To James Barter's Reflections on my Late Book Intitled A True Testimony for God and for His Sacred Law
Thus have ye made the Commandments of God of none Effect by your Tradition: But in vain do ye Worship me, teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of Men. Mat. xv. 9.
Friend Barter,
I Have read thy pretended Answer, or Reflections upon my Book, intitled, A True Testimony for God, and for His Sacred Law, wherein I have asserted and defended the Supremacy of One God, the Father Almighty, upon the Foot and express Words of the First and Great Commandment of God, viz. Thou shalt have no other Gods but Me: And little thought of ever seeing such a vile Person as Thou, who hast liv’d so long in the open, notorious Sin of Adultery, Fornication and Whoredom, impudently taking God’s sacred Name into thy foul and polluted Lips, and using thy sordid Pen to meddle with his Holy Laws. Doth not God truly say to thee, What hast thou to do, to declare my Statutes, or that thou shouldst take my Covenant in thy Mouth. Seeing thou hatest Instruction, and casteth my Words behind thee. Psalms l.16, 17.
Thou knowest how thou hast wounded Christianity by they odious Life and Conversation, and brought such a Scandal upon the the Baptist Churches, both in thy own Country, and the Church at Netherton, as was never known before; for which wicked Enormities and Facts, that humble and grieved people, did (too late) spue thee out from among ‘em; tho’ by thy known Lies, and deceitful arts, thou didst too long deceive some of these truly pious Members, who were at last convinc’d of they abominable Actions. And I do earnestly intreat thee, in the Spirit and pure Love, to exercise Repentance towards God, and Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and endeavour by unfeigned, sincere and open Acknowledgments of thy Crimes to the Church, to be reconciled thereto, (which I have not heard thou hast ever yet done) for otherwise, all thy pretended Orthodoxy, will never Atone for a bad Life and Conversation: But of every Nation, him that fearest God and worketh Righteousness, shall be acceptable.
It seems evident to me, and doubtless to many judicious Readers, that the Doctrine of the Trinity, which makes the most High God, to be a Plurality of Persons (or Denominations as thee call’st ‘em) Three, or Six, or Ten, all alike absurd, to be fallen down to a very low Ebb, and almost ready to follow the Doctrine of Transubstantiation, and to take flight, and pass the Alps, into Italy or Spain, and get under the Protection of the Inquisition there; for those two irrational Doctrines, and humane Inventions, stand in great need of such unwholsome Severities, as Prisons, Galleys, Racks, Gibbets, Fire and Faggot to support them, and force People to swallow ‘em down whether they will or no: But praised be the living immortal God of Gods, that we breath in the British Air, and enjoy the Liberty of Free-born Subjects, to take our Religion from God, and not from Popes, nor Prelates, Priests nor Preachers of any sort, any farther than they speak and Act agreeable to Reason and Scripture, which always are Concomitants, and of which we must judge for our selves, as well as they, and not pin our Faith upon any Priest or Preachers Sleeves; but take our Lord’s Advice, and in all Matters of Faith, to call no Man Father here on Earth, for One is our Heavenly Father, even God. And to call no Man Master, for one is our Master, even Christ.
But Friend Barter, as I was intimating before, sure the Cause of the Trinitarians runs very low, when they were forc’d to hawl out such a worthless Tool as thou, to defend, or rather to desert, the Doctrine of the Trinity: For thou Miller, has grinded the Baker such a Batch of incoherent Stuff, as never will more.
Nay, some thin he will never make his Money of it, and that thou oughtst in Conscience (if thou hast any left) to grind for him Toll-Free: For instead of defending the Trinity, thou seemst to over-run it; and I think thou hast forgot thy Catechism, which tells thee, There are Three Persons in the Godhead, but thou tellst us no such Words, as Three Persons, but says, they are Three Denominations. What is the Matter with thee? What art thou turn’d Camelion, and chang’d the Old Trinitarian Doctrine of Three Persons, into Three Denominations? Page 102. I doubt this is a new Whimsie of thy own; for if the late Learned Presbyterian Minister Mr. How be to be credited, thou art no Real Trinitarian, but only a Nominal One: For he tells us flatly, That the God-head is not only Three distinct Persons, but Three Infinite Minds, or Beings; and Dr. Sherlock asserted the same; so that thou art in their Esteem no Trinitarian at all; for thou hast no where in all thy Book mention’d, the Three distinct Persons to be One God; so thou shouldst either own thy Catechism, or else disown it: For the Blessed Jesus tells us, that God his Father is the Only true God, John xvii.3.
