GOD IN TRINITY

By the Trinity is meant the union of three Divine persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in one Godhead. This great truth cannot be brought down to the level of our perfect comprehension. But it stands on the unshaken foundation of God's revelation of Himself. If a full solution cannot be attained, the facts may be so presented that there will be no contradictory opposition, and nothing will hinder the credibility of the doctrine.

1. We may observe here, at the very outset of this discussion, that we need not at all be disturbed by the Unitarian sneer, at our worshiping "three God's": God is not three in the same sense that He is one. There is only one living, and true God. The Bible, that reveals to us the Trinity, is absolutely opposed to Atheism on the one hand and to Polytheism on the other. Scriptures everywhere assert that Jehovah alone is God. But Trinitarianism is not tritheism. No doctrine can possibly be true that stands clearly opposed to the primal truth of the Bible-the unity of God, which we considered in the previous chapter.

2. The Bible ascribes all divine titles and attributes equally to the Father, Son, and Spirit. The same divine worship is rendered to them. One is as much the object of adoration, praise, prayer, love, or worship, as either of the others. It is no more evident that the Father is God, than that the Son is God, or that the Holy Spirit is God.

3. The terms Father, Son, and Spirit, do not express different relations of God to His creatures. This idea is taught in the phrase, "God our Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor." But the Scripture language is so peculiar that it is difficult to avoid accepting the doctrine of the Trinity if we are intellectually honest.

(1) The Father says "I"; the Son says "I"; the Spirit says "I".

(2) The Father says "Thou" to the Son; and the Son says "Thou" to the Father; and in like manner the Father and Son use the pronouns "He" and "Him" in reference to the Spirit. In John 16 there are seventeen references to the Father, and thirteen to the Spirit, and about sixty to the Son.

(3) The Father loves the Son; the Son loves the Father; the Spirit testifies of the Son; the Father, Son and Spirit are severally subject and object. They act and are acted upon, or are the subjects of action.

4. We thus reach the idea of the tri-personality of the Godhead. A person is one who has intellect, sensibility and will, who can think and feel and will, who can say "I," who can be addressed as "Thou," and who can act, and be the object of action. Putting these facts together, we reach logically some definitions. Dr. Samuel Harris of Yale: "There are three distinctions in the Godhead that answer to our ideas of personality." Dr. Charles Hodge: "The one divine Being subsists in three persons,-Father, Son, and Spirit." Wakefield: "The Divine nature exists under the personal distinctions of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that these three have equally, and in common with one another, the nature and perfections of supreme divinity. This appears to be the true, simple doctrine of the Trinity, when stripped of refined and learned distinctions. As to the manner in which three persons are united in the Godhead, it is granted to be incomprehensible: but so is God Himself, as is every attribute of His nature." Miley: "The doctrine of the Trinity asserts the personal distinctions of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and the essential divinity of each."

It will be noticed that these definitions add nothing to the facts. "(1) There is One Divine Being. (2) The Father, Son and Spirit are divine. (3) The Father, Son and Spirit are distinct persons. (4) Attributes being inseparable from substance, the Scriptures, in saying that the Father, Son and Spirit possess the same attributes, say that they are the same in substance; and if the same in substance they are equal in power and glory" (Hodge).

5. But the Scriptures no less plainly teach an order of rank or subordination existing between the different persons of the Trinity. The Father is first; the Son is second; the Spirit is third. The Son is of the Father; the Spirit is of the Father and of the Son. The Father sends the Son; the Father and Son send the Spirit. The Father operates through the Son; and both operate through the Spirit. In respect to official position Jesus could say: "My Father is greater than I." These facts are included in the proposition: "In the Holy Trinity, there is a subordination of the Persons as to the mode of subsistence and operation."

6. There are some things which the Scriptures affirm of the Father, Son and Spirit concurrently or conjointly, as the creation of the world, which is affirmed of each. But some things are affirmed of only one of the three. "The Father preserves all things. The Son upholds all things. The Spirit is the author of life. The Father creates, elects, calls; the Son redeems; the Spirit sanctifies." This is also affirmed of the Father but in another sense, generation belongs exclusively to the Father; filiation belongs only to the Son; and procession is only affirmed of the Spirit.

7. From the foregoing we may conclude that God is one in some senses; and three in others.

Unity in -- 1 Nature, 2 Entity, 3 Essence, 4 Being, 5 Substance 6 Godhead

Trinity in -- 1 Persons, 2 Distinctions, 3 Subsistences, 4 Hypostases

There is no contradiction, therefore in the Unity of nature, or being, or Godhead, and a Trinity of persons in this Godhead or essence. For our reason the mode of the union of the three persons in one essence is a mystery. There is, however, a profound difference between a mystery and a contradiction. A contradiction would be incredible; but a truth may be a mystery and still be thoroughly credible. To say that this doctrine is incomprehensible is to say no more than we are compelled to say about the eternity of God, or the omnipresence of God, or the omniscience of God or a hundred other truths of revelation or science. Yet reason prompts us to accept and act upon these truths every day without question. So should we gladly accept the doctrine of the Trinity. Dr. Bushnell said: "I cannot understand the Trinity; but my heart wants the Father; my heart wants the Son; my heart wants the Holy Spirit; my heart says the Bible has a Trinity for me, and I mean to hold by my heart." Charles Kingsley said: "My heart demands the Trinity as much as does my reason. If the doctrine of the Trinity be not in the Bible, it ought to be; for the whole Spiritual nature of man cries out for it."

