2d. Notwithstanding the threefold personal distinction in the unity of the Godhead, yet these three are one in substance, and constitute one indivisible God.
UNITY. 105
6. How may the proposition, that God is one and indivisible, be proved ?
1st. There appears to be a necessity in reason for conceiving of God as one. That which is absolute and infinite can not but be one and indivisible in essence. If God is not one, then it will necessarily follow that there are more gods than one.
2d. The uniform representation of Scripture. — John x., 30.
7. Prove from Scripture that the proposition, there is but one God, is true.
Deut. vi., 4 ; 1 Kings viii., 60 ; Isa. xliv., 6 ; Mark xii., 29, 32 ; 1 Cor. viii., 4 ; Eph. iv., 6.
8. What is the argument from the harmony of creation in favor of the divine unity ?
The whole creation, between the outermost range of telescopic and of microscopic observation, is manifestly one indivisible sys- tem. But we have already (Chapter I.) proved the existence of God from the phenomena of the universe ; and we now argue upon the same principle that if an effect proves the prior opera- tion of a cause, and if traces of design prove a designer, then singleness of plan and operation in that design and its execution prove that the designer is one.
9. What is the argument upon this point from necessary existence ?
The existence of God is said to be necessary, because it has its cause from eternity in itself. It is the same in all duration and in all space alike. It is absurd to conceive of God's not existing at any time or in any portion of space, while all other existence whatsoever, depending upon his mere will, is contingent. But the necessity which is uniform in all times and in every portion of space, is evidently only one and indivisible, and can be the ground of the existence only of one God.
This argument is logical, and has been prized highly by many distinguished theologians. It however appears to involve the error of presuming human logic to be the measure of existence.
10. What is the argument from infinite perfection, in proof that there can be but one God ?
106 THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD.
God is infinite in his being and in all of his perfections. But the infinite, by including all, excludes all others. If there were two infinite beings, each would necessarily include the other, and be included by it, and thus they would be the same, one and identical. It is certain that the idea of the co-existence of two infinitely perfect beings is as repugnant to human reason as to Scripture.
11. What is polytheism ? and ivhat dualism ?
Polytheism, as the etymology of the word indicates, is a gen- eral term designating every system of religion which teaches the existence of a plurality of gods.
Dualism is the designation of that system which recognizes two original and independent principles in the universe, the one good and the other evil. At present these principles are in a rela- tion of ceaseless antagonism, the good ever struggling to oppose the evil, and to deliver its province from its baneful intrusion.
12. What is meant by the phrase simplicity, when applied to God?
The term simplicity is used, first, in opposition to material composition, whether mechanical, organic, or chemical ; second, in a metaphysical sense in negation of the relation of substance and property, essence and mode. In the first sense of the word human souls are simple, because they are not composed of ele- ments, parts, or organs. In the second sense of the word our souls are complex, since there is in them a distinction between their essence and their properties, and their successive modes or states of existence. As, however, God is infinite, eternal, self- existent from eternity, necessarily the same without succession, theologians have maintained that in him essence, and property, and mode are one. He always is what he is, and he is what he is essentially, and by the same necessity that he exists. Whatever is in God, whether thought, emotion, volition, or act, is God.
Although this distinction has the sanction of the highest names, it appears to involve at least a questionable application of human reason to subjects so far transcending the analogy of human con- sciousness.
13. What is affirmed when it is said that God is a spirit ?
SPIRITUALITY. 107
We know nothing of substance except as it is manifested by its properties. Matter is that substance whose properties mani- fest themselves directly to our bodily senses. Spirit is that sub- stance whose properties manifest themselves to us directly in self-consciousness, and only infer entially by words and other signs or modes of expression through our senses.
When we say God is a Spirit we mean —