1. There is but one God.

2. But the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, are each represented as God; and,

3. Therefore the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, are the one God.

You have now the whole outline of my argument, and I believe that I shall be able to establish it so satisfactorily, that no one will venture to disbelieve it, until he is ready to abandon his belief in the word of God.

In pursuing this argument, my first object will be to show, that the Holy Ghost is represented as God.

As I do not wish unnecessarily to protract the argument, I will take those passages of Scripture which are plain and obvious, and though I might bring an accumulation of evidence, I will satisfy myself with a few particulars on each point.

My first object is to show, that the Holy Ghost is represented as God-" But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God?"*

In the 95th Psalm, we have the expression-"For he is our God."—" To-day, if ye will hear his voice." When that passage is quoted in the New-Testament, the phraseology used is this-" Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, to-day, if ye will hear his voice." "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is

• Acts v. 3, 4.

profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."*—“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."+

In relation to the change of heart, the following expressions are used-"That which is born of the Spirit." This is in the 3d chapter of St. John's Gospel. In the 5th chapter of his first epistle, he uses the term-" that which is born of God." Here the same individual act is ascribed, without the change of a single letter, to God and to the Spirit. There must, therefore, be some capacity in which the Scripture makes no distinction between God and the Spirit, and this is what the Scripture calls the divine nature. In nature they are one; in personal distinction two. Take a few other passages.

"As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.""And no man taketh this honour unto himself but he that is called of God, as was Aaron."§- “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest."-" So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia, and from thence they sailed to Cyprus."¶"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?"**"What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you?"+t

I wish you distinctly to understand my object. It is to prove that the Holy Ghost is represented, and

2 Tim. iii. 16. † 2 Peter i. 21. Acts xiii. 2. § Hebrews v. 4. | Matthew ix. 38. Acts xiii. 4. ** 1 Corinthians iii. 16. †† 1 Corinthians vi. 19.

represents himself as God. The repetition of one single passage will let you into this idea. The Holy Ghost saith, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." I think I have quoted a sufficient number of passages to make this satisfactory, viz: that the Holy Ghost is represented, and represents himself as God.

First, in

"Then,

My second object is to show that the Son is represented as God, and represents himself so. nature, and second, in personal respect. said I, wo is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."*"These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him."t

"I, even I, am the Lord; and besides me there is no Saviour."-" But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory, both now and for ever. Amen."§ "Yet they tempted and provoked the high God, and kept not his testimonies."-"Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents."-" Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves: we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture."**"I am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine."+t-" And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God."-"Whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen."§§-" And we know

† John xii. 41. + Isaiah xliii. 11. § 2 Peter iii. 18. 1 Corinthians x. 9. ** Psalm c. 3. tt John x. 14.

* Isaiah vi. 5. Psalms lxxvii. 56. ++ John xx. 28. §§ Romans ix. 5.

that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life."* -"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."t-"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."-"For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."-"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."||

These passages, taken obviously as they stand, evidently prove that Christ is represented, and represents himself as God. They all assert very directly his divine nature. But, allowing that these passages do represent Christ as divine, truly so, the objection is raised, that there are others which represent him, and where he represents himself as inferior to the Father; and therefore the objector would say, that the idea of his being God is inconsistent with these passages. I intend to give this objection every weight which can be allowed to it, and I think show conclusively, that it goes on an entire misunderstanding of what we assert in relation to the divinity of Christ. I will mention the strong† Colossians ii. 8, 9.

1 John v. 20. Revelations i. 8.

+ John i. 1.

§ Isaiah ix. 6.

est passages-" Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father for my Father is greater than I."*" But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."+" Then 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 that he is excepted which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued 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.”‡

These passages exhibit the objection in its strongest light. How can it be obviated? Nothing is required but a careful attention to Scripture itself, and an examination into what it obviously reveals.

I assert, without the fear of rational contradiction, that the Scriptures every where represent Christ as possessing what may be called an original and an assumed character, and the mistake which the objection makes is in attributing to one what only belongs to the other. I shall be able to prove that what is said of the inferiority of Christ to the Father, is attributed not to his original, but his assumed character. “In the first place," I use the form of the argument as stated by a very clear writer, "In the

John xiv. 28. † Mark xiii. 32.

# 1 Corinthians xv. 24-28.