Question 6

What is meant by the Godhead?

By the Godhead is meant the Divine Nature or Essence.

Are there three Divine Natures and Essences, or are there three Gods?

No. For though the three Persons be God, the Father God, the Son God, and the Holy Ghost God, yet they are not three Gods but one God; the Essence of God is the same in all the three Persons, There are three that bear Record in Heaven, the Father, the Word (that is the Son) and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.^a

What is meant by the three Persons in the Godhead?

By the three Persons in the Godhead we are to understand the same Nature of God with three waies of subsisting, each Person having its distinct Personal Properties.

What is the Personal Property of the Father?

The Personal Property of the Father is to beget the Son, and that from all Eternity, Unto which of the Angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? Unto the Son he saith: Thy Throne O God is for ever.^b

What is the Personal Property of the Son?

The Personal Property of the Son is to be begotten of the Father, We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.^c

What is the Personal Property of the Holy Ghost?

The Personal Property of the Holy Ghost is to proceed from the Father and the Son, And when the Comforter is come whom I shall send from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testifie of me.^d

How doth it appear that the Father is God?

Because the Father is the Original of the other Persons, and of every thing else, and because Divine Attributes and Worship are ascribed unto him.

How doth it appear that the Son is God?

1. Because he is called God in the Scripture, And the Word was God.^e Of whom as concerning the Flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever.^f 2. Because the Attributes of God are ascribed unto him: Eternity, Before Abraham was, I am.^g Omniscience, Lord thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.^h Omnipresence, Where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them.ⁱ Divine Power, He upholdeth all things by the Word of his Power.^j 3. Because the honor and worship which is due only to God doth belong to him: In him we must believe, Believe in me.^k In his Name we must be Baptized, Baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.^l Upon his Name we must call, With all that call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.^m 4. Because if the Son were not God he could not have been a fit Mediatour.

How doth it appear that the Holy Ghost is God

1. Because the Holy Ghost is called God, Why hath Sathan filled thine heart to lye to the Holy Ghost? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.ⁿ 2. Because the Attributes of God are ascribed unto him; Omnipresence, Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?^o Especially, he is present in the hearts of all Believers, He dwelleth in you, and shall be in you.^p Omniscience, The Spirit searcheth all things.^q 3 Because of the powerful works of the Spirit, which none but God can effect; such as Regeneration, Except a man be born of the spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.^r Guiding believers into all truth, Howbeit, when the spirit of truth is come, he shall guide you into all truth.^s Sanctification, That the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.^t Comfort, called therefore the Comforter, 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 testifie of me.^u Communion, The Communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all.^v 4. Because the honor and worship due only to God, doth belong unto the Spirit. We must believe in him. This is one Article in the Creed (commonly called the Apostles Creed) I believe in the Holy Ghost. We must be Baptised in his Name, Baptising them in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.^w

How doth it appear that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost being but one God, are three distinct Persons?

1. The Father begetting is called a Person in the Scripture, Christ is said to be the express image of his Person;^x and by the same reason, the Son begotten of the Father, is a Person; and the Holy Ghost proceeding from the Father and the Son, is a Person. 2. That the Father and the Son are distinct Persons, is evident from I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. It is written in your Law, the testimony of two men is true; I am one that bear witness of my self, and the Father that sent me, beareth witness of me.^y 3. That the Holy Ghost is a distinct Person from the Father and the Son, appeareth from I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of Truth, &c.^z 4. That the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three distinct Persons in one Essence, may be gathered from There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, & the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.^aa These three are either three substances, or three manifestations, or three persons or something else besides persons: But, 1. They are not three Substances, because in the same verse they are called one: 2. They are not three manifestations, because all the Attributes of God are manifestations, and so there would be more than three, or thirteen; and then one manifestation would be said to beget and send another, which is absurd. 3. They are not something else besides persons: Therefore they are three distinct Persons, distinguished by their relations, and distinct personal properties.

What should we judge of them that deny that there are three distinct Persons in one Godhead?

We ought to judge them to be blasphemers, because they speak against the ever glorious God, who hath set forth himself in this distinction in the Scripture. 2. To be damnable Hereticks, this doctrine of the distinction of Persons in the Unity of Essence being a fundamental truth, denied of old by the Sabellians, Arrians, Photineans, and of late by the Socinians, who were against the Godhead of Christ the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, amongst whom, the Quakers are also to be numbered, who deny this distinction.