But the lying, fallacious Assembly’s Catechism tells us, “There are Three Persons in the God-head, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these Three are One God, the same in Substance, equal in Power Glory;” contradicting Christ and the holy Scriptures, which never tells us, God is Three Persons, nor that Three Persons is One God, but abhors such Words: And I challenge all the Trinitarians under Heaven to shew me, where the sacred Scripture tells us, that Three Persons is One God. But if they cannot do it, then let them blush and be ashamed of their unscriptural, absurd, and irrational Inventions; and rather believe the Lips of our dear Lord, which always spoke the Truth, and told us plainly, that the Father was the Only true God. Which Words of Christ do evidently exclude any other Person from being the One true God, but God the Father Only. And our Lord confirms this abundantly in many Places of Scripture; as when the Mother of Zebedee's Children came to ask him, That her two Sons might sit the one on his Right Hand the other on his Left in his Kingdom, he plainly tells them, It was not his to give, Mat. xx. 23. But it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father; giving the Glory to whom it was due. Now how manifestly thou hast wronged the Sense of this Text, I will leave to all honest Men that will be at the Pains to read the 13th page of thy Book where thou tell’st us, That Christ did not answer, he did not know, or that he could not tell: Whereas the plain Answer of Christ was, that, to sit on my Right Hand and on my Left, is not mine to give; so that thou hast willfully and deceitfully abused that Scripture.
I desire all honest, unprejudic’d People to observe, that I have writ a Book wherein I have laid down many strong and very cogent Arguments, both from natural and revealed Religion, to prove, there is but One God the Father, and that no other Person or Being is the Supreme, or most High God, but He only; and that our Lord Jesus Christ hath no Authoirity, nor Power, nor Might, nor Dominion, but what he hath receiv’d from God the Father; and therefore is not the most high God, but another who derives his Life and Power, and his All, from God, agreeable to his own Words; I can do nothing of my self; and all Power in Heaven and Earth is given unto me; God ye therefore, &c. viz. by Virtue of the Power given to me; and, as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you; and in plain Words, My Father is greater than I.
And if we view the Scriptures that give Account of the Beginning or pre-existant Nature of Christ, viz. What he was before he took Flesh, we shall find Solomon giving an Account, That God created him the Beginning of his Ways for his Works, Prov. viii. 22. For so it is in the Greek Septuagint: And so you may plainly see it confirmed to the same purpose in the xxiv. Of Ecclesiasticus and 9. Verse. He create me from the Beginning before the World, and I shall never fail. And the Apostle Paul expressly calls him, The Image of the invisible God, the First Born of every Creature, Col. I. 14. And John calls him the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the Creation of God, Rev. iii. 14. That is, as the Learned Eusebius calls him, the Second Cause; for he that is the Image of the invisible God, is not that God himself, but the Image of him, or nearest Resemblance we can see; for all Men of Sense know, That an Image is not the Original. So that the plain, obvious, true Sense of these Testimonies of Solomon, and Paul, and john, is, that he was the First Creature that God made or created, and so is the First Born of every Creature, and has the Pre-eminence, and was before all Things, being the Beginning of the Creation of God, and by whom God created the World; for he seems to be the Angel of God’s Presence, and the Instrument in his Hand at the Creation; for it is said, God created all things by Jesus Christ; so that he was the Son of God in a more eminent Sense than Adam, or any other Persons (call’d the Sons of God) ever was. And when he came down from Heaven, and by the Power of God took Flesh of the Virgin, the Seed of Abraham, yet he tells us, It was not to do his own Will, but the Will of him that sent him. And even in the very highest Sense of Son-ship he tells us, He did not know the great Day of Judgment, and plainly says, that none but his Father Only know that Day.
Now from these Words of Christ, the Unitarians form this natural and potent Argument, viz. To be Ignorant of any one thing, cannot be reconciled with a perfect Knowledge; and were he true and perfect God, of the same Substance with his Father, he could be Ignorant of nothing at all.
I have shew’d in my Book, That the very Light of Nature teacheth us, there is but One Supream Being of all Beings, who is the First Cause of all other Beings whatsoever; and to deny this, is to fall into all the Absurdities of Darkness in the World. For the natural Ideas that we have of God is, That he is Unoriginate, Independant, Omniscient, and Self-Existent.
Now to suppose any other Person (even our Lord Jesus Christ, who wants the aforesaid Qualities) to be the most High God, is a direct and plain Contradiction to the Light of Nature, and an offering Violence to our Reason, because he has not those Perfections, therefore cannot be the most High God, for they belong only to the First Cause. And when we come to consult with revealed Religion, it runs consonant with natural Religion, and doth not teach us any thing contrary to Reason, but always what is agreeable to the highest Degrees of it, that it is observable, the first Words we have in revealed Religion run this, viz. In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth, Gen. i. 1. and God said, Let there be Light, and there was Light. This gives us the same Idea of the One Supreme God, as the Light of Nature doth; and here is not the least Notion of a Trinity, or of God Almighty being Three Persons. That wild Doctrine was not born, nor drew its monstrous Breath, till above Four Thousand Years after the Creation of of God. The good old Patriarchs knew nothing of God’s being a Plurality of Persons, though they had such manifest Favours as to hear his Voice, and see his Glory; and the holy Prophets abhor’d such a Thought, by always giving him the singular Notes of He, and Thou, and Me; telling us, there was no other God but Him, they knew not any. Holy Isaiah cries out, To whom will ye liken me, or shall I be equal saith the Holy One? (Not Three) that is in plain Words, he hath no Equal, Isaiah xl. 25. And again that holy Prophet cries aloud, and warns us in these Words; Remember the former things of Old, for I am God and there is none else, I am God and there is none like me Isaiah xlvi. 9. Take Notice here all People that fear God, see how the Trinitarians contradict this Prophet of the Lord! For they make Two other Persons to be equal to God the Father. I desire all good Men to consider seriously, not what the Men in latter Days have thought of Jesus Christ, but what his own Apostles when Inspir’d have thought of him. To be sure, none was more likely, or ever had a fairer Occasion to represent his Lord in the Height of his Glory, than the Apostle Peter in the Day of Pentecost, that Day of Triumph, with the newly and visibly Inspired Apostles.
