be 
 amiss to avail ourselves of his judgment in respect of . 
 Jehovah never appearing in the construct state — ' quum 
 enim Jehovah sit nomen dei proprium, nunquam 
 legitur in statu constructo, ita ut ultima litera mutetur, 
 — vel ut admittat affixum, vel ut ei n he articulus 
 praeponatur *\ 
 
OF THE DEITY. 293 
 
 39. ">1Y Zur, the rock, implying strength, stahility, 
 durability, and all possible perfection. It represents 
 the Deity as a solid basis, a sure foundation, an im- 
 pregnable fortress, a secure hiding lace, a shelter 
 from the storm and a shadow from the heat. The 
 song of Moses dwells much upon this very significant 
 title, *• the rock of our Salvation ;" and he evidently 
 intends by it, Jehovah considered as our Alehim, that 
 is. Father, Son, and Spirit, engaged in covenant for 
 its achievement. ** Because I will publish the name 
 of Jehovah (he sa3's;) ascribe ye greatness unto our 
 Alehim^ the rock; his work is perfect." Nor is there 
 other rock than tliis, Jehovah considered as our 
 Alehim, and our Alehim considered as Jehovah, 
 *• For who is Aloah save Jehovah? and who is a 
 rock save our AlehimV 2 Samuel 22", 32. Hannah, 
 aware of this, exclaims, "my heart rejoiceth in Jeho- 
 Tah, my horn is exalted in Jehovah, my mouth is 
 enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in thy 
 Salvation; there is none holy as Jehovah, for there 
 is none besides thee, neither is there any rock like our 
 Alehim!'' 1 Samuel 2, 2. And David observes, " the 
 Alehim of Israel said, the rock of Israel spake to mc ; 
 he thkt rule til over men must be just, ruling in the 
 fear of the Akhim." 2 Samuel 23, 3. 
 
 40. tt^np Kedosh, the holy one; he who is separate, 
 as the root signifies, from all pollution, and all fault, 
 defect, or imperfection. A sun without spots. He 
 only is light, and in him is no darkness at all; "there 
 is none holy as Jehovah," sung Hannah; and even in 
 Heaven their song is, " thou only art holy." The Sou 
 
 2 c2 
 
294 HKBREW TITLES 
 
 of God is the holy one (as he is called,) essentially, ho 
 heing God by nature, and so Jehovah; and by virtue 
 of its union with him, the manhood also is ** holy, 
 separate from sinners, and made higher than the 
 Heavens." 
 
 41. C3»iynp Kedoshim, the holy ones or holies; 
 according to whose righteous fiat or decree all things 
 are determined. They are the ruling heavenlies, as 
 Daniel represents them in his 4th chapter, and are at 
 once the observers and directors of all created Beings* 
 Sometimes, instead of the plural kedoshim, the 
 singular kedosh is tkrice repeated, that the Church 
 may be certain of these being a holy shelishah, or 
 Trinity of persons, in the divine nature (Isaiah 6, 3, 8.) 
 This is also the case in the New Testament with the 
 Greek ayioa agios, holy ; it is thrice repeated in Reve- 
 lation 4, 8, to mark the threefold personality in God. 
 And since this word is compounded of a not, and y>» 
 the earth, it admirably coincides witli the Hebrew 
 kedosh, as intimating an eternal separation of the 
 Deity, from whatever is created and corruptible; and 
 it very strongly characterises Fatlier, Son, and Spirit, 
 as glorious co-essential persons in the ever blessed 
 Jehovah, who in strictness of speech aione is holy. 
 And the third blessed personage in God is most fre- 
 quently Hfarked by the epithets kedosh and agios, as 
 if in a peculiar manner to guard us against those 
 unhallowed conceits of rebellious human nature, which 
 are so continually hurrying us into blasphemous 
 expressions against the eternal spirit,* The plural 
 • Mr. Bemn is exceedingly bold atd daring in bis oppositioa 
 
OF THE DEITY. 20!! 
 
 Kedoshim, as it sometimes stands alone, for the 
 holies or holy ones, so it ia also joined at times, with 
 Alehin; and that we might not imagine these Alehim 
 kedoshim to be any inferior Deities, but co-essential 
 
