Articles that are contained in the Apostles Creed Which Creed is the Key to all other doctrinal points of Religion VI THe Patriarchs and Servants of God in old time were saved by the faith contained in this Creed every Article thereof being revealed unto them and to be sound dispersedly in the writings of Moses (a) and the Prophets For as there was but one (b) Church from the beginning of the World so there was but one (c) faith which is common to us and them and to all that shall come after us VII OF those twelve Articles some do concern God the Father as the first Article some concern God the Son as the six Articles immediately following and some do concern God the Holy Ghost as the eighth Article The four last do set forth the state of the Church both in this World and in the nexâ— VIII THe Article of Christ's descent into Hell may safely be understood and believed either of these two waies 1. That the soul of Christ descended locally among the Infernal Spirits not to suffer but to manifest the power of his Godhead which is the interpretation of the Fathers and divers eminent Writers * of later age 2. By descending into Hell no more is to be understood than that Christ descended into the state of the Dead and was there continued for the space of three daies which is more generally received of the later Writers IX TO believe the Holy Catholick Church is to believe that among all the Tribes (a) and Nations of the World God hath some chosen servants a peculiar people whom he hath taken (b) out for his name sanctified with his Spirit (c) called unto the state of grace (d) and ordained unto eternal Glory X. TO believe the Communion of Saints is to believe that the Saints and Servants of God are knit by an invisible tye of faith and love to Christ their head (a) and to each other by common participation and mutual communication of all good things both spiritual and temporal as if they were but one body and were acted by one soul and spirit (b) XI TO believe forgiveness of sins is to believe that God doth freely pardon sin to penitent (a) sinners thtough faith in Christ (b) without any other merit or satisfaction And that he hath given power to his Church (d) to declare and prâ—nounce this pardon in his name upon just and lawfull occasions XII THe Nicene Creed and the Creed of Athanasius are but Paraphrases and Explanations of the Apostles Creed upon occasion of Heresies that sprung up in the Church about those times touching the holy Trinâ—ty and the Incarnation of Christ But they contain nothing material or substantial that is not couched in the short symbol of the Apostles XIII THat little Hymn of glory called Gloria Patri c. is as it were a little Creed and an Abridgement of the Apostolical brought into the Church about the time that Arrianism prevailed for to be a badge to distinguish the Orthodox Believers from the Heterodox or mis-believers For by giving glory to God in this form they confessed the Trinity in Unity which the Arrians opposed A PRAYER BLessed be thy holy name O Lord for all the holy Scripture which thou hast given us for a light unto our feet (a) and a lantern unto our paths And particularly for that part of it which thy holy Apostles have delivered for a Summary of Faith and a Rule of right belief to teach us to know thee the onely true God and Jesus Christ (b) whom thou hast sent Lord strengthen and confirm this faith in us more and more that we being built upon the Rock (c) and the firm foundation of the Prophets (d) and Apostles may stand up stedfast unshaken and unmovable against all the temptations of Satan both against the strong blasts of persecution when any shall arise and against the breath of seducers which do daily lie in wait to deceive and to beguile unstable souls That so holding fast this (f) pledge which was once delivered unto the Saints we may at last obtain the end (g) of our faith even the salvation of our souls through him who is the Author (h) and finisher of our faith Jesus Christ the Righteous Vnto whom with the Father and the blessed Spirit all glory be rendred by all the Church as in the beginning so now and to all ages of the World Amen OF THE COMMANDMENTS I. THe second general Hâ—ad of Christian Religion are the Commandments which are the Breviate of the Law Moral and of all the practical duties of humane life It is the Rule of our obediencâ— the Tree (a) of knowledge of good and evil shewing what is good (b) and what is bad what is to be followed and (c) what to be eschewed II. OUr Saviour Christ did not abolish the Ten Commandments for it is a law founded in Nature (a) and natural equity and therefore is unmovable and unchangable It is the eternal Rule of Justice to all persons to the end of the World for the Gospel doth not exempt any persons from natural or moral obligations at any time III. CHrist freed us from the Ceremonial Law which was grown to be (a) unsupportable but not from the law of good manners (b) which was promulgated upon Mount Sinai He hath freed us also from the rigor and punctuality of this Law but not from the regiment of it And lastly he hath freed us from the curse (c) of this law or the curse annexed to the breach of it when he was himself made â— curse by suffering an accursed death for our sins (d) IV. THis Law called Moral is a holy (a) and perfect (b) Law having a spiritual (c) as well as a literal sense being made to regulate the whole man both outwardly in his members and inwardly for the thoughts and intentions of the heart (d) Christ did fullfill this Law by doing it not by filling up the vacuities of it for there was no defect or imperfection in it (e) V. GOd summed all moral duties in ten general Precepts or Ten (a) Words as Moses calls them Our Saviour Christ reduced these ten into two and St. Paul into one even Love Love (c) is the fullfilling of the Law and the end and complement (d) of it (b) that is Love towards God and Love towards our Neighbour this is the total sum of the Moral Law VI THough the Law be so nice and exact (a) in it self that we cannot perform it so fully as we ought or as it requires (b) nevertheless we may Gods grace assisting us perform it so far as to find a gracious acceptance with him through Christ (c) The doing the uttermost of what we can (d)