8. "The inter-trinitarian relations are coeval with Godhead. God is not first solitary existence, then power in creation, then love to the created, then pity for the fallen,-these latter being secondary effluences from a God who in the first place is self-centered. On the contrary, God is essential and eternal Love. Love in exercise from eternity has laid the foundations of all that God is to His creatures and especially to man. Hence the bearing of the doctrine of the Trinity upon that of the divine image, 'We are apt to take the word "Father" as metaphorical in its application to God, a metaphor derived from human parentage.' The doctrine of the trinity implies the converse. If there be an eternal Son, there must have been an Eternal Father,-an absolute and essential Fatherhood must belong to Godhead. The most sacred human relationships, therefore, are copies of realities existing in God" (Laidlaw).

In a similar vein. Miley says: "Only the essential divinity of the Son can give the full meaning of the Father's love in the redemption of the world. The sublimest theistic truth of the Scripture, is embodied in this definite reality of the divine Fatherhood. His Fatherly relation to man is a great and grateful truth; but the truth of His Fatherhood most replete with benedictions is given only with the divine Sonship of the Savior."1 1. Miley, Vol. 1, p. 224.

9. Let no one suppose for a moment that this is a mere matter of useless speculation, and it is not material whether one accepts the doctrine of the Trinity or not. It is profoundly important. Our knowledge of God is fundamental to religion, and as God's revelations of Himself have moral ends, and are designed to promote piety, and not to excite curiosity, all that He has revealed of His triune nature is for our Spiritual good, and human experience has proved it so. It necessarily affects our views of God as the object of our worship, whether we take the Unitarian or the Trinitarian view. The Trinitarian scheme is essentially connected with the doctrine of the atonement, which depends on the Deity of Christ. It acknowledges the fallen condition of man, the exceeding sinfulness of sin, the inflexible justice of God, and the infinite importance of God's law and government. The Unitarian theory necessarily excludes atonement, regards sin as comparatively a trifle, assumes that God is not strict to punish it, and can arbitrarily set punishment aside without any amends to law or government, or any substitute for penalty. Whether under these lax and easy notions of the law of God and the evil of sin, and such a belittling view of the nature of Christ and His vicarious suffering, morals can have adequate support, and depraved hearts be restrained from disobedience, are points too obvious to need discussion. The one who thinks it makes no difference in the character and life, which view a man takes on this subject, neither knows his Bible nor his God. The God of those who deny the Trinity is not the God of those who worship the Trinity in Unity. The one party or the other worships a being that does not exist; the hopes of one party or the other are doomed to eternal disappointment.

10The Doctrine of Trinity in the Creeds:

(1) The Nicene Creed (A. D. 325). "We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made." "And in the Holy Ghost" ("the Lord and giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, and with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spake by the prophets"). The part in parenthesis was added by the council of Constantinople called for that purpose in A. D. 381.

(2) The Athanasian Creed, of unknown authorship and date, but by unreliable tradition, attributed to Athanasius about 345 A. D., was probably a slow growth coming into its present form, some time after 750 A. D. It is the most critically exact in statement of all the Creeds on this subject and has probably been by far the most influential. We quote from it: "And the Catholic faith is this: "That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance. For there is one Person of the Father; another of the Son; and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one; the glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal. So the Father is God; the Son is God; and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet there are not three Gods but one God. . . . The Father is made of none; neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created; but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten; but proceeding. . . . And in this Trinity none is above, or after another. But the whole three persons are co-eternal, and co-equal. So that in all things, as above said: the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshiped."

It will be observed that these creeds and critical statements of this great doctrine do not give us any reasonable ground for questioning its truth. They do not assert any logical contradiction. They do not affirm that one God is three Gods, or that there are more Gods than one. They expressly affirm that the three personal distinctions are not three separate beings or three Gods. Suppose we grant that we know of nothing in the nature of other spiritual beings quite analogous to the Trinity in the Godhead. Miley well asks: "What shadow of evidence can the mind of man discover that the eternal self-existent God should not subsist in a mode peculiar to Himself, and quite diverse from that of His creatures?" To deny the possibility of a Trinity in the divine nature implies an extravagant pretension to a knowledge of all being which no mortal can possibly possess. A lower animal might as well attempt to decide what the nature of man must be, as for man to set bounds to the mode of God's existence. The wise thing for us to do is to modestly accept and rigidly adhere to what God has revealed to us about Himself. We are not in every respect the measure of God's being. Trinality may be quite consistent with unity in the infinite plenitude of God.

11. The same attributes and predicables and acts are ascribed to each of the three persons without distinction.

(1) Eternity: "The eternal God is thy dwelling-place" (Deut. 33:27). "Of the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever" (Heb. 1:8). "Through the eternal Spirit offered Himself" (Heb. 9: 14).

(2) Omnipresence: "Do not I fill heaven and earth saith Jehovah" (Jer. 23: 24). "Where two or three are gathered together, there am I in the midst" (Matt. 18: 20). "Whither shall I go from thy spirit" (Ps. 139: 7).

(3) Omniscience: "Thus saith the Lord who maketh these things known from of old" (Acts 15: 18). "Lord thou knowest all things" (John 21: 17). "The Spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God" (1 Cor. 2: 10).

(4) Omnipotence: "I am the Almighty God" (Gen. 17: 1). "All authority hath been given unto me, in heaven and on earth" (Matt. 28: 18). "All these worketh the one and the same Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:4-11).