Hear how magnificently he describes his glorious Lord Jesus before his Murderers, Acts, ii. 20, & 26. Ye Men of Israel, hear these Words, Jesus of Nazareth a Man approved of God among you, by Miracles, Wonders, and Signs, which God did by him in the midst of you. Again, Let all the House of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now ‘tis observable, the Apostle was aiming at such a Description of Jesus Christ, as might strike the Hearts of the Murderers with the greatest Horror of their Crime; and therefore could never omit the most Emphatical Branch of his Description, viz. his Infinite Deity, if he had really been such. But ‘tis certainly all flat and low that Peter says in Comparison of this, viz. That he was a Man approved of God. Did he not understand, or would he betray his Cause by such an Omission? And yet he only represents Christ as a God by Inhabitation and Exaltation, when he was far from being counted with any fear to own Christ full. Nay, if this Deity of Christ were a fundamental Article of the Christian Faith; how comes it to pass, that when Poor convinced Souls, in anguish for their Crimes, seek Direction how to be saved from them, the Apostle should not acquaint them with this Article, but directs them to believe in this Jesus such as he had discribed him? Did he direct wounded Souls to an insufficient Saviour, without telling ‘em he was the Infinitie God?
Yet they are Baptized and added to the Church, and number’d among such as shall be saved. How can this be, if the Supreme God-head of Christ be a fundamental Article of the Christian Faith? Doubless Peter knew of no such Article in his Days, nor Paul, nor any of the rest of the Holy Apostles of Christ: But Paul tells us plainly, of One God, and one Mediator between God and Man, that is, the Man Christ Jesus. But to us, he says, there is but one God the Father, of whom are all Things. I. Cor. viii. 6.
Now as I have intimated before, altho’ I have laid down many strong Arguments in my Book principally grounded upon the Words of Christ himself, and confirm’d by the Apostles, yet this impotent Scribler, takes hardly any Notice of them, but generally gives a Start, and Leaps over ‘em, and away he runs. Then he falls a Railing and Reflecting, and tells us an impertinent Story in Gloucestershire, of one Stafford, and his Son, which latter, he says, writ some Treasonable Matters against King William and Q. Mary; but what the Man means by it, seems only known to himself; for I can’t meet with any body of any Society that can tell what he Means, or aims at, except it be, that he wou’d have me into some Prison.
But for all thy uncharitable Censures, and reproachful Words, and thy odious Scorns at my Beard, which the God of Nature hath given me, and for all thy scurrilous Reflections, which (instead of Arguments) thy Book is almost fill’d up with, I do freely forgive thee all; and as to thy charge of Blasphemy and Heresy, &c. I find the Malicious Jews did the same against my blessed Lord: They charged him with Blasphemy, and making himself equal with God; but as thou dost not prove thy Charge, no more did they; but my Lord prov’d their Charge was as false as it was groundless, bu declaring, I can do nothing of my self: And no doubt, but if my blessed Lord was upon Earth again with his Beard as he wore, such scoffing Ishmaels as thou would Scorn at him, as well as thou dost at me.
But of all thy Venom and wicked Malice, none is so Black, as thy charging me with Murder, and breaking the Sixth Commandment; but I can freely and truly Appeal to that God who gave me my Breath, who knoweth that I never struck Man, Woman nor Child that Day; and besides, I had three Witnesses with me, and went with me and came all the way Home with me, that is, John Scot, Joseph Archer and John Corson; so that a more vile and unrighteous Slander scarce ever came out of any Man’s Mouth. Sure thy Sin is very great to scandalize me thy innocent Neighbour, who never did thee any harm in all my Life. Yet, I having the Peace of God in my Heart, which passeth all understanding, and Quietude in my Breast, do freely forgive thee this also, wishing God may give thee a due sight of thy Sins of every kind, that thou mayst repent and return to the Lord, and he may have Mercy on thee, otherwise, thou knowest that Whoremongers and Adulterers, and Slanderers God will judge, by that Man whom he hath appointed, that is Christ Jesus the Lord, whom God hath committed all Judgment to, that is, hath commissionated the Man Christ to judge both the quick and dead, and hath given him all Power and Ability Adequate to that Judgment. Thy Story of James Naylor, which thou seems to mention in order, to cast a Reflection on the Quakers, is just as if thou should’s reflect on Christ and his Apostles, because one of their Number turn’d Apostate, and fell away. But how Odious is it out of thy filthy Mouth, to mention such Men?
