He follow'd the fame Terms us'd in Holy Scripture, and by the Catholick Church before him. The Terms of Father and Son, and the Son being call'd the Only Begotten of the Father, you cannot be Ignorant are ScripturePhrafes. But the word Begotten is never Apply'd to the Holy Ghoft, but the word Proceeding is, as Joh. xv. 26. The Spirit of Truth which PROCEEDETH from the

Father.

SOC. But you fay He Proceedeth, from both Father

and Son.

4.

The Holy

deth from the

CHR. Then He Proceedeth from the Father. If He Ghoft Procee Proceeds from Both, He Proceeds from Each. And in Father and the the fame Text, the Son takes upon Him to Send the Son. Holy Ghoft Jointly with the Father. The Comforter— whom I will fend unto you from the Father. And Chap: xvi. 13. 14. He shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he fball hear that shall be speak, And from whom shall he hear? Even from the Son, who faith, He fball Receive of mine, and ball fhew it unto you. Do's He not Receive it likewife of the Father? Yes, for Chrift faith in the next verse, All things that the Father hath are Mine ; therefore faid I, that he shall take of Mine, and fhall fhew it unto you. Here the Father is made the Fountain, from whom the Son receives All the Whole of the Father, All that the Father hath, And the Holy Ghoft receives the fame All from Father and Son. And he is call'd the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of Chrift, as Rom. viii. 9. If fo be the Spirit of God divell in you. Now if any Man have not the Spirit of Chrift, he is None of His. And Gal. iv. 6. God hath fent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts. And He cou'd not be call'd the Spirit of the Son, any otherwife than as Proceeding from the Son. So that it is Evident He Proceeds from both Father and Son. And He is call'd the Spirit of Each, that is, of Both.

And to this Anfwers the Parallel I have before Mention'd of the three Faculties in the Soul, for the UnderStanding

F 2

5.

Of the

Standing is the Fountain or Father Faculty, whence the Memory receives All that it has, and may be call'd its Son; and the Will receives from Both, and Proceeds from Both.

SOC. But why do you fay the One is Begotten, the Terms Beget- Other Proceeding? Where is the Difference. ting and Proceeding.

IX.

nity of God.

J.

CHR. This is Entring too far into the Mystery of God. Or to Expect that Parallels fhou'd Hold in every thing: We are to follow the Expreffions of Holy Scripture. But yet we are not left wholly Deftitute even in this Point. We have Difcours'd before, Sect. vii. of Self-Reflection in the Soul. And that this is the Generation of Spirits. And that this is an Act of the Understanding the Father Faculty, by which it Begets its own Similitude and Likeness in the Memory, by its own Internal Power and Fecundity. So that the Memory may be call'd a fecond Understanding. But the Momory is no Reflective Faculty, it only Preferves what the Understanding has Committed to it. And the Will Determins its felf only as to Like or Diflike. And therefor may be faid to Proceed, rather than to be Begotten And the more because the Will Acts perfectly Voluntarily, tho' as we fay, it must follow the Ultimat Dictat of the Understanding, but that is not by way of Force, but Choice. For the Will do's every thing by Choice.

SOC. But who can think of this Diversity of Perfons in God, without a Breach of his Unity? It makes Him as it were Compounded of the three Perfons, whereas we know God to be a Being that is moft Simple and One in His Nature, and cannot be Compounded or Made up of any thing

CHR. God is not Compounded or Made up of any thing. His Unity is the moft Perfect of all Unities. But in Every Unity ther is an Union of fomthing, and that must be Divers things. For ther is no Union of One.

This Unity in Bodies is by way of Compofition. For The Unity of every Body is Compounded of other Bodies, which are

Bolics.

Parts

Parts of that Body. As a Brick is Part of an Houfe. And my Finger is Part of my Body. And ther are feveveral Parts in my Finger, and Parts of thofe Parts again, and fo without End. And these Parts may be Divided the One from the other. And other Parts may be Added to them, and the Body made Bigger. So that Every Body is many Bodies, that are Compounded and put together.

But it is far otherwife in the Unity of a Spirit. For a Spirit is not Compounded, or made up of Parts. And therefore cannot be Divided. It is not capable of Addition or Multiplication. We fay not that our Soul is. Multiply'd or Divided among its three Faculties. Or that it is Compounded of them. They cannot be taken from it, as a Part may be taken from a Body. Therefor its Unity is more Perfect than that of a Body. It Confifts not of feveral Parts, tho' it do's of feveral Faculties. We call not the Faculties Parts of the Soul. They are Rather Powers of the Soul. Effential Powers, by which it Acts, and without which it cou'd not Act at all, nor be a Soul.

2.

The Unity of Spirits.

God.

3.

