by the name of the Holy Ghost, or the Spirit of the Lord; for that the Holy Ghost, so often named in the all things that were made are governed. Since therefore, as I have shewn before, he frequently asserts that all things were made by the Son of God; it is evident, that by goodness here he means the same Son; and if so, what else can he mean by power but Psyche, or the Holy Ghost? And these three divine Persons he elsewhere styles, Tò dv, deσñoτικὸν, τὴν ἵλεω δύναμιν, i. e. the being, the ruling, and the benefick power, 1. 2. de Agric. Noa. Thus far this learned Jew, whose writings, being originally in the Greek language, have been delivered down to us without any considerable alterations; but it is not to be expected that those writings of the ancient Jews, which are written and preserved in their own language, should be so express in this article of the Trinity as those of the Gentiles; because for several ages they were solely in the possession of the modern Jews, by whom this article hath all along been obstinately rejected, and therefore may reasonably be supposed to be castrated by them in all those places where they more openly countenanced the Christian verity against them; but yet, after all, there are sundry passages remaining in them which do very much favour this article. Thus Voisin. in Proem. Pug. Fid. quotes this passage from the book Rheschit. Choemah, cap. iii. Tres sunt Dii, ut explicatur in Zohar his verbis, Quis est sensus, inquit R. Jose, horum verborum, Deut. iv. 7. Cui sunt Dii propinqui? Dicendum erat, cui est Deus propinquus; sed est Deus superior, est Deus timoris Isaac, est Deus inferior, et ita dicuntur esse Dü propinqui, i. e. There are three Gods, as it is explained in the words of the book Zohar, R. Jose said, What is the meaning of those words, Deut. iv. 7. to whom the gods are near? whereas it should have been said, to whom God is near; but there is the superior God, there is the God of the fear of Isaac, and there is the inferior God, and so they are said to be Gods that are near. And Martin Raimund, Pug. Fid. p. 396. quotes a passage out of Midrasch Tillim, in which there is mention made trium proprietatum quibus creatus est mundus, i. e. of three proprieties or persons by whom the world was made. And to the same purpose Rittangelus, in his notes upon the book Jezirah, quotes two passages out of Imre Binah: Tria sunt primaria et primordialia capita et coæterna, idque testatur splendor eorum, numerationesque intellectuales in æternam testantur Trinitatem Regis: There are three prime and primordial heads, and coeternal, and this their own light testifies, and the intellectual numerations do eternally testify the Trinity of the King, p. 3. and 36. So also Ainsworth on the first of Genesis quotes another passage from R. Simeon Ben Jocai in Zoar to the same purpose, which is this, Come and see the mystery of New Testament, is the same with the Spirit of the Lord, so much celebrated in the Old, St.Peter ex the word Elohim; there are three degrees, and every degree by itself alone; and yet notwithstanding, they are all one, and joined together in one, and are not divided one from another. But, to name no more, Grotius makes mention of some ancient cabbalists, quoted in a book called Additamenta ad Lexicon Hebraicum Schindleri, who distinguish God in tria Lumina, et quidem nonnulli iisdem quibus Christiani nominibus Patris, Filii sive Verbi, et Spiritus Sancti, i. e. into three Lights, which some of them call by the same names we Christians do, viz. Father, Son or Word, and Holy Ghost; and indeed, as their most ancient writings do frequently make mention of the Word under the notion of a divine Person, as hath been shewed before; so they do also the Ruach Hakkodesh, or Holy Spirit, to whom their most ancient writers attribute all prophecy or revelation; for so, as I find them quoted by learned men in Pirche, R. Eliezer, cap. 29. R. Phineas inquit, Requievit Spiritus Sanctus super Josephum ab ipsius juventute usque ad diem obitus ejus, i. e. The Holy Spirit rested upon Joseph from his youth till the day of his death. And cap. 33. R. Phineas ait, Postquam omnes illi interfecti fuerant, viginti annis in Babel requievit Spiritus Sanctus super Ezekielem, et eduxit eum in convalle Dora, et ostendit ei multa ossa, i. e. R. Phineas said, After they were all slain, the Holy Spirit rested twenty years upon Ezekiel in Babylon, and led him forth into the valley of Dora, and shewed him a great number of bones; and indeed it was a proverbial speech of the Jewish masters, as Maimonides tells us, More Nev. part. ii. cap. 35. Majestas divina habitat super eum, et loquitur per Spiritum Sanctum, i. e. The divine Majesty dwells upon such a one, and he speaks by the Holy Ghost; and that by this Holy Spirit they anciently meant a real person is evident, for so Jonathan's paraphrase on Gen. i. 2. Spiritus misericordiarum, qui est ab ante Dominum, stante super faciem aquarum, i. e. The Spirit of mercies,who is from before the Lord, standing upon the face of the waters; and Bereschit Rabba, speaking of the Spirit that moved upon the face of the water, Gen. i. 2. expressly affirms, Hic est Spiritus Regis Messia, This is the Spirit of Messias the King. So Ead. Hal. cap. 12. Tempore Regis Messiae, quando constabilitum erit regnum ejus et omnis populus ad ipsum collectus, recensebuntur singuli ex ore Spiritus Sancti: In the time of Messias the King, when his kingdom shall be established, every one shall be called over by the mouth of the Holy Ghost: in which places there are things and actions expressly attributed to the Holy Ghost which are proper only to a person; and since by him they understood a person, they must necessarily suppose pressly asserts, 2 Pet. i. 21. 