onely badges of Christian profession but also sure witnesses and effectual signs of grace agreeable to the Belgic confession Sacramenta non sunt vana vacua signa ad nos decipiendos instiâ—uta c. For where they are administred and received in the due form and manner we acknowledge that they really give what they promise and are what they signifie on Gods part they give an investiture and possession of the heavenly promises as firmly as a Bishop is invested in his Office per baculum annulum as St. Bernard makes the simile Serm de Caena Dom. The unworthy Receiveâ— indeed doth frustrate and defeat the good that is intended by them and presented in them makes divorce between the sign and thing signified eats the Bakers bread not the bread that came down from heaven Sacramentum non rem Sacramenti If this Romish fansie of the opus operatum were current I marvel why the Sacraments of the old Testament did not confer grace as well as those of the new which they deny making that the main difference between them whereas the truth is they differed onely in the outward symbols not in the inward sense and substance nor yet in the effects for their Sacraments had the same materiam substratam the same invisible grace presented in them though the visible signs were not the same and the worthy partakers did feed on Christ as lushiously and savourly then as others do now they did eat the same spiritual meat and drink the same spirituall drink which was Christ as St. Paul doth expressely teach 1 Cor. 10.3 4. APHOR. 3. They are Seals as well as Signs THe Gospel is the Grand Charter of mans Salvation and the Sacraments are as it were seals appendant thereunto they are not onely signs of some grace exhibited but also seals to ratifie and confirm the promises contained in the Instrument before mentioned As seals are put to civil Contracts and Indentures for a full and final ratification of them This comparison is used by most Writers of the Reformation but it is so foolish in Bellarmine's conceit that nothing can be more and which ought with all diligence saith he to be beaten down Sacramenta dici sigilla vel signacula nusquam legimus nisi in Evangelio secundum Lutherum is the Cardinals witty sarcasm in the forecited Treatise that the Sacraments are called seals saith he we read no where but in the new Gospel according to St. Lather But he might have read it in an old Epistle according to St. Paul who calls Circumcision {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} the seal of the righteousness which is by faith that is a seal whereby it was ratified and made sure unto Abraham that he was justified or made righteous before God through faith in Christ Nay the Cardinal himself to prove the Septenary number of the Sacraments doth fetch an argument from the book with seven seals Rev. 5.1 which was the new Covenant with seven Sacraments appendant thereto as he interprets the place if that Text will be of force to evince the Sacraments to be seven in number it will also evince them to be seals for use APHOR. 4. Absolutely necessary where they may be had THe Divine Precept hath layed the highest obligation that may be upon us of using the Sacraments and that with reverence and religion saith Dr. Ames If the Sacraments be wanting unto us through our own default it involves us in guilt saith Augustin neither can that man pretend to a sincere conversion or love to God that contemns any Sacrament of his institution * Faith will not avail any man who receives not the Lords Lords Sacraments when he may saith St. Bernard If this be a duty commanded why may we not slight any other and all other duties as well as this What reasonable hopes hath any man that God will save him by some other means or without means when he hath declared that by these means in conjunction with some others he intends to save Ames calls Baptism one of the ordinary means of Salvation ex istâ hypothesi upon that account he affirms it to be absolutely necessary to Salvation where it is to be had * Except a man be born of water and the Spirit saith Christ he cannot enter into the Kingdom of heaven From hence the antient Fathers did infer the necessity of Baptism But some later Writers have ratified this water into spirit and interpret the words tropically except a man be born of water that is of the Spirit for water is here but an emblem of the Spirit say they as fire is elsewhere Mat. 3.11 But to these I shall oppose the sense and censure of the learned Hooker you shall have his own expressions for they cannot be mended I hold it an infallible rule in the Exposition of Scripture that where a literal construction will stand the farthest from the Letter is commonly the worst there is nothing more dangerous than this licentious and deluding are which changeth the meaning of words as Alchimy doth or would do Metals maketh any thing what it listeth and in the end bringeth all truth to nothing The general consent of antiquity concurres in the literal interpretation and must the received construction be now disguised with a toy of novelty We may by such Expositions attain in the end perhaps to be thought witty but with ill advice so he Non possum quin simplicissimam Theologiam hoc est quae minimè recedit a litera caeteris ut commodiorem praeferam APHOR. 