 to the Deity and personality of the Holy Spirit. *' There is no 
 one declaration (he sa)'s,) that the Spirit is God ! " But Paul say?, 
 " we are the circuni,cision, who worship God the Spirit.'^ Phil. 
 3, 3. s"e also Acts 5, 3, 4. "why h.ith Satan (we may say to Mr. 
 B.) filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit ? Thou hast not lied 
 to men, bwt to Godf" And tlie spirit is united with Father and 
 Son, in Matthew 28, 19 : in 2 Corinthians 13, 14 ; and in 1 John 
 6, 7 : these passages demand our utmost attention. To oppose 
 ihe personality of the Spirit, Mr. B. adopts an argument from 
 Mr. Marsom, " Spirit, this being neuter, proves, that it is not a 
 person ! " It is well that they are driven to such proofs, since 
 tUey prove only their own folly. And from these, and other 
 symptoms, one is led to hope that, as the Apostle speaks, " they 
 shall proceed no farther, for their folly shall be manifest unto all 
 men.'' 2 Timothy 3, 7, 9. For if a noun, from its being neuter, 
 disproves personality, then the children of God are not persons, 
 because the Greek work 'if Kvat fe/c7»a is neuter; and little child- 
 ren, too, leicv I oc tekuia,2Lre impersonal ; and since God is a "Spirit," 
 Wivfxx pneuma, he is not a person ; nor can Angels, infernal or 
 ««pernal, be persons, since they are all pneumata, that is, of the 
 neuter gender J Having denied Deity and personality to the holy 
 Spirit, Mr. B. proceeds, after the example of Mr. Marsom, to 
 reduce him to breath or wind — " tliey were sent forth by the 
 Spiiit, that is (says Mr. B.)i/te breath of tlie Lord of the Harvest, 
 speaking in the Prophets to the Clmrch, and commanding it ; 
 but, will you pray to that breath of the Lord ?" Surely, in this 
 way, we might make the Bible teach Atheism ; we have only to 
 insert a that is, and then introduce what fancies we please ; 
 Johatma Southcote, in \rev wildest reveries, never hazarded a 
 grosser perversion of the sacred Text, than this of Mr. Bevan. 
 I will only produce the sacred Text in refutation ; the passage 
 is this, — *^ th£ Holy Spirit said, separate unto me Barnabas and 
 Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. So they, being 
 Hntjorthby the Holy Sj>iri^, departed unto. Selcucia," Acts 13; 
 
296 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 persons in the sole God, they are expressly declared 
 to be Jehovah, — *'ye cannot serve Jehovah (said 
 Joshua,) for He is the Alehim the holy ones*'. Joshua 
 
 24, 19. 
 
 42. niip Keroh, he who is near, one related to 
 
 us, and nigh at hand to befriend ; it respects God as 
 being a very present help to his people, as being their 
 Covenant God, and indeed as being near of kin to 
 them in his character of Emanuel God with us' " The 
 wicked are near to trouble me (says David,) thou also 
 art near, O Jehovah f" that is, near to help, defend, 
 and deliver. Psalm 119, 150, 151. Others, who 
 are near to us by various ties, may fail us in our exi- 
 gencies, — *'my kinsfolk (Kerobim,)h2L\e isLiled", says 
 Job in his affliction; " but I know that my 6roe/liveth,** 
 Le who is my near kinsman redeemer, a brother born 
 for adversity, and one who sticketh closer than a 
 brother. And as God is become our God, and near 
 to us, — so we are become his people, and a people 
 near to him, as the Psalmist expresses it, — "let them 
 praise the name of Jehovah; he exalteth the horn of 
 his people, he the praise of all his saints, even of the 
 children of Israel, a people 7iear unto him (Kerob.") 
 Psalm 148, 14. 
 
 2, 4. As a comment upon this, take a second Text, " take heed 
 unto yourselves, and to all the flock over the which the Holy 
 Spirit hath made you Overseers.'' Acts 20, 28. Who then is the 
 Lord of the harvest, unless this very Holy Spirit, to whom we 
 are commanded to pray ? Luke 10, 2. Let us then heed the 
 warning of Christ, '' whosoever speaketh against the Holy Spirit, 
 it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this \rorld; nor in that to 
 come." Matthew J2; 32. 
 
or THE DBITY. 407 
 
 43, Q'anp Kerobim, the near ones; this plural 
 epithet is exquisitely adapted to the Father, Son, and 
 Spirit, as our Aleliim, as become ours by virtue of 
 the counsel and the oatli, and as pledged to hear and 
 answer when we call upon their name. It may also 
 convey the idea of their Omjiijrresence, by virtue of 
 which perfection, inherent in their essence as Jehovah, 
 we may consider them as always nigh, even our 
 strong habitation whereunto we may continually resort. 
 " For what great nation is there (says Moses,) to whom 
 belong Alehim that are near unto them [Kerobim,) 
 like Jehovah out Alehim, in all things that we call 
 upon him for? ' Deuteronomy 4, 7. **Am I an 
 Alehim at hand, saith Jehovah, and not an Alehim 
 afar oil? Do I not fill Heaven and Earth, saith Jeho- 
 vah?" Jeremiah 23. 23, 24, 
 
 44. n Rub, the mighty or majestic one; it is 
 the formal name, observes Marius de Calasio, of 
 magnificence, or majesty and dominion. Hence 
 arose the title of Rabbi amongst the Je^ s, the assump- 
 tion of which Jesus reproved — '*they love to be call- 
 ed of men, RaLbi, Rahbi ; but be not ye called Rabbi, 
 for one is your masfer even Christ'\ Elsewhere he 
 says, "ye call me master end Lord, and ye say well, 
 for so I am". Accordingly, Nathanael, when con- 
 vinced by the Omniscience of Jesr.s tliathe was a 
 divine personage although in the human form, "an- 
 swered, and said unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son 
 of God, thou art the King of Israel". The prophet 
 Isaiah had long before introduced him under this title, 
 — " who is this that cometh from £dom, with dyed 
 
298 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 garments from Bozrah ? This that is glorious in his 
 apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength ? 
 I who publish righteousness ^ the mighty (or majestic) 
 one to save". Isaiah 63, 1. And indeed in a previous 
 chapter Isaiah had said that the Egyptians *' shall cry 
 to Jehovah because of the oppressors, and he shall 
 send them a Saviour even a great (or majestic) one 
 (rub,) and he shall deliver them" (19, 20.). 
 