One would think that Horror should strike thy guilty Conscience, to consider the abominable Facts thou hast acted; yet how unjust wou’d it be to cast thy fulsome Deeds, as a Reflection upon those honest Baptists, who hated thy Brutal Lusts as much as others? And as to James Naylor, it will be well for thee, if ever thou repent in that earnest, contrite manner as he did; for I my self have read several of his penetential Letters after his fall to the Quakers Churches, imploring Forgiveness of God, and them, in such a fervent Spirit of sincere Contrition, and true sence of his Sin, that his Cries and expressions, wou’d have mov’d a Heart of Stone, and did move the Churches, so that they receiv’d him with Joy and Tears of pure Love into their Bosom again; and he died in Peace, and in a good Frame of Spirit, in a few Years after: But as he himself solemnly Declares, that during the time of his Darkness and Fall, he was never in the least Guilty of thy filthy Crimes; for which he Praises God’s Holy Name. And as to what thou say’st of my unkind Expressions of the Minister, for his sly Reflections on me in his Pulpit, I can truly say, I writ the plain Truth, as he himself knows full well; and I have nothing in my Breast, but pure Love to him, and to all Mankind universally: Yea, and to thee thy self, I will do all the Acts of Good I can, but no Harm, altho’ I should receive the Reverse from thee. As to thy other false Slanders, viz. that the Quakers fear me, the Presbyterians shun me, and the Baptists ashamed of me, and Churchmen both of England and Rome loath and abhor me. In answer to this, I appeal to all the Ironmongers in Town, who keep Fairs with me, at Chester, Bristol and London, who all know how I am Visited, and sent for to the Houses of the brightest Persons, and fairest Characters of all Denominations, both Ministers, Merchants, Tradesmen, &c. who freely and frequently visit me, and delight in my Company, Episcoparians, Presbyterians, Baptists and Quakers, that are Virtuous Men; but no Whoremongers at all, that we know of, do ever herd with us.
But why shou’d I sully my Pen to write of a Man that seems to have no regard to Truth, neither in his Words nor Actions; and as to the sacred Ten Commandments of God, he seems to look upon as legal Shadows, and done away, and lay the Reins upon the Neck of his Lust, and live in open Violation fo God’s Holy Law, which Christ told us, should never pass away: And when one came and asked him what he should do to inherit eternal Life, Christ bid him keep the Commandments of God. And Holy Paul tells us, that Circumcision is nothing, nor uncircumcion, but the keeping the Commandments of God, i Cor. vii. Nay, farther he says, do we make void the Law through Faith, God forbid, yea, we establish the Law. But this old Sinner seems to wish ther was no Law, that there might be no Transgression, and so no Punishment for his dark, notorious, repeated Sins.
This Man who is full of his own Inventions, tells us, page 36. Of the Christian Sabbath or first Day, now God tells us, the Seventh Day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, exodus xx. 10. But this false Man calls another Day the Sabbath, which God never once call’d so. And I challenge him or any Man upon Earth, to produce one Scripture from Genesis to Revelations, that calleth any other Day the Sabbath, but God’s blessed Holy Seventh Day: And the Turks have equally as much to plead from Scripture, for their Sixth Day Sabbath, as he has for the First Day, that is, nothing at all, as the Bishop of Ely, and many other Churchmen have own’d. And this Man is so sensible of the strength of my Arguments for the sacred Seventh Day Sabbath, which God himself commanded, that he runs away from ‘em in great hast, telling me, “Sir, as to the second Part of your Book, I shall take but little Observation, page 42.” Indeed I can expect no better, from such a worthless Person, who has made such a weak and impotent Answer to my First part, as plainly sheweth he knows very little of the Controversy. Nay, he hardly can tell which Party of the Trinitarians to fall in with, whether the Men that plead for three infinite Minds, or they that plead for three distinct Modes. Nay he has found out a New Invention of three Denominationss. Now he might as well tell us, that God is a Trinity of Trinities; for it is certain, he is call’d by three times three Denominations in the Holy Scriptures; so he thinks that will not do, and therefore he seems to aim at three Infinites, by telling us of “Christ’s Infiniteness, and of his infinite Satisfaction, of his Blood of infinite Value, &c.” All unscriptural Nonsence: For if Jesus Christ be Infinite, a nd made infinite Satisfaction to his infinite God and Father, whom all allow is Infinite, then it will follow, that one Infinite made Satisfaction to another Infinite which will imply two Infinites, than which there cannot be a greater Absurdity in the World, for there cannot be two Infinites, it is a Contradiction: For to suppose any other Person or Being to be infinite, beside the infinite God the Father only, is in effect to un-God him, and to make the Peerless God of Gods, to have an equal, whereas, he expresly tells us, Isa. xl. 25. He has no equal.
