stand the mysterious Trinity, and does it by words and names of man's invention, or by such which signify contingently, if he reckon this mystery by the mythology of numbers, by the cabala of letters, by the distinctions of the school, and by the weak inventions of disputing people; if he only talks of essences and existences, hypostases and personalities, distinctions without difference, and priority in co-equalities, and unity in pluralities, and of superior predicates of no larger extent than the inferior subjects, he may amuse himself, and find his understanding will be like St. Peter's upon the mount of Tabor at the transfiguration he may build three tabernacles in his head, and talk something he knows not what.-But the good man that feels the power of the Father, and he to whom the Son is become wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, he in whose heart the love of the Spirit of God is spread abroad, to whom God hath communicated the Holy Spirit, the Comforter; this man, though he understands nothing of that which is unintelligible, yet he only understands the mysteriousness of the Holy Trinity." Taylor's Suppl. Sermons, P. 91.

PART III.

ON THE CHARACTER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

LETTER I.

By the Holy Spirit is intended the same as the fulness of God.

REV. SIR,

HAVING stated to you my views of the Father and the Son, the character of the Holy Spirit will now be considered. On this point the oracles of God are our only guide; and to their dictates it behoves us to submit with reverence.

You will not consider me insensible of my accountality to God in regard to my writings: nor can you reasonably view me as having any interest to promote, aside from the promotion of truth.

If your views of the Holy Spirit are according to truth, certainly there can be nothing for me to gain by advancing and advocating a different hypothesis : unless it may be for my advantage to expose myself to censure and reproach.

On the other hand, if my views are according to truth, it is as important for you, as it is for me, to understand and admit them.

Your having so great a majority of the Christian world on your side, is not sufficient to secure to you the approbation of God. Be entreated to keep these things in mind, while you read and reflect on the important subject now before us.

From what you have already seen on the character of God and his Son, you have doubtless concluded, that in my view the Holy Spirit is not a self-existent Person. You will now see, that in my view the Holy Spirit is comprehended in the self-existence of Jehovah, but without distinct personality. The terms Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, as used in Scripture, do not appear to me intended to express another Person besides the Father and the Son; yet, to my understanding, these terms convey an idea of that which is of no less estimation. It is that in God. by which he is able to do good and communicate, either immediately, or through the instrumentality of other agents.

By the Holy Spirit, radically considered, the same is understood as by the phrase, the fulness of God. Yet the terms Holy Spirit, are, it is thought, most commonly applied to the productive, efficient emanations of Divine fulness.

The following phrases appear to be perfectly synonymous-The Holy Ghost-the Holy Spirit-the Spirit of God-the Spirit of the Lord--the Spirit of the Lord God-the Spirit of the Father. That these are synonymous, will probably not be denied by any person well acquainted with the Scriptures. And should any one be disposed to deny it, the idea may be fairly established by comparing Scripture with Scripture.

My ideas of the Spirit may be better understood by a little attention to some Scripture metaphors.-God is

represented by the metaphor of the natural Sun. "The Lord God is a SUN." Then the rays of light and heat, which emanate or proceed from the sun, are an emblem of the "Holy Spirit which proceedeth from the Father." Like the rays of the sun, these Divine emanations of the fulness of God, illuminate, quicken, invigorate, and fructify.

God is also represented as a Fountain of living waters. If we consider the Fountain as in the earth, then the effusions or streams which proceed from the Fountain may represent the Holy Spirit. But if we consider the Fountain as a fountain of vapor in the air, then the showers of rain or dew will properly represent the emanations of Divine fulness.

By the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of God, is not, in my view, intended any one attribute merely, but all those attributes which are implied in the FULNESS or ALL-SUFFICIENCY of God.

Before an attempt to explain those texts of Scripture which have been supposed to import that the Spirit of God is a distinct Person from the Father and the Son,

it

may be well to exhibit a part of the considerations which have had influence on my mind in favor of giving up that opinion.

1. It has appeared to me inconsistent to suppose that the Spirit should be both a self-existent Person and the Spirit of a Person; yet the Spirit is spoken of as the Spirit of a Person twenty times to its being once spoken of as though it were a distinct Person. There are indeed several instances in which the Holy Spirit is personified or spoken of as it would be natural to speak of a Person; but the number of these instances is much less than was expected previous to inquiry. And it is observable that the spirit or soul

of man is also personified in the Bible, and spoken of as though it were something distinct from the man; or as though the man and his spirit were two persons. Instances of this are perhaps nearly as numerous as the instances in which the Spirit of God is personified. But it ought to be distinctly noted, that when we have become habituated to the sentiment that by the Holy Spirit is intended a Person, the idea of a Person will immediately arise in our minds, upon hearing or seeing the words Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. So if we had been taught from our infancy that the natural sun is a person, then we should think of it as such whenever it should come into view. This may account for its having been supposed that there is much in the Scriptures in favor of the distinct personality of the Holy Spirit.

In general, throughout the Bible, the Holy Spirit is spoken of as the spirit of a person, just as we speak of the spirit of man as the spirit of a person; and in the same manner as the sacred writers speak of the attributes of God; not as distinct Persons, but as something of a Person, or in a Person, or belonging to a Person. The inspired writers speak of the Spirit of Man, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, the Wisdom of God, the Power of God, the Goodness of God, and the Will of God.

We may also observe, that when God speaks of the Spirit, he says, "my Spirit," just as he says, "my Power," "my Goodness," &c. These and similar forms of speech, respecting the Holy Spirit, are very numerous in the Bible, and they naturally convey the idea that the Spirit of God is not a distinct Person, but the Spirit of a Person; as naturally as the forms of speech respecting Wisdom, Power, and Goodness,