(5) Wisdom: "Wisdom and might are His" (Dan. 2: 20). "In whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2: 3). "A spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him" (Eph. 1:17).

(6) Inspiration: "Every Scripture inspired of God" (2 Tim. 3: 16). "The Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto" (1 Pet. 1: 11). "Men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1: 21).

(7) Sanctification: "The God of peace Himself sanctify you" (1 Thess. S: 23). "Jesus, that He might sanctify the people" (Heb. 13: 12). "In sanctification of the Spirit" (1 Pet. 1:2).

(8) Creation: "God created man in His own image" (Gen. 1: 17). "All things were made by Him" (John 1:3). "The Spirit of God hath made me" (Job 33: 4).

These quotations might be multiplied, showing that all divine operations are attributed to the same adorable Trinity. These passages fairly force the doctrine of the Trinity upon us, whether we will or no.

12. Further Scripture proof. While some question the value of the argument, it is urged as valid by very many theologians, that the plural name of Deity is very significant, as if foreshadowing the doctrine of the Trinity. It certainly is a peculiarity of the Hebrew language not found elsewhere. In the first verse of the Bible, the word for God is Elohim which is a plural. It is said to occur 2,500 times in the Old Testament. It is not relied on as sufficient proof for the Trinity. But no one can show that it was not designed by God to intimate a plurality in the Deity, and to prepare the Hebrew mind for the full declaration of this truth which God intended to make.

There was a constant temptation among the patriarchs and Hebrews to revert to the prevailing polytheism, yet God revealed Himself to them by a plural name, when the singular name was better befitting Monotheism. It is not forcing the argument to suggest that God intentionally chose the plural name to foreshadow the future revelation. There must have been a weighty reason in the divine mind for the use of this word naturally so dangerous to faith in God's Unity.

This is corroborated also by the solemn form of benediction in which the Jewish High Priest was commanded to bless the children of Israel. "Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee; Jehovah make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; Jehovah lift His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace" (Numbers 6: 24-27).

In the New Testament: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all" (2 Cor. 13: 14). In perfect harmony also is the trine adoration of the Seraphim, seen and heard in Isaiah's vision: "And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts" (Isa. 6: 3). "Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" (eighth verse). Strangely enough, John quotes the ninth verse and applies this to Jesus; and Paul quotes the same and applies it to the Holy Ghost" (John 12:41 and Acts 26:25). Isaiah called Him "Jehovah of Hosts," and the Lord Himself said "us." The man is rash who dares to say that there is no evidence here of the Trinity."

Again, we are to baptize in the name of the "Father and of the Son and of the Spirit" (Matt. 28: 19). And when Jesus was baptized, "The heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming upon Him; and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." All three participated in that baptismal ceremony. The Father spoke; the Son was baptized; the Spirit descended. It is evidence of the Trinity to all who are not wilfully blind. With such it is a waste of time to argue.

13. Errors Respecting the Trinity.

(1) Sabellianism. Sabellius was a Presbyter of Ptolemais, Egypt. He was excommunicated A. D. 261. He taught that the Trinity of Godhead was not a trinity of persons, but of manifestations. God is strictly one person: He revealed Himself first as Father; second, He revealed Himself as Son; third, He revealed Himself as Holy Ghost. The same view was held by Schleiermacher, A. D. 1768-1834, and also by Horace Bushnell of Hartford, Conn., A. D. 1802-1876. (See Schaff History of Doc., Vol. II, p. 292). This is the view seemingly held by our dear brother, Dr. Godbey, if we may judge from his illustrations, as follows: "Water is a trinity; solid in ice, liquid in its fluid, and vaporous in the atmosphere. In my evangelistic work, I am book editor in the morning, Bible teacher in the afternoon, and preacher at night; thus I exhibit three distinct characters, and yet

I am only one man" '.(Theology, p. 15). This would make God only one person in three manifestations. This doctrine preserves the Deity of the Son and the Holy Ghost at the expense of their personality. It is an error nearly as old as Christianity. In spite of the above quotation, we believe it must misrepresent Dr. Godbey's real view.

(2) Arianism. Arius was born at Cyrene, A. D. 250, died A. D. 336. He denied that the Son was co-essential and co-eternal with God. He held that Christ was the greatest created being, but still was less than infinite. Christ's personality is preserved at the expense of His divinity. Arius wrote to Alexander: "We believe in one God alone without birth, alone everlasting, alone unoriginate. We believe that this God gave birth to the Only Begotten Son before eternal periods (times) giving Him a real existence at His own will so as to be unchangeable, God's perfect creature." . . . "Before this generation or creation, He was not."

(3) Socinianism. Lselius Socinus (1525-1562, Siena and ZuLrich) and his nephew Faustus Socinus, born 1539, died 1604, were; the spiritual fathers of Socinianism, now called Unitarianism. They have divided into three parties. First party held that Jesus was a God of an inferior nature; the second party held, like the Arians, that Jesus was the greatest created spirit; the third party held that Jesus was only a man of high moral excellence which we may equal or even excel. The latter idea is predominant now.

(4) Swedenborgianism. Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) held (a) "The Lord Jesus Christ is the Only God; that in Him there is the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the Father being His infinite divine nature or soul; the Son His glorified human nature or divine body, and the Holy Spirit the life proceeding from His divine humanity, (b) That the Father in His eternal humanity descended as the Lord Jesus to the earth, assuming fallen human nature, that in it He might conquer hell and deliver mankind from its influence."1 This system, it will be observed, asserts the Supreme Deity of the Son at the expense of the personality of the Father and the Spirit. 1. British Encyclopaedia, Article Swedenborg.