Now both the Light of Natrure and revealed Religion do make iit manifest, That Jesus Christ is not the most High god, but is another who derives or receives his Life and Power, and all his Authority from him, as Christ himself tells us, viz/ As the Father hath Life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have Life in himself, John v. 26, 27. So that his Life is Originally by the Donation of God the Father, who alone is the First Cause, Unbegotten, Unoriginate, Infinite, Omnipotent, Omniscient; Self-Existant, first Parent, or prime Being of all other Beings, who alone is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; and in this it is that the Unitarians Triumph as Unanswerable; and because our blessed Lord Jesus gives the Glory to him, and tells us plainly, John xvii. 3. That his Father is the Only true God. And we believe we cannot do better than follow him, and give Glory to the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise God, even unto thee who art able to do for us above all that we can ask or think according to the Power given to us, unto thee be Glory in the Church by Christ Jesus, throughout all Ages, World without end. Amen. I would ask any ingenious, honest Men this plain Question, Has Jesus Christ any God over him who has greater Authority than himself or not? This will decide the Controversy; for if he have a God above him, than he is not the absolutely Supreme God; tho’ in relation to us, God may and has given him universal Power and Authority over us. It is easiest to demonstrate this, by shewing, That Jesus Christ expresly speaks of another God than himself, and that he owns this God to be above or over himself; and that he wants those super-eminent and infinite Perfections, which belong only to the Lord God of Gods; for our Lord Jesus Christ expresly speaks of another God distinct from himself. Many times we find him saying, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? So John, xx. 17. I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. He doth not say, My self, My self, why hast thou forsaken me? Nor, My Divine Nature, My Divine Nature, why hast thou forsaken my Human Nature? He doth not say, My human Nature ascends to my divine Nature, but I ascend to my God and to your God; plainly distinguishing God to be another from himself; as he declares in other Places, John vii. 17. If any Man will do God’s Will, he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak of my self. So that in all just Construction, he cannot be that self same God from whom he distinguishes himself. How manifestly are the One God, and One Lord distinguished, i. Cor. viii. 6. But to us there is but One God the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and One Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things, and we by him. Here holy Paul clearly distinguishes between the One God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ; as he evidently doth Eph. vi. 5, 6. One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God, and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. So that it is certain from Scripture, That God and our Lord Christ are distinct Beings. Nay, the Apostle Paul tells us, he would have us to know, That the Head of every Man is Christ, and the Head of the Woman is the Man, and the Head of Christ is God.
Now I would ask any sincere Lover of Truth and Reason, How holy Paul could declare the Inferiority of Christ, and the Superiority of God, more plainly than he doth, i. Cor. xi. 3. But there is no Blindness so bad as that of those who will not see.
Let me now also mention that great Text, so full of irresistable Evidence for proving an Inferiority in the Son to the Father, or to God, i. Cor. xv. Read it all from Verse the 24. To 29. Where the holy Apostle Paul crowns the Unitarian Doctrine for ever, by giving the ultimate Glory to the One God the Father of all, viz. The cometh the End, when he shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God even the Father, when he shall have put down all Rule, and all Authority and Power. For he must reign till he hath put all Enemies under his Feet. The last Enemy that shall be destroyed is Death; for he hath put all things under his Feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
Here let every true Christian duly consider seriously, that all things are to be put under Christ’s Feet; but adds, that is it manifest, God must be excepted who put all Things under him: That is, God must be excepted for this Reason, because itr was he that did put all things under Christ. Again observe, that the Son shall at the End deliver up the Kingdom to God even the Father, that is, not to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as vainMen often pretend, but to God even the Father only, since it was the Father who gave him all Power in Heaven and in Earth, Mat. xxviii. 18. And into his Hands he will make a surrender of all, in Testimony of his having done all in obedience to him, and having acted and ruled in dependance of God his Father, who shall have a satisfactory Account of all given to him in the end. This is a Glory peculiar to the Father as supreme God, for then the Holy Apostle says, the Son himself shall be subject to him that put all things under him, that is, to God his Father, that God may be all in all. Where observe the Apostle speaks of the son himself in the highest Sense he could possibly speak of him, that his Subjection shall be then manifested by an open solemn Acknowledgment of it, when he shall recognize the Supremacy of God the Father in that publick surrender.