5. Infant-Baptism more antient than the Apostles TO secure the interest of children in this Sacrament who ex praerogativâ sâ—minis as Tert speakes are entitled thereto enough hath been spoken of late years by our English Writers to the conviction of all gain-sayers more particularly by the excellent Dr. Hammond in his Quaerâ—s When we find the practice of baptizing Infants in the Christian Church to be so antient as the very next age to the Apostles and so universal that it was received through all parts of the world where Christ had a Church I cannot see how it could have any other original than from the Apostles who founded the Churches through the World St. Augustine speaking of this usage or custom saith That the Church of God ever had it ever held it and received it Hanc praxin Ecclesia Catholica ubique diffusa tenet Home de Adamo Eva from the Religion of former ages and Calvin saith That the antientest Writers that we have of our Religion do without any scruple refer the original of this practice to the Apostles Nullus Scriptor tam vetustus qui non ejus originem ad Apostolorum tempora pro certo referat But this practice did not begin with or by the Apostles neither for they did but continue what was before in use in the Jewish Church who
kind or any other I am but little acquainted with of late times living remote from the Kiriath-Sephers the common Marts and Staples of such marchandises and being rendred both unable to buy and uncapable to employ them Yet my reason tells me and it is the common voice and vote of divers others as I hear that Catechising is a very necessary expedient for the preservation of Christian Religion among us and the most probable means if not to recover the Diseased from infection yet to preserve the Sound from being infected The principal way of fortifying against false Teachers is to be well-grounded in the principles of true teaching that is of the doctrine of Christ without which men are like chaff without any solid grain in them which are soon blown away from the floor of the Church and tossed to and fro with every wind of vain doctrine like a ship without ballast or anchor and like a building that having no basis or foundation is easily storm'd down and demolished And hence it is that the Master-builders of our Sion who have spent much pains in the Pulpit yet because they have spent so little in foundation-work have found that they did but aedificare in ruinam and that all their labour was but lost in building The smallest of Gods creatures do often read Lectures unto their Master man the Pismire reads a Lecture of providence and industry and the Bee reads a lesson of wit and sagacity For this wise little foul when she goes abroad a forraging and is perhaps surprised with windy-weather before she adventures back again she takes up some gravel in her fangs to balance her little body and then she hoises sail and steers her course home-wards more stedily Saepe lapillos Ut cymbae instabiles fluctu jactante saburram Tollunt his sese per inania nubila librant If men would learn the like providence before they adventure forth in windy-weather among the storms and counter-tydes of disputes and controversies in the world as to take in the ballast of Catholick principles which are here treated of they would certainly hold their road and course with more safety and less danger of making shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience They would not fluctuate like those unstable souls that Optatus speaks of Inter licet nostrum et non licet vestrum nutant remigant populorum animae For let the winds blow and the waters flow and the Devil storm never so much a well-principled Christian knows how to steer his course and where to rest and cast anchor This is the benefit and advantage of Catechistical exercises and of building up a Christian Methodically from the foundation upward Such an Edifice being {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} an harmonious building the super-structure being cemented to the foundation and the roof and covering being adapted to the super-structure and all parts being framed and compacted according to the Rule of Proportion is most like to last and bear up and to prove storm-proof Now the subject matter of Catechising as all know are the first principles of Christian Religion which St. Paul calls the Elements and the beginnings of the doctrine of Christ As there are principles in all Sciences upon which the whole Art depends and upon which it is built as upon a foundation So in this Architectonical Science and the Art of saving souls there are certain principles which are of such moment and consequence that he that hath not these hath nothing he graspeth a cloud his soul is empty like a hungry man that dreameth he is eating and loe when he awaketh he is empty And the principles of this Divine Art are these four the Creed the Commandments the Lord Prayer and the Sacraments These are the Catholick Principles of the Catechism saith reverend Perkins which have been agreed upon ever since the Apostles daies by all Churches of the World These are fundatoria Religionis the foundations of that City that came down from heaven which was four square these are the four Elements that do constitute the Christian Faith the Vials wherein the vital substance of Religion consisteth They are in brief the antient Land-Marks that have been settled since the foundation of Christendom and points that have been generally and universally received wheresoever Christ had a Church being Heyr-looms as it were and standing implements