14. Illustrations of the Trinity. We need not try to find any perfect illustration in the realm of moral being. But simple illustrations may show that the doctrine is neither incredible, nor irrational. '

(1) In our own moral being there is the trinity of intellect, sensibility, and will. We say, "I know; I feel; I will;" yet there is but one being.

(2) In our own personality there is a trinity of body, soul and spirit, and we call each by the same name, man.

(3) "God is light." Such is God's own illustration of Himself, and, strangely enough, there is a trinity in a ray of light. We heard the great Tyndal of England lecture some fifty-six years ago on light. He passed a ray of light direct from the sun at mid-day through a glass prism and divided it into the three component rays -the color ray, the heat ray, and the actinic or chemical ray.

The color ray of course produced the colors of the prismatic spectrum, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, "Now," said the professor, "off about here in the dark is the heat ray whose heat I can measure by a very delicate spirit thermometer." He did it. "Now," said he, "off about here is a chemical ray, which will explode a jar full of very inflammable gas which I have on the platform, as soon as I bring it to the right spot." He lifted the jar to the place, and instantly there was an explosion. Now the whole ray of light may illustrate the essence or being of God. The color ray may represent "The Father" in the Trinity. The heat ray may represent "The Son," and the chemical ray "The Holy Spirit." The color ray is not all there is in a ray of light; nor is the heat ray all, nor is the chemical ray all. It takes all three to make the one ray of light.

So the Father is not all of the Godhead; the Son is not all of the Godhead; the Spirit is not all. It takes the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit to include all the Unity, or nature, or being of God. The three persons together compose all the unity or Godhead, nature entity, essence, Being substance. But no one of the Trinity alone means all, or includes all that is included by the adorable Trinity.

So we have the Unity of God, and the personal distinctions of Father, Son, and Spirit. We are compelled to have the Trinity for the interpretation and harmony of the Scripture facts. God has revealed to us His unity, and the trinal distinction of divine persons. It is above our reason, but not contrary to it.

There are many illustrations that may be helpful to many, minds, but there is no perfect analogy, and need not be. It is a mystery; but there are mysteries everywhere. "What do we know of cohesive attraction? Or of forces of chemical affinity, or of gravitation, acting across the measureless spaces that separate the stars, and binding all systems in the harmony of the heavens? Or of life in the manifold forms of its working? Or of the power of will which reveals itself in our consciousness?" (Miley). Yet we use all these truths, although mysterious. So, though we understand not all the mysteries of the Trinity, we may bow to Father, Son, and Spirit, and love, serve, and adore.

Doctrine of Sonship.

A. THE SON OF GOD.

1. Sonship. The Sonship of Christ implies the Fatherhood of God. The divine Fatherhood in its deepest sense is purely correlative with the filiation of the Son. In a lower sense it is vastly broader. God is "the Father of Spirits" (Heb. 12: 9), the Father of all souls-whether angels or men-on the ground of Creation. In a higher sense than this, He is our divine Father, and we have Christian sonship through His spiritual regeneration of us. We become in a special,sense His spiritual children and the special recipients of His Fatherly love.

There is still another example of the lower sense of the Fatherhood of God and the Filiation of the Son-viz. when the angel announced to Mary the miraculous conception and birth of the holy child who should be called "the son of God." This was the son incarnate, and the filiation included the human and divine nature.

But there is a higher sense in which these terms are used, e. g., when they refer to the eternal Fatherhood of God and the eternal filiation of the Son. There are many passages of Scripture that refer to this unique fact. Jesus is declared to be "the only Begotten of the Father," "The Only Begotten Son," "The Only Begotten Son of God." God is "Our Father" by creation: He is the Father of the Only Begotten by Generation. "The distinction of the Son from the created universe is profound. His existence is, not by creation, but by generation, and before all created existences. Not only is He distinguished from all creatures in the mode of His own existence, but is Himself the Author of all creation." The Son is begotten of God before creation and time. This is revealed in Scripture but without explanation.

The ancient creeds were true to Scripture facts: Nicene Creed: "The Only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds: God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father."

Athanasian Creed: "The Son is the Father alone; not made nor created; but begotten ... of the substance of the Father; begotten before the worlds."

This generation of the Son, like the Trinity, is for us a mystery; but it is a glorious truth. It infinitely exalts Christ, and puts Him in a class by Himself, related to the Father as no other being in the universe can be related. But,

1. "The generation of the Son respects only His personality, and in no sense His nature.

2. The Sonship is eternal, like the Fatherhood, and is not the result of an act of creation in time. There was no temporal and optional generation, but an eternal and necessary activity of the divine nature.

3. The essential being of the Son is neither different in kind nor numerically other than the substance of the Father, but the very same, "homoousion"-consubstantial with the Father "according to the Godhead (Council of Chalcedon)."

4. Yet in the work of redemption, there is a subordination of the Son to the Father, and also in creation and providence. The Father gives the Son, sends the Son, delivers up the Son, prepares a body for His incarnation; and He in filial obedience, fulfills the pleasure of the Father even unto crucifixion, and He finally surrenders the Kingdom to the Father, "that God (the Father) may be all in all."

II. THE DIVINITY OF THE SON

The Trinity and the Deity of Christ are truths of revelation, and the Scriptures are the only authority in Christian doctrine. A brief grouping of the Scripture testimony gives a conclusive argument, against which the most subtle infidelity contends in vain. These proofs may be arranged under four heads-The Divine Titles, The Divine Attributes, The Divine Works, The Divine Worship. All these are ascribed to Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son.