This then will be the Issue of all our Disputes, God will be all in all, and the Son himself subject under him. Now i will appeal to all Men of Honesty and Reason, that love Truth, if there can be any thing more plain and expressive of an Inequality between God and Christ, than here is. If any biggotted Trinitarian shou’d say, that by the Son here is meant the Son of Man, or Christ as Man; while as God he shall not be subjected to the Father. Let such know, that as there is no Intimation of any such Distinction between the pretended two Natures of the Son here; so there is enough in the Words to shew, that they are spoken of him, in his highest Capacity and character: For it says, the Son himself absolutely, which in Scripture is wont to mean the very highest Dignity that Christ hath, and without doubt it imports the highest 312 Character of him: So that Jesus Christ, in his highest Capacity, being inferior to the Father, how can he be the same God, to which he is subject, or of the same Rank and Dignity? It cannot be. [ 25 ] Let it suffice us, that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, Acts ii. 36. And that God has exalted him to be a Prince and Saviour, Acts v. 31. And that because he was obedient unto Death, even the Death of the Cross, that therefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a Name (or Power) which is above every Name or Power, that at the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow 9or be in Subjection) both of Things in Heaven and Things on Earth, and Things under the Earth. And that God hath anointed him with the Oil of gladness above his Fellows. And hath committed or commissioned Christ to Judge the World at the last Day. But as to my Friend Barter, whose Book is very little else for the most part, but a poor Envious Piece of Railery, without almost any manner of Arguments at all. But to supply the Place of a rational Answer, to the many and strenuous Arguments in my Book, and clear shining Truths laid down in it from the Mouths of Christ and his Apostles, this ignorant Man has told us many silly Stories that have little or no relation at all tto the Controversy, and here and there a Text of Scripture, most of em out of the Old Testament, where (as the Trinitarians confess) the Doctrine of the Trinity was not explicitly known, but how improper to his purpose many of these Texts are, I leave to the judicious Reader. Some of ‘em being directly against him [ 26 ] and generally made use of by the Unitarians, to prove the Inferiority of Christ, and that he hath a God above him, who anointed him. As an instance hereof, in his 12 page, he brings the Text, Heb. i and viii. As it is quoted out of the 45 Psalm, but unto the Son bhe saith, Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever, a Sceptre of Righteousness, is the Sceptre of thy Kingdom; thou hast loved Righteousness, and hated Iniquity: therefore God even thy God hath anointed thee with the Oil of Gladness above thy fellows. Now here is the plainest Demonstration in the World, that Jesus Christ is not a God by Nature, but only so by Office, and that he has a God above him, who invested him with a God-like Authority; therefore God even thy God hath anointed thee, viz. Christ, with the Oil of Gladness above thy Fellows: For he is our
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elder Brother, being the First Born of every Creature, and the Beginning of the Creation of God. It is observable, that the Title of God is frequently given in Scripture to others, besides the most High God, because the Authority that God hath given them; as it is said of Moses, I have made thee a God unto Pharaoh, Exo. vii. I. And Aaron thy Brother shall be thy Prophet: And so Peter tells, when inspired with the Holy Ghost, in these Words, viz. therefore let all the Houses of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made this same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ, or [ 27 ] God and Christ; as it is often rendered in other Translations, Acts ii. 36. So that it is a vain Thing to alledge Texts to prove the Title of God given to Moses, or to Christ, or to Angels, since that may be, and yet will not prove ‘em to be the supreme independent God, but only one who is inhabited of, and commissioned and enabled by him, who alone is the God of Gods. And as to that Place, which is corruptly rendred in our Translation, he thought it no Robbery to be equal with God, Phil. ii. 6. It is confessed by the most learned Honest Men of the Trinitarians themselves, that it shou’d be read thus, viz. That he did not assume, or arrogate, or snatch at, or covet an Equality with God. The Words are never known to be used in any other Sence, as is shown by Dr. Tillotson in his Discourse with the Socinians; also by Dr. Whitby in his Exposition on that Place, and by the Learned Dr. Clark, and others. Dr. Clark says the Words, thought it no Robbery to be equal with God, should be rendred, did not covet to be honour’d as God. And Dr. whit by, on the place much the same, viz. did not covet to appear as God; so this Text, which the Ignorant Trinitarians have made such a Noise about, is directly against an Equality. And the Learned Grotius says, that Christ is said to be in the Form of God, by reason [ 28 ] of the Miracles he