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Unitarians, that the Holy Ghost, more "properly the Holy Spirit, in all cases "means the Spirit of God; that whenever "it is spoken of in the New Testament, it "is spoken of as miraculous. In fine, the "Unitarian Christian believes, that the Holy Spirit means the preternatural a

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gency of God, to authenticate a revela"tion from God; he connects the one ❝event with the other, and believes, that "when the effect was produced the ope"ration of the cause ceased." "The Uni"tarians do not believe in the personal "existence of the Holy Spirit as a Being "distinct from the Supreme;" but that "the Holy Ghost, more properly the Holy Spirit, means the Spirit of God, and con

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sequently in all cases either God him"self, or his energy!" In refutation of these positions, we maintain that the Holy Spirit is divine, because not only by implication and inference", but positively and directly he is called Lord and God". We

i Estlin, p. 77. London, p. 10.

m Acts v. 3. 4.

k Belsham's Letters to the Bishop of I Estlin, p. 40.

n 1 Cor. xii. 5. 6.

maintain, that he is possessed of a personal existence, without which the diversities of gifts, administrations and operations, would be most unsuitably appropriated to him, nor could he be in his attributes eternal, nor in his actions capable of willing, and distributing according to his will; of coming or of being sent'; of searching and knowing all things, even the deep things of God; of testifying of Christ'; of teaching all things, and bringing all things to the remembrance of his Disciples"; or of speaking, hearing, and shewing things to come. We maintain also, that he is distinct from the Father, because it was through the Spirit that Christ offered himself without spot to God'; because it is through the Spirit that we have access unto the Father by the Son; because the Father will give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him; and because God hath sent

11.

q 1 Cor. xii.

s 1 Cor. ii.

o 1 Cor. xii. 4-11. P Hebrews ix. 14. I John xiv. 26. xv. 26. xvi. 7. 8. 13. t John xv. 26. u John xiv. 26. 1 Cor. ii. 13.

10. 11.
Luke xii. 12.

x John xvi. 13.

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y Hebrews ix. 14.

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a

"forth the Spirit of his Son"," at whose baptism the Spirit visibly descended upon him, and the voice of the Father was heard from heaven. We maintain the perpetuity of his operations in the hearts of the faithful, for "the Spirit helpeth our infirmi"ties d;" and through his power we "bound in hope," and our mortal bodies are quickened and made alive; because "no man can say that Jesus Christ is "Lord but by the Holy Ghost "," and because we are forbidden to quench and to grieve the Holy Spirit; which are offences that could not be committed, if his operations were exclusively miraculous.

Thus do we believe and profess, in opposition to the Unitarian, that the Holy Spirit is Lord and God; that he possesses personal offices and attributes; that he is distinct from the Father; and that his operations in the hearts of the faithful are perpetual and without end.

b Galat. iv. 6. d Rom. viii. 26. g 1 Cor. xii. 3.

c Matt. iii. 16. 17.
e Rom. xv. 13.
h 1 Thess. v. 19.

Luke iii. 22.

f Rom. viii. 11. i Ephes. iv. 30.

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7. Concerning the condition of man, Unitarians assert that "the words original sin "and human depravity are not to be "found in Scripture. They venture an opinion, that the ideas which they are "intended to convey are not included in 66 any word or passage which is there to be found, nor inferible from any doctrine "there laid down;k" nevertheless, "they "rely for the pardon of sin on infinite 66 mercy. they disclaim all human merit as much as their opponents'."

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8." Unitarians discover no evidence of the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures of "the Old and New Testaments ":" " they "do not assume it as a principle, that all "the books contained even in the volume "of the New Testament are truly and "equally inspired "." In their judgment, "the writers of the New Testament are to "be regarded only as faithful, well-informed, and credible reporters of facts and

k Estlin, p. 81. Belsham's Lett. to the Bp. of London, p. 34. 60. Estlin, p. 71. 1 m Belsham's Lett. to the Bp. of London, p. 11. n Ibid. p. 58.

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doctrines, who lay no claim to imme"diate supernatural suggestion for what they indited or wrote.'

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9. "The Unitarians, I believe, universally

reject the horrible doctrine of the future' "eternal torments of the wicked; and ma"ny, but not all, believe that future pu"nishment will be remedial "." They consider the Devil, "not a real, but a hypo"thetical and fictitious being, the principle "of evil personified, the supposed cause "of evil :" and a reference of the Apostle to principalities and powers suggests an annotation, that this reference "gives no "countenance either to the commonly re"ceived opinion of the existence of a ce"lestial hierarchy, or the popular doctrine " of the superiority of Christ to angels and "other supposed celestial spirits." Another Unitarian writer, however, cursorily admits that there are 66 superior intelli

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gences, whom the Supreme Being em

• Belsham's Lett. to the Bp. of London, p. 59. P Ibid.

p. 11. Estlin, p. 82.

q Improved Version. Note on

1 John iii. 8. et pass. Estlin, p. 82. Improved Version. Note on Ephes. i. 21.

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