IV.

ART. which it is compofed, as of elements, fhall be melted and burnt down; and then when by that fire probably the portions of matter, which was in the bodies of all who have lived upon earth, shall be so far refined and fixed, as to become both incorruptible and immortal, then they fhall be made meet for the fouls that formerly animated them, to re-enter every one into his own body, which fhall be then fo moulded as to be a habitation fit to give it everlasting joy or everlasting torment.

Then fhall Chrift appear vifibly in fome very confpicuous place in the clouds of heaven, where every eye Lukeix.26. fhall fee him: he fhall appear in his own glory, that is, in his human glorified body: he fhall appear in the glory of bis Angels, having vaft numbers of these about him, attending on him: but, which is above all, he shall appear in bis Father's glory; that is, there fhall be then a moft wonderful manifeftation of the eternal Godhead dwelling in him; and then fhall he pafs a final fentence upon all that ever lived upon earth, according to all that they have done in the body, whether it be good or bad. The righteous fhall afcend as he did, and thall meet him in the clouds, and be for ever with him; and the wicked shall fink into a state of darkness and mifery, of unspeakable. horror of mind, and everlasting pain and torment.

ARTICLE

ARTICLE V.

Of the Holy Ghost.

The Holp Ghaft proceeding from the Father and the Son, is of one Subftance, Pajefky, and Glory with the Father and the Son, verp and eternal God.

N order to the explaining this Article, we must confider, first, the importance of the term Spirit, or Holy Spirit: fecondly, his Proceffion from the Father and the Son and, thirdly, that he is truly God, of the fame fubftance with the Father and the Son. Spirit fignifies wind or breath, and in the Old Teftament it ftands frequently in that fenfe: the Spirit of God, or Wind of God, ftands fometimes for a high and ftrong wind; but more frequently it fignifies a fecret impreflion made by God on the mind of a prophet: fo that the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of Prophecy, are fet in oppofition to the vain imaginations, the falle pretences, or the diabolical illusions, of those who affumed to themselves the name and the authority of a prophet, without a true miffion from God. But when God made reprefentations either in a dream, or in an ecftafy, to any perfon, or imprinted a fenfe of his will on their minds, together with fuch neceffary characters as gave it proof and authority, this was an illapse from God, as a breathing from him on the foul of the prophet.

In the New Teftament this word Holy Ghoft ftands moft commonly for that wonderful effufion of those miraculous virtues that was poured out at Pentecoft on the Apostles; by which their fpirits were not only exalted with extraordinary degrees of zeal and courage, of authority and utterance, but they were furnished with the gifts of tongues and of miracles. And befides that first and great effufion, several Chriftians received particular talents and infpirations, which are moft commonly expreffed by the word Spirit or Infpiration. Thofe inward affiftances, by which the frame and temper of men's minds are changed and renewed, are likewife called the Spirit, or the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost. So Chrift faid to Nicodemus, that except a man was born of Water and of John iii. 3, the Spirit, be cannot fee the kingdom of God; and that bis 5, 6. beavenly Father would give the Holy Spirit to every one that Luke xi. 13.

afked

V.

ART. asked him. By these it is plain, that extraordinary or miraculous infpirations are not meant, for these are not every Chriftian's portion; there is no queftion made of all this.

16, 26.

Joh. xvi.

8,13.

The main question is, whether by Spirit, or Holy Spirit, we are to understand one perfon, that is the fountain of all thofe gifts and operations; or whether by one Spirit is only to be meant the power of God flowing out and fhewing itself in many wonderful operations. The adverfaries of the Trinity will have the Spirit, or Holy Spirit, to fignify no perfon, but only the divine gifts or Joh. xiv. operations. But in oppofition to this it is plain, that in our Saviour's laft and long difcourfe to his difciples, in which he promised to fend them his Spirit, he calls him another Comforter, to be fent in his ftead, or to supply his abfence; and the whole tenor of the difcourfe runs on him as a Perfon: He shall abide with you: he ball guide you into all truth; and fhew you things to come. He hall bring all things into your remembrance: he shall convince the world of fin, of righteousness, and of judgment. In all thefe places he is fo plainly fpoken of, not as a quality or operation, but as a Perfon; and that without any key or rule to understand the words otherwife, that this alone may ferve to determine the matter now in difpute. Chrift's commiffion to preach and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, does plainly make him a Perfon, fince it cannot be faid that we are to be 1 Cor. xii. called by the name of a virtue or operation. St. Paul 4, 8, 9, 11, does alfo, in a long difcourfe upon the diverfity of gifts, adminiftrations, and operations, afcribe them all to one Spirit, as their author and fountain; of whom he speaks as of a Perfon, diftributing these in order to feveral ends, 1 Cor. ii. and in different meafures. He fpeaks of the Spirit's fearching all things, of his interceding for us, of our grieving the Spirit, by which we are fealed. This is the language Eph. iv. 30. ufed concerning a Perfon, not a quality. All thefe, fays he, worketh that one and the felf-fame Spirit, dividing to every man feverally as he will. Now it is not to be conceived, how that both our Saviour and his Apoftles fhould ufe the phrase of a Person fo conftantly in fpeaking of the Spirit, and fhould fo critically and in the way of argument pursue that ftrain, if he is not a Perfon: they not only infit on it, and repeat it frequently, but they draw an argument from it for union and love, and for mutual condefcenfion and fympathy. Upon all thefe grounds it is evident, that the Holy Spirit is in the Scripture proposed to us as a Perfon, under whofe œconomy all the various

13.

