Note from DentalMethodist JohnWesleyProject.com This sermon was published first in Ireland,
bearing the following advertisement dated Cork, May 8, 1775:
Some days since I
was desired to preach on this text. I did so yesterday morning. In the
afternoon I was pressed to write down and print my sermon, if possible, before
I left Cork. I have wrote it this morning; but I must beg the reader to make
allowance for the disadvantages I am under; as I have not here any books to
consult, nor indeed any time to consult them.
This information sourced from
Bicentennial Edition of The Works of John Wesley, Vol 22 , Abingdon Press
On The
Trinity
"There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost: And these three are one." 1 John 5:7.
2. Hence, we cannot but infer, that there are ten
thousand mistakes which may consist with real religion; with regard to
which every candid, considerate man will think and let think. But there
are some truths more important than others. It seems there are some
which are of deep importance. I do not term them fundamental truths;
because that is an ambiguous word: And hence there have been so many
warm disputes about the number of fundamentals. But surely there are
some which it nearly concerns us to know, as having a close connexion
with vital religion. And doubtless we may rank among these that
contained in the words above cited: There are three that bear record in
heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: And these three are
one.
3. I do not mean that it is of importance to believe
this or that explication of these words. I know not that any well
judging man would attempt to explain them at all. One of the best tracts
which that great man, Dean Swift, ever wrote, was his Sermon upon the
Trinity. Herein he shows, that all who endeavored to explain it at all,
have utterly lost their way; have, above all other persons hurt the
cause which they intended to promote; having only, as Job speaks,
"darkened counsel by words without knowledge." It was in an evil hour
that these explainers began their fruitless work I insist upon no
explication at all; no, not even on the best I ever saw; I mean, that
which is given us in the creed commonly ascribed to Athanasius. I am far
from saying, he who does not assent to this shall without doubt perish
everlastingly." For the sake of that and another clause, I, for some
time, scrupled subscribing to that creed; till I considered (1.) That
these sentences only relate to wilful, not involuntary, unbelievers; to
those who, having all the means of knowing the truth, nevertheless
obstinately reject it: (2.) that they relate only to the substance of
the doctrine there delivered; not the philosophical illustrations of it.
4. I dare not insist upon any one's using the word
Trinity, or Person. I use them myself without any scruple, because I
know of none better: But if any man has any scruple concerning them, who
shall constrain him to use them I cannot: Much less would I burn a man
alive, and that with moist, green wood, for saying, Though I believe the
Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God; yet I scruple
using the words Trinity and Persons, because I do not find those terms
in the Bible." These are the words which merciful John Calvin cites as
wrote by Servitus in a letter to himself. I would insist only on the
direct words, unexplained, just as they lie in the text: "There are
three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost: And these three are one."
5. "As they lie in the text :" -- but here arises a
question: Is that text genuine Was it originally written by the Apostle,
or inserted in later ages Many have doubted of this; and, in
particular, the great light of the Christian church, lately removed to
the Church above, Bengelius, -- the most pious, the most judicious, and
the most laborious, of all the modern Commentators on the New Testament.
For some time he stood in doubt of its authenticity, because it is
wanting in many of the ancient copies. But his doubts were removed by
three considerations: (1.) That though it is wanting in many copies, yet
it is found in more; and those copies of the greatest authority: -- (
2.) That it is cited by a whole gain of ancient writers, from the time
of St. John to that of Constantine. This argument is conclusive: For
they could not have cited it, had it not been in the sacred canon: --
(3.) That we can easily account for its being, after that time, wanting
in many copies, when we remember that Constantine's successor was a
zealous Arian, who used every means to promote his bad cause, to spread
Arianism throughout the empire; in particular the erasing this text out
of as many copies as fell into his hands. And he so far prevailed, that
the age in which he lived is commonly styled, Seculum Aranium, -- "the
Arian age;" there being then only one eminent man who opposed him at the
peril of his life. So that it was a proverb, Athanasius contra mundum:
"Athanasius against the world."
6. But it is objected: "Whatever becomes of the
text, we cannot believe what we cannot comprehend. When, therefore, you
require us to believe mysteries, we pray you to have us excused."
Here is a two-fold mistake: (1.) We do not require
you to believe any mystery in this; whereas; you suppose the contrary.
