Summary of Chapter V
In the doctrine of the TRINITY these things come to be considered:
I. The Names
A. Of Trinity, with its Etymology, Synonymy, and Homonymy, § 1.
B. Of Person,
א. With its Etymology, Synonymy, and Homonymy, § 2.
ב. With respect to substance, Personality is here
α. Negatively, not
a. Real Being,
b. The Negation of actual Communication;
β. Is defined Positively: the Mode ultimately concluding and completing the Substantial Nature and giving Incommunicability to that, § 3.
The Use of these Names in the present state of the Church is lawful, useful, and necessary: against those that wish only to speak of the Mystery of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, § 4.
II. The Doctrine itself, of which occurs
A. An Explanation in these four Propositions:
א. There is only One Essence in God: against the Triformians and Tritheists.
ב. In God there are also Three Persons, which are abstractly Incommunicable Modes of Subsistence of the Divine Essence: against various Heretics, saying that the Persons are Bare Names.
ג. These Persons Agree among themselves,
α. In One Essence,
β. In ἰσότητι/equality,
γ. In ἐμπεριχωρήσει/emperichoresis, § 5.
ד. The Same are Distinguished among Themselves,
α. In Name,
β. In Order,
γ. In Mode of operation,
δ. In Works ad extra,
ε. In Personal Properties, § 6.
a. The Property of the Father is ἀγενησία/unbegottenness, and the ineffable Production of the Son and of the Spirit, § 7.
b. The Property of the Son, like the Production of the Spirit, is His Generation by the Father; which
a. Is positively proven, and defended to be
1. Eternal,
2. Hyperphysical,
3. Proper, § 8.
b. Is held against
1. Arius,
2. The Socinians,
3. The Remonstrants,
4. Röellius, § 9.
Nevertheless, the Son is Αὐτόθεος/Autotheos, which
§. Is proven,
§§. Is defended against Valentinus Gentilis, Arminius, various Lutherans, and the Papists, § 10.
c. The Property of the Spirit is ἐκπόρευσις/procession or Spiration; with respect to mode, not only from the Father, but also from the Son: which
a. Is proven,
b. Is defended against the Eastern Church, § 11.
Corollary. The distinction between Generation and Spiration
a. Positively is
1. In Name,
2. In Principium,
3. In the Person, to whom it is attributed,
4. In Virtue of a further communication of Essence.
b. Negatively, Generation does not pertain to the Intellect, and Spiration to the Will, as the Scholastics maintain, § 12.
B. Confirmation, to be sought
א. Negatively, not from Tradition with the Papists;
ב. But Positively only from Sacred Scripture.
α. Generally here
a. The Proof of our opinion is sought,
a. From Passages of the Old Testament, in which an indefinite Plurality of Persons is attributed to the One Essence; and they are those
1. Positively,
§. In which God speaks of Himself in the first Person in the plural number;
̸. Not to the Angels,
̸ ̸. Nor for the sake of Greatness and Majesty.
§§. In which the several Persons are distinctly named, § 13.
2. Negatively, not the plural אֱלֺהִים/Elohim with others, constructed with a singular verb or adjective, § 14.
b. From Passages of the Old Testament, in which a Trinity of Persons is determinately noted: to which pertain
1. Positively,
§. Passages in which a Threefold appellation of the divine Name or of a divine Attribute is found, Numbers 6:24-26; Isaiah 33:22; 6:3.
§§. Passages in which the Three Persons are distinctly mentioned: Psalm 33:6; Isaiah 61:1; 63:7, 9-12, 14; Haggai 2:5, 6, § 15.
2. Negatively, not the Apparition made to Abraham, Genesis 18, in which verily God the Son was seen with two created Angels: which
§. Is proven,
§§. Is defended, § 16.
c. From Testimonies of the New Testament, in which occur
1. The History of the Baptism of Christ, Matthew 3:16, 17.
2. The Institution of our Baptism, Matthew 28:19.
3. The sayings of Christ, John 14:16, 17; 15:26; 16:13, 15.
4. The Prayer
§. Of Paul, 2 Corinthians 13:14.
§§. Of John, Revelation 1:4, 5, § 17.
5. The passage of 1 John 5:7, where our Adversaries fly for no good reason
§. To the mere Unity of Agreement and Testimony;
§§. To the traduction of this passage as Spurious, § 18.
b. Is to be held especially against the Socinians, objecting in general
a. Passages,
1. In which the Unity of God is inculcated;
2. Which appear to call the Father Alone God;
3. Which claim for the Father Divine Attributes;
4. Which restrict the very Name of God to the Father, § 19.
b. Various Reasonings, § 20.
β. Specifically is proven
a. The Deity of the Son,
a. From Divine
1. Names,
2. Attributes,
3. Works,
4. Worship, § 21.
b. Against the Objections of the Ancient Heretics and Socinians, considering Him as a Mere Man, § 22.
b. That the Holy Spirit is
a. A true Person, against the Socinians, saying that He is a Virtue/Power and Quality of God, § 23.
b. A Person distinct from the Father and the Son, with the Socinians sometimes dreaming the contrary, § 24.
c. One Person; against Sandius, imagining that the Spirit is the multitude of good Angels, § 25.
d. A Divine Person; which
1. Is proven from the Divine
§. Names,
§§. Attributes,
§§§. Works,
§§§§. Worship and Adoration, which last is held in particular against the Remonstrants, § 26.
2. Is defended against the Objections of the Pneumatomachi, § 27.
C. A threefold Commendation,
א. From its Sublimity, surpassing the Reason of fallen man, which
α. Is proven,
β. Against the Objections of the Scholastics and Certain of Our Men, § 28.
ב. From the Necessity of believing the Article of the Trinity for Salvation; which
α. Is proven,
β. Is defended against the Remonstrants, § 29.
ג. From its Utility for the practice of true Piety, against the same, § 30.