XII arguments drawn out of the Scripture wherein the commonly-received opinion touching the deity of the Holy Spirit is clearly and fully refuted : to which is prefixed a letter tending to the same purpose, written to a member of the Parliament ... / by John Biddle.

Argument VII.

He that is the gift of God, is not God.

The holy Spirit is the gift of God:

Ergo.

The Minor is plain by Acts. 12. 17. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift (meaning the Spirit) as he did unto us, who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, was I one that could withstand God? The Major, though of it self sufficiently clear, is yet further evidenced thus:

He that is not the giver of all things, is not God.

He that is the gift of God, is not the giver of all things:

Ergo.

The Major is apparent from Act. 17. 25. God giveth to all, life, breath, and all things.] The Mi∣nor is proved thus:

He that is himself given, is not the giver of all things:

He that is the gift of God, is himself given:

Ergo.

The Major is undeniable, for otherwise the same would be the giver of all things, and yet not the giver of all things, inasmuch as he himself, a principal thing, is given, which im∣plyeth a contradiction. The Minor needeth no

proof. Moreover, a gift is in the power, and at the disposal of the giver; but it is gross and ab∣surd to imagine that God can be in the power, or at the disposal of another. Neither let any man here think to evade, by saying, that not the Holy Spirit himself, but onely his gifts are imparted to men; Since both the more learned adversaries themselves confess, that the Person of the Holy Spirit is given together with his gifts, and the Scripture putteth the matter out of doubt, if you consult Neh. 9. 20. and Rom. 5. 5. In both which places, the Holy Spirit is said to be given contra∣distinctly from his gifts and operations: in the first, contradistinctly from the instruction flowing from him; in the other, contradistinctly from the love of God diffused in our hearts by him. Whence we may draw this Corollary, that if the Person of the Holy Spirit be out of favour given to certain men, as the aforesaid places testifie, then he was not personally present with them be∣fore, and consequently, by the concession of the adversaries themselves, cannot be God, since they will not deny that God is always personally pre∣sent with all alike. But I forestal the following Argument.