 45. aon Rubim, the majestic ones; it occurs in 
 a compound form, with d caph prefixed, signifying like, 
 •'che-rubim", or a likeness oi" the majestic ones, the 
 illustrious Alehim, as they are elsewhere caU'ed. 
 Ezekiel represents the cherubim* as the glory of the 
 
 • These figures were of pure gold, beaten out of the substance 
 of the mercy seat, which formed a covering of solid gold to the 
 Aik; hence the Ark came to be called the Aik of the Alehim 
 of Israel, its cherubim being the constituted symbols of their 
 presence. *'^ Let us fetch the Ark of the covenant of Jehovah 
 (say the Israelites,) that when it cometh, it may save us from our 
 enemies. 8o the people sent for the Ark of the covenant of 
 Jehovah who inhabiteth the cherubim. And when the Philistinei 
 niiderstood that the Ark was come, they said the Akhimia come 
 into the camp ! who shall deliver us from these illustrious Alehim.' 
 Tlicse are the Alehim who smote the Egyptians." 1 Samuel 4, 3, 
 8. When the Ark came to Bethsliemesh, and the Lord smote 
 ■ome of Israel for presuming to inspect the interior of it, they 
 HSik], " who is able to stand before this holy Jehevah, the Alehim? 
 and to whom shall he go up from us I Samuel C, 20. As another 
 unanswerable proof of the cherubim being representative of the 
 Alehim or divine persons in Jehovah, let the reader consider 
 the following. Moses said to Jehovah, *'see, thou saycst, bring 
 lip tills people; and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt 
 send with me. And He said, my presence shall go,*' that is, " ray 
 penim (or faces) they shall go and I will give tbee rest And 
 Moses said, if thyprcseiice go not/' that is, " if thy penim (or 
 
OF THE DEITY. 209 
 
 Alehim of Israel, and tells us, in reference to them, 
 that he had "visions of the Alehim "; St. Paul there- 
 fore styles them ** the cherubim of glory." 
 
 46. nu Shadai, the all-suiricicut and all-bountiful 
 pourer forth of all good ; the being of whom is our 
 sufficiency, and who, so far from needing any thing 
 himself, gives, to all, "life and breath and all things'*. 
 He never left himself without witness, says Paul, "in 
 thai he did good, and gave us rain from Heaven, and 
 fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and glad- 
 ness". Some derive it from niu shudah or, im shad, 
 to shed forth, pour out, &c; whilst others make it a 
 compound of shin, put for asher, who is, and n di, 
 sufficiency, — denoting (says Taylor,) his inliuite suf- 
 ficiency for himself and for all other Beings; and 
 hence the Talmudists explain Genesis 17, 1 — **Iam 
 Al shadai", by "in seternum sufficiens sum**, I am; 
 the eternally all-sufficient. 
 
 faces) they go not^ carry us not op hence ; for wherein shall it be 
 known that I and tliy people have found grace in thy sight ? 
 Is it not, in that thou goest with us ? and he said, I will even do 
 this thing.'' Exodus 33. 12, 17. But how was this promise ful- 
 filled ? '* Israel departed from the Mount, and the Ark went 
 before them fo se«rcA oM^ a resting-place for them. When the 
 Ark set forward, Moses »aid, rise up Jehovah! and let thine 
 enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee flee before 
 thee I and when it rested he said, return, O Jehovah \ unto the 
 many thousands ot Israel " Numbers 10, 33, 36. When Jacob 
 had had a vision of the Deity, it is said, " and Jacob called the 
 place Peoi-e/," or the faces ofal. '' for I have seen the Alehim 
 face to face." Genesis 32, 30. The shewbread was, literally, 
 " the bread of faces," because it was to be always " before the 
 faces (or persons) of Jehovah." 
 
300 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 47. Dtt^ Shenif the name ; it may intend the Son, 
 particularly, as the appearing person, and so the 
 representative of Deity, it being in and by the incar- 
 nation of the Son, that God is manifested in the flesh; 
 and so he is "the name of Jehovah," as being the 
 express Image of substantial divinily. For a name, 
 if it is not merely an arbitrary sound, not only stands 
 for a substitute of a person or thing, but it is descrip- 
 tive of its nature; and the 8on is the name of Jehovah 
 in this high sense, as exhibiting in himself whatever 
 Jehovah is, so that the light of the knowledge of the 
 glory of God is only seen in the person of Jesus Christ. 
 Hence the name of Jehovah means, throughout the 
 Scriptures, no inferior Being, but Jehovah; as when 
 it is said that the name of Jehovah is a strong tower, 
 it can intend no created defence, but must signify the 
 omnipotent himself. Accordingly, when the Son of 
 God is spoken of in his capacity of melak, that is the 
 Angel or messenger to bring Israel into Canaan, ; 
 Jehovah says of him, — *' Beware* of him, and obey 
 
