nót lied to men, but God;" by which words the apostle plainly shows that Ananias lied, and that he lied not to men only, but to the Holy Ghost; and that in lying to the Holy Ghost he did not lie to any other creature, but unto God himself; and so that the Holy Ghost to whom he lied is the very and eternal God; otherwise, though he had lied to him, he would not have lied to God. But besides such places of Scripture, wherein it hath pleased the Holy Ghost expressly to call himself God, there are several other Scriptures which reason will gather this truth from; all or the most of which we may crowd together into this or the like syllogism. He that is the same in essence that the Father or Son is, hath the same worship that the Father or Son hath, and doeth the same works that the Father or Son as God doeth, is himself the very and eternal God as well as either Father or Son. But the Holy Ghost is the same in essence that the Father or Son is, hath the same worship due to him that the Father or Son hath, and doeth the same works that the Father or Son as God doeth, therefore the Holy Ghost is the very and eternal God. The first of these propositions is unquestionable, and the last is undeniable; and therefore it is the second only which requires proof, to wit, that the Holy Ghost is, hath, and doeth, whatsoever the Father or Son is, hath, or doeth. First, the Holy Ghost is in essence the same that the Father and Son is. For the essence and properties of God are not at all distinguished; so that as whosoever hath the essence cannot but have the properties, so whosoever hath the properties cannot but have the essence of God. Now the same essential properties that are attributed to the Father and Son, are ascribed also to the Spirit in the Holy Scriptures. Is the Father and Son holy? So is the Spirit, who therefore is so frequently called the Holy Ghost; holy not as creatures are, secondarily, derivatively, finitely holy; so as none but God himself is, essentially, originally, infinitely holy; so that we may conclude the Holy Ghost, to be God, upon that very account because he is the Holy Ghost". h Sed nunc de Sancto Spiritu etsi breviter confitendum est; ne si non aliquid de eo specialiter dixerimus. Credamur similiter blasphemare sicut et illi qui dicunt illum esse creaturam. Quorum tamen miramur insaniam, quòd impiè sentiant de eo quem Sanctum Spiritum confitentur. Si enim Again, are the Father and Son eternal? So is the Spirit. For "Christ through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God." Heb. ix. 14. Are God the Father and the Son every where? So is the Spirit; for "whither shall I go from thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" Psalm cxxxix. 7. Are God the Father and Son wise, understanding, powerful, and knowing? So is the Spirit too; "he is the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." Isaiah, xi. 2. Secondly, as the same properties are ascribed, so is the same worship to be performed to the Spirit, that is to be performed to the Father and Son as God. As we are to pray to the Father, and pray to the Son, so are we to pray to the Spirit also; as we are baptized in the name of the Father and in the name of the Son, so are we baptized in the name of the Spirit also; for thus saith our Saviour, "Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Matt. xxviii. 19. And as, in baptism, we are not baptized only in the name of the Father and Son, but also of the Holy Ghost; so in baptism we dedicate ourselves to the worship of the Holy Ghost, as well as of the Father and Son. And hence it is that we may sin against the Holy Ghost, as well as against the Father or Son; nay, the sin against this person only is accounted by our Saviour himself as a sin never to be pardoned. Matt. xii. 31, 32. We may sin against God the Father and our sin may be pardoned, we may sin against God the Son and our sin may be pardoned; but if we sin against God the Holy Ghost, that our sin shall never be pardoned. But if the Holy Ghost be not God, how can we sin against him? Or how can we sin against him to be unpardonable unless he be God? I know it is not therefore unpardonable because he is God, for then the sin against Father and Son would be unpardonable too, they being both God as well as he: but though the sin is not therefore unpardonable because he Spiritus Sanctus est, quomodo creatura est? Non enim si sanctus est ut cæteri qui ad sancti vocabulum fide et Deo placita conversatione, atque psius Sancti Spiritûs signatione venerunt, sed ipse naturaliter sem per sanctus est, ita ut alios sanctificet.