1. The Titles (1) He is called God. John 1: 1 and 20: 28; Acts 20: 28; Rom. 9: 5, "God blessed forever"; Col. 2: 9, "In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily"; Phil. 2: 6, "existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped"; 1 Tim. 3: 16, "Great is the mystery of Godliness, He who was manifested in the flesh," etc.; Titus 2: 10, "God our Saviour"; Heb. 1: 8, "of the Son he saith, Thy throne, 0 God, is forever and ever"; 1 John 5: 20, "The Son of God is come. . . . This is the true God."

(2) Those which speak of His other titles, "Alpha and Omega"; Rev. 1: 8, 21: 6, 22: 13; "Immanuel," God with us, Matt. 1:23; "First and Last," Rev. 1:17; "Everlasting Father," Isa. 9: 6; "Mighty God," Isa. 9:6; "Governor," Matt. 2:6; "Holy One," Luke 4: 34; Acts 3: 14; "King of Kings and Lord of Lords," 1 Tim. 6: 15; "Lord of Glory," 1 Cor. 2: 8.

(3) It remains to speak of the various theophanies, when "The Angel of Jehovah" on sundry times appeared to men. Dr. Hodge after a careful review of the subject arrives at this just conclusion: "The angel, who appeared to Hagar, to Abraham, to Moses, to Joshua, to Gideon, and to Manoah, who was called Jehovah, and worshipped as Adonai, who claimed divine homage and exercised divine power, whom the psalmists and prophets set forth as the Son of God, as the Counsellor, the Prince of Peace, the mighty God, and whom they predicted was to be born of a virgin, and to whom every knee should bow and every tongue confess, of things in heaven and things on earth, and things under the earth, is none other than He whom we now recognize and worship as our God and Saviour Jesus Christ. It was the Logos Asarkos whom the Israelites worshipped and obeyed; and it is the Logos Ensarkos whom we acknowledge as our Lord and God."1 1. Hodge's Theology, Vol. I, p. 490.

Bishop Bull, discussing these Theophanies says, "It was the Son of God, who in former times, under the Old Testament, appeared to holy men, distinguished by the name Jehovah, and honored by them with divine worship... He who appeared and spoke to Moses in the burning bush and on Mt. Sinai, who manifested Himself to Abraham, etc., was the Word, or Son of God. It is, however, certain that He who appeared is called "Jehovah," "I am," "The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob," titles which clearly are not applicable to any created being, but are peculiar to the true God. This is the reason that the name of Jehovah, and divine worship are given to him who appeared."2 2. Bishop Bull-Nicene Creed, Book I, chap. 1, 20.

2. THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES AND PEEDICABLES.

(1) His eternity: Isa. 9: 6, "Everlasting Father"; Micah 5: 2, "Whose going forth is from everlasting"; John 1:1, "The Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God"; John 8: 58, "Before Abraham was born I am"; Col. 1: 17, "And he is before all things"; Heb. 13: 8, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today and forever"; Rev. 1: 8, "the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come the Almighty."

(2) His omniscience. Rev. 2: 23, "I am he that searches the reins and the hearts"; John 10: 15. "As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father." The infinite depths of such knowledge of the Father is possible only to omniscience. Matt. 9: 4, "Jesus knowing their thoughts"; Mark 2: 8, "Jesus perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within, themselves"; John 2: 24, "He knew all men"; John 6: 64, "For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him"; John 16: 30, "Thou knowest all things"; Acts 1: 24, "Thou Lord who lowest the hearts of all men." The one great opposing text is Mark 13: 32, "But of that day [and hour knoweth no man, no, nor the angels, neither the Son, but the Father." This perplexing passage seems to be a disclaimer of Deity and omniscience even by Jesus Himself. "But," says Field, "It cannot be understood in a sense that contradicts the many passages which explicitly declare that Christ knows all things. Moreover, it is very clear from the whole drift of the discourse that our Lord did know the time of the impending calamities; for, in the same breath, He foretells them with circumstantial exactness, and declares that the present generation, should not pass away until the event should be accomplished. And hence we must seek the explication of the text in that idiomatic use of the word to know, which the Hebrew so often furnishes, and which the evangelist would naturally follow, although he wrote in Greek. To know, this place, appears to bear the sense of the Hebrew conjugation called Hiphil and to signify to make to know-that is, "to declare or reveal." The meaning would then be, that "neither by man nor angel, nor by the Son Himself, was the exact time of that visitation made known or revealed." But the Father Himself would reveal it by His sudden and unlooked for appearance, "which in His own time He shall show." Acts 1:6, 7 seems to confirm this view. There the Savior intimates that He is unable to satisfy their curiosity. Through the centuries no explanation of these words have been entirely satisfactory. It remains perplexing and unexplainable; prat, with so many others, declaring the supreme Deity and omniscience of Christ, without any weakening of faith we hold fast to our confidence in our divine Lord.

(3) His Omnipotence. "The Mighty God" (Isa. 9: 6). "All power is given me in heaven and in earth" (Matt. 28: 18). "He that cometh from heaven is above all" (John 3: 31). "All things were made by Him" (John 1:2). "By him all things consist" (Col. 1: 16-18). "Upholding all things by the Word of His power" (Heb. 1:3). "The Almighty" (Rev. 1:8). Jesus had absolute power over nature, wrought miracles, fed multitudes with a handful of bread, gave sight to the blind, caused the deaf to hear, hushed the winds and waves, raised the dead. He showed himself to be absolute and omnipotent God.