These Powers of the Soul bear a nearer Resemblance to the Perfons of God, which are Effential to the Godhead, Apply'd to without which it cou'd not Act. It cou'd not have a Reciprocal Knowledge and Love of its felf, nor Enjoy its own Bluffedness, nor Communicat it Fully, as has been faid, and Confequently must be Stinted and Limited in the Greatest of Happiness.

Yet thefe Perfons are not Parts of God, nor is He Compounded of them, or either Multiply'd or Divided among them. But the whole Deity Flowing Perpetually, in its Full Infinity, from one Perfon to Another, is in the Eternal. Enjoyment of its own Beatitude, Bleffed for ever in its Self; in fo Perfect an Unity as can be but Faintly Repre fented in the Unity of any Creature, even of a Soul.

SOG

X.

SOC. But is ther not a Mutual Communication of Spi Of the mu rits? Do's not one Spirit Join with Another and Parnication of take of it, as Bodies do?

tual Commu

Spirits.

I.

CHR. Yes furely, and in much more Intimate manner than Bodies. All the Enjoyment and Satisfaction in the Union of Bodies, is from the Union of their Souls. This is what we call Love. Without this Bodies are Infenfible of their Union, and can take no Pleafure, or Satisfaction in it, as in the Production of Trees, Plants, Flowers, &c. And the Union of Souls is ftronger, the lefs of CerpoStronger val is mixt with it. Therefore Friendship is the strongest than that of Tye among Men. This is the Chief Cement of Conjugal Affection. Where that is wanting, 'tis a Toke indeed. And upon the Comparifon the Preference is given to Friendship. Deut. 13. 6. If the Wife of thy Befom, or thy Friend, which is as thine own Soul, entice thee, &c. And 2. Sam. 1. 26, Thy Love to me was Wonderful (faid Da vid of Jonathan) paffing the Love of Women.

Bodies.

2.

Allufions to

Scripture.

But the Comparison of the Union ther is in Flesh and that which is between Spirits, is carry'd much Higher by the Apostle 1. Cor. 6. 16, 17. For two, faith He, ball be One Flesh, but he that is Joined unto the Lord, is one Spirit. To be one Spirit with God! And that more nearly than Man and Wife are one Flesh. This feems to be one of thofe Unspeakable things which St. Paul fays, are not Lawful (or Poffible) for a Man to utter. 2. Cor. 12. 4.

But this must be the Foundation of thofe frequent Al this in Holy lufions in Holy Scripture, where Chrift is call'd the Bridegroom, and the Church his Spoufe. And Heaven is Defcrib'd as the Eternal Marriage-Feaft. And He having taken our Nature into the Deity in his own Perfon, what Communications thence may be Given even to our Bodies when Glorify'd, by our Participation of the fame Human Nature with Christ, is what Eye hath not feen, nor Ear heard, nor can Enter into the Heart of Man to Conceive, That they all (lays Christ, Joh. 17. 21, 22, 23.) may one, as thou

be

Fa

Father art in Me, and I in Thee; that they also may be one in Us And the Glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given Them; that they may be one, even as We are one. I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the World may know that Thou haft fent me, and haft Loved Them, as Thou hast Loved Me. These are Wonderful Expreffions! And lead our Thoughts to what we cannot Comprehend! But they plainly Import, that by our Union with Chrift, who has United Himself to our Nature, we fhall Partake of an Union with God, even Like to the Union of Chrift with Him, who Partakes likewife of His Divine Nature. As the Apostle fpeaks, 2. Pet. 1. 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promifes, that you might be Partakers of the Divine Nature. An Earnest of which was Given in the Miraculous Defcent of the Holy Ghoft at Pentecoft, like that at our Saviour's Baptifm; whereby we were (as it may be faid) put into Poffeffion of the Holy Spirit of God. As the fame Apoftle fpeaks, 1. Pet. 1. 12. with the Holy Ghoft fent down from Heaven, which things the Angels defire to look into; Or to Prie narrowly into thern, Tangni foi, to floop down and look Earnestly, as St. John into the Sepulchre, Joh. 20. 5. magnifas Or παρακύψας. elfe to Bow themfelves, in Adoration of fo great a Myftery.

St. Paul Speaking how intimatly we are United to Chrift, fays, Eph. 5. 30. We are Members of his Body, of his Flefb, and of his Bones. And he takes this from Allufion to the Production of Eve out of Adam, whereupon Adam faid, Gen. 2. 23. This is now Bone of my Bones, and Flesh of my Flesh. And the Inference is made in the next words, Therefor shall a Man leave his Father and his Mother, and fhall Cleave unto his Wife, and they shall be one Fleh. Which the Apoftle repeats, Eph. 5. 31. Immediatly after his words before Quoted, We are Members of His (Chrift's) Body, of his Flesh and of his Bones. For this

Caule