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cendent manner, of one singular and proper Son, his own, his beloved, his only-begotten Son; whom he hath not only begotten of the blessed virgin, by the coming of the Holy Ghost, and the overshadowing of his power; not only sent with special authority as the King of Israel; not only raised from the dead, and made Heir of all things in his house; but antecedently to all this, hath begotten him by way of eternal generation in the same Divinity, and Majesty with himself: by which paternity, coæval to the Deity, I acknowledge him always Father, as much as always God. And in this relation, I profess that eminency and priority, that as he is the original cause of all things as created by him, so is he the fountain of the Son begotten of him, and of the Holy Ghost proceeding from him.

I believe in God the Father Almighty.

AFTER the relation of God's paternity, immediately followeth the glorious attribute of his Omnipotency; that as those in heaven in their devotions, so we on earth in our confessions might acknowledge that "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come," Rev. iv. 8; that in our solemn meetings of the church of God, with the joint expression and concurring language of the congregation, we might some way imitate that "voice of a great multitude, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Allelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth," Rev. xix. 6.

This notion of almighty in the Creed must certainly be interpreted according to the sense which the original word beareth in the new testament; and that cannot be better understood than by the Greek writers or interpreters of the old, especially when the notion itself belongs unto the gospel and the law indifferently. Now the word which we translate almighty, the most ancient Greek interpreters used sometimes for the title of God, the "Lords of Hosts," sometimes for his name “Shaddai," as generally in the book of Job: by the first they seem to signify the rule and dominion which God hath

over all; by the second, the strength, force, or power by which he is able to perform all things. "The heavens and the earth were finished," saith Moses, "and all the host of them," Gen. ii. 7; and he who began them, he who finished them, is the Ruler and Commander of them. Upon the right of creation doth he justly challenge his dominion. "I have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even my hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded," Isa. xlv. 12. And on this dominion or command doth he raise the title of "The Lord of Hosts:" which, though preserved in the original language both by St. Paul and St. James, yet by St. John is turned into that word which we translate almighty. Wherefore from the use of the sacred writers, from the notation of the word in Greek, and from the testimony of the ancient fathers, we may well ascribe unto God the Father, in the explication of this article, the dominion over all, and the rule and government of all.

This authority or power properly potestative is attributed unto God in the sacred scriptures; from whence those names or titles which most aptly and fully express dominion, are frequently given unto him; and the rule, empire, or government of the world is acknowledged to be wholly in him, as necessarily following that natural and eternal right of dominion.

What the nature of this authoritative power is, we shall the more clearly understand, if we first divide it into three degrees or branches of it; the first whereof we may conceive, a right of making and framing any thing which he willeth, in any manner as it pleaseth him, according to the absolute freedom of his own will; the second, a right of having and possessing all things so made and framed by him, as his own, properly belonging to him, as to the Lord and Master of them, by virtue of direct dominion; the third, a right of using and disposing all things so in his possession, according to his own pleasure. The first of these we mention only for the necessity of it, and the dependence of the other two upon it. God's actual dominion being no otherways necessary, than upon supposition of a precedent act of creation;

because nothing, before it hath a being, can belong to any one, neither can any propriety be imagined in that which hath no entity.

But the second branch, or absolute dominion of this Almighty, is farther to be considered in the independency and infinity of it. First, it is independent in a double respect, in reference both to the original and the use thereof; for God hath received no authority from any, because he hath all power originally in himself, and hath produced all things by the act of his own will, without any commander, counsellor, or coadjutor. Neither doth the use or exercise of this dominion depend upon any one, so as to receive any direction or regulation, or to render any account of the administration of it, it being illimited, absolute, and supreme, and so the fountain from whence all dominion in any other is derived. Wherefore he being the "God of gods," is also the "Lord of lords, and King of kings, the only Potentate;" because he alone hath all the power of himself, and whosoever else hath any, hath it from him, either by donation or permission.