of the Church from the beginng and descending down from age to age indisputably to the Heirs of salvation Amidst all the garboils of the Church when it hath been most torn with Schiâ—ms and over-grovwn with the Tares of Heresie in those times when it required some wit to be a Christâ—â— and to continue so God reserved this seed unto his Church and people and preserved the vitals of Christianity un-invaded at least among most men and in most parts of the world True it is that Satans Pioners have been busie in all ages with these foundations and have turned up every stone in it yet that will not prejudice the universality of them no more than some hills and vallies do perjudice the roundness of the earthly Globe So that I may here fitly apply a piece of that Remonstrance which the renowned Athanasius Patriarch of Alexandria together with the Bishops under his Patriarchate presented to the Emperour Jovinian being newly advanced to the Empire to induce him to quit the Arrian party and to embrace the Orthodox Faith The Confession of Faith which we present unto your Highness most sacred Emperor is received by all the Churches of God every where as in Spain Britain France Italy Dalmatia Mysia Macedonia and all Greece By all the Churches of Africa Sardinia Cyprus Creet Pamphylia Lycia Isauria the Churches of Egypt Lybia Pontus Cappadocia and the neighbouring Regions of all the East excepting some few of the Arrian faction that do oppugn it Non tamen inde praejudicium fieri potest orbi universo They are but as the dust of the ballance and their paucity cannot prejudice the universal consent of the Christian World as bearing no proportion with it I may say the same of these Catholick Principles that are handled in the ensuing pages and therefore it is safe yea necessary to embrace Quod ab omnibus quod ubique quod semper c. For there is nothing of this nature that hath such an impress of Universality Antiquity and Consent upon it that is not Apostolical For as the Apostles in all points that they preached were unius labii of one lip and language though their bodies were far a sunder so were the Churches that were planted by them They had all the same Depositum the same Body of Theology form of Doctrine and System of saving and necessary truths entrusted to them which they also transmitted to the next generation as faithfull Trustees and Depositaries from whom they were handed over unto us
PRAYER BLessed Lord thou hast been gracious unto thy people and wonderfull in all thy doings towards the children of men Thou hast been pleased since thou hast created us for thy self to guide our steps unto thee and to set us in the paths that lead unto everlasting life By teaching us to believe (a) rightly in thee to walk (b) uprightly before thee and in all our Addresses (c) to speak advisedly and discreetly unto thee And thou hast been farther pleased to afford thy servants suitable and convenient helps for the performance of those Duties thou hast enjoyned them even thy holy Sacraments which thou hast ordained to nourish and strengthen our saith in thee to enflame our love towards thee and to embolden our addresses unto thee by assuring and sealing (d) unto us all the gracious promises that thou hast made unto thy Church in thy beloved Son Lord teach us to use these helps and means discreetly reverently and thankfully as thine own holy institutions Continue them still unto us and let thy holy Spirit be ever present with them that they may be instrumental and effectual to those ends and purposes for which thou hast ordained them Lord hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place and have mercy and pardon the sins of this most sinfull Nation Heal all our rents and breaches Thou whose name is the Repairer (e) of the breaches and tâ—e Restorer of the paths to dwell in let this ruin (f) be under thy hand and be thou a Healer Say unto this Nation as thou didst once to thy antient people (g) I will bring it health and cure and I will cure them and reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth Grant this for thy mercies sake and make haste to help O Lord God of our Salvaâ—ion How long O Lord at length repent And of our miseries relent Thine earely mercy shew That we may unknown comforts tast And for long daies of sorrow past As long of joy bestow The preceding Aphorisms resolved into Questions and Answers for the better fixing of them in the memory and a farther illustration of them to weaker understandings THis short Abstract is fram'd and contrived first Axiomatically by way of Theses Aphorisms or Axioms as Hippocrates summ'd up the Rules of his art in Aphorisms Piscator Junius and Grynaeus have delineated the Body of Theology in the like form In the second place These Theorems are handled Dramatically by inter-locutions or by Questions and Answers which was the antient way not onely of teaching Philosophy used by Socrates and Plato but also of planting the Christian Faith and propagating it over the world This Method and Oeconomy will much conduce not onely to illustrate the matter in hand and insinuate it to the understanding but will serve also to rivet it the faster in the minds of the learners that they may be as goâ—ds and nails fastned by the Masters of the Assemblies It is a command of Moses concerning the Law Thou shalt teach them diligently to thy Children Deut. 6.7 In the Hebrew it is Exacues thou shâ—lt sharpen these precepts and set a point on them that they may penetrate as men sharpen a stake to drive it into the ground or set an edge on a knife by often drawing it over the whetstone So it is needfull that such Rules should be often inculcated and repeated that they may pierce deeper and hold faster