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Gregory Nyffen speaks; are äλλos xaì dñños, as Gregory SERM. Nazianzen fays; that is, truly more than in mere name or XXXIV. conception diftinguished, by their properties and relations.]

The Holy Ghost is, I say, truly distinct from the Father and the Son this we fhall firft fhew feparately, then jointly, in regard to both.

He is diftinguished from the Father; for,

10, 11, &c.

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1. He is called the Spirit of the Father; which relation 1 Cor. ii. furely is not devised by fancy, or wants a real foundation; and therefore its terms are truly distinct. 2. The Holy Spirit is faid ExTоpeúσα, that is, to go out, or proceed John xv. from the Father: he is therefore another from him: for a thing cannot be deemed really to proceed from another, from which it only is diftinguished in name or conceit. 3. It is also faid to be fent, conferred, given by the Father; John xiv. which furely argueth fome kind of true diftinction. 4. Di-1 Cor.ii. 12. vers things are attributed to the Spirit, which do not well Gal. iv. 6. agree to the Father; as particularly that he appeared sida owμatıxã, in a bodily form; that he defcended and Luke iii. 33. refted upon our Lord, the Baptift beholding him; I faw, John i. 32, faith St. John, the Spirit defcending as a dove, and it abode 33.

5.

in

26, 16.

1 John iv.

The 12.

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on him. But, God the Father no man, faith St. John, ever John i. 18. faw; nor, addeth St. Paul, can any man fee him. Holy Spirit is our advocate with God, crying hearts, and interceding with the Father for us, Tuyxávy, faith St. Paul:) that office, that act, do feftly suppose a true diftinction.

our 1 Tim. vi. (Tepey- Rom. viii. mani- 26.

Gal. iv. 6.

Luke xxiv.

49.

Luke iv. 1.

For like reasons he is also distinguished from the Son; for, 1. He is called the Spirit of the Son; and that relation implies a real ground. 2. He is fent by the Son; îòÿ żyw ¿ñoséλaw, Behold, faith our Lord, I fend him: and, Gal. iv. 16. If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will fend him unto you. 3. He descended John xvi. 7. upon Chrift, and abode on him; he filled him, he led or John .34. acted him; he anointed him; by his operation Christ did affume flesh: wherefore he is diftinguished from the Son. 4. Chrift plainly diftinguishes between speaking against Luke xii. the Son and blafpheming against the Holy Ghoft; which 10 supposes them two objects. 5. The Holy Ghost is faid to 32.

Matt. xii.

SERM. receive from the Son that which he fhould tell to Christ's XXXIV. disciples, and thence to glorify the Son. 6. The Son did John xvi. and fuffered many things perfonally which cannot agree,

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John xiv.

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and cannot be attributed to the Holy Ghoft; as that he was incarnated and affumed man's nature; that he fuffered, rofe again, afcended into heaven. 7. He is exprefsly faid to be distinct from the Son; I, faith he, will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter. So separately may the Holy Spirit be fhewed distinct from each; and jointly in feveral places that diftinction is fignified. For to those three, by a conftant economy, a certain order is affigned, fome proper offices and peculiar energies are afcribed, which it is not reasonable to think done withEph. ii. 18. out a real foundation; By Chrift, faith St. Paul, we have an access in one Spirit to the Father: why muft we proceed by this circuit, in this certain method, if the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are only diftinguished in name? Where2 Cor. xiii. fore alfo doth the fame Apoftle blefs thus; The grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift, the love of God, and the fellowship of

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4, 5, 6.

the Holy Spirit be with you all. To what end also doth I Cor. xii. he diftinctively affign a peculiar dispensation of operations to the Father, of miniftries to the Son, of gifts to the 1 Pet. i. 2. Holy Ghoft? Wherefore likewife doth St. Peter afcribe our election to the Father predeftinating, to the Son propitiating, to the Holy Ghost sanctificating? Doth it agree to the gravity, fimplicity, and fincerity of the divine Oracles, fo in a perpetual tenor to propound those three, as three, divers, not only in names, but in reality, in manner of being, in manner of operation, if there be no other under all, but a nominal or notional diftinction? What would this be, but not only to yield us an occafion, but to impose a neceffity of erring? Shall we think those principal masters of truth purposely argute, perplexed, and obfcure in their speech? Farthermore, St. John affirms in his first Epistle, (at least, if there the text be authentic,) 1 John v. 7. that there are three which bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; the which also, undoubtedly, (although not fo conjoinedly as in his EpiJohn viii. ftle,) he affures in his Gofpel; for, I am he, faith Chrift,

who bear witness of myself, and the Father which fent me SERM. beareth witness of me; and, When the Comforter fhall come, XXXIV. he will bear witness of me: fo there are, we fee, three John xv. 26. witnesses, which our Lord appealeth to: but three names, (as for inftance, Marcus, Tullius, Cicero,) or the fame thing having three names, will not conftitute three witneffes. In fine, the form of baptifm evinceth this diftinction for at our baptism we profefs to acknowledge the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft; we perform worship, and promise obedience to them all; which doing Sabellius would have us do, as if fubjects fhould be required to oblige their faith to Caius, Julius, and Cæfar; which kind of proceeding it seems abfurd to fuppofe that God should folemnly inftitute. This may be sufficient to overthrow the Sabellian error.

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ad Damaf.