 • This is plainly the same personage whom Joshna afterwards 
 ■worshipped, and whose sacred presence consecrated the spot on 
 which he trod, and made it ''holy ground," insomuch that he 
 commanded the Son of Nun, '* loose thy shoe from off thy foot, 
 lor the place whereon thou standest is holy." This same melaky 
 or son sent, appeared to Moses ** in a flame of fire, out of the 
 midst of a bush,'' and he is there called Jehovah; and Moses 
 hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon iiim. And the same 
 command was issued, '' draw not ni^h hitlier ; put off thy shoes 
 front oil thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy 
 ground.* Exodus 3. and joshua5. Accordingly, Malachi calls 
 this Angel, or Son sent, the Adon who was to v-ome to his Temple, 
 ■which further prores his divinity (see Granville Sharp's H« 
 
OF THE DEITY. 501 
 
 his voice, provoke him not, for he will not pardon 
 your transgressions, for my name is in him ", that is, 
 my nature, my perfections. On this account David 
 exhorts us much in the same way, — ** kiss the Son, lest 
 he be angry, and ye perish"; the Father's name, 
 nature, and perfections are within him, so that he is 
 the same dread Jehovah to those who persist in rebel- 
 lion against him. Exodus 23, 20, 21 : Psalm 2, 12. 
 
 Tracts ;) since, had he not been a divine person m the Godhead, 
 it would rather have been said, " and the Adon whom ye seek 
 shall suddenly come to the Temple of Jehovah," than, as it now 
 stands, " shall come to his,'' his own Temple. And this idea is 
 confirmed by the Son of God calling his body, when he was upon 
 earth, his Temple, an expression properly applicable only to the 
 residence of the Deity. He is, then, both as the nasie, and as 
 the Angel or messenger of Jehovah, not a creature, but a divine 
 person, " the Son sent to be the Saviour." So, as the word of 
 Jehovah, he is not merely called God, as Mr. Bevan tells us, but 
 he is what he is called, " and the word was God, and the word 
 was made flesh." But observe the order laid down by the 
 Evangelist, he first declares the word to have been God in the 
 beginning, that is, as Paul explains it, he was Trpo Trxvluv before 
 ali things. Then he declare* him to be the creator of all worlds. 
 And after having culled him God, and then proved his eternal 
 power and Godhead by referring all creation to him, he proceeds 
 to declare his Incarnation as taking place in the fulness of time ; 
 " the word was God. Ail things were made by him. And the 
 word was incarnated, and tabernacled amongst us, and we be- 
 held /fi5 glory, the glory as of the onhj-begotien of the Father." 
 So again as the arm of Jehovah, he is a Sou who eiccutes his 
 Fatlier's purpose ; not as a created agent, but one of the 
 Alehim in Jehevah, and who therefore says, <* mine own arm 
 brought Salvation unto me." There w;is none to help, none to 
 uphold ; but travelling in the majesty of bis own strength, he 
 trod under foot every foe, and proved himself to be ""the 
 mighty one to sui-e," 
 
 2d 
 
302 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 We meet with this expression the name twice in 
 Leviticus 24,— "the Israelitish woman's Son blas- 
 phemed the name, and cursed"; afterwards it is ex-, 
 plained as intending "the name of Jehovah ". James 
 evidently alludes to Jesus, whom the Gentiles were 
 wont to execrate, when he says, — "Do they not 
 blaspheme that worthy name by the whicli ye are call- 
 ed?" And in the same view St. Paul remarks, that 
 no one who speaks by the influence of the Spirit of 
 God, "calleth Jesus accursed". This title of the 
 name, indeed, is not greatly different from that of 
 Son, since a Son assumes and continues his Father's 
 name, and, with the name, he possesses the same 
 human form or Image, and the same identical nature. 
 Thus the Son is as really God, or Jehovah, as to 
 essence, as the Father is ; and therefore, to trust in 
 the name of the Lord, and to trust iri the Son, are 
 represented as the act of the blessed. And Jesus 
 seems to have used these expressions as being synony- 
 mous; since, in one place he says, '^ Father ! Glorify 
 thy 7iame", — and in another place he says, " Father! 
 Glorify thy Son'\ John 12, t?.8; and 17, 1. 
 
 48. czj'DU^ Shemhn, the Heavens; and because 
 these are what particularly declare and exhibit the 
 glory of God, in their boundless expanse, immeasur- 
 able height, inimitable glow, transparent purity, the 
 •plendour of their constellations, and in a word their 
 ineffably sublime effect as a stupendous whole, whose 
 magnitude and magnificence are unequalled in Crea- 
 tion, and are only surpassed b^ those majesties, or 
 majestic ones, the Alehim adirim who made them,— 
 
OP THE DEITT. 303 
 
 on tliis account, perhaps, the word shemim is likewise 
 applied to the Alehim themselves » as the august ori- 
 ginals of those representative shemim, the material 
 Heavens. And further indeed, if v,e consider the 
 original idea of the root au; or CD^m shem or shorn, to 
 set in order, adjust, dispose, appoint, Szc, and recol- 
 lect that the Heavens are wonderfully iofluential on 
 this Earth, insomuch that, what with the air, the 
 winds, the rains, the light and heat, all the benefi- 
 cial etTects which this globe is susceptible of, must be 
 referred to them, — we shall perceive an additional 
 propriety in the name assigned them, and in its ap- 
 plication also to those glorious personages, from 
 whom the material Heavens derive all their genial 
 powers. By them were the celestial bodies appoint- 
 ed, as agents, for the regulation of days, nights, and 
 years, and for signs and seasons; *'the Alehim said, 
 let there be instruments of light in the firmament of 
 the Heavens, to divide the day from the night, and 
 let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days 
 and for years. And the Alehim made two great 
 instruments of light, the greater light tortile the day 
 and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the 
 stars also. And the Alehim set them in the firma- 
 ment of the Heavens, to give light upon the Earth, 
 and to rule* over the day and over the night." 
 