And lest I might seem to obtrude any thing Magisterially or like a Dictator on any mans belief I have pointed to the rock from whence they were hewn by subjoyning Scripture-citations to each of them I have also confirm'd them by the authority of some ancient and modern writers such as were the Heads of their Tribes and renowned men in their Generations The Protestants of France took just offence at the Sorbon Doctors when they published the Capital points of Christian Religion in 25. Propositions without any proofs of Scripture for any of them but obtruded naked Conclusions and Axioms tanquam pro imperio nullis rationibuâ— aut firmamentis adjectis But I hope I have prevented such objections by what is added to these Theorems OF THE CREED HOw many parts be there of Christian Religion There are four general parts thereof which are universally embraced of the whole Church of God through the World and do virtually contain the whole Body of Divinity namely the Creed the Commandments the Lords Prayer and the Sacraments What is the preeminence and excellency of man above other creatures As man was made after a different manner from all other creatures here below so he was made to a different end namely eternal happiness after this life For the attainment whereof God hath shewed him what to do prescribed the means thereunto conducing if he make a right use of them What are those means that God hath appointed unto man for obtaining eternal happiness They are chiefly these two first to believe rightly in God secondly to live uprightly before him that is according to his will revealed in his word Living and believing making up the whole duty of man What word do you mean The word wherein God declared his will is the Scripture which is the authentic Rule of faith and manners life and belief containing all points of necessary and saving Truthâ— to make the man of God perfect and to carry him on to his designed end of happiness and glory What are the chiefest points of faith and right belief The chief and fundamental points of faith and true belief and which are necessary to be received of all to whom they are propounded are summed up in these 12. points or articles which are contained in the Apostles Creed which Creed is the key to all other doctrinal points of Religion How did the Patriarchs and Servants of God of old time believe before this Creed was framed They believed as we do and were saved by the saith contained in this Creed every article thereof being revealed unto them and to be found dispersedly in the writings of Moses and the Prophets for as theâ—e was but one Church from the beginning of the world so there was but one Faith which is common to us and them and to all that shall come after us What do these 12. articles contain or concern Some do concern God the Father as the first article some God the Son as the six articles immediately following and some do concern God the Holy Ghost as the eighth article The four last do set forth the state of Gods Church both in this world and in the next What is meant by Christ's descending into Hell which is mentioned in the Creed That article or period may safely be understood either of these two waies 1. First that the soul of Christ descended locally among the infernal Spirits not to suffer but to manifest the power of his Godhead which is the interpretation of the Fathers and divers eminent Writers
of later age 2. Secondly by descending into Hell no more is to be understood than that Christ descended into the state of the Dead and was continued under the power of Death for the space of three daies which is more generally received of the later Writers What is meant by this article I believe the Holy Catholic Church To believe the Holy Catholic Church is to believe that among all the Tribes and Nations of the World God hath some chosen Servants and a peculiar people whom he hath tâ—ken out for his name sanctified with his Spirit called unto the state of grace and ordained unto eternal glory What do you understand in the same article by the Communion of Saints To believe the Communion of Saints is to believe that the Saints and Servants of God are knit by an invisible tye of faith and love to Christ their Head and unto each other by common participation and mutual communication of all good things both spiritual and temporal as if they were but one Body and were acted by one soul and the same spirit What do you understand by this article I believe the forgiveness of sins We believe that God doth freely pardon sin to penitent sinners through faith in Christ without any other merit or satisfaction and pronounce this pardon in his name upon just and lawfull occasions Are there not some other Creeds besides that of the Apostles Yea the Nicen Creed and that of Athanasius yet these are but Paraphrases and Explanations of the Apostolical Creed upon occasion of Heresies that sprung up in the Church in those times especially touching the Trinity and the Incarnation of Christ but they contain nothing material or substantial that is not couched in the short symbol of the Apostles What is the use of that little Hymn called Gloria patri It is as it were a little Creed and an Abbridgment of the Apostolical brought into the Church about the time that Arrianism prevailed for to be a badge to distinguish the Orthodox Believers from the Heterodox or mis-believers For by giving glory to God in this form they confessed the Trinity in Unity which the Arrians opposed OF THE COMMANDMENTS WHich is the second general part of Christian Religion The Commandments which are a Breviate of the Moral Law and of all the practical duties of humane life the Rule of our obedience the Tree of knowledge of