(4) His Omnipresence. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. 18: 20). "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matt. 28: 20). "No one hath ascended into heaven but he that descended out of heaven, even the Son of man who is in heaven" (John 3: 13). These words in the form of a promise, assure us of an everpresent Savior. He seals his assurance with his blessed "amen." "Only an omnipresent Being-omnipresent with the infinite efficiencies of a personal agency-could truthfully assert such facts and give such promises" (Miley).

(5) Immutability. Heb. 1: 10-12, "And Thou, Lord, in the Beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth. And the heavens are the works of thy hands: They shall perish: but thou continuest; And they all shall wax old as doth a garment: And as a mantle shalt thou roll them up. As a garment, and they shall be changed; But thou art the same, And thy years shall not fail." Heb. 13: 8: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever." Be it understood that Jesus had a mutation of state. He was" in the form of God, but divested himself of His glory, and took on Him the form of a servant in the likeness of men, and humbled Himself to the death of the Cross, and again He was exalted to infinite glory at the right hand of God. Still, in all this Jesus was immutable. There was mutation in state, but not in nature, or intrinsic attributes or divine personality.

3. DIVINE WORKS ARE ASCRIBED TO CHRIST.

(1) "If there be a maxim that is written clearly, with all the light of its own evidence, upon the human soul, it is this: 'He that made all things is God.'" In how many texts is creation ascribed to the Son of God? "All things were made by him" (John 1:3). "God who created all things" (Eph. 3:9). "For in him were all things created" (Col. 1: 16). "Through whom also he made the worlds" (Heb. 1: 10). "God who made the world and all things therein, He is Lord of heaven and earth" (Acts 17: 24). These works of creation reveal His eternal power and Godhead.

"By thus ascribing the work of creation to the Son, the apostles do not exclude the agency of the Father and the Holy Spirit. They do not break in upon the unity of the Godhead, and separate the essence of Deity, in distinguishing the persons. Creation was the work of the Triune God; but the Son was the immediate and prominent agent, in wielding the threefold energy of the whole Divine Nature" (Watson's Sermon on Col. 1: 16).

"Should it be objected that Christ created officially, or by delegation, I answer, this is impossible; for as creation requires absolute and unlimited power, or omnipotence, there can be but one creator, because it is impossible that there can be two or more Omnipotents, Infinites, or Eternals. It is, therefore, evident that Creation cannot be effected officially or by delegation for this would imply a being conferring the office, and delegating such powers; and that the being to whom it was delegated was a dependent being; consequently not unoriginated and eternal; but this the nature of creation proves to be absurd" (Dr. Adam Clarke on Col. 1: 12-17). "And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thine hand." Such a passage tells its own story, and needs no note or comment. God only is equal to such a work.

(2) Providential Control. Luke 10: 22, "All things have been delivered unto me of my Father." John 3:35, "The Father loveth the Son, and, hath given all things into his hand." John 17:2, "Thou gavest him authority over all flesh." Acts 10: 36. "Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)." Rom. 14: 9, "Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living." Eph. 1: 22, "He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things." Col. 1:17, "In Him all things consist." Heb. 1: 3, "Upholding all things by the word of His .power." Rev. 17: 14, "He is Lord of lords, and King of Kings," and 19: 16. In these passages, the providence of the Son in the preservation of all things is classed with His work in their creation. "Upholding all things by the word of his power," signifies a personal agency of INFINITE EFFICIENCY His Almighty providence is a proof of his Deity.

(3) HE FORGIVES SINS. The Scriptures teach and imply that God only can forgive sin. Yet Christ forgave sin in the deepest sense of divine forgiveness. Matt. 9: 2, "Thy sins are forgiven." Mark 2: 5, "Son, thy sins are forgiven." Col. 3: 13, "Even as the I Lord forgave you, so also do ye." 

(4) He will bring to an end the present system. Heb. 1: 10-12; "As a mantle shalt thou roll them up, As a garment, and they shall I be changed." Rev. 21: 5, "Behold, I make all things new." Who but God can destroy and renew this world?

(5) He is to resurrect the dead and judge the world. John 5: 28, "The hour cometh that all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth."

John 5: 22,23, "Neither doth the Father judge any man, but he hath given all judgment unto the Son, That all may honor the Son even as they honor the Father." Phil. 3: 30, 31, "We wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, conformed unto the body of His glory." Matt. 25: 31, 32, "But when the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit on the throne of His glory, and before him shall be gathered all the nations," etc. Acts 10: 42, "This is He who is ordained of God to be the Judge of the living and the dead." Acts 17: 31, "He hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness, by the man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance-in that he hath raised Him from the dead." 2 Tim. 4: 1, "Christ Jesus, who shall judge the living and the dead."

Now the resurrection of the dead is so great a work that human philosophy pronounces it an impossibility. The sacred writers only fall back on the infinite power of God for the possibility of it. Yet they declare that Christ by his own power shall raise the dead. It is equal to affirming that Christ possesses the infinite efficiency of God.

Then this same Christ knows enough to judge all the countless billions of our race. He must know perfectly every hidden thought and feeling, and motive and aim of every human being from Adam till the last hour of time. Who but God is sufficient for these things?

4. Christ is worshipped. The worship of Christ was the distinguishing peculiarity of the New Testament saints. They gave Him such worship as could not be innocently given to any other being but God. Many texts show that He received such supreme worship as could not be given to any but God without idolatry. Jesus claimed it, received it, and God honored it, and blessed those who rendered it.