wrought on Earth, they being Indications of the Power of God residing in him. Not only so, but our Lord tells us of the Miracles, that it was his Father that dwelt in him, he did the Works. And as God dwelt in Christ, so Christ dwells in us, and as Christ and his Father are one, so Christ and his faithful Followers are one, that they all may be one, says Christ, John xvii. 11, 23. As we are, I in 314 them, and thou in me. By all which Words it is evident, that the Oneness that is between Christ and his Disciples, is the same hat is between God and Christ; that is, in Will and Consent, not in Essence or Being, for it so, the Christ and his Disciples are one Being, which cannot be true; so that two or three distinct persons or Beings cannot be one God, it is a Contradiction in the very Nature of Things. And as to that other Text, i. John, v. 7. Which the ignorant Sort of Trinitarians make Use of, it is manifestly spurious, and not to be found in the ancient Greek Copies, and is not in the Original Text, but a notorious Addition of latter Times without just Authority. For it is certain the ancient Greek Manuscript Copies have it not in them, nor the oldest Versions made form them, nor the Writings of the Old Christian Fathers who transcribed very much of them into their Books, but never had this Text. And it is certain the [ 29 ] Famous Alexandrian Copy, which is call the most precious Treasure the Christian World ever saw, for these Twelve Hundred Years, and by far the most ancient Copy in the World, has nothing at all of that Verse in it, nor the first Part of the 8th Verse. Neither has the Famous Vatican Copy (which is extoll’d much after the same Manner, as of very great Credit) any thing at all of it. ‘Tis enough to satisfie all Impartial Men who love the Truth of Sacred Scripture, that these Words, viz. In Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit; and these Three are One; and there are Three that bear witness in Earth, are not in these two most valuable and antientst Copies in the World. Nay, even the Learned Dr. Mill himself gives a long Roll of the other very valuable Manuscript Greek Copies, in the most Famous Libraries of the Learned and of our two Universities, and of the French King (where Father Simon made a diligent Search, and says, He found not one that had these Words of all the Seven which he view#d, nor of the Five Manuscripts of Mr. Colbert, though some of them be of latter Date;) also Two at Bazil, and One at Venice, and many more: All these above-mentioned want this Text, tho’ in some of the latter Manuscripts there are in the Margin short Notes, by way of Gloss or Comment, over against the Spit, the Washer, and the Blood; and from the Margin, Fathe Simon judges these Words did afterward slide into the Text, which are in our Seventh Verse; which is a very natural and easie Account, and the only Way by which Dr. Mill himself account for so many other Interpolations, in his Notes, and his Prologomena. And in short, as my truly judicious Friend Thomas Emlyn hath said in few Words, All the ancient Greek Manuscripts which are found, do agree in rejecting this Text. This Dr. Mill considers, the ancient Versions of the New Testament, which were made for the Use of such People as in early Times were converted to the Christian Religion, but did nto understand the Greek Language. The most antient of these Versions were the Syriack, Coptick, Ethiopick, Arabick, Latin; all which, with the Russian, have not this Text: So that when these Versions were made, there was no such Passage in the Greek Copies, or Original from when they were made. Of the Latin Versions the Doctor tells us, viz. ‘Tis certain this Verse was wanting in all the most ancient Latin Copies.
He makes Inquiry among the Greek Fathers to see if he can hear of this Text among them, who were most likely to have seen the Authentick Originals of the Apostles, and needed not a Version into any other Language.
Of these he gives this melancholly Accound, viz. Nominem unum, &c. That not one Greek Writer from the Beginning of Christianity to Jerom’s Time, has ever cited this Verse, and that ‘tis certain it has been wanting it the Greek Copies very near from the Apostles writing this Epistle. See DR. Mill’S Dessert. P. 583. 584. Not content with these Generals, but he runs over the particular most Eminent Greek Fathers, and those who were most likely to produce this Text, if they had known of it, who yet never once mention it. Not Ireneus, nor Clemens Alexandrinus, nor Dyonitius, no nor Athanasius himself, who would doubtless made use of it against Arius, had there been any such Text known in Scripture; not the Fathers of the Council of Sardica, not Epiphanius, not Basil, not Alexander Bishop of Alexandria, tho’ he cites the Verses before and after; nor the Author of the Exposition of Faith, not Cesarius, not Proclus, though both wanted it; not the Nicene Fathers themselves knew any thing of it: So that Du Pin observes, That as no Greek Father, for Five Hundred Years quoted this Passage, so Two of them, viz. Didymus of Alexandria, in the 4th Century, and Oecumenius in the 11th, have written Commentaries upon this Epistle of John, and yet mention not this Verse, which, says he, proves that either they did not know it, or not believe it to be genuine.