— Faustin. de Fide, contra Arian. c. 7. Bib. Max. tom. v. p. 650. is God, yet it could not be unpardonable unless he was God. For supposing him not to be God, and yet the sin against him to be unpardonable, then the sin against a creature (as every one that is not God) would be unpardonable, when the sins. against God himself are pardoned; which to say would itself, I think, come near to the sin against the Holy Ghost. But thirdly, as the same properties and worship [which] are attributed to the Father and Son, are ascribed also to the Spirit, so are the same works likewise performed by the Spirit that are performed either by Father or Son as God. It was he that "moved upon the face of the waters," Gen. i. 2. and so had a hand in the creation of the world. It was by his Spirit that God garnished the heavens, Job, xxvi. 13. It is the Spirit that scattereth his gifts and distributeth his graces amongst the children of men, 1 Cor. xii. 4. It was the Spirit that instructed the prophets, 2 Pet. i. 21. And ordained the apostles, Acts, xiii. 2. And appointeth overseers in the church of Christ, Acts, xx. 28. Yea, it was by the Spirit of God that Christ cast out devils, Matt. xii. 28. It was the Spirit that wrought miracles then by casting devils out of possessed bodies, and it is he that worketh miracles still by casting sin out of corrupted souls; for it is he that throweth the old man out of us, and maketh all things to become new within us, Tit. iii. 5. All which being throughly considered, the Spirit that proceedeth from the Father and the Son, cannot but be acknowledged to be the one very and eternal God as well as the Father and the Son and that though he proceed from both, yet as God he is inferior to neither; nay, that he so proceedeth from them both as to be the self-same individual God with them both. 2. Confirmation from the FATHERS. And this hath been the constant doctrine of the church of Christ in all ages. To 'Hic Spiritus Sanctus ab ipso mundi initio aquis legitur superfusus, non materialibus aquis quasi vehiculo egens, quas potiùs ipse ferebat et complectentibus firmamentum dabat congruum motuni et limitem præfinitum. Cyprian. de Spiritu, ad calcem Edit. Oxon. p. 60. * Τὸ δη τὴν κτίσιν ἀνακαινοῦν, καὶ τὴν φθορὰν εἰς ἀφθαρσίαν μεταβάλλον, τὸ καινὴν ἡμᾶς κτίσιν ἀπεργαζόμενον, διαμένουσαν εἰς αἰῶνα, τίς ἀποστήσει τοῦ δημιουργοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Υἱοῦ; πῶς τὸ τῆς θεότητος ἐκτὸς τὴν τῆς θεότητος κτίσιν ἀνασώζει καινὴν καὶ ἀφθαρτὸς *æsgyalóμsvov, — Basil. adv. Eunom. tom. i. lib. v. p. 785. Ed. Par. 1638. begin with Athenagoras', who saith, The Holy Ghost also. that acted those that spake prophetically, we say is a procession or effluxion from God, flowing from him and reflected to him, as a beam of the sun. Who therefore doth not wonder to hear us called atheists, that profess and preach God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Ghost, teaching their power in unity and distinction in order :' viz. that in power and all other essential properties they are but one and the same God, but distinguished in their order and relation to one another. And Justin Martyr to the same purpose m, TM, But we have the same notion also concerning the Holy Ghost; for as the Son is of the Father, so is the Spirit too, but only they differ in the manner of their subsisting. For he (the Son) is Light of Light, shining by way of generation. But this (the Spirit) is himself also Light of Light, but not flowing as one begotten, but as one proceeding, and so co-eternal with the Father, and so the same in essence with him, so impassibly proceeding from him; and so it is that we understand an Unity in Trinity, and acknowledge a Trinity in Unity.' And Basil" clearly, 'Seeing those things that are common to the creatures are not communicable to the Holy Ghost, and those things that are proper to the Holy Ghost are not commuuicable to the creatures, it is 1 Καὶ τοὶ καὶ αὐτὸ ἐνεργοῦν τοῖς ἐκφωνοῦσι προφητικῶς ̔́Αγιον Πνεῦμα, ἀπόῤῥοιαν εἶναι φαμὲν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀποῤῥέον, καὶ ἐπαναφερόμενον ὡς ἀκτῖνα ἡλίου· Τίς οὖν οὐκ ἂν ἀπορήσει, λέγοντας Θεὸν Πατέρα, καὶ Υἱὸν Θεὸν, καὶ Πνεῦμα ̔́Αγιον, δείκνυντας αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν ἐν τῇ ἑνώσει δύναμιν, καὶ τὴν ἐν τῇ τάξει διαιρεσιν, ἀκούσας ἀθεούς καλουμένους. Athenag. Πρεσβ. περὶ Χριστ. p. 84. Ed. Lips. 1684. 