(1) Acts 2: 21, "It shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." 1 Cor. 1: 2, "Called to be saints, with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their Lord and ours. . . . Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 10: 12, 13, "The same Lord is Lord of all and rich unto all that call upon Him, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Thus salvation is sought of Him.

(2) It pleased God. John 5: 22, "The Father judgeth no man, but He hath given all judgment unto the Son; that all may honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father that sent Him."

(3) Inspired Apostles and Saints worshipped Him. Luke 24: 32, "And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy." Acts 7: 59, "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus receive my spirit." 1 Thess. 3: 11-13, "Now may our God and Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you," also 2 Thess. 2: 16, 17. "Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father . . . comfort your hearts, and establish them in every good work." Christ is exalted and enthroned in supreme lordship and worshipfulness over saints and angels. He is seated on the right hand of God, far above all principalities and powers, while all are made subject to Him (Eph. 1: 20-23). To Him is given a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue should confess that He is Lord (Phil. 2: 9-11). As this homage is claimed of God, and due to Him solely because He is God, Christ must be truly divine. If Christ is not supremely worshipful then Christianity becomes as vast a system of idolatry as the earth ever had.

(4) He is worshipped by angels. Heb, 1: 6, "And let all the angels of God worship him." Rev. S: 11, 12, "And I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne . . . saying, Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory and blessing." This occurred in heaven in vision and will occur in reality.

(5) He is to be worshipped by every creature in the universe. Phil. 2: 10, "God hath given Him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that |every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Rev. S: 13, 14, "And every created thing . . . |heard I saying, Unto Him that sitteth on the throne and unto the Lamb be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion forever." If the Son is not supremely worshipped here, neither is the Father. But they do receive the same divine honor: and it is proof that they have the same nature and divinity. After reading all these passages together, who can fail to see that they represent t Christ as a Being occupying the same throne with the Father and receiving with Him the same unqualified adoration and everlasting praise? The Scriptural evidence of the eternal deity and glory of Christ is certainly complete. Hon. W. E. Gladstone wrote to an inquiring young man: "All I write, all I think, all I hope, is based on the Divinity (deity) of our Lord, the one central hope of our poor wayward race."

B. THE HOLY SPIRIT.

The doctrine of The Trinity involves the Personality and the Divinity of the Holy Spirit. The Scriptural testimony to both is clear and sure.

The conclusive proof of the distinct personality and essential Deity of the Son, prepares the way for the proof of the distinct personality and essential Deity of the Holy Spirit. The same objections have been made against both, and the Scriptures have prevailed. The objections have proved powerless in the face of overwhelming truth.

I. THE PERSONALITY OF THE SPIRIT.

A person, in the common thought of men is a being possessing intellect, sensibility, and. free will. The Socinians have taught that the Holy Spirit is only a Divine attribute, energy, or influence. This is the opinion of all modern Unitarians, Rationalists, and at least one body of people calling themselves Christians. Against all such, Orthodox Christians contend for the real personality of the Holy Spirit.

1. The personal pronouns are applied to him. Thus, John 14: 16, "I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever." Verse 17, " . . .the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive for it beholdeth Him not neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you." Verse 26, "But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things." John IS: 26, "But when the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father, the Spirit of truth . . . He shall bear witness of me." John 16: 7, "If I depart I will send Him unto you." Verse 14, "He shall glorify me." Verse IS, "Therefore said I that He taketh of mine and shall declare it unto you."

Now the Greek noun translated Spirit is in the neuter gender, but the pronouns are in the masculine gender. We cannot suppose this violation of grammatical propriety was merely accidental. It doubtless had a meaning, being designed to teach the distinct personality of the Spirit.

2. Personal qualities are ascribed to Him. Such as active intelligence, 1 Cor. 2: 10, 11, "But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God." Volition, 1 Cor. 12, 11, "But, all of these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as He will." Acts IS: 28, "For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things." Personal Capability of being resisted, Acts 7:51, "Ye do always resist the Holy Spirit"; Grieved, Isaiah 63: 10, "They rebelled and grieved His holy Spirit." Eph. 4:30, "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God." Blasphemed against (Matt. 12:31, 32), "Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven." Lied to (Acts S: 3), "Why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?" Try or tempt (Acts 5: 9), "Ye have agreed together to try the Spirit."

3. Personal Acts are ascribed to Him. He strives (Gen. 6: 3). He speaks (John 16: 13; Acts 10: 19, 8: 29). He guides (John 16: 13). He intercedes (Rom. 8: 26). He works miracles (Rom. 15: 19. He sanctifies (1 Cor. 6: 11; Rom. 15: 16). He calls and sends forth messengers (Acts 13: 2-4), "The Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." He distributes gifts (1 Cor. 12: 11). He seals (Eph. 1: 13), "Ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Eph. 4: 30), "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." He witnesses to our adoption. (Rom. 8: 16), "The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are children of God." Verse 26, "The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. . . . The Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us." "The Spirit searches all things, yea the deep things of God" (1 Cor. 2: 10).

Now all these things can be affirmed only of a person. If they do not reveal personality and prove it, then human language can-o not be made to do it. The very name "Holy Spirit" shows that He is a person possessing the attribute of holiness.