Thus I have taken more pains than I intended to do, in collecting and reciting Authorities to make it manifest, even beyond Contradiction, to all sincere Lovers of Truth, that this Passage is no part of sacred Scripture, but was foisted in many Hundred Years after Christ, first into the Margin of a few latter Copies, and at last slipt into the Copies; but to this Day in many old Bibles it is put in small different Characters, to show it is not in the Original. But if it was there, yet is there nothing in it that will help the Trinitarians Cause, for the Oneness there spoken of, is only in their Record or Witness bearing, as Besa and Ballenger have own’d, and not one in Essence or Being; but as three Men before a Judge, bear Witness to the Truth of a Matter, which they all Three know, so the Judge tells the Jury, this Evidence or Witness is all one, because they agree; but no Body is so mad as to think the Three Witnesses one Being, but know that they are Three distinct Beings; for ever Person is a Being. Therefore those that assert God to be Three distinct Persons, that is Three Beings, do in effect assert Three distinct Gods, for a Man that is a real Trinitarian, is a down right Tritest, as Dr. South [ 33 ] As Moses, Exod. vii. 1. is called the God of Pharaoh And Cyrus, Esa. xiv. 3. the God of Israel. And if only for Example’s Sake I may be permitted to join profane things to sacred: Augustus Caesar was Virgil’s and Lentulus Cicero’s God, because he was the Author of his Restitution. After this manner the Scripture calls Gods, whomsoever the supreme and eternal God hath adorned and exalted above others, by any particular Favour, Virtue or Privilege. Hence the Psalmist Psal. lxxxii. 6. I have said ye are Gods, and all of you are Children of the most High; and Exod. xxii. 28. These are not Gods by Nature, but by the Grace and Gift of God; and therefore they are never call’d by that Name of the Deity, which belongs to the supreme God only; for such amongst the Hebrews, are named Gods and Lords, Elohim and Adonai, by which the Names of the Deity are properly distinguished; but the proper and singular Name Jehovah is never attributed to them, the Lord [here something in the Manuscript from which I have taken this Account is wanting]: And therefore St. Paul begins all his Epistles after this Manner; Grace and Peace from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ. But to make three Gods by Nature equal, is the Master-piece of Blasphemy, and a cursed Impiety. We must ascribe all Things to one, viz. to him, who is the Author of all Things, and who for his own Pleasure created them; for he only by Nature is of himself God; all the rest are not Gods of themselves, they receive and acknowledge their Measure of the Godhead from the one God the Father; From God they are called Gods; for the supreme and sovereign God is able to sanctify the Creatures, and fill them with the Divinity. But we can by no Means establish three Gods by Nature equal, without setting up at the same Time three Creators or Almighties, and three Fathers; for the Name of God simply belongs to the Father only, who is of himself God, and who created all things, and he alone is simply and absolutely call’d God. From what has been said, ‘tis easy to shew, how our Lord Jesus Christ, the true Son of God, is called God: For from God the Father he receiveth the Proportion of his Godhead, and from the true God he is stiled the true God, the God indeed of all Creatures, but not the Father’s God, to whom he hath subjected all things. Moreover, the Father, who only by Nature is God of himself, is nevertheless the Lord and God of the Son; which the Son declareth, John xiv. 28. I go unto my Father, for my Father is greater than I. John xx. 17.
I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and your God. Matth. xxvii. 46. My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Rev. iii. 12.I will write upon him the Name of my God, and the Name of the City of my God. Neither doth their Interpretation, who say, that the Son spoke those Things as a Man, not as God, avail any Thing; to which we reply, That the Manner of the Deity, which the Son possesseth, agrees with him as a Man; for the Son is a Man made God, or filled with the Divinity; therefore the Superiority of the Father is not taken away by the Son; for although the Son is constituted by the Father our Lord, God and Head; yet the Father is still the Lord and God, and Head of the Son. I. Cor. xi. 3. and the Son is subject to the Father, i. Cor. xv. 28. And he is the Manager and Administrator of his Father’s House, Heb. ii. 8, and therefore the Son, as our God, and our Head, hath admitted the Deity and Superiority of the Father over him.
Hence the Prophet eloquently explaining this twofold Manner of the Godhead of the Father and Son, said to the Son, Psal. xiv. 2 6, 7.Thou art fairer than the Children of Men: Grace is poured into thy Lips; therefore, thy Throne, O God, is for ever and ever. The Sceptre of thy Kingdom is a right Sceptre. Thou lovest Righteousness, and hatest Wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the Oil of Gladness, above thy Fellows. See how David in Spirit calls the Son God, and the Father God of the Son; for thy Throne, O God, and hath anointed thee, O God, are of the Vocative Case, and respect the Son; but thy God, which follows, is spoken of God the Father, who did anoint and sanctify the Son. Likewise Wisdom, which represents the Son of God, cries out after this Manner, Eccles. Xxiv. 12. I took Root in an honourable People, even in the Portion of the Lord’s Inheritance.
Hence then it is manifest to every one that makes the Scripture his Rule, that the Son is God from the Father: and that, as God of all, constituted by the Father, he acknowledgeth the Divinity and Superiority of the Father over himself; tho’ this Distinction of divine Names is not found among the Greeks and Latins, and all are called by one common Name, God; yet by Nature, there is of himself but one eternal, most excellent, supreme, immortal; invisible, incomprehensible God, dwelling in inaccessible Light, who created and governs all things, from whom all things are, and on whom all things depend. This is the God of Gods, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, Jehovah the Father, who alone, in the holy Scripture, is simply and absolutely stiled God and Father. He is indeed the universal Father of all things, but in a proper and more limited Sense the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as St. Paul most elegantly explains it: i Cor. viii: 5, 6. For tho’ there be that are called Gods, whether in Heaven or in Earth (as there be Gods many, and Lords many) but to us there is but one God the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we by him. Hence it is evident, that the Creatures are adorn’d with the Name of the Deity yet ‘tis by the Favour and Concession of the one Supreme God, who is God of Gods, the Chief and Father of all, who is above all, and thro’ all, and in you all, Eph. iv. 6. &c.