74 Of the I(no'nlledg, of (jod tbe Father, ~ alledging this Proof, That if the eminent Men, and Magilhates of rhe Old Te– Eo o K I!. flament were termed Gods by Office, and Sons of God by Adoption ; who ~ were b~t lbadows of him in both thole Titles; Then he, who was promiJed to be lent into the World, as the Subflance, mufl be God by Nature, and not Of– fice; and the Son of God, not by Adoption only, but naturally, and therefore equal, and one with God, I fay, He having defended himfelf by this Argu– ment, his Conclulion is, verf. 36. Sc~y ye thw of hun whom the Father hath fealed, and font into tbe World, Thoit blafphemeji; becaufe I foid, I am the . Son n[ God? Now what was it that they had l:11d ? Or, what Blafphemy was 1t which they had laid to his Charge? It was this, verf 33· for thy Blafphemy; beca11.Je th011, being a Man, as to our apparent light and vtew, malzefl thy .felf God: And Chrirt, you fee, in his making his Conclulion point-blank to their Accuf.1tion, inflead of C1ying, Why fay you I blafpheme, m !aymg, I am God, ( whtch yet was the thin!( which they had laid of him ) he !peaks thus, Becauje, I faid, I wtH t/.e Son of God ; believe not me, believe the Worf<!, that JOlt may /znow and be– lieve, tlut t/;e Father #in me, and I in him; that is, that he and I are one in Nature, as he had affirmed verf. 30. For indeed, in his having affirmed he was fuch a Son to God as was one with his Father; which was his laying, vcrf. 30. He \lad affirmed he was !uch a Son to God, as was God ; one that did the fame Works the Father did, verf. 35· Which if I do, lays he, then believe it; for it is the natural Inference from it. Thus you fee the Scriptures join his being, both Son and God, toge– ther. If. The fame is in Reajo11; That if he be the natural Son of God, and only begotten of the Living God, the true and perfeCt Son of God, as the Scriptures, when they fpeak of his being Son, do declare him, ( as bath been clearly tefli– ficd ) ; that then neceffarily, in point of rational Inference, he mufl be God eOemially : If God hath a true Son, that Son can be no other than true God; it holds no proportion el!e to the phra!e it pretends to: [t holds true in all things Non ,n r,. elCe. lt is not to be thought, lays Bernard, that God fhould have a Son of ana– ~'~,:;~;:;' th~er kind from himfelf; but it is neceffary to acknmv.ledg him to be.of equal M?imi; fed he1ght, and d1gmty, Jince even the Sons of Prmces, are them!elves Pnnces too, ~q,.lcr~ f'j'" De,., non 11iji De~mt gignit : If God begets a Son, He mufl be God, the living ;'"i,:'d,,~,'~ rrue God : God cannot beget lefs than him!elf; which is clearly the conceffion tg;:;:,"J.~f.~~ of thole lalt words in John, Jfeaking of Chrifl ; I John 5·_ 20. God bath give~: cipum Prin11-5 an V11derjlandmg to h._nPw hmJ that 1! Tme; and we are m hun that u Tr11r, e·z;en dpe., fS,, i1z hi< Son ::fefo• Chrifl. Th# #the true God, and Eternal Lift. The Scope of ::;~;-"' •doe. which is this; That he being the True Son of the True God, the Living God; Himfelf is in him!elf, the True God al!o, and Eternal Life, having the Foun– tain of all Life in him!elf. I fhall but open and pur!ue one Vein, or Current, or Cour!e of Scriptures, which carry on this great Point, Tht~t our Cbrifl is God; not as appearing only in the Form of God, as fome of late, or by Office only; but God by Nature; the Right God, the True God, the Great God, the Only God, the Living God : Which Attributes of God, when found to be given to him, argue him ~o to be God by Ef!ence; the f<~me God the Father ts; as put us pafl diflinguilb-_ mg upon tt. 1. Heis God by Nature: It is the dirtinCtion which Paul u!eth, and whereby he lets our the True God in diflintlion from all other, that are called God~ truly, or f.1l!ly; Whm ) 'Oil /,zrew not God, ;e did Service 111110 them which by Na– ture t~re no Gods : Why cloth he not in plain terms fay, When ye wmjbip'd Idols? The Aportle !uppo~eth the befl of it_; for tome of thole whom they worlhip– ped, had been Gods by Office, that IS, Kmgs, and Ruler's, as Jupiter and others were; or of u!e (as Gods) Benefafrors to Mankind, for which they worlhip– ped them : He needed not elfe have put in that diflintlion, that they were not Gods by Nature. From whtch IS gathered to our purpole in hand, L That none are to i'>e worfhipped, but he that is God by Nature : for he fhews their fin to have been, that they worlbip'd fi1ch as God, that were not Gods by Nature : So then, if Chrirt 1vere not God by Nature, he were no mote
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