good and evil shewing what is good and what is bad what is to be followed and what to be eschewed Did not Christ abolish these Commandments No for this is a Law founded in Nature and natural equity and therefore is unmovable and unchangable It is the eternal Rule of Justice to all persons to the end of World The Gospel doth not exempt any persons from natural and moral obligations at any time But it is said that we are not under the Law but under Grace therefore we are freed from the Law Indeed Christ hath wholly freed us from the Ritual or Ceremonial Law which was grown to be unsupportable but he hath not discharged us from the law of good mannerâ— promulgated on Mount Sinai yet he hath freed us in part from this Law freed us from the rigor and severity of it filed the teeth of it as it were he hath freed us from the curse annexed to the breach of it when he was made himself a curse by suffering an accursed death for our sins Was this Law a perfect Rule of obedience and such as needed no amendment Yea it was a holy and a perfect Law having a Spiritual as well as a literal sense being made to regulate the whole man both outwardly in his members and inwardly for the thoughts and intentions of the heart Christ did fullfil this Law by doing it not by filling up the vacuities of it for there was no defect or imperfection in it Are not the duties of man very numerous in this life Yea sâ—â—e but God in his wisdom hath summed them all up in Ten general precepts or Ten words as Moses calls them Our Saviour Christ reduced these 10. into two Mat. 22.40 and St. Paul into one Rom. 13 10. namely Love Love is the fullfilling of the Law the end and complement of it that is Love towards God and Love towards our neighbour This is the total sum of the Moral Law Is it possible for any to perform or fullfil this Law Though it be so nice and exact in it self that we cannot perform it so fully as we ought or as it requires nevertheless we may Gods grace assisting us perform it so far as to find a gracious acceptance with him through Christ The doing the uttermost of what we can and the bewailing of what we cannot do is all that the merciful God requires at our hands in this point What do the precepts of the first Table contain They do contain the duty of man towards God being given to direct him in the service of his Maker and in performing the internal and external worship that is due unto him â—or he that made both soul and body expects the service of both and to be glorifiâ—d in both What do the precepts of the second Table concern They do concern and contain the duty of man towards his Neighbour obliging him to love him as himself and that as his fellow-creature hewn out of the same rock made by the same hand and bearing the same â—â—amp image and super scription with him evâ—n the image of him that made both the one and the other The Commandments are but few in number and short in words have they not sâ—me farther latitude in sense than in words Yea surely and there are certain Rules to shew what latitude they bear that is how far they may be amplified and extended as First where any virtue is commanded all virtues of the same kinde are under that name commanded and where any vice is forbidden all vices of that kind or race are forbidden likewise What other Rules have you to measure the latitude of these Commandments Take these two more where any virtue is commanded there the opposite vice is forbidden and where any vice is forbidden there the opposite virtue is commanded by the Rule of Contraries As where stealing is forbidden there honest labour industry and frugality is commanded that men need not be forced to steal What is the other Rule Where any duty is commanded there all lawfull meanâ— conducing to that duty are tacitly commanded And where any vice is forbidden there all the means and occasions as also the allurements and provocations that do any way tend or induce thereunto are likewise forbidden OF THE LORDS PRAYER WHat is the use of prayer Since there is no man in the world so full and self-sufficient but doth want something and must seek out of himself for a supply of that want Nature dictates and suggests that prayer and supplication is an effectual means to obtain this supply and that humble address must
prevarication the seed of the woman shall bruise the Serpents head Gen. 3 15. This was the first Gospel in the World extant in the first book of the Bible this was proto-Evangelium and Evangelii aurora the first dawning of Gospel-comfort If ye believed in Moses ye would have believed in me saith Christ to the Jews for Moses wrote of me Joh. 5.46 Moses wrote of Christ both in the forecited Text and else where Abraham saw Christ's day and rejoyced John 8.56 he saw the day of his Incarnation which God revealed by some means unto this his friend wch ministred cause of joy unto him this was the Gospel which God preached unto him Gal. 3.8 for there was Gospel in the World before Christ came to preach it Some of the Prophets tongues dropt some of this balm now and then more especially Esay who was the Evangelist of the old Testament ante Evangelia Evangelicus Isaias saw Christs glory and spake of him John 12.41 Now the Gospel that was preached in those daies was the same with ours to wit justification by faith in Christ remission of sins and life and immortality through him as a reward of faith and sincere obedience Habbakkuk preached the just should live by faith in case he was defective in obedience Circumcision was a Seal of their justification or righteousness which was through faith even a seal of pardon and remission of sins to all believers 3. The Resurrection of the body was a point that Iob a Gentile and an alien from the Commonwealth of Israel was well assured of It is a point generally believed and embraced in the Jewish Church as St. Paul declares in express terms Acts 26. verse 6 7 8. Verse 6. