wicked men," assigning as a reason, "all men have not faith." If, therefore, any one should say, cannot believe the doctrine of the Trinity," supposing it to be a doctrine of Holy Scripture, we may justly suspect either the strength of his mind or the goodness of his heart.

We have already proved from the scriptures that Jesus Christ is a divine person; and we have also proved that the Holy Ghost is a divine person, and as there is no question but the Father is a divine person, it will therefore follow that these three divine persons are one God. This is the point to be proved in the present Lecture.

The subject is one of deep and solemn interest. It is one of pure revelation-one that unassisted reason never could have discovered; but if found in the holy scriptures, must be believed at the peril of our souls. On no subject is the inadequacy of human language so much felt as on this. Our very conceptions, even to their utmost stretch, fall infinitely below the elevated theme: how much more incompetent, then, must be any attempted expression of the awful reality. And how reasonable the supposition, that He, whose very being is incomprehensible, should be so in the manner of his existence. The Psalmist has said, " Holy and reverend is his name." Let us, therefore, approach the subject with the devoutest awe, for the ground on which we now tread is holy. Nor is any mind fitted for the contemplation, unless deeply imbued with reverential caution. This spirit is repeatedly inculcated in the sacred writings, and is always necessary for a rational and profitable survey of the divine character.

And, since the Bible is not in itself a complete religious dictionary; and the English version, though perhaps the best extant, cannot be identified as the language of inspiration, there must, of necessity, be some words brought into requisition which are not literally and verbally scriptural. Of this character is the term TRINITY, implying three in one— a doctrine which is most unequivocally contained in the general phraseology of scripture, but especially in such texts as these: "Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Matt. xxviii. 19. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you." 2 Cor. xiii. 14. On the first of these texts, St. Jerome, who lived in the fourth century of the Christian era, remarks, “We are thrice dipped in the water, that the mystery of the Trinity may appear to be but one. We are not baptized in the names of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but in one name, which is God's; and therefore, though we be thrice put under water to represent the mystery of the Trinity, yet it is reputed but one baptism." Justin Martyr, who lived in the second century, says, "We worship the Father, Son, and Spirit." And Tertullian, who lived in the same century, says, "There is a Trinity of one divinity, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost." To these positive testimonies may be added a negative argument : those who acknowledge the divinity of Christ and of the Holy Ghost, are never called heretics by any writer of the first three centuries, which is surely a

strong proof that the doctrine of the Trinity was the doctrine of the primitive church. (Watson.)

But if the term Trinity be not found in the scriptures, neither is the term Deity, nor even Providence, as applied to God, and yet who, except an Atheist, will deny either the one or the other? "The propriety of employing these terms," says Dr. J. P. Smith, "rests upon the same foundation, as the use of general terms in all other investigations, namely, they are abbreviations of language, and serve as instruments of thought. It is unreasonable to object that these identical words are not found in scripture. The proper consideration is, whether the objects and facts for which they are used, are there or not." My design, in this Lecture, is not to speak in my own words, nor in the words of uninspired men, so much as in "those words, and in that wisdom which the Holy Ghost teacheth," believing, with Mr. Watson, that, "the moment we begin to explain this subject beyond the written word of God, we plunge ourselves into inextricable difficulties."

The first intimation of the doctrine of a trinity of persons in the Godhead, is in' the first chapter of Genesis. The name of God, as it there stands in the Hebrew Bible, is in the plural form, and if literally translated, would be "In the beginning Gods created the heavens and the earth." The same remark will apply to the first verse in the 12th chapter of Ecclesiastes, "Remember now thy CREAAnd the same also in reference to Malachi i. 6, "If I be ADONIM (Masters,) where is my fear?" If we admit that the terms JEHOVAH ELO

TORS."

HIM, properly translated, would be "The Lord thy Gods," we must allow, to go no farther, that this doctrine is implied in the very name of God.

66

But in addition to this, we have the testimony of the Holy Spirit himself, to assure us of a plurality of persons in the Godhead, for in the 1st chapter of Genesis, 26th ver., it is recorded that God said "Let us make man in OUR Own image, after our likeness." And again in the 3rd chapter, "Behold, the man is become as ONE OF us," not simply "us," but "ONE OF US." So also, in the 6th chapter of Isaiah, we meet with a plurality of persons in the Godhead. “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and he said, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" In this passage the term "Holy" is thrice repeated, and St. John, in the 12th chapter of his Gospel, assures us that the prophet in this place spoke of Christ.

It is observed by Dr. Kidd, in his Essay on the Trinity, that the repetition of the term God, in every act of the creation, recorded in the first chapter of Genesis, would be tautology in any other view than that of a Trinity of persons in the Godhead, but with this in view, all is plain. And the same may be said with regard to the form of blessing recorded in the 6th chapter of the book of Numbers. "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." This threefold repetition of the word Lord, is very striking; it is very similar to the apostolic benediction; the one ex pressive of the first, the other of the second, and the

other of the third person of the divine Essence. The very same use of the word is found in Isaiah xxxiii. 22. "The Lord is our Judge; The Lord is our Lawgiver; The Lord is our King." A similar form of expression is used by David, as recorded in the 2d book of Samuel, xxiii. 2, 3: "The Spirit of the Lord spake by me-The God of Israel said— The Rock of Israel spake." A similar phraseology is also used in the New Testament, Rev. iv. 8. "And they rest not day nor night, saying Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." And again, in Ephesians iv. 4—6, “There is one Spirit, one Lord, one God." And again, in St. Paul's 1st Epistle to the Corinthians xii. 4-6, "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit: There are differences of administrations, but the same Lord: There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh in all."

I shall now endeavor to prove that the names, attributes, and actions of God the Father, belong equally to the Son, and Spirit; from whence it will follow, if Christ be God, and the Holy Ghost be God, in name, attribute, and action, and there be but one God, in nature and essence, that "these three are

one."

1. The Name of God is applied to the Father in every part of the scriptures-this needs no proof. It is equally true that the same name is applied to the Son, in Psalm xlv. as quoted by St. Paul, Heb. i. 8. "Thy throne, O God, is for ever." In Isaiah, also, he is called "The Mighty God:"-in Paul's epistle to Titus, "The Great God:"-and