in the manifestation of his Godhead: he has, in fact never actually been but he is always in the act of being to be, and thus, he must, as a matter of course, be not only subsequent to the source from which he emanates, but he must be, in respect to it, in a state of absolute sequence and subordination. Just as much so in fact as a stream is dependent for its existence upon its fountain, or the fruit for its production upon the tree that bears it: in each case the position holds good, that the tree and the fountain must be prior and older than the fruit and the stream, and how trinitarian faith can arrive at a contrary conclusion, can only be explained on the principle that credulity and willfulness can be quite orthodox and respectable without the tedious acquisition and wise use of reason.

Glimpses of another thought may now be seen looming within the hazy, lowering horizon of this very curious and somewhat difficult question, demanding a brief yet adequate notice. It is affirmed as we have seen, in the infallibly true creed of the undoubtedly orthodox Christian Church, that God the Holy Ghost is co-eternal with the Father and the Son, in triune unity; but it is unfortunate for the validity and triumph of this argument, that—as I have already had occasion to show, God the Son is in every way inferior to God the Father, owing even his very existence to him as a son does ordinarily owe his life to his parents. This being incontestably the case, how can God the Holy Ghost be eternal when one of his sires himself exists only in so far as he has been begotten, and consequently possesses only derivative and secondary existence? The question is weighty and claims attention. Let those answer it who arrogate to themselves the right to

make creeds for the rest of mankind, and who appear to be never greatly troubled with scruples of conscience about the mad extravagance or palpable contradictions of which they are constantly guilty.

The names by which the different persons in the Trinity are distinguished in the approved trinitarian nomenclature, premise different relations and functions; different modes of existence; and different ranks and dignities. The Father was first and was alone; the Son came afterwards, and was God the Son-a second god; the Holy Ghost succeeded the Son, being partly descended from him, as some teach, and is God the Holy Ghost-a third god all-if there is any truth in orthodox articles of faith, constituting together a Tritheistic Godhead, not, as is falsely taught, a Trinity in unity! Could Christ reappear upon the earth, he would boot at the pretensions of those who claim to be his disciples, while they are not ashamed to introduce such glaringly idolatrous and blasphemous doctrines into his Church! Ah, the stern and crushing behest of Jesus, "get thee behind me, Satan," might be addressed with pertinence and force to these wicked corrupters of the Gospel, and infamous abusers of common-sense!

The person in the Trinity, called the Father, who has begotten the Son, and the persons both of the Father and of the Son, who, as the sources of procession, originate the Holy Ghost, are no longer the same, considered as progenitors, which they were when they had no issue: strength has gone out of them, Divine force has been spent, while Divinity, in its original integrity, is diminished, and, hence, the creed is radically at fault in founding the essential Godhead of the Holy Ghost, on an equality

with the Father and the Son, inasmuch as the Divinity of these persons in the Trinity, is evidently impaired, first, by the act of the one in begetting the other, and, secondly, the assumption by both of the paternity of the Holy Ghost! If this is taking too carnal or material a view of the case, it is to be regarded simply as an effort to exhibit this ridiculous and uncouth creed in its naturally hideously deformed and disgusting features. If sensuous ideas are allowed to be introduced into the contemplation of the Godhead, it must be deemed proper to point them out and rebuke them!

In

The supremacy of God the Father over the Son and the Holy Ghost, is virtually acknowledged in the form which the prayers in orthodox devotions generally assume. this eminently solemn part of the liturgic service, the Father occupies ordinarily the first, Christ, the second, and the Holy Ghost, the third rank. The Father is prayed to in the name or for the sake of the Son: considered as the Godman; but the Throne of Grace is never thus addressed through the medium or in virtue of the Holy Ghost. These statements undeniably express a well-known fact, and therefore if all the persons in the Trinity are, in every respect, equal and alike, why is such difference made in prayer in the notice of the various persons in the Trinity? Only in a few instances; as, at the opening and at the close of Divine service, a parity of rank and power in all the persons supposed to belong to the Godhead, is clearly expressed and apparently acknowledged. Hence, it appears that notwithstanding the rigid and unrelenting character of the creed theoretically considered, in practice, the persons in the Trinity are allowed to hold different ranks

and discharge different functions in the solemn exercises of the Christian sanctuary. How such discrepancy between profession and practice can be reconciled with the equality-doctrine, the author is unable to say, but he ventures respectfully to give the advice that the fantastic creed to which it owes its origin, should be at once abolished as a thing which is disgraceful to humanity as well as both useless and mischievous to the Church!

A concise description of the nature, derivation, and functions of the Holy Ghost, is-in conclusion, here introduced, from a notice on the subject in the excellent Encyclopædia, referred to on former occasions: "The Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit, in orthodox theology, is the third person of the Trinity, proceeding from the Father and the Son, yet of one substance, majesty, and glory with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God. His distinct personality is believed to be attested by a multitude of passages in Scripture, which it is unnecessary to quote. One may suffice: "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me," John, xv. 26. The Procession of the Spirit is the subject of one of the chief differences between the Eastern and the Western or Latin Churches. He is essentially a spirit of holiness, and his grand function is to apply to the hearts of men the benefits of Christ's death, to work in them, first, a belief of the truth as it is in Jesus, and then to sanctify them by that truth."*

*If it is the office of the Holy Ghost, "to work in men a belief of the truth as it is in Jesus," then he must show partiality in executing his task or his mission is falsely interpreted; for many persons would gladly believe in Jesus to the full extent to which it is necessary to be either useful or

CHAPTER VI.

The Holy Ghost is not a Divinity, but the Invisible, Omnipresent Power of God.

To form a correct opinion of the Spirit, commonly recognized as the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit, it will be necessary to bear in mind that the Jews as well as other ancient nations, had only crude, puerile, anthropomorphitic conceptions of the Deity. In their mental imbecility and concrete mode of thought, they naturally contemplated him in the similitude of man, supposing him to differ from him only in the comparative vastness of his size, in the profoundness of his wisdom, and the extent of his power. In a being thus constituted, the spirit, by which he is animated, and which is the controlling element of his higher nature, is the medium of his visible, cosmic relations and operations; and when, accordingly, he made man out of the dust of the ground, and "after his image," he breathed—as it seemed to the infantile mind of rude, uncivilized man, a portion of his spirit into his nostrils, and thus made him a miniature copy of himself; in fact, a deum parvum or little god! Hence, whatever man undertakes or accomplishes that is presumed to be right and pleasing in the sight of God, is said—still reasoning in the spirit of this incipient, false logic, inseparable from the reasoning of uneducated man, to be brought

happy, but they look in vain for adequate evidence to convince them, or such supernatural influences as might enforce ready submission to the Divine will.-G.