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers i. the promise of a resurrection from death Verse 7. Vnto which promise our twelve Tribes instantly serving God day and night hope to come for which hopes sake King Agrippa I am accused of the Jews Verse 8. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead Nay the women of the Countrey were strong in this faith for when Christ told Martha that her brother Lazarus should rise again she replied I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day 4. Then for the last point or article of our belief even everlasting life I doubt not but they had knowledge and assurance of it many of them life and immortality was proposed to them as a reward of their obedience if they had kept the Law which if a man do he shall even live in them live not onely a long life here but an endless life hereafter The Law is the administration of death saith St. Paul but that is not the proper work of it that is by accident not in the primary intention of it The Commandment was ordained unto life saith the same Apostle but he found it unto death by reason of his sins the sting of death is sin it is sin and not the Law that bites like a Serpent and gives the mortal wound The old and new Testament do not differ materiâ promissionum in the subject matter of the promises as if the promises of old were onely temporal and under the Gospel onely eternal promises were propounded The Belgic Remonstrants did teach so indeed and so did Michael Servetus whom for this and other Heresies Calvin calls exitiale monstrum These make no other esteem of the antient people of God the seed of Abraham than of a herd of Swine who had their portion in this life without hope of any other as if God had proposed no other guerdon to them nor they expected any but fullness of bread carnal pleasures worldly pomp and power and children to inherit all these after them Michael Servetus whom Calvin terms prodigiosum Nebulonem in another place of his Institutions was by birth a Spaniard of Arragon who of a Physician became a Divine and did pass for a Protestant He was convented at Geneva for sundry heretical opinions that he had broached both there and elsewhere and persevering therein without hopes of reclaiming him he was by the Counsel and consent of the Divines of Bearne Zurick Schaffhauson and Geneva burnt at Geneva in the year 1555. You may see a Catalogue of his errors in Lucas Osiander's Epitome of Eccles History l. 2. Cent 16. c. 21. and in Schlusselburgius and the Anabaptists speak the same dialect as Calvin doth inform us in his Institutions which pestiferous error as he terms it is there fully refuted by him and all Protestant writers tilt at it with their pens where ever they meet it among the rest the Church of England hath laid it under her feet if I do not mistake her meaning In the 7th. Article of her confession where these words are to be found In the old Testament everlasting life is offered to mankind by Christ therefore they are not to be heard that feign that the old Fathers did look onely for temporal promises They looked for a City whose builder and maker was God and for a heavenly Countrey Heb. 11.10 16. Fides Abrahae non Palastinae duntaxat regionem spectabat sed caeleflem illam patriam beatorum sedem is a note of Iustinian upon that place APHOR. 5. Of believing the Catholic Church WE must remark that the phrase of this article runs I believe the holy Catholic Church not in the holy Catholic Church for the particle In perfixed to the former articles must be out here and it is out in St. Augustines exposition and Ruffinus and other antient Expositors upon this subject and also in the Trent Catechism * We may not believe in the Church because it is not dominus but domus not the Master of the house but the house as St. Augustin gives the reason We may credere Ecclesiae not in Ecclesiam we may believe the Catholic Church very far and give it the highest credit next Gods own word in matters of fact and practice especially and some points which the Scripture doth not clearly define herein we may follow the practice and embrace the Arrest or judgement of the Catholic Church For it is a staple rule and maxim in St. Aug What is universally * received and retained in the Church we may rationally conclude that it was derived from the first planters of it even the Apostles But we may not rest or relie upon the Church as the chief guide of our Salvation her authority is venerable but it is not the Rule of our faith Wherefore the word Credo I believe in the four last Articles of the Belief imports no more than Credo esse meo bono esse as Alsted doth well expound it I believe that such things mentioned in those several articles truly are