1 Τὴν αὐτὴν δὲ γνῶσιν καὶ περὶ τοῦ ̔Αγίου Πνεύματος κατέχομεν, ὅτι ὥσπερ ὁ Υἱὸς ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς, οὕτω καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα ; πλὴν γε δὴ τῷ τρόπῳ τῆς ὑπάρξεως διάσει. Ο μὲν γὰρ φῶς ἐκ φωτὸς γενητὼς ἐξέλαμψε, τὸ δὲ φῶς μὲν ἐκ φωτὸς καὶ αὐτὸ, οὐ μὴν γενητὼς ἀλλ ̓ ἐκπορευτῶς προῆλθεν· οὕτως συναΐδιον Πατρὶ, οὕτως τὴν οὐσίαν ταυτὸν, οὕτως ἀπαθῶς ἐκεῖθεν ἐκπορευθὶν, οὕτως ἐν τῇ τριάδι τὴν μονάδα νοοῦμεν, καὶ ἐν τῇ μοναδι τὴν τριάδα γνωρίζομεν. Just. Mart. Expos. Fid. de Rect. Confes. p. 380. C. Ed. Par. 1636. η Ὅτι τὰ κοινὰ τῆς κτίσεως ἀκοινώνητα τῷ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, καὶ τὰ ἴδια τοῦ Πνεύματος ἀκοινώνητα τῇ κτίσει, ἐξ ὧν συνάγεται μὴ εἶναι κτίσμα τὸ Πνεῦμα. Οτι τὰ κοινὰ τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ ταῦτα κοινὰ τῷ Πνεύματι, ὅτι ἐν οἷς χαρακτηρίζεται Θεὸς ὁ Πατὴρ καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς ἐν τῇ γραφῇ, ἐν αὐτοῖς χαρακτηρίζεται τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Αγιον, ἐξ ὧν συνάγεται τῆς αὐτῆς θεότητος τὸ Πνεῦμα τῷ Πατρὶ. Οτι τὰ μόνῳ προσόντα τῷ Πατρὶ ὡς Θεῷ καὶ οὐχ ὡς Πατρὶ, καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ ὡς Θεῷ καὶ οὐχ ὡς Υἱῷ, ταῦτα μόνῳ πρόσεστι τῷ Πνεύματι, οὐκέτι δὲ καὶ τῇ κτίσει, ὡς τὰ ἀκοινώνητα ὀνόματα καὶ πράγματα τῇ κτίσει μόνη κοινὰ τῇ τριάδι, ἐξ ὧν συνάγεται ὁμοούσιος ἡ τριάρ Basil. adv. Eunom. tom, i. lib. v. p. 777. Ed. Par. 1638. hence gathered that the Spirit is not a creature. Seeing what is common to the Father and Son is common also to the Spirit; seeing by the same things that God the Father and Son are characterized and described in Scripture, by the same things is the Holy Ghost characterized and described; it is hence gathered that the Spirit is of the same deity with the Father. Seeing whatsoever is in the Father as God only, and not as a Father, and whatsoever is in the Son as God only, and not as a Son, the same is also in the Holy Ghost, but not in any creature, as names and things incommunicable to the creatures, common only to the Trinity; it is hence gathered that the Trinity is of one substance and glory.' And so Gregory Nyssen saith, The Holy Ghost hath, in common with the Son and the Father, an uncreated and eternal nature, and is distinguished from them only by his own personal properties.' And Chrysostom speaking of the Son and the Spirit saith P, There is one nature of the Son and Spirit, one power, one truth, one life, one wisdom.' And Augustine shows how the Spirit is so of one nature and substance with the Father and the Son, that they are all but one God, For so the Father is God, and the Son God, and the Holy Ghost God, and altogether one God, and yet it is not in vain that in this Trinity none of them is called the Word of God but the Son, nor the Gift of God but the Holy Ghost.' And Maxentius to the same purpose, The Father is God, the Son God, and the Holy Ghost is God; not three but one God, one substance or nature, one wisdom, one power, one dominion, one kingdom, one omnipotence, • Τὸ δὲ Πνεῦμα τὸ ̔́Αγιον ἐν τῷ ἀκτίστῳ τῆς φύσεως τὴν κοινωνίαν ἔχων πρὸς Υἱὸν καὶ Πατέρα, τοῖς ἰδίοις πάλιν γνωρίσμασιν ἀπ' αὐτῶν διακρίνεται. Greg. Nyssen. contr. Eunom. tom. ii. lib. i. p. 342. Ed. Par. 1638. • Μία φύσις Υἱοῦ καὶ Πνεύματος, μία δύναμις, μία ἀλήθεια, μία ζωή, μία σοφία. Chrysostom. de Sanct. Spiritu. a Sic enim et Pater Deus, et Filius Deus, et Spiritus Sanctus Deus, et simul omnes unus Deus; et tamen non frustrà in hâc Trinitate non dicitur Verbum Dei nisi Filius, nec donum Dei nisi Spiritus Sanctus. - Aug. de Trinit. tom. iii. lib. xv. c. 17. p. 462. B. Ed. Frob. 1541. r Est Deus Pater, Filius, Deus etiam Spiritus Sanctus, non tres sed unus Deus, una substantia sive natura, una sapientia, una virtus, una dominatio, unum regnum, una omnipotentia, una gloria, tres tamen subsistentiæ sive persona.- Maxent. Fid. Confes. Bib. Max. tom. ix. p. 537. |