PROPOSITION HI. 121 Nor. III.There is, and there can be, but one true God, but one such God. as rl rces , with the foregoing Des- csription. The unity or oneness of the Godhead, is a great truth derived'trom the light ofnature, as well as from scripture. The -light of nature tells us, that there can be but one, who is the first, the wisest, and the best of Beings; there can but be one Al- mighty : And many of the ancient sages, in, the heathen world, have found put this truth by their own reason, and maintained it with force of argument. Ìf I were to talk like a philosopher upon this head, 1 wouldprove that therecould be but one God, because Me. very nature of God implies in it 1h11 perfection and complete all-sufficiency ; so that he can stand in need of nothing, because he has a; sufficiency in himself fòr all . conceivable purposes and ends. If there were therefore any other God, that other God ,would be a needless one, for an unnecessary being, which would -destroy the very nature andnotion of godhead ; for God is a ne- cessary being, or a being of absolute necessity, as we have provedbefore, and he cannot but exist. But as my design is to assist the understanding. of the meanest Christians, I will rather have recourse to the plain words of scripture: And there are many places in the word of God 'wherehe asserts his own unity; Bent. vi. 4. Bear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Exod. xx. 3. Thou shält have no other gods before me. Isa. xlüi. 10. Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. Isa. xliv. 8. Is there a God besides . me? Yea, there is no God, I know not any. Isai. xlv. 5. I anz the Lord, and there is none else ; there is no Godbesides me. The Jews of oldwere.so ready to be led away to the idolatry of their neighbour nations, and to worship more gods than one, that the blessed God thought it proper in his word to give the frequent repetitions of this great truth, to guard them against the danger of acknowledging any gods besides himself : And it being a great part of the design of the gospel, to reform the heathen world from polytheism, or the worship of many'gods, Christ and his apostles have taken care in the New Testament to inculcate this divine truth again in express language. Mark xii. 29.' -The weirds of Moses are cited by our Lord Jesus, as the foundation of all religion, The first of all the command- ments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lordour God is one Lord. Mark x. 18. There is none good but one, that is God. By which he means, there is none lias such original and eternal and all- sufficient goodness as lie. Gal. iii. 20. God is one. Eph. iv. 8. One God and Father of all, who is above all. 1 Cor. viii. 4, 5, 0. An idol is nothing in the world, and there is none other God but one; for though there be that are cafes
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