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: from which words it is evident, that this Holy Ghost, whom St. Peter here mentions, is the very same with that Holy Spirit, or Spirit of the Lord, by whom, as we are told in the Old Testament, the ancient prophets were inspired; vid. Isaiah lxiii. 11. 2 Sam. xxiii. 2. Micah ii. 7. and abundance of other places; and accordingly St. Peter applies that prophecy of Joel ii. 28. I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, to that miraculous descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, Acts ii. 16, 17. But this is that, saith he, which was spoken by the prophet Joel, &c. which could not be true, if St. Peter's Holy Ghost were not the same with Joel's Spirit of the Lord. But it is most certain that the Holy Ghost, whom St. Peter and the New Testament so often mention, was in the first place a real person, and not a mere quality, as the Socinians vainly dream: for so we every where find personal properties and actions attributed to him. Thus he is said to speak, Acts xxviii. 25. and Heb. iii. 7. yea, and his speeches are frequently recorded; so Acts x. 19, 20. The Spirit said unto Peter, Arise therefore, get thee down, him a divine Person, since by what follows it evidently appears that in their own scriptures divine perfections were ascribed to him; and by what hath been said, that they believed three divine Persons in the Godhead, and accordingly Eusebius tells us, Ενθεν οἱ πάντες Εβραίων θεολόγοι, μετὰ τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων Θεὸν, καὶ μετὰ πρωτότοκον αὐτοῦ Σοφίαν, τὴν τριτὴν καὶ ἁγίαν δύναμιν, ̔́Αγιον Πνεῦμα προσειπόντες, ἀποθειάζουσιν, ὑφ' οὗ καὶ ἐφωτίζοντο θεοφορούμενοι, 1. e. All the Hebrew divines do acknowledge, after the most high God, and after his firstborn Wisdom, a third holy Power, whom they call the Holy Ghost, affirming him to be the God by whom the prophets were inspired. Prap. Evang. p. 326. and go with them; for I have sent thee: and Acts xiii. 2. The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them; and how can we, without horrible force to such plain, historical relations, which ought to be literal and not figurative, attribute these speeches to a mere virtue or quality? And elsewhere he is said to reprove the world, John xvi. 8. and to search into and know the deep things of God, 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11. and to divide his gifts severally to every man as he will, 1 Cor. xii. 11. And not only so, but such things and actions are attributed to him, as can in no sense be attributed to the Father; which would be nonsense, if he were only the virtue and power of the Father, and not a real person, distinct from him. Thus the Holy Ghost is said to come, as sent from the Father, in the name of Christ, John xiv. 26. and in John xvi. he is said to come, as sent from Christ, verse 7. And when he comes, Christ promises them, that he shall guide them into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself, saith he; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, ver. 13. Again; He shall glorify me, saith Christ: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you, ver. 14. And, to name no more, the Holy Ghost is said to make intercession for the saints according to the will of God, Rom. viii. 27. None of which things can in any tolerable sense be said of God the Father. Since therefore not only personal actions, but such personal actions also as cannot be attributed to the Father, are frequently attributed to the Holy Ghost; it hence necessarily follows, that he is not merely the virtue or power of the Father, but a distinct principle of action from him, that acts from and by himself, and consequently is a real person or subsistence. It being evident therefore, from what hath been said, that the Spirit of the Lord in the Old Testament is the same with the Holy Ghost in the New, and that the Holy Ghost in the New is a real Person distinct from the Father; it hence follows, in the second place, that this Holy Ghost is a divine Person, because in the scripture-forms of baptism and benediction he is always ranked with divine Persons, viz. the Father and the Son: thus baptism is in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Matth. xxviii. 19. And, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all, is the usual form of benediction, 2 Cor. xiii. 14. Now that the Father is a divine Person, all acknowledge, and that the Son is so too hath been proved at large; and therefore, since the Holy Ghost is ranked with the Father and the Son, both in our baptismal dedication and form of benediction, that is a sufficient evidence that he is a divine Person also: for what likelihood is there, that in such solemn acts of religion a mere creature should be taken into copartnership with the divine Father and Son? But besides, both in the Old and New Testament, divine actions and perfections are attributed to him. Thus in Job xxxiii. 4. creation is attributed to him: The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. So also Job xxvi. 13. By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens. Since therefore to create is a divine act, and since every act flows from the essence of the agent; it follows that the essence of this Spirit, from which this divine act of creation |