 * Mr. Hutchinson considers the Heavens to be " the air ex- 
 isting in three conditions, fire, light, and spirit ;" and that " the 
 stated operations of nature are carried on by the meihanism of 
 the Heavens in this tlieir threefold condition of lire, light, and 
 spirit, tlie material agents set to work at the beginning ; that 
 
304 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 Genesis 1. 14—18. But to deter us from attributing 
 too much to the creatures, Daniel reminds us of the 
 true rolling Celestials, the shelitin shemia or ''the 
 Hearenlies " who '' do rule ". Daniel 4, 26. These 
 
 the Heavens thus framed by almighty wisdom are an instituted 
 emblem and visible substitute of Jehovah the Alehim, the 
 eternal three, the co-equal and co-adorable Trinity in Unity; 
 that the Unity of substance in the Heavens points out the Unity 
 cf essence, and the distinction of conditions marks the personality 
 in Deity, without confounding the persons or dividing the sub- 
 stance; and that from their being made emblems, they are 
 called in Hebrew shemim, the namesy repres^entatives, or substi- 
 tutes." But, in the Bible, the w ord for names is niDty /^^icmotk ; 
 and shemim in the masculine is the word for the Heavens, and it 
 «eems to denote, like the Greek Osoi theoi, the disposers, placers 
 ill order &c. and so it fitly represents those immaterial Shemim, 
 who are the universal Shelitin or rulers. 
 
 However, conceding that " the personality in Jehovah is in 
 Scripture represented by the material Trinity of nature, which 
 also, like their divine Antitype, are of one substance, that the 
 primary scriptural type of the Father, is /rir, of the Son, light, 
 and of the Holy Spirit, the air in motion, we shall easily perceive 
 the propriety of the cherubic emblems. The Ox or Bull, on 
 account of his horns, the curling hair on his forehead, and his 
 unrelenting fury when provoked, is a very proper animal emblem 
 of fire; the Lion, from his usual tawny gold like colour, his 
 flowing mane, his shining eyes, his great vigilancy, and his 
 prodigious strength, of t\m light \ and the Eugle, of the air in 
 motion, from his being the chief among fowls, from his impetuous 
 motion, and from his towering and surprising flights. That the 
 cherubic figures were representatives of something beyond 
 themselves, is agreed by all ; the question is, of what were they 
 emblematical ? They were emblems of the ever blessed Trinity 
 in covenant to redeem man, by an union of the human nature to 
 the second person, that He, the Son, might become Emanu-el, 
 God with us; this was intimated in the connected faces or 
 aspects of the Lion and the Man. The cherubim in the Holy of 
 Holies certainly represented some being in Heaven, since Paul 
 
OF THE DEITY. 305 
 
 are the genuine shadim, or pourers forth of all good, 
 at whose sole pleasure the clouds drop fatness, the 
 Heavens shed their kindly influences, and all nature 
 conspires to promote the benefit of man. Let it be 
 
 declares tliat part of the Temple to have been a type of Heaven 
 itself; they must therefore have represented either the ever- 
 blessed Trinity, with the intended incarnation of the Son, or 
 else some created intelligences, either Saints or Angels." See 
 Robinson, Parkhurst, &c. Omitting inferior considerations, the 
 following may suffice to establish the point, that Deify , and not 
 crenturcs, was intended in this glorious exhibition. 1. The 
 chernbim were of beaten gold from the substance of the Mercy 
 seat, and the blood of atonement was sprinkled before them, and 
 this is said to be ''before the faces (or persons) of Jehovah." 
 2. The higii Priest entering within the vail, to present the blood of 
 atonement, ^ras a Type o^ Jesus, and Jje is said to have gone into 
 Heaven itself to appear in the presence of God, with his own blood. 
 8. The very designation, the holy place of the holy ones, points to 
 these figures there, as the Symbols of the divine persons in 
 Jehovah, 4. The Alehim are said to inhabit the cherubim, as a 
 thing signified may be considered as lying inveloped in its sign ; 
 and here the Priest came to present himself before the Deity, to 
 sprinkle the blood, to burn incense before Jehovah, to pray for 
 himself and the people, and to enquire "at the Oracle of the 
 Alehim," or the speaking place of the divine persons (2 Samuel 16, 
 2. 3.) 5. The Tabernacles in the earlier ages were called Beth- 
 alehim, tlie house of the Alehim, from the symbolic cherubim in 
 the Holy of Holies. 6. Because of these figures, united to the 
 Ark, being emblems of the Deity, and tokens of his presence, 
 favour, and protection, therefore Moses says, when the Ark 
 moves, " rise up, Jehovah ! " &c. And in his promise to Moses, 
 he said, " my faces they shall go," that is, expressly, those which 
 represent me; now these were the cherubim attached to the 
 Ark. The Philistines, the moment the Ark is seen, with its 
 refulgent cherubim of gold, exclaim, " the Alehim is come ! who 
 shall deliver us from these Alehim the majestic ones r" And, to 
 add no more, the teraphim, an inferior sort of chernbim, are 
 likewise called Aiehiui; by Laban and by Micah ; and the place 
 2 d2 
 