The infinity of God's dominion, if we respect the object, appears in the amplitude or extension; if we look upon the manner, in the plenitude or perfection; if we consider the time, in the eternity of duration. The amplitude of the object is sufficiently evidenced by those appellations which the holy writ ascribeth unto the Almighty, calling him "The Lord of heaven; the Lord of the whole earth; the Lord of heaven and earth;" under which two are comprehended all things both in heaven and earth. This Moses taught the distrusting Israelites in the wilderness; "Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God; the earth also with all that is therein," Deut. x. 14. With these words David glorifieth God: "The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine"-thus acknowledging his dominion; as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them" -thus expressing the foundation or ground of that dominion, Psal. lxxxix. 11. And yet more fully at the dedication of the offerings for the building of the temple, to show that what they gave was of his own, he saith,

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"Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou reignest over all," 1 Chron xxix. 11. If then we look upon the object of God's dominion, it is of that amplitude and extension, that it includeth and comprehendeth all things; so that nothing can be imagined which is not his, belonging to him as the true Owner and Proprietor, and subject wholly to his will as the sole Governor and Disposer: in respect of which universal power we must confess him to be Almighty.

If we consider the manner and nature of this power, the plenitude thereof or perfection will appear; for as in regard of the extension, he hath power over all things, so in respect of the intention, he hath all power over every thing, as being absolute and supreme. This God challenged to himself, when he catechized the Prophet Jeremy in a potter's house, saying, "O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel," Jer. xviii. 6; that is, God hath as absolute power and dominion over every person, over every nation and kingdom on the earth, as the potter hath over the pot he maketh, or the clay he mouldeth. Thus are we wholly at the disposal of his will, and our present and future condition framed and ordered by his free, but wise and just, decrees. "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?" Rom. ix. 21. And can that earth-artificer have a freer power over his brother potsherd (both being made of the same metal) than God hath over him, who, by the strange fecundity of his omnipotent power, first made the clay out of nothing, and then him out of that?

The duration of God's dominion must likewise necessarily be eternal, if any thing which is be immortal; for, seeing every thing is therefore his, because it received its being from him, and the continuation of the creature is as much from him as the first production, it followeth that so Div. No. XIII.

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long as it is continued, it must be his, and consequently, seeing some of his creatures are immortal, his dominion must be eternal. Wherefore St. Paul expressly calleth God, "The King eternal," with reference to that of David, "Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations," Psal. cxlv. 13. And Moses in his song hath told us, "The

Lord shall reign for ever and ever:" which phrase "for ever and ever" in the original signifieth thus much, that there is no time to come assignable or imaginable, but after and beyond that God shall reign.

The third branch of God's authoritative or potestative power consisteth in the use of all things in his possession, by virtue of his absolute dominion; for it is the general dictate of reason, that the use, benefit and utility of any thing, redoundeth unto him whose it is, and to whom as to the proprietor it belongeth. It is true indeed, that God, who is all-sufficient and infinitely happy in and of himself, so that no accession ever could or can be made to his original felicity, cannot receive any real benefit and utility from the creature. "Thou art my Lord," saith David," my goodness extendeth not to thee;" Psalm xvi. 2. and therefore our only and absolute Lord, because his goodness extendeth unto us, and not ours to him, because his dominion is for our benefit, not for his own; for us who want, and therefore may receive; not for himself, who cannot receive, because he wanteth nothing, whose honor standeth not in his own, but in our receiving.

But though the universal Cause made all things for the benefit of some creatures framed by him, yet hath he made them ultimately for himself; and God is as universally the final as the efficient cause of his operations. The apostle hath taught us, that not only "of him," and "by him," as the first Author, but also "to him," and "for him," as the ultimate end, are all things," Rom. xi. 36. And it is one of the proverbial sentences of Solomon, "The Lord hath made all things for himself, yea even the wicked for the day of evil," Prov. xvi. 4. For though he cannot receive any real benefit or utility from the creature, yet he can and doth

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