and that I have a share and interest in them The Catholic Church here mentioned is not visible for it is an object of our faith not of our sight and faith is of things not seen Heb. 11.1 This Holy-Guild society Fraternity of the Rosie-Cross as I may not unfitly term it is invisible for it is Caetus praedestinatorum a company of men predestin'd to Salvation whose names are written in the book of life enroll'd in that sacred Register among the Candidates of eternity Now who those are and whose names are there registred we are not allowed to know that such there are we know and firmly believe but who they are we know not having no certain {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} or infallible indication to know them by for they do not carry the marks of their election in their foreheads God alone knoweth them that are his We have not the gift of knowing men and discerning spirits by inspection we may know their persons but for their eternal state and condition we may probably guess at but not make a sure and infallible judgement There is Indaeus in occulto Judaeus in propatulo we may know the one but do not know the other to know the reins and the heart is the prerogative of him that made and moulded both As this Church is not visible so it is not topical or confined to one place but is Catholic or universal both for times places and persons They robb Christ of his inheritance that confine his Kingdom or Church within one Nation Canton or Conventicle as Donatus did arrogantly affirm That God had no Church in the world but in that part of Africa where he and his party swayed none was within the Ark of Gods Church but who had entered into his Cock-boat God gave his Son the Heathen for his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession of his Kingdom there is no end no limits of duration or extension They are therefore injurious to him that would retrench his inheritance and robb him of any part of his purchased possession by denying a Catholic Church Hear the expostulation of Optatus with the old Donatists upon this point Si sic pro voluntate vestrâ in angustam coarctatis Ecclesiam si universas subducitis gentes ubi erit illud quod silius dei meruit quod libenter largitus est ei pater dicens Dabo tibi gentes haereditatem tuam ut quid tale infringitis promissum ut a vobis mittatur quasi in carcerem latitudo regnorum APHOR. 6. Of the Nicen and Athanasian Creeds THe Nicen Creed which is extant in our Liturgy was fram'd by the Fathers of the first general Council that was held at Nice a City of Bythinia and was conven'd by the renowned Emperour Constantine in the year 325. where 318. Bishopâ— were assembled whence St. Hierom calls this Creed fidem 318. patrum the faith of the three hundred and eighteen Fathers or Bishops In this Council the Heresie of Arrius a Presbyter of Alexandria who denied the Divinity of Christ and thereby did much disturb the peace of the Church was arraign'd and condemn'd It is reported by Sozomen that the Arrians held another Council at Nice in Thrace in opposition to the former in the year 359. Here was Nice against Nice but the truth did at last {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} prevail and overcome and {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} canere trumph over Error and Heresie Athanasius was in those daies a stout opposer of the Arrians and stood up single in defence of the truth when all the world was almost turn'd Arrian as Hierom complains whereby he got a fame suitable to his name He was by their means four times banished and oft times brought into jeopardy of his life so violent was this storm in the Church so that Vincentius Lirinensis rightly terms the Arrian Heresie a Bellona and a Fury for the bitternss of i. During his banishment at Rome this good man composed the Creed that bears his name and presented it to Pope Iulius and afterwards to the Emperour Iovinian when he was elected Emperour and when he himself after all troubles was advanced to the Patriarchal dignity of Alexandria So that these Creeds were made not as supplements but explanations of the Apostolical Creed occasioned by the turbulency of some Spirits who out of some vain glory or discontented singularity raised those sad tragedies in the Church which continued long and sharp for we read of 120 Bishopt banished at one time into the I le of Sardinia by Thrasimundus an Arrian King of the Gothes The 3. Creeds the Nicen Athanasian and Apostolical Creeds ought throughly to believed and received because they may be proved by most certain warrants of holy Scripture so the 8th Article of the Church of England which is also received among the Articles of Ireland in terminis APHOR. 7. Gloria patri a little Creed AS the Apostles Creed was called Symbolum that is a badge or token or mark of difference quod fideles perfidos secerneret to distinguish believers from unbelievers or a certain watch-word as they have in the Wars to know a friend from a foe So this little Hymn of glory which is symbolum parvum a little Creed was brought in as a Shibboleth a privy mark or token to make discovery of dissembling professors and Covert Arrians who desir'd to live in the bosom of the Church though they were enemies to the faith and peace of it It was not as the great symbol to distinguish believers from unbelievers but true believers from mis-believers or such as believed amiss touching the article of the holy Trinity It was brought in use about the time of the Nicen Council or as some say before For long before this period we read that Polycarpus that blessed Martyr in the very place and at the hour of his martyrdom had a kind of Doxology very neer and much like to this who concluded his prayer and his lifâ—â—n these words Therefore in all things I praise thee I bless thee I glorifie thee O Father Almighty through the eternal Priest of our profession Jesus Christ thy beloved Son To whom with thee O Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory now and for evermore Amen As we have received saith St. Basil so we baptize As we baptize so we believe and as we believe so we give glory His meaning is that as we believe in three persons and one God so we baptize into the names of these three And as we baptize into their names so we give glory unto them joyntly and severally So that in the most solemn Offices of the Church as Confessing Baptizing and giving Praise the holy individual Trinity is professed and acknowledged This was the use and purport