But, (2.) You do already believe many things which you cannot
comprehend.
7. To begin with the latter: You do already believe
many things which you cannot comprehend. For you believe there is a sun
over your head. But whether he stands still in the midst of his system,
or not only revolves on his own axis, but rejoiceth as a giant to run
his course; you cannot comprehend either one or the other: How he moves,
or how he rests. By what power, what natural, mechanical power, is he
upheld in the fluid either You cannot deny the fact: Yet you cannot
account for it, so as you satisfy any rational inquirer. You may indeed
give us the hypothesis of Ptolemy, Tycho Brahe, Copernicus, and twenty
more. I have read them over and over: I am sick of them; I care not
three straws for them all.
Each new solution but once more affords New
change of terms, and scaffolding of words: In other garb my
question I receive, And take my doubt the very same I gave.
Still I insist, the fact you believe, you cannot deny; but the manner you cannot comprehend.
8. You believe there is such a thing as light,
whether flowing from the sun, or any other luminous body; but you cannot
comprehend either its nature. or the manner wherein it flows. How does
it move from Jupiter to the earth in eight minutes; two hundred thousand
miles in a moment How do the rays of the candle, brought into the room,
instantly disperse into every corner Again: Here are three candles, yet
there is but one light. I explain this, and I will explain the
Three-One God.
9. You believe there is
such a thing as air. It both covers you as a garment, and, Wide
interfused, Embraces round this florid earth.
But can you comprehend how
Can you give me a satisfactory account of its nature, or the cause of
its properties Think only of one, its elasticity: Can you account for
this It may be owing to electric fire attached to each particle of it;
it may not; and neither you nor I can tell. But if we will not breathe
it till we can comprehend it, our life is very near its period.
10. You believe there is such a thing as earth. Here
you fix your foot upon it: You are supported by it. But do you
comprehend what it is that supports the earth "O, an elephant, says a
Malabarian philosopher "and a bull supports him." But what supports the
bull The Indian and the Briton are equally at a loss for an answer. We
know it is God that "spreadeth the north over the empty space, and
hangeth the earth upon nothing. This is the fact. But how Who can
account for this Perhaps angelic but not human creatures.
I know what is plausibly said concerning the powers
of projection and attraction. But spin as fine as we can, matter of fact
sweeps away our cobweb hypothesis. Connect the force of projection and
attraction how you can, they will never produce a circular motion. The
moment the projected steel comes within the attraction of the magnet, it
does not form a curve, but drops down.
11. You believe you have a soul. "Hold there," says
the Doctor; [Dr. Bl__r, in his late tract.] I believe no such thing. "If
you have an immaterial soul so have the brutes too." I will not quarrel
with any that think they have; nay, I wish he could prove it: And
surely I would rather allow them souls, than I would give up my own. In
this I cordially concur in the sentiment of the honest Heathen. Si erro,
libenter erro; et me redargui valde recusem. "If I err, I err
willingly; and I vehemently refuse to be convinced of it." And I trust
most of those who do not belie a Trinity are of the same mind. Permit me
then to go on. You believe you have a soul connected with this house of
clay. But can you comprehend how What are the ties that unite the
heavenly flame with the earthly clod You understand just nothing of the
matter. So it is; but how none can tell.
12. You surely believe you have a body, together
with your soul, and that each is dependent on the other.
Run only a
thorn into your hand; immediately pain is felt in your soul. On the
other side is shame felt in your soul Instantly a blush overspreads your
cheek. Does the soul feel fear or violent anger Presently the body
trembles. These also are facts which you cannot deny; nor can you
account for them.
13. I bring but one instance more: At the command of
your soul, your hand is lifted up. But who is able to account for this
For the connexion between the act of the mind, and the outward actions
Nay, who can account for muscular motion at all; in any instance of it
whatever When one of the most ingenious Physicians in England had
finished his lecture upon that head, he added, Now, gentlemen, I have
told you all the discoveries of our enlightened age; and now, if you
understand one jot of the matter, you understand more than I do." The
short of the matter is this: Those who will not believe anything but
what they can comprehend, must not believe that there is a sun in the
firmament; that there is light shining around them; that there is air,
though it encompasses them on every side; that there is any earth,
though they stand upon it. They must not believe they have a soul; no,
nor that they have a body.