306 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 here remembered, that the New Testament speaks 
 of ^Aree Heavens, and no more; if then the material 
 shemim symbolize the immaterial Heavenlies, they 
 go to prove them to be a Trinity. 
 
 49. iDS^iiy Shopket, the judge; he who presides 
 over all, and judges righteous judgment, and to whose 
 supreme court there lies an appeal from every human 
 decision. Hadicallj, it also signifies one who defends 
 and avenges, and pleads or argues the cause of others; 
 all which is most true of our Emanuel, M'liois our 
 Saviour, redeemer, judge, and advocate. So true 
 
 vhere Micah kept these figures, is called his Beth-alehim. 
 
 If it is asked why theie were two cherubie figures, with their 
 four faces each, in the Holy of Holies, it is. to be answered, that 
 it was impossible otherwise to represent what was intended, all 
 the faces could not have looked inward towards each other, and 
 down on the Mercy seat and the interceding high Priest sprink- 
 ling the atoning blood, and at the same time outwards towards 
 the Temple ; in other words, the divine persons could not have 
 been represented as witnessing to each other's voluntary engage- 
 ments for man's redemption, as beholding the sacrifice of Christ's 
 death tjpified in the Jewisli Cliurch, and at the same time as 
 extending their gracious regards to every quarter of the habit- 
 able globe. But a seventh reason for considering the cherubim 
 as representatives of the Alehim &c. is deducible from this cir- 
 cumstance, that it was common for ancient believers to speak 
 of the cherubic wings, feathers, and shadow, in immediate refer- 
 ence to Deity, as symbolizing his guardian care and protection. 
 "He who dweiieth in the secret place of Elion, shall abide 
 under the sliadoic of shadai: He shall cover thee with his fea- 
 thers, and under his wings shalt thou trust" Again ; " How 
 excellent is thy loving kindness, O Alehim ! Therefore the 
 children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings," 
 Psalm, 36. 7, 8 : aad 91, 1» 4. See also Ruth, 2, 12 ; Psalm 6T, 
 1 ; et alia , 
 
OF THE DEITY. 307 
 
 it is, as Paul speaks, aWx la. vxvlx icxt sv 'jrxa-i KpKrloa; 
 '* but verily Christ is all things, and in all things /* 
 Let us not forget that, to be all, and in all, he must 
 be infinite and omnipresent, and so, " God with, us*', 
 according to his name, and not a mere first created 
 human soul, which could no more befriend us thus 
 universally, than " a sparrow alone on the house-top". 
 50. CD'tTDt:^ Shophetim, the judges; the Alehim 
 who take cognizance of human affairs, these, the 
 Psalmist tells us, "arejudr/es in the Earth". Psalm 
 68, 11. To these therefore Laban appeals, in his 
 conference with Jacob, — '' the Alehim of Abraham 
 and Xalior they shall judge betwixt us". Genesis 
 31, 53. And because human judges amongst the 
 Hebrews, were tlie representatives and delegates of 
 the Alehim, and were the subordinate agents, and 
 not the principals, in giving law and dispensing justice 
 to Israel, whose proper government was a theocracy, 
 therefore the people appeared before the judgei in 
 order to have their causes decided from the Alehim; 
 "they come to me (says Moses,) to enquire of the 
 Alehiiu'y and 1 judge betwixt one and another, and I 
 do make them know the statutes of the Alehim". 
 Again; "and for any manner of lost thing, which 
 another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties 
 shall come before tlie Alehim", but translated the 
 judges; "and whom the Alehim they shall condemn, 
 he shall pay double", — here also Alehim is translated 
 the judges; at all events it is plainly p/wra/. Exodus 
 18, 15, IG: and 22. 8, 9. Thus it is palpable, 
 that the Alehim themselves are the judges ; and, oa 
 
308 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 the other hand, the judges in Israel being their substi- 
 tutes, are Alehim as to office ; '* 1 have said, ye are 
 Alehim, but ye shall die like men". Nothing can 
 be more to the point than the whole of the 82d Psalm, 
 — "the Alehim standeth in the congregation of Al; 
 he judgeth amongst the Alehim", — amongst those 
 official representative ones, the rulers of the people. 
 These being grown corrupt, Asaph proceeds to 
 expostulate with them in the name of the Alehim of 
 Israel, — " how long will ye judge unjustly, and ac- 
 cept the persons of the wicked? I have said, ye are 
 Alehim, and all of you children of Elion; but ye 
 shall die like men, and fall like one of the Princes.'* 
 Then Asaph appeals, from these official Alehim, the 
 unjust judges of Israel, to the true Alehim of Earth 
 and Heaven who are the one Jehovah,— ''Arise, O 
 Alehim! judge thou the Earth, for thou shalt inherit 
 all nations.'' 
 