10.

Rom. viii.

26.

gifts, administrations, and operations that are in the ART. Church, are put.

The fecond particular relating to this Article is, the Proceffion of this Spirit from the Father and the Son. The word Proceffion, or, as the fchoolmen term it, Spiration, is only made ufe of in order to the naming this relation of the Spirit to the Father and Son, in fuch a manner as may beft answer the fenfe of the word Spirit: for it must be confeffed that we can frame no explicit idea of this. matter: and therefore we must speak of it either ftri&tly in Scripture-words, or in fuch words as arife out of them, and that have the fame fignification with them. It is therefore a vain attempt of the schoolmen, to undertake to give a reason why the fecond perfon is faid to be generated, and fo is called Son, and the third to proceed, and fo is called Spirit. All thefe fubtilties can have no foundation, and fignify nothing towards the clearing this matter, which is rather darkened than cleared by a pretended illuftration. In a word, as we fhould never have believed this mystery, if the Scripture had not revealed it to us, fo we understand nothing concerning it, befides what is contained in the Scriptures: and therefore, if in any thing, we must think foberly upon thofe fubjects. The Scriptures call the fecond, Son, and the third, Spirit; fo generation and proceffion are words that may well be ufed, but they are words concerning which we can form no diftinct conception. We only ufe them because they belong to the words Son and Spirit. The Spirit, in things that we do underftand, is fomewhat that proceeds, and the Son is a perfon begotten; we therefore, believing that the Holy Ghoft is a Perfon, apply the word Proceffion to the manner of his emanation from the Father; though at the fame time we must acknowledge that we have no diftinct thought concerning it. So much in general concerning Proceffion. It has been much controverted whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father only, or from the Father and the Son.

In the firft difputes concerning the divinity of the Holy Gboft with the Macedonians, who denied it, there was no other conteft, but whether he was truly God, or not. When that was fettled by the council of Conftantinople, it was made a part of the Creed; but it was only faid that he proceeded from the Father and the council of Ephefus foon after that fixed on that Creed, decreeing that no additions fhould be made to it: yet about the end of the fixth century, in the Western Church an addition was made to the Article, by which the Holy

:

Ghost

V.

V.

ART. Ghoft was affirmed to proceed from the Son, as well as from the Father. And when the Eastern and Western Churches in the ninth century fell into an humour of quarrelling upon the account of jurifdiction, after fome time of anger, in which they seem to be fearching for matter to reproach one another with, they found out this difference: the Greeks reproached the Latins for thus adding to the faith, and corrupting the ancient symbol, and that contrary to the decree of a general council. The Latins, on the other hand, charged them for detracting from the dignity of the Son and this became the chief point in controverfy between them.

Joh. xiv.

26.

Joh. xv. 26.

Here was certainly a very unhappy difpute; inconfiderable in its original, but fatal in its confequences. We of this Church, though we abhor the cruelty of condemning the Eastern Churches for fuch a difference, yet do receive the Creed according to the ufage of the Western Churches: and therefore, though we do not pretend to explain what Proceffion is, we believe according to the Article, that the Holy Ghoft proceeds both from the Father and the Son: because in that difcourfe of our Saviour's that contains the promise of the Spirit, and that long defcription of him as a Perfon, Chrift not only fays, that the Father will fend the Spirit in his name, but adds, that he will fend the Spirit; and though he fays next, who proceedeth from the Father, yet fince he fends him, and that he was to fupply his room, and to act in his name, this implies a relation, and a fort of fubordination in the Spirit to the Son. This may ferve to juftify our adhering to the Creeds, as they had been for many ages received in the Western Church: but we are far from thinking that this proof is fo full and explicit, as to juftify our feparating from any Church, or condemning it, that should stick exactly to the firft Creeds, and reject this addition.

The third branch of the Article is, that this Holy Ghoft or Perfon, thus proceeding, is truly God, of the fame fubftance with the Father and the Son. That he is God, was formerly proved by thofe paffages in which the whole Trinity in all the three Perfons is affirmed: but Acts v. 34. befides that, the lying to the Holy Ghost by Ananias and Sapphira, is faid to be a lying not unto men, but to God: bis being called another Comforter; his teaching all things; bis guiding into all truth; his telling things to come; bis fearching all things, even the deep things of God; bis being called the Spirit of the Lord, in oppofition to the Spirit of a man; bis making interceffion for us; bis changing us into the fame image with Chrift, are all fuch plain characters of