II. Again, we affirm the Holy Spirit to be a person. By a perfon we understand a fingular, fubfiftent, intellectual being; or, (as Boethius defines it,) an individual fub- Rationalis ftance of a rational nature. The Greek writers ufe the naturæ inword inósaris, (which word being of wider fignification ftantia. doth comprehend also things void of understanding, importing) fubftance, concretely taken, or a thing subfiftent, (TÒ ÉVUTÓSATOV,) which term is extant even in the Scripture, where the Son of God, in refpect to his Father, is Heb. i. 2. called χαρακτήρ τῆς ὑποςάσεως αὐτῶ, (the character of his fubftance, or person :) whence there was lefs caufe that St. Hier. Epift. Jerome and other Latin ancient writers fhould fo avoid, Aug. de or timidly admit, the word hypoftafis; as fearing that by Trin. v. 8,9. use thereof they should seem to acknowledge three effences; seeing, as St. Auftin notes, according to most common acception, fubftance denoted the fame with effence; whence, Unde non faith he, we dare not fay one effence, three fubflances; but audemus one effence, (or fubftance,) three perfons: but this (as gory Nazianzene did confider) was nothing else but λεξειδιῶν ζυγομαχεῖν, to conteft about fyllables; or περὶ šxov μixgoλoysïv, to mince about founds; seeing whether we fentiam (vel call it either perfon or fubfiftence, we mean the fame thing. fubftantiam) tres We however affirming the Holy Spirit to be a person, do perfonas. thereby intend to exclude the opinion of Socinus and his xxxix. 34.

dicere

Gre- unam ef

wepì

fentiam, tres fubftan

τὸν tias, fed

unam ef

Naz. Orat.

SERM. followers, which afferts the Holy Spirit to be only an XXXIV. accident, or an accidental thing; to wit, a divine power,

virtue, or efficacy, refident in God, or derived from him.

1. Now this we perfuade firft from those things, which we before did fhew concerning the diftinction of the Father and the Holy Spirit; for that flender (or rather no) diftinction, fuch as may be conceived to be between any being and its efficacy, (especially in this cafe, attending to the most fimple nature of God, and his most fimple manner of acting,) doth not well reach the business, nor doth fuffice to found that diftinction which the Scripture doth (as we fhewed) conftitute between the Father and Holy Spirit. Indeed Socinus, as to this point, (however it be that he fometimes objecteth Sabellianifm to the Catholics,) doth fcarce himself differ from Sabellius: for Sabellius himself did avow the Son and Holy Spirit to be divers energies of the Father, and that they are diftinguished from him as light and heat from the fun; which did not hinder the Fathers from refuting him, as putting no true distinction between them; as indeed God in the thing itself (or beyond the manner of our conception and expreffion) is not distinguished from his power and efficacy.

2. Again, this may be collected from the very name of Spirit, the which primarily is imposed upon substances, both corporeal and incorporeal; belonging to God, effentially understood, to angels, to human fouls; all which things are fubftances: whence it is probable, that to the Being of which we treat, because it in like manner is a fubftance, this name of Spirit is affigned by God, the best author of words; the epithet Holy being adjoined for diftinction fake. This is confirmed from that whereas God John iv. 24. effentially is a spirit, (as is expreffed in St. John's Gospel,) his efficacy cannot aptly affume the fame name; as because our foul is effentially a fpirit, it were incongruous to call any virtue thereof a spirit. The fame is farther hence confirmed, for that the evil Spirit, which is oppofed 1 Sam. xvi. to the good Spirit of God, is not an efficacy of God, but a fubfiftent being; which argueth the good Spirit also to be

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likewife fubfiftent. The fame is corroborated from the SERM. Apoftle's comparing the Spirit of God to that fpirit, XXXIV. which being in man, doth fearch and difcern his inward Cor. ii. counfels and purposes: but the spirit of man is a fubftan- 10, 11. tial thing; wherefore it is intimated, that correspondently the Spirit of God is fuch a Being. We add to these things, that power, virtue, efficacy, are afcribed to the Holy Spirit; That you may, faith St. Paul, abound in hope, Rom. xv. by the power of the Holy Ghoft: but that power should be 13, 19. attributed unto power, or efficacy to efficacy, is not congruous.

3. The holy Scripture (to whose speech it becometh us to fuit our conceptions) doth commonly defcribe the Holy Spirit as a perfon, enjoying perfonal titles, offices, attributes, and operations; and thofe fuch which neither in found or fense do agree to mere efficacy.

XV. 2, 6.

1. Speaking of the Holy Ghoft, it purposely and carefully, as it were, doth accommodate the article agreeing to a perfon: not it, but he, is the article commonly affigned to the Spirit; and that with marks of doing it ftudiouly : Ὅταν ἔλθῃ ἐκεῖνος, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, When John xvi. he (in the mafculine gender) comes, the Spirit of truth, (in 13. xiv. 26. the neuter,) it is faid in St. John's Gospel: and, Tà To Os 1 Cor. ii. alg older, None (in the mafculine gender again) knoweth the things of God, but the Spirit of God. Why, otherwife befide analogy of grammar, fhould the ftyle be so tempered or inflected, but to infinuate the Holy Spirit's perfonality? If he were nothing else but the virtue of God, there were no need, or rather it would be inconvenient, fo to phrase it.

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John xvi.

2. Again, the Scripture attributes perfonal offices to the Holy Spirit; the office of a master, (He shall teach John xiv. you ;) of a leader, or guide, (He shall lead you into all 16. truth;) of a monitor, (He shall bring all things to your 13. remembrance ;) of a witness, (He shall testify concerning John xv.26. me;) yea, which more ftrongly evinceth, of a legate, who declareth God's mind, not as from himself, but as deputed and furnished with inftructions from the Father and the Son; He shall not, it is said, speak from himself; but what- John xvi.

13, 15.

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