deriveth its quality from the bosom of goodness. To unfold the doctrine concerning the divine trinity more fully, so that men may see it with both their eyes, we shall arrange it under the following articles,— I. That there is a divine trinity, consisting of father, son, and holy ghost. II. That these three, father, son, and holy ghost, are three essentials of one God, which make one, like soul, body, and operation in man. III. That before the creation of the world there was no such trinity, but that it was provided and made, since the creation of the world, when God was manifested in the flesh, and then existed in the Lord God, the redeemer, and saviour, Jesus Christ. IV. That a trinity of divine persons, existing from eternity, or before the creation of the world, when conceived in idea, is a trinity of Gods, which can never be expelled by the oral confession of one God. V. That a trinity of persons was unknown in the apostolic church, and that the doctrine was first broached by the council of Nice, and thence received into the Romish church, and thus propagated amongst the reformed churches. VI. That the Nicene and Athanasian doctrine concerning the trinity have together given birth to a faith, which hath totally corrupted the Christian church. VII. That hence is come that abomination of desolation, and that affliction such as was not in all the world, neither shall be, which the Lord hath foretold in Daniel, and the Evangelists, and the Revelation. VIII. Hence too it is come to pass, that except a new heaven and a new church be established by the Lord, no flesh can be saved. IX. That a trinity of persons, each whereof singly and by himself is God, according to the Athanasian creed, hath given birth to many absurd and heterogeneous notions concerning God, which are merely fanciful and abortive. We shall now proceed to a particular explanation of each article.