 Be it observed here, that most of the Divine 
 names are, sometimes, applied to men or Angel?, 
 that is, in a limited sense ; as we have just seen that 
 the judges of Israel were called Alehim; and the 
 Angels are so called in the 97th Psalm, verse 7, as 
 explained by the seventy, and likewise by St. Paul 
 in Hebrews 1, 6. But the titles of essence, which 
 imply self-existence, eternity, immutability, and a 
 causing of existence to all other Beings, such as Jeho- 
 vah, Jail, dc, are never given to any creature. The 
 reason is obvious. Other names imply, it may be, 
 gome communicable attribute or office, but these refer 
 to a somewhat which is absolutely peculiar to essential 
 
OF THE DEITY. 300 
 
 Godhead, such as eternity as to the past (a parte 
 ante,) immutability, self- existence, and a causing 
 of to be to all others, neither of which is communi- 
 cable to any creature, nor can any creature be the 
 express Image or representative of Deity in these 
 respects. God may judge, and may govern the 
 world, instrumentally, or by delegation ; and so, 
 both men and Angels may be Alehim officially. 
 *^Thus the judges (says Mr. Serle,) are named 
 Aleliim, because they acted for the Alehim, and stood 
 before Jehovah, or in his presence, to attest and judge 
 his people in liis name. They were therefore ivitnesf 
 ses for the Alehim in a right government and decision". 
 Xothing can be clearer than the declaration of the 
 Lord to Moses, — ** and thou shalt be to Aaron instead 
 of the Alehim ", or for, or in the p/ace of the iVlehim. 
 Exodus 4, 16. And Jethro said to him, in his offi- 
 cial capacity as the head of the people, — *' hearken 
 unto my voice, I will give thee couusel, and the 
 Alehim shall be with thee; be thou for the people 
 before the Alehim ", or, towards the Alehim, ** that 
 thou mayest bring the causes (of the people) unto the 
 
 *Mr. Bevan, in reference to Psalm 33, 6 — remarks, that 
 " two of the persons (the Son and the Spirit,) are made servanis 
 in creation, and theretore servants by nature "(page 52.). There 
 may be a somewhat of the suhtilty of the serpent in this, but it 
 is hard to discover any of the tcisdotn. Is creation a sei^-ile 
 work ? Does tlie Old Testament universally restrict it to Jehovah 
 and to the Alehini in the Godhead and refer to it in proof of proper 
 divinity, and to distinguish between what is, and what is not, 
 absolutely God? And does the New Testament likewise advert 
 to it as demonstrative of 'eternal power and Godhead > " And 
 in the face of all this, does Mr, Bevan think to evince the servi'- 
 
310 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 Aleliim". Exodus 18, 19. But CVea^iow is the in- 
 stant eflbrt of Deity.* It is one grand effect from 
 one glorious cause. Jeliovah is the universal parent, 
 and all the creatures are " /a*s offspring ". That no 
 created Being could partake in the causing of that to 
 be, of which he himself is a component part, is plain; 
 since, in such a case, the same Being would be Crea- 
 tor and creature, or Jehovah and not Jehovah. He 
 who creates must possess infinite power and wisdom, 
 and must be eternal a 'parte ante \ for w hat is time 
 but the date of creation? Its dawn was the birth of 
 those rightly named ''morning stars", those elder 
 •*Sons of the Alebini", tiie Angels; for their crea- 
 tion, together with that of the substance or material 
 (r)«) of the Heavens and the Earth, &c, appears to 
 
 tuie of the Son and the Holy Spirit, instead of their divinity, from 
 the fact of their beinj co-agent persons in the work of creation ? 
 "The Alehim said, We will make man "; and were these ashim, or 
 makers, servants ? " Remember thj' horaim or creators,'''' says 
 Solomon ; were these, whom the Ring calls " the Alehim," ser- 
 vants in creation ? It was a work, which admitted not of assis- 
 tants; it was such a fabiic as the Master builder only cuuld rear » 
 " he who built ail things is God !" Iso, says Mr. Bevau ; " two 
 of the persons were servants in creation and therefore servants by 
 nature.^' We have already shewn the premiss to be false, but 
 supposing a father should employ his son as his agent in any 
 transaction, would this constitute the son a servant ? Or could it 
 possibly follow hence, that he was a servant by nature? We know 
 what is wriueu, namely, that the Son of God is " a Son over his 
 own house, whos-e house are we." His own house, how ? He tells us 
 that he is the builder of it, " upon this rock luill build my Church'." 
 Is he therefore a servant .' no. The very rock upon which he 
 founds his Church is this, the good confession of Peter, " thou art 
 the Christ, the Son of the living God !" Mr. Bevan would have 
 u* believe that he himself, a poor worm of the earth, is " no more 
 