14. But, secondly, as strange as it may seem. in
requiring you to believe, "there arc three that bear record in heaven
the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: And these three are one;" you
are not required to believe any mystery. Nay, that, great and good man,
Dr. Peter Browne, sometime Bishop of Cork, has proved at large that the
Bible does not require you to believe any mystery at all. Thee Bible
barely requires you to believe such facts; not the manner of them. Now
the mystery does not lie in the fact, but altogether in the manner.
For instance: God said, let there be light: And
there was light." I believe it: I believe the plain fact: There is no
mystery at all in this. The mystery lies in the manner of it. But of
this I believe nothing at all; nor does God require it of me.
Again: "The Word was made flesh." I Believe this
fact also. There is no mystery in it; but as to the manner how he was
made flesh, wherein the mystery lies, I know nothing about it; I believe
nothing about it: It is no more the object of my faith, than it is of
my understanding.
15. To apply this to the case before us: There are
three that bear record in heaven: And these three are One. I believe
this fact also, (if I may use the expression,) that God is Three and
One. But the manner how I do not comprehend and I do not believe it. Now
in this, in the manner, lies the mystery; and so it may; I have no
concern with it: It is no object of my faith: I believe just so much as
God has revealed, and no more. But this, the manner, he has not
revealed; therefore, I believe nothing about it. But would it not be
absurd in me to deny the fact, because I do not understand the manner
That is, to reject what God has revealed, because I do not comprehend
what he has not revealed.
16. This is a point much to be observed. There are
many things "which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it
entered into the heart of man to conceive. Part of these God Hath
"revealed to us by his Spirit:" -- "Revealed;" that is, unveiled,
uncovered: That part he requires us to believe. Part of them he has not
revealed: That we need not, and indeed cannot, believe: It is far above,
out of our sight.
Now, where is the wisdom of rejecting what is
revealed, because we do not understand what is not revealed of denying
the fact which God has unveiled, because we cannot see the manner, which
is veiled still
17. Especially when we consider that what God has
been pleased to reveal upon his head, is far from being a point of
indifference, is a truth of the last importance. It enters into the very
heart of Christianity: It lies at the heart of all vital religion.
Unless these Three are One, how can "all men honour
the Son, even as they honour the Father" "I know not what to do," says
Socinus in a letter to his friend, with my untoward followers: They will
not worship Jesus Christ. I tell them it is written, `Let all the
angels of God worship him.' They answer, However that be, if he is not
God, we dare not worship him. For `it is written, Thou shalt worship the
lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.'"
But the thing, which I here particularly mean is
this: The knowledge of the Three-One God is interwoven with all true
Christian faith; with all vital religion.
I do not say that every real Christian can say with
the Marquis de Renty, "I bear about with me continually an experimental
verity, and a plenitude of the presence of the ever-blessed Trinity."I
apprehend this is not the experience of babes," but, rather, "fathers in
Christ."
But I know not how any one can be a Christian
believer till he "hath," as St. John speaks, "the witness in himself;"
till "the Spirit of God witnesses with his spirit, that he is a child of
God;" that is, in effect, till God the Holy Ghost witnesses that God
the Father has accepted him through the merits of God the Son: And,
having this witness, he honours the Son, and the blessed Spirit, "even
as he honours the Father."
18. Not that every Christian believer adverts to
this; perhaps, at first, not one in twenty: But if you ask any of them a
few questions, you will easily find it is implied in what he believes.
Therefore, I do not see how it is possible for any
to have vital religion who denies that these Three are one. And all
my hope for them is, not that they will he saved during their
unbelief, (unless on the footing of honest Heathens, upon the plea
of invincible ignorance,) but that God, before they go hence, "will
bring them to the knowledge of the truth."
Edited by David R. Leonard with corrections by Ryan
Danker and George Lyons of Northwest Nazarene University (Nampa,
Idaho) for the Wesley Center for Applied Theology.
Copyright 1999 by the Wesley Center for Applied Theology. Text may be
freely used for personal or scholarly purposes or mirrored on other
web sites, provided this notice is left intact. Any use of this
material for commercial purposes of any kind is strictly forbidden
without the express permission of the Wesley Center at Northwest
Nazarene University, Nampa, ID 83686. Contact the webmaster for
permission.