4. Procession is affirmed of the Spirit. As generation respects the personality of the Son, so Procession respects the personality of the Spirit. As the generation of the Son is eternal, so the Procession of the Spirit is not from an optional act of the Father. "That would place the origin of the Spirit in time and contradict His true and essential Divinity. The Procession of the Spirit is from a necessary and eternal activity of the Godhead. Like other truths of the Trinity, it is inexplicable for human thought."

But it is a Scriptural doctrine. The Spirit proceeds from the Father and "from the Son" ("filioque" as the Council of Toledo declared A. D. 589). "But when the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father."

In Rom. 8: 9, He is called "the Spirit of God" and "the Spirit of Christ." The Holy Spirit is as truly the Spirit of the Son as He is the Spirit of the Father. This implies an official subordination to the Son in the essential relations of the Trinity in the Godhead. The Scriptures state the facts, AND WE BELIEVE.

II. DIVINITY OF THE SPIRIT. The argument here is the same as that for the divinity of the Son.

Divine names are given to him. (1) He is called God. 2 Tim. 3: 16 compared with 2 Pet. 1: 21, "Every Scripture inspired of God is profitable." "Men spake from God being moved by the Holy Spirit." (2) Isa. 6: 5-9 compared with Acts 28: 25 show that he is called "Jehovah, of hosts." Also Ex. 17: 7 reads, "They tempted Jehovah" and Heb. 3: 7-9 applies it to the Holy Spirit. Again Jer. 31:31-34, "Saith, Jehovah, I will put my law in their inward parts," etc. This passage is quoted in Heb. 10: 15-18, "And the Holy Spirit beareth witness to us," etc.

2. Divine perfections are ascribed to him. (1) Omnipresence, Ps. 139: 7-10, Rom. 8: 26-27. (2) Omniscience, Isa. 40: 13, 14, "Who hath directed the Spirit of Jehovah, or being his Counsellor, hath taught him?" This is quoted in Rom. 11: 34 and 1 Cor. 2: 10, 11, "Even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God." (3) Omnipotence, 1 Cor. 12: 11, also Rom. 15: 19, "In the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Holy Spirit." (4) Eternity, Heb. 9: 14, "The Eternal Spirit." Unless the Holy Spirit possesses proper Deity all such language is out of place.

3. Divine works are performed by Him. (1) Creation, Gen. 1: 2, "The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." (2) Providential renovation: Ps. 104:30, "Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created, and thou renewest the face of the ground." (3) Regeneration, John 3:5, 6, "Born of the Spirit." Titus 3: 5, "Renewing of the Holy Spirit." (4) The resurrection of the dead. Rom. 8: 11, "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, He that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall quicken your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you." (5) Inspiration, 2 Pet. 1:21, "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." 1 Pet. 1:10, 11, "Concerning which salvation the prophets searched diligently . . . searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ." (6) The saving efficiency of the Gospel is in the power of the Spirit. This is according to the promise of the Father and of Christ. The pouring out of the Spirit brought Pentecost, and. this power of the Spirit gives efficacy to the Gospel and brings enlightenment and conviction upon men in all lands, applying the truth with convincing power to the consciences of men. The Spirit renews and sanctifies depraved souls, and restores in them true holiness after the image of God.

4. THE SPIRIT is WORSHIPPED. Isaiah 6: 3-7 describes a vision of the worship of Jehovah in heaven: but in Acts 28: 25-27, it is applied to the Holy Spirit. Rom. 9: 1, "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit." "This being an appeal to Christ and to the Holy Spirit, as knowing the Apostle's heart, is of the nature of an oath," (Mac-Knight). "This is one of the most solemn oaths any man can take. He appeals to Christ as the Searcher of hearts that he tells the truth; asserts that his conscience was free from guile in the matter and that the Holy Ghost bore him testimony that what he said was true" (Clarke's Commentary). "The best commentators are agreed that this is a form of solemn protestation, partaking of the nature of an oath" (Bloomfield). Matt. 28: 19, "Baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 2 Cor. 13: 14, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all." There is profound worship in the service of Baptism. The benediction is an invocation of blessings from the three persons of the Trinity. It involves an adoration of the Spirit, as truly as of the Father and the Son. It is conclusive evidence of the Spirit's Deity. He is of one and the same substance with the Father, and the Son. But there is a sending a mission of the Spirit from both the Father and the Son, and in this appears the subordination of the Holy Spirit: but "it is purely on the ground of procession, and not from any distinction in true and essential divinity" (Miley).

5. Thus the doctrine of the Trinity is amply supported and vindicated. It is not an idle speculation, but the central truth of the Gospel, and fundamental to Christianity.

Without this vitalizing truth, Christianity as we know it, would perish from the earth. The religion of Jesus would shrink into a mere system of morality, like other great religions. There would be no atonement, no true and rational ground for the forgiveness of sin, no regeneration, no sanctification, no witness of the Spirit to our salvation. Christ might be a shrewd and influential teacher, but He could be neither a good man nor a Saviour from sin. It is through a divine, atoning Saviour that "we have access by one Spirit unto the Father." Around this doctrine cluster all the weightier truths of our faith, and the practical life of our religion. In all the history of the Christian Church through the long centuries the most spiritual, practical, and evangelistic types of Christianity have been born of this doctrine. No such fruits have ever* been produced or can be produced by any antitrinitarian theology. By as much as any religious faith departs from the Trinity, by so> much its votaries lose their power to prevail with God or to cure men of sin, and win them to a life of holiness. Unitarianism plants no missions. It is the potency of the Trinitarian faith that evangelizes the world. In life it is the inspiration and strength and joy, and in death it is the comfort and hope of man.