THERE IS A DIVINE TRINITY; NAMELY, THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.

1. The Unity of God is acknowledged and received throughout the whole world, wherever there is religion and sound reason. 2. Therefore the Trinity of God could not be known; for if it had been known, yea, if only declared, concerning the Trinity of God, man would have thought of a plurality of Gods, which both religion and also sound reason abhor. 3. Therefore the Trinity of God could not be known except from revelation, thus not otherwise than from the Word; neither could it be received unless the Trinity of God were also the Unity of God, for otherwise there would be a contradiction which begets a nonentity. 4. The Trinity of God did not actually exist before the Son of God the Saviour of the world was born; and before that there was not Unity in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. 5. The salvation of the human race depends upon the Trinity of God, which at the same time is Unity. 6. By the Trinity of God which at the same time is Unity, is meant the Divine Trinity in one Person. 7. The Lord the Saviour of the world taught that there is a Divine Trinity, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit;

For He commanded His disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit;

He also said that He would send to them the Holy Spirit from the Father;

He moreover oftentimes mentioned by name the Father, and called Himself His Son, and He breathed upon His disciples, saying, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit." Furthermore, when Jesus was baptized in Jordan there came forth a voice from the Father, saying, "This is my beloved Son," and the Spirit appeared over Him in the form of a dove. The angel Gabriel also said to Mary, "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee, and the Holy One that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." "The Most High" is God the Father. The Apostles likewise in their epistles often name the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and John in his First Epistle Says, "There are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit," etc.