309 THE ARIAtS INVITED TO ORTHODOX FAITH. dependence, is sometimes called son or daughter. So the eter+. nal wisdom, or reason, word, or will, flowing from the essence of God, may possibly be celled a son. So, among ourselves knowledge, or intelligence, resulting from the essence of the human soul, may be called the otí'spring of the soul. And though I must confess, I doubt whether the scripture ever calls Christ the Son of God in this sense, yet where ancient writers use this form of speech, they may be interpreted in the same manner as later and more modern authors, who use the same phraseology, explain themselves; if there be no better interpree tction to be put on their words. Austin has written muets of the Trinity, and he often de- rives the Son from the Father, in such a manner as wisdom and knowledge is derived from the essenceof the mind. The school- doctors, and the middle ages of the church, and some general councils, have spoken the same sort of language. Calvin and his followers describe what sonship they attribute to the eternal word, or wisdom, in this manner: And Mr. Baxter, who dif- fers from Calvin in other things, agrees withhim in this. This bas been a frequent representation of the sonship of the divine Word, amongst themost orthodox writers. It is in this manner the learned and ingenious Dr. Wallis accounts for the sonship of the divine nature of Christ, in his Letters on the Trinity, and many others of the modern and school Trinitarian authors do the same. Upon thewhole it is plain, that the ancients generally if not universally suppose the " Logos" to be a co-eternal power belonging to God or theFather ; though the most primitive wri- ters do not generally express his proper distinct personality and sonship, until at, or some time before, the creation of the world. They suppose that there was then a generation, or a voluntary divine action put forth, whereby the Logos existed in anew state, and became the Son of God ; and that it is in this sense that be is called in scripture, the beginning of the creation of God, and the first -born of every creature; Rev. iii. 14. Col. i. 15. " And it was at this time according to some of the Fathers, that the di- vine " Logos," or eternal wisdom, began to have a personality, or at least, a more distinct personality than it had before. Bair ter's Methodus Theologie, page 99, line the last. IV. I proceed now to shew that these ancient primitive fathers, believed the a Logos" to be true God : And there is no need to labour in the proof of this, for since they describe him as a divine power eternally and essentially belonging to the godhead, it follows, that theymust attribute proper deity to him, for every thing essential to deity is true God. What Mr. Baxter says in his Methodus Theologie de Trinitate, secros.to demand the assent of intelligent readers,. Christuns esse dei Aoyov sea saDientieni, in ecetesia uno quasi ore pronunciatuin esse, scenlo-
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