OF THE DEITY. 311 
 
 Lave been '*the beginning^', and as it were the first 
 dawn of time. Genesis 1, 1: and Job 38. 4 — 7. In 
 allusion to this, Jeliovali says, " yea before the day 
 ■was, I am He"; or, as Lowth translates it, "even 
 before time was, I am He". Isaiah 43, .13. Ac- 
 cordingly, in speaking of Christ, as the Son of God 
 the Father, and so the express Image or form of his 
 substantial divinity, and the direct heir of the whole 
 Creation, the apostle, to demonstrate his proper 
 Lordship, or rather, his being Jehovah by nature, 
 says, — "for by him were all tkings creat€cV\ And 
 that we might not, in our ignorance, dream of a crea- 
 ted creator, or one who is not eternal, he adds, — ■ 
 ** and he is before all things '\ He does not say, 
 and he himself was created first; but, and he is 
 before all things: that is, he himself exists in a state 
 prior to, and apart from, all things created. It sepa- 
 
 a servant, but a son ;" for such honour have all the saints. Will 
 he then sink the Son of God, and the eternal Spirit beneath him, 
 and make them servants, wliilst he himself hogats of being- a son ? 
 Does he not know, that the very Sows of God arfi the servants of 
 Jesus Chi'ist ? " ye call me Master and LorJ ; and ye say well, for 
 so I am," But yet he commandsus to " call no man master !" Let 
 him then suffer the word of exhortatinn ; — *' Of what sore 
 punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath 
 trodden under foot the Son of God, and haih done despite unto 
 the Spirit «/ Grace ? For we know him that hatli said, veng-eance 
 belongeth unto me; I will recomptnse, saith the Lord, It is a fear- 
 ful thing to fall into the hands of the living God I" Htb. 10, 29, 
 31. This truly is an awful appeal, and is it made in rtftrence 
 to servunts? d(jihGod take such care for tools., and servile instru- 
 ments ? Or saith he it for his own sake ? For his own sake, 
 surely ; " thou shalt speak to the cliildrea of Israel saying-, who- 
 soever curseth his AUhim, shall bear his 6ia." Leviticus 
 24, 15. 
 
312 HEBREW TITLES 
 
 rates him from time, and all that measures its exis- 
 tence by it, declaring him to be Jehovah in every 
 way, " for by him were all thinrjs created; all things 
 were created by \nm, and for him, and he is (not 
 ivaSy but He is) before all tilings, and by him all 
 things consist", Colossians I. 15, 17. And John, 
 when he tells us that the word was God, proves his 
 eternal power and Godhead from his creatorship, — 
 ** all things were made by him ; and without him was 
 not any thing {not one thincf,) made that was made*'; 
 that is, whatever is created, that, without one excep- 
 tion, owes its Being to the word! John 1. 1 — 14: 
 and Romans 1. ID, — 23. Truly then, there are 
 three who bear witness in Heaven, the Father, the 
 word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three Alehim 
 are one Jehovah. And these are the genuine objects 
 of worship. Jehovah, as God in unity of essence,— 
 and the Alehim as God in a Trinity of co-essential 
 persons. These are to be worshipped, as residing in 
 the tabernacle or Temple of the manhood o^ J esws ; 
 for this is expressly declared to be the true *' Holy 
 of Holies " by Daniel.* *' Seventy weeks are de- 
 termined, to finish the transgression, &c, and to anoint, 
 the Kedosh Kedoshim"; that is to say, to anoint the 
 man-hood as the permanent //o/</|?Z«ce of Xhe Holy 
 ones. For immediately alter, he is called '* the 
 Messiah ", which means, in the Hebrew, the arioinU 
 
 * Daniel 9. 24, 26. John 2, 19, 21. Revelation 21, 22. and 
 compare, with th(s«, Malachi 3, 1. John 1,1, 14. Acts 16, 16, 
 17. Hebrews 8, 2, and 9, 11. 2. Corinthians 5. 19, and 12, 13. 
 
 Colossians 2, 9. 1 TimoUiy 3, 16. et alia nmlta. 
 
OF THE DEITY. 313 
 
 ed\ and it is declared that, after a determined period, 
 "shall Messiah be cut ofT. " Now it is a deliu:htful 
 coincidence, that Jesus speaks ofliis death, or being 
 about to be cut off, under the figure of the demolition 
 of a tabernacle or Temple; ** Jesus said to them, 
 destroy this Temple (this Kedosh Kedoshim,) and ia 
 three days I will raise it up ! But he (the Son of God,) 
 spake of the temple of his body," that is, of his hu- 
 manity; which he, as the Son of God, had power to 
 restore to life, no more to be destroyed. It is now 
 the habitation of Jehovah, the Alehim of eternity ; 
 and it supersedes all other Beth-alehims, all other 
 tabernacles and temples; for the substance and body 
 is displayed to us, that we may no longer adhere to 
 shadows. And therefore, in the New Jerusalem, 
 the Apocalyptic John informs us, that there is no 
 other place of worship; *' I saw no temple therein; 
 for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the 
 temple of it!" That is to say, in Hebrew, Jehovah 
 the Alehim Sabaoth, and the Messiah as the true 
 Kedosh Kedoshitn, these compose the divinity of 
 Heaven, and the medium of access to the sacred 
 presence. And therefore, to Jehovah the Alehim of 
 Israel, be glory, by Christ Jesus, world without end 
 Amen ! 
 
 T. Beshy, Jun. Priidir, Exeter. 
 
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