Sect. 9.
* 1.1But Socinus hath one shift, which is on the top of the 14. page of his Treatise against the Pasnonienses, pag. 61. [Christ was then, when John Baptist began to preach, and was then destined by God to that Office, to wit, in opening, or preaching the will of God.] Thus farre he; now the revealing the will of God is the nature of the word, and it seeme's, by him, that although Christ was not actual∣ly the word in the beginning of the Gospell, yet he w••s such in God's decree, and that may suffice, to make him the word; but let the Reader consider that he, who is decreed to be any thing, cannot be said to be such, un∣till he actually exist; now the Text saith, In the begin∣ning was the Word, not it shall be the Word when the de∣cree is expired; was, and shall be, differ as much as time can distinguish, and yet what the Text saith was, Soci∣nus saith shall be, when he saith, he was decreed to be; up∣on such a foundation we may say any thing, that is or shall be a thousand yeares hence, was a thousand yeares agoe, because it was then decreed to be such. And now it seeming to me, that I have answered whatsoever I have observed, delivered by any man in defence of their exposition, it will become me to apply my selfe to